Tag Archives: media

FMC’s new magazine website

Posted on 29 May, 2017 by Mike McGavinPrint This Post Print This Post

Federated Mountain Clubs has, over the last short while, been quietly introducing its new Wilderlife website (think “wilder life”) . It’s a magazine-style website which, so far at least, revives much of the really good content that was previously only … Continue reading →

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Floyd Pond: A New Tararua Lake

Posted on 20 March, 2017 by Mike McGavinPrint This Post Print This Post

There’s an interesting report on Stuff this evening about a landslide in the upper Tauherenikau catchment of the Tararua, which has created a new lake in the catchment surrounded by the Dress Circle and Alpha. The new lake was reported … Continue reading →

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DOC’s Comments on Funding

Posted on 21 February, 2017 by Mike McGavinPrint This Post Print This Post

Lou Sanson, Director-General of DOC, was on TV3/Newshub this evening. He was talking about the possibility of charging for entry to certain National Parks. The angle of the report from Samantha Hayes was that New Zealand should charge more for … Continue reading →

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It’s about the spending as much as the funding

Posted on 30 December, 2016 by Mike McGavinPrint This Post Print This Post

Last March I expressed my views here on calls to add more charges in various forms to parks and their facilities, and particularly on differential charging for tourists. Recently this topic has been refreshed in media. It might be because … Continue reading →

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Something to listen to

Posted on 14 September, 2016 by Mike McGavinPrint This Post Print This Post

I’ve not yet read Laurence Fearnley’s Going Up Is Easy, but it’s on my reading list. It’s the biographical account of Lydia Bradey as the first woman to ascend Everest without oxygen, and the only New Zealander to do so. … Continue reading →

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One Way Communication

Posted on 7 September, 2016 by Mike McGavinPrint This Post Print This Post

There was a report a couple of days back of some people being rescued in Kahurangi National Park, having activated a personal locator beacon. The three women […] had been tramping on the Leslie-Karamean track when they became stranded on … Continue reading →

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Comparing accounts of accidents

Posted on 31 August, 2016 by Mike McGavinPrint This Post Print This Post

I’ve only been reluctantly following the recent winter incident on the Routeburn track, where a man slipped and fell, eventually dying. His partner stayed with him in freezing temperatures for several days as he died, then made her way slowly … Continue reading →

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Overseas tourists and park access fees

Posted on 1 March, 2016 by Mike McGavinPrint This Post Print This Post

It’s difficult to comment on recent calls for tourists to pay a larger share of maintenance of the conservation estate without detail of what’s being proposed. So far nothing’s been formally proposed. This is a recurring topic. The most recent … Continue reading →

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Charting DOC expenditure

Posted on 20 February, 2016 by Mike McGavinPrint This Post Print This Post

Lately there’s been much discussion about New Zealand’s Department of Conservation not being well enough resourced to manage the rapidly increasing number of international tourists interested in parts of the conservation estate. Most recently, Stuff reports on concerns being expressed … Continue reading →

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Preserving Outdoor Access

Posted on 25 January, 2016 by Mike McGavinPrint This Post Print This Post

Radio New Zealand’s Insight programme has looked at public access rights and the conflict over paper roads in New Zealand. The 28 minute audio programme can be found at the end of the linked page. Paper Roads are legal rights … Continue reading →

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