Introduce Yourself

[Inspector Clouseau]

Welcome, Inspector Clouseau, great to have to you here.  I loved the Lake District too.... I'm a bit of a saddo fan of the Wainwright books.

By the way, how did you find this site?   Google, or somewhere else...?

I found you when trying to track down info about Te Aroha (which I'm climbing with a friend next weekend). I think I Google'd or Wiki'd "highest peak in kaimai ranges" and stumbled on this excellent site. I must admit to ruining my last weekend researching my next weekend and setting up my bag list ... ho hum.

[GuanoGerbil]

There's a few geocaches on Te Aroha now - one of which is mine too. If you don't have a GPS by then, you could still find my one by the clue given 

[Mountainlass19]

Hi,
My name is Mary and many years ago I did a lot of walking, and tramping. Then for approx. 20 years I have been unwell. Now I am getting my health back, and, slowly but surely, getting back into it. In the past I did walking and tramping in Mt. Cook area, Wellington, Queenstown, and other areas. It is one of the 'loves' of my life, and it's so great to feel 'well again' to be able to do it again. My first love is 'nature photography' - lakes, mountains, flora, birds, animals, tracks, views, etc. Anything to do with nature. I am married with a grown up son. We have a fox terrier who comes on the smaller walks with me. We live close to the lake front and so have some nice walks down there. I love feeding the ducks, seagulls etc. I get a lot of enjoyment out of that. And also getting 'action shots' of them. Lately I have done Queenstown Hill, Kelvin Heights Walkway, Sunshine Bay Walkway. Like I said, I'm only just starting again, after a very long time. It's so wonderful to get back out in the 'big outdoors'. Hopefully you will like my "Bagging Queenstown Hill" with photos when I send it in. Mary J., Queenstown, N.Z.

[GuanoGerbil]

Welcome Mary. Hopefully this site inspires you to get back out there as much as it has done so for me.
I was in Queenstown a couple of months ago and was really impressed with the place - can't wait to get back there one day. I wasn't able to bag any of the peaks there at the time unfortunately, so I look forward to seeing the photos of what I missed.

[GreenBLAT]

Hello we're team GreenBLAT - Bailey Lucy Alan & Tina.

Have been fond of getting to the top of hills since I was in the scouts and now have fun dragging the family out. Higher and Harder the better. Recent years has seen the enthusiasm rekindled by finding geocaches at the top of hills. Even large flat hills with no views thanks GG 

Alan

[GuanoGerbil]

Nice to have another cacher onboard - welcome team GB!
And nice to know there's another Maratoto summiter amongst us now - although I can't possibly think what would have inspired you to do such a thing!   

[c-naptik]

Hello!

I'm a Frenchman who moved to Northern Norway 3 years ago. I'm originally from the South Pacific area, as I was born in New Caledonia 29 years ago but I grew up in France.

My wife and I just bought our plane tickets yesterday for our first trip to New Zealand, we'll be there all of January 2011. Not the best month from what I've been reading because of the hordes of tourists but we didn't really have any other alternative! This is a dream coming true, as I have been wanting this trip for so many years...Even before I moved to Norway, I hesitated between this or New Zealand

I became obsessed with going mountain hiking (or tramping as you say) when I came to Norway. We are lucky to live in an area surrounded by mountains (up to 1600 m high) and fjords, visiting about 20 tops a year either on skis or on foot. No need to say that I am extremely excited about trying some peaks in NZ!

Came across your website and forum by googling "new zealand mountain hiking" and I find this peak bagging concept fun and interesting. Maybe I should "steal" the idea and create a similar one for Norway?

I'm currently browsing your list of tops (mostly interested in the South Island) but would greatly appreciate if someone could give me a list of 5-10 tops of the following type. Please bear in mind that this is the sort of mountains I am used to, I am yet unsure of what to find exactly in NZ:

- 1000-1500m ascension
- quite steep (25-30 degrees?)
- mostly bare or low tree-line
- breathtaking summit view for picture taking

Thanks a lot for your help!

[vinodrinker]

Hi c-naptik

Sorry I am a north island one so not too much experince in south island

One I have done is Ben Lomand in queenstown is a awesome climb with great views.  If you climb it from the bottom (lake level) to the top it is a good 1300m vertical climb.  of course you then also get to experience queenstown

Although I havent done it, avalanche peak in arthurs pass would be another one for great alpine views. This is 1000 odd m vertical climb

The king of them all I guess and as far as I am aware the highest alpine 'hike' in new zealand is Tapuae o uenuku which climbs to 2885m asl with 2500m vertical climb.  I would say in January you would probably still need crampons though in early march it is basically completely bare. 3 day hike though unless you are ed hillary. i wanna do it!!  here are some great pictures from a famous father and son hiking pair....

http://hellmission.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8465323

[Dodgy]

Hi all,

long-time South Island tramper who has recently wandered noprth to the Waikato area.

Have tramped a lot of tracked and untracked areas in the Nelson and Marlborough areas with Kahurangi and Nelson Lakes National Parks definite favourites.

Never been a big mountain climber as such (in the snow and ice sense) but have always enjoyed getting up on the tops rather than being stuck down in the bush.

Looking for some challenging trips in the Waikato area so all suggestions welcome.

Will have to start knocking off some of the North Island peaks.

Cheers

[Dodgy]

Hello!

I'm a Frenchman who moved to Northern Norway 3 years ago. I'm originally from the South Pacific area, as I was born in New Caledonia 29 years ago but I grew up in France.

My wife and I just bought our plane tickets yesterday for our first trip to New Zealand, we'll be there all of January 2011. Not the best month from what I've been reading because of the hordes of tourists but we didn't really have any other alternative! This is a dream coming true, as I have been wanting this trip for so many years...Even before I moved to Norway, I hesitated between this or New Zealand

I became obsessed with going mountain hiking (or tramping as you say) when I came to Norway. We are lucky to live in an area surrounded by mountains (up to 1600 m high) and fjords, visiting about 20 tops a year either on skis or on foot. No need to say that I am extremely excited about trying some peaks in NZ!

Came across your website and forum by googling "new zealand mountain hiking" and I find this peak bagging concept fun and interesting. Maybe I should "steal" the idea and create a similar one for Norway?

I'm currently browsing your list of tops (mostly interested in the South Island) but would greatly appreciate if someone could give me a list of 5-10 tops of the following type. Please bear in mind that this is the sort of mountains I am used to, I am yet unsure of what to find exactly in NZ:

- 1000-1500m ascension
- quite steep (25-30 degrees?)
- mostly bare or low tree-line
- breathtaking summit view for picture taking

Thanks a lot for your help!

Hi c-naptik,

can offer you a few options in the Nelson/Marlborough area.

As Vino mentioned Tapuae-o-Uenuku (Tapi) is a great tramp when snow-free, especially if you want views. It is often without snow on the main route up the Hodder River by January, but it would be a matter of checking the weather when you get here.

Mt Angelus in Nelson Lakes National Park is also a very picturesque trip with a couple of nice alpine Lakes. It's a touch over 2000m but an easy climb from Sunset Saddle.

Mt Arthur in Kahurangi National Park near Nelson would also be an easy scramble in summer and achievable in a day if you're not too sluggish. I've only climbed it in winter with heavy snow, but it was still simple enough.

Hope that's some help.

[GuanoGerbil]

Hmm...what's you're definition of challenging?
The tramps up here around the Waikato are all bush-clad and predominantly rather "moist" shall we say. If you want to get out of the perpetual mud and out onto the tops like me, you'd need to head down to the central plateau. Some good walks up and around the volcanos, including the 'Naki. The Kaimanawas are my favourite place to be with beautiful ancient beech forest (very different vegetation to the Waikato), no mud, and endless open tops walking with fantastic views. Other than that, there's the tops of the Kawekas before going further south again to the Ruahines.
Of course this time of year there's probably going to be snow around the tops, so you'd need to know about alpine travel before heading up there. If you're into the alpine scene at all (how could anyone not be??), then this is the best time of year!
Good to hear you're moving up into my part of the world Dodgy - I'm looking forward to picking your brains on Tapi some time.

[vinodrinker]

cummon guano. lets do it this summer! 
tapi or bust, i got quite a bit of info on it filed away
yes i know you will have to do an overnight and carry a big pack but it does look a very cool bag

[Dodgy]

Thanks Gerbil. I'll take a look at those areas.

By challenging I'm normally seraching for long, on the tops and preferably untracked or limited tracks in the back country. (Five passes or Dragons Teeth type trips if anyone is familiar with these trips either from experience or Classic Tramping).

I'm not a great alpinist but willing to learn! Snow has normally been an inconvenience rather than sort after substance for me.

If you ever need info on Tapi feel free to hit me up, though the trip is very straight forward in summer, just relatively long.

BTW if you don't want to overnight it can be done in one looooong day (16 hours or so). Had a crack at that once but the weather (luckily?) turned us back relatively early.

[GreenBLAT]

I'm currently browsing your list of tops (mostly interested in the South Island) but would greatly appreciate if someone could give me a list of 5-10 tops of the following type. Please bear in mind that this is the sort of mountains I am used to, I am yet unsure of what to find exactly in NZ:

- 1000-1500m ascension
- quite steep (25-30 degrees?)
- mostly bare or low tree-line
- breathtaking summit view for picture taking

Thanks a lot for your help!

The latest issue of Wilderness Magazine (Aug 2010) arrived today - It has an article called "Top 10 non-technical mountain climbs" that would seem to meet your requirements.

[GuanoGerbil]

Thanks GreenBLAT - I'll go grab a copy.

Dodgy, a few walks that spring to mind to get you started:
Apart from the volcanic peaks Of Ruapehu, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Taranaki in the summer, there's the Tongariro Alpine Crossing of course and the Northern Circuit around Ngauruhoe. Round the Mountain (Ruapehu) if you're looking for a very long walk. Umukarikari and the Urchin in the Kaimanawas are a couple of must do walks along the tops and can be combined in a day walk via the new linking track, or by the longer loop via Waipakihi hut and a river bash along Waipakihi River. With an even longer walk you can traverse The Middle Ranges via Thunderbolt. If you want a real tops overdose, the Urchin, Thunderbolt, Waipakihi hut, Umukarikari loop will do it for you. A long day walk if you're into that sort of thing, or stop at the hut on the way.
Plenty of tops walking along the Kawekas as well, but this is much further to get to, and I don't find it quite as nice as the Kaimanawas.
Round the 'Naki involves a lot more bush and mud, so not really what you're looking for. The northern circuit at Taranaki however makes a good day walk which takes you over Henry Peak with a side excursion to Pouakai a possibilty as well.
The Great Walk around Lake Waikaremoana is another must do, although this doesn't involve any tops. I would recommend it as a day walk if fit (it took me 10 hours) to avoid lugging a pack and fighting for a bunk at the end of the day.