“Cyclone Fehi devastates West Coast” and “Dart Track Closed” don’t sound good two days before the planned alpine trip to the Marion Plateau, plus the combination with a super blue blood moon seemed to promise an inauspicious start.
Anne Taylor from the Southland Tramping Club explains why you should get some proper training before heading out on your own packrafting adventures.
Failure is inevitable in the mountains, yet the only time we truly fail is when we do not grow from such experiences. Failure teaches us resilience in the face of future hardship.
Good judgement usually comes from experience, and experience usually comes from bad judgement...
Penzy Dinsdale offers us a few thoughts about Aquanauting in the Otago Uni Tramping Club (OUTC)
Alpine tops, grade 2 rapids, southern ocean and two perfectly calm crossings of Hauroko, the "Lake of the sounding wind". Jamie McAuly had a dream trip by all accounts...
A remote West Coast river, packrafting, rain, a lack of information about paddling descents; for Chris Abel, it was hard to think of more exciting ingredients for an adventure.
On Christmas Eve we set off from the West Arm of Lake Manapouri with around a weeks’ worth of food, packrafting and tramping gear, a bunch of TOPO maps and loose plans to make it to Foveaux Strait. We had a small box of food delivered to Lake Roe Hut on the Dusky Track to pick on the way. For two weeks we linked together rivers, Fiords, lakes, some trails and a few different mountain ranges to make it to the Southern Ocean.
Two hard days to get over Emily Pass, and then a long day down the Okuru River to the ocean
Aimee Smith steps up from passenger to trip leader on a glorious paddle down the Clutha.
Sometimes inspiration comes at you from a strange angle.
How often is the forecast wrong? Sometimes it could be worth taking a bit of a punt on the prediction...
Hugh Canard reflects on a few past (mis)adventures which make him grateful for the modern packrafts we have these days.
Some adventures are planned, others present themselves unexpectedly. Otherwise known as (mini) epics, or type 2 (or three) fun, these adventures are often the memorable ones.
Joe Bugden and Greg Tilden commit to the exploration of a world class technical canyon in the Dart valley.
Traditionally, the Otaki gorge below Waitewaewae Hut was the domain of trampers with tyre tubes in low summer flows, and the occasional heli-kayaker when it been raining. Now, like many of the Tararua gorges, this is set to become a classic packrafting trip.
Katikati Tramping Club members make the most of the long weekends weather to explore and tramp through a delightful part of the Coromandel peninsula.
As four friends from the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club we were very fortunate to be the first recipients of the Simon Bell Memorial Scholarship.
In the second part of a reflection on the first year of Packrafting; near the end of the year, the lessons finally sink in.
Dan Clearwater reflects back on his first year of Packrafting: recounting a few close calls and lessons learned the hard way.
My first big mission back in New Zealand was quite an education.
The intrepid Emily Forne and friends complete their creative pack-raftiing loop in the wilds of South Westland
The intrepid Emily Forne and friends commit to an extended version of the Hollyford/Pyke packrafting classic.
In the summer of 2015/2016, a group from the Auckland University Tramping Club traversed the Tararua with support from the FMC Mountain and Forest Trust
