Outdoor Community blog

For magazine articles which correspond to the Outdoor Community manual, but don’t fit in any existing Wilderlife categories

Training Grant Keeping Students Safe in the Backcountry

By Guest Author|2025-07-03T15:11:07+12:00July 3rd, 2025

As students and outdoors enthusiasts, members of the Otago University Tramping Club dedicate their free time to more studying – this time learning Outdoor First Aid to effectively manage any backcountry emergency. Through the FMC Training Grant, strapped for cash students can learn outdoors skills while still affording their university fees.

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Conservation A Cheeky Calendar for a Cheeky Bird

By Masha Oliver|2025-03-31T15:02:20+13:00March 31st, 2025

The Tasteful Nude Calendar is a story of a community coming together to protect a native bird in decline while having some cheeky fun along the way.

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Training Grant Being Prepared Through Outdoor First Aid

By Guest Author|2024-11-18T13:16:02+13:00November 18th, 2024

"Everyone with an interest in any outdoor activity should go on this course – it really is tailored to outdoor emergency situations and how often do we actually practice first aid in the backcountry?" Ten members from the Palmerston North Tramping and Mountaineering Club cash in on the FMC Training Grant and enroll in an outdoor first aid course to gain competency in responding to backcountry accidents.

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Training Grant Navigation and River Crossing

By Guest Author|2024-07-22T14:44:03+12:00July 22nd, 2024

Do you feel confident with crossing a river? With New Zealand's abundance of rivers, every backcountry tramper must know how to safely cross a waterway if the situation requires. With expert teaching from Outdoor Training NZ (OTNZ), the Rotorua Tramping Club fine-tunes their navigational skills and goes deep into hands-on learning with group and solo pack-floating, entrapment and how to escape from a strainer.

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Tim Swale Tramping With Youth

By Guest Author|2024-01-24T23:06:23+13:00January 20th, 2024

Working with youth in the outdoors can be a gift. Teacher and outdoors enthusiast Tim Swale knows this very well. In this article, he shares his experience working with youth in the outdoors, how to support them and what the support entails.

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Youth Tramping Accessible to All

By Guest Author|2023-11-27T10:35:38+13:00November 20th, 2023

“For a group of neuro-diverse students, the biggest challenge can be getting the opportunity to take part in outdoor adventures.” After five years in the making, nine neuro-diverse students from Wellington East Girls’ College head off for their biggest adventure yet – a six-day ski and snowshoeing trip to the Cardrona Valley. Unit Leader, Leonie King, shines light on the students’ barriers to entry and the preparation required to complete their Gold DOE's Hillary Award.

How To

How To Maintaining a Full Strength Club Committee

By Rebecca Gray|2023-09-28T16:13:28+13:00September 28th, 2023

Every club is faced with the task of finding and managing leadership, which can often feel daunting. FMC Executive Officer Administrator, Rebecca Gray, shares pro tips and creative solutions for designing a vibrant, effective and committed club committee that is sustainable for years to come.

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Training Grant Keeping Calm Under Pressure

By Guest Author|2023-09-07T10:09:20+12:00August 30th, 2023

“By the end of the weekend, we were like a well-oiled machine.” As recipients of the 2022 FMC Training Grant, members of the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club shift from uncertainty to competency during their wilderness first aid weekend training.

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Winter Tips Leading Alpine Trips

By Rebecca Gray|2023-08-22T14:25:47+12:00August 22nd, 2023

What makes a suitable alpine leader and how do you identify these people in your club? New Zealand clubs have a proud tradition of passing on knowledge to newer members who later themselves become leaders. FMC provides a guide to identifying and supporting not only current alpine leaders, but a framework to raise up the next generation.

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Training Grant Peak Safety Course

By Guest Author|2023-07-06T19:17:14+12:00July 6th, 2023

"All too often we can apply the ‘she’ll be right’ attitude to exploring the outdoors, but in an emergency, that is of little help." After assessing their outdated first aid skills, the Otago Section of the New Zealand Alpine Club puts their FMC Training Grant to good use – an intensive first aid course where they learn everything from CPR to managing real-life scenarios with hands-on practice.

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Back to the Wild A Wedding Anniversary Tramp With Our Toddler

By Sonia Barrish|2023-01-20T04:02:45+13:00January 16th, 2023

What better way to celebrate a wedding anniversary than by embarking on a family tramping adventure? On this occasion, a trek over the Kelly Range/Taipo River/Harman Pass tests skilled tramper and mum, Sonia Barrish, as she navigates slips and steep climbs on a four day, 51 kilometre tramp with her partner and 15-month old.

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Youth Outdoors The Murchison Camping Club

By Guest Author|2022-11-26T05:54:08+13:00November 23rd, 2022

It all started in the nineties with a group of paddlers keen to meet annually and paddle whitewater. Now an official tradition after twenty years, this tight-knit group continues to gather every Christmas to pass on their knowledge and love of kayaking to the next generation.

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Training Grant Snow Skills Weekend

By Guest Author|2022-11-21T13:42:45+13:00November 21st, 2022

After a close call occurs during a club outing, the North Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club (NOTMC) recognises the need to offer winter skills training for its newer members. With support from a FMC Training Grant, they organise a backcountry training weekend with a well-respected mountaineering and ski touring guide.

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Training Grant PRANZ Skills Development Programme

By Guest Author|2022-11-02T04:39:01+13:00November 2nd, 2022

With packrafting on the rise, PRANZ recognises their responsibility to establish a culture of safety and training around this popular sport. With support from the FMC Training Grant, they have developed and are now road testing a curriculum for packraft instruction.

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West Mathias First Descent by Kayak

By Guest Author|2022-10-27T07:49:02+13:00October 20th, 2022

Four kayakers embark on a first descent of the West Mathias river, completing the pinnacle of whitewater kayaking with a broken thumb and triumphant spirits.

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Kindred Organisations Forest & Bird and Predator Free 2050

By Guest Author|2022-10-08T09:12:05+13:00October 8th, 2022

What is Forest & Bird's role in conservation and how can you get involved? Former Acting Manager of National Projects, Gillian Wadams, breaks down F&B's contributions from the local to the national level and how their mission relates to Aotearoa's goal of Predator Free 2050.

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Training Grant Avalanche Awareness

By Guest Author|2022-10-05T07:05:35+13:00October 5th, 2022

With support from a FMC Training Grant, the Canterbury University Tramping Club (CUTC) gains essential, hands-on knowledge in avalanche safety and response.

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Citizen Science The New Zealand Bird Atlas

By Guest Author|2022-09-24T07:55:49+12:00September 24th, 2022

What's one simple and easy way you can help with conservation? Whether you're lounging in your backyard or out for an overnight mission in the bush, noticing and logging the bird life around you on the eBird app has a profound impact. Dan Burgin, NZ Bird Atlas Team, takes readers step-by-step into how they can begin 'Atlasing' on the eBird app and develop competency in their bird identification skills.

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Video Paddling the Sinbad Gully: Part II

By Guest Author|2022-09-22T05:20:14+12:00September 22nd, 2022

In Part II of their adventure, three mates continue on their three-day winter whitewater mission in Fiordland.

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Video Paddling the Harrison River: Part I

By Guest Author|2022-09-22T08:50:12+12:00September 16th, 2022

Oddly for these three mates, the depths of the southern winter seem to inspire thoughts of overnight whitewater missions. And this year was no different . . .

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Whitewater Kayaking Top Choices for Whitewater Huts

By Shaun Barnett|2022-08-15T10:51:19+12:00August 15th, 2022

After asking paddlers from Whitewater New Zealand about their favourite huts for whitewater kayaking, Shaun Barnett shares their top choices along with a few of his own.

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Video Paddling the Albert Burn

By Guest Author|2022-07-14T15:59:04+12:00July 14th, 2022

Three mates enjoy a wonderful day out, exploring a beckoning gorge amongst the incomparable Otago Alps. No helicopters needed for these guys, as they commit to a walk-in mission on the lower gorge of the Albert Burn, Lake Wānaka, Aotearoa New Zealand. Paddlers: Ewen Rodway, Michael McDonald, Ruari Macfarlane. Film by Ewen Rodway [...]

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Volunteering Revegetation of a Club-Owned Pine Forest in Natives

By Guest Author|2022-06-18T12:35:32+12:00June 18th, 2022

When a friend of the early Otago Tramping Club (now OTMC) gifted them a large block of land in 1930, it came with one requirement: protect and preserve the skyline hills as an asset for future trampers and walkers of Dunedin.

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Volunteering for Biodiversity How I Became a Trapper

By Guest Author|2022-06-02T15:06:14+12:00June 1st, 2022

While trapping began as a way for Marcia to bond with her teenager daughter, it evolves into her own personal project. In this honest account of what it takes to be a trapper, Marcia pushes past her comfort zone to overcome challenges and develop backcountry skills.

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