Track Talk – October 2012

 Amanda Wells, Chief Guide

 Daylight saving has arrived, along with Spring’s patchy weather. It signals the time to start thinking about your summer ambitions, as well as any training needed to achieve them! I am trying to write this column quickly so that I can go out for a run and practise my own advice.

Last month while enjoying a designated non-tramping holiday in Northland, Richard and I couldn’t resist checking out the Kauri forests. The sub-tropical tree life is totally different from our beech and lowland forests in the lower North Island, and the size and height of all the podocarps spectacular. It felt like we had the bush to ourselves even on short walks, with few tourists venturing down the gravel roads or risking the theft-warning festooned carparks. A few river crossings took us deep into the Kauri forest, not so great in my running shoes but worth it for the sheer oldness of these majestic trees. The best experience in a holiday of great outdoor experiences (which did not include the new Northland “cycle trail” – imagine a gravel culvert through farmland regularly interspersed with non-ridable gates).

It’s time to start thinking about our summer schedule (yes, already!). We need to get this published before Christmas, so we need to hold the trip planning meeting in early November. This means you’ve got roughly a month to get your ideas to me. Please email suggestions of road ends (you can include trip routes if you like, but just road ends is fine). Remember that this schedule will cover a few public holidays – Waitangi Day, Easter, Anzac Day – so there’s opportunity to venture farther afield.

Upcoming trips

 19-22 October Nelson Lakes – Labour weekend