Author Archives: sdemas@carleton.edu

New Zealand Huts: unique features and loose ends

This is a miscellany brief notes on topics about which I’d hoped to learn and write more fully. Alas, this is the best I can do as I’ve run out of time for this phase of my report on NZ huts. Hoping to revisit some of these topics in future, these are simply place-holders/reminders to spur further inquiry on interesting topics, by myself or, I hope, by others.

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

Unique features of New Zealand Huts:

  1. Literature, journals and publishing. The world of writings about NZ huts and tramping is large for such a comparatively small nation. This is a reflection of the depth of engagement of Kiwis in thinking about the outdoors, in addition to experiencing it! I fantasize that I’ll have time in future to luxuriate in some deeper dives into this rich vein of outdoors literature. If and when I do, some of my obvious guides will include:
    • An overview article by writer, reviewer, and bibliophile Shaun Barnett in June 2016 FMC Bulletin, p. 20-26, “Rucksack of Knowledge: New Zealand Outdoor Literature”. Shaun covers highlights of the early mountaineering, hunting and tramping literature, features the top five choices of five avid readers of NZ outdoor books, lists some key club histories and anthologies, and lists general histories by topic.
    • The rich literature of newsletters and histories created by tramping clubs.
    • Perusing back runs fo periodicals such as Wilderness; Backcountry (formerly FMC Bulletin), published by the Federated Mountain Club; and the glossy journal Walking New Zealand. 
    •  The publications of Potton and Burton (Nelson), the premier publisher of tramping books in NZ.
    • Outdoor recreation in New Zealand, vol. 1 A Review and Synthesis of the Research Literature, a joint publication of the NZ Department of Conservation and Lincoln University, 1995.
    • And of course the books and articles of Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown, Geoff Spearpoint, Gerard Hindmarsh, and Mark Pickering.
  2. Libraries and archives. As a retired librarian, I spent very little time in NZ libraries while there in 2018, opting instead to walk the walks and talk with folks. One day I hope to spend many days browsing the collections of at least some of the major collections, e.g.:
    • National Library (Wellington)
    • Alexander Turnbull Library
    • Lincoln University Library
    • Archives New Zealand (Wellington and other locations), and
    • Department of Conservation Library (the hours I spent there were somewhat disappointing due to the lack of funding allocated for library collections and services, but certainly worth more time).

3. Hut bagging. Is NZ the only nation with a “hut-bagging” culture? I’m interested to learn the extent to which other nations have developed a semi-formal outlet for those obsessed with visiting and recording their visits to as many huts as they can, aka “hut bagging”. In New Zealand the cool website Hutbagger is: 1. a forum in which trampers can record the huts they have visited and look at a list of the top 100 hut baggers, and 2. a source others can search by hut name and find photos of the hut and information about the its amenities and location, including GPS coordinates. While there can be a competitive dimension to this enterprise, it seems primarily to be a way of keeping track and sharing information among the hut nuts. It is understood that many NZ trampers, including the legendary Mark Pickering (who at more than 1,250 huts, according to a 2016 article by Shaun Barnett, appears to be the record holder) and Paul Kilgour, (at 1,174 huts as of Nov. 2018) do not list their huts visited on the site. Kilgour claims to eschew “hut bagging” as mere hut bragging. None of this detracts from the good fun of the enterprise for those keen on hut bagging. The universe of NZ huts is large, providing hut baggers a lifetime of opportunity!

Check out a 6.5 minute You Tube slide show of 76 of the 80 huts along the Te Araroa Trail.

Check out a 6.5 minute You Tube slide show of 76 of the 80 huts along the Te Araroa Trail.

4. Huts and the Te Araroa Trail. The 3,000 km long distance trail, officially opened in 2011, is on the international trekking radar as a premier destination. It is popular as a way to test the mettle of folks who have already completed other major walks. For example, among the hard core Americans who have completed the “Triple Crown” (Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail), quite a few seem to set their sights on Te Araroa Trail as the next logical challenge. Use of the trail has grown dramatically, and is projected to grow about 9-10% per year in coming years. DoC has studied the significant environmental impacts of increased use of the trail and associated tramping infrastructure including huts, bridges, campsites, toilets, and streams and lakes (See Te Araroa Visitor Growth: visitor demand report, Draft 2016, DoC Recreation, Tourism and Heritage Unit). About 80% of use is by international tourists. Other very popular long distance trails suffer similar environmental impacts. There are 44 huts along the TA, most of which were not designed for the level of use they are experiencing. Hut usage is up by as much as 300% in some cases. While serving as hut wardens in Nelson Lakes National Park we met lots of millennials (and other age groups) tramping Te Araroa, and were struck by the fact that for the many Americans this was their first introduction to huts. Accustomed to thinking of huts as “cheating” for long distance walkers, Americans embraced huts as destinations and gathering places, but were mostly disinterested or uncertain about how they thought huts might fit into the American hiking scene. It will be interesting to try to track how this significant experience of NZ huts by Americans and other international TA hikers affects their views of huts in the long term. The TA Facebook site may be a place to solicit observations about huts from TA through hikers.

5. Gear designers. New Zealand has had a robust outdoor gear industry for a century now, and is known for its focus on durability and innovation. I have not made a study of NZ gear design, but to me the three most interesting companies I encountered are committed to manufacturing their products in New Zealand and employ designers dedicated to innovation and durability to meet the needs of Kiwis tramping and climbing in rugged NZ terrain. These include: 1. Canterbury-based Cactus Outdoor has been manufacturing rugged work and outdoor clothing and gear for over 25 years. They favor rugged canvas and privilege durability over light-weight. I bought a pair of their gaiters, which I think will last a lifetime! 2. Canterbury based Earth Sea Sky is a family owned business that has been involved in manufacturing for six generations and owns and operates the two NZ-based factories that produce the designs for which they are famous. I bought a knee-length raincoat that is remarkably effective in a veritable deluge. 3. Aaran Bodypacks specializes in ergonomically sophisticated backpack design that distributes the load on the musculoskeletal structure in a naturally balanced, body friendly way. These award-winning designs are becoming popular world-wide. What makes these companies notable is their commitment to local manufacturing, design for local conditions, and commitment to high quality. That such comparatively small, locally owned businesses can thrive in today’s international marketplace is a testament to both their values and their commitment to quality, and equally to the recognition and valuing of those qualities by Kiwis.

New Zealand Huts
Derry Kingston, courtesy nz radio

6. Car relocation services. A unique feature of several car relocation services is that the owners/operators, serious trail runners, is to use the return trip as training. For example, TrackHopper in Glenorchy will drive your car several hours from the beginning of the Routeburn Track (east end) to the end and leave it for you. Then they will run the 33 km Routeburn Track back to the beginning (usually in 3.5-4.5 hours), near where they live. Trackhopper owners, Mike and Kiyomi, were inspired to do this when they met Derry Kingston, who ran a similar service on the Heaphy Track for years. Kingston — who recently retired at age 73 after walking the 78 km Heaphy Track over 400 times — appears to have invented this model. We met his daughter, a guide on the Heaphy Track, and learned that years ago he decided he needed get fit after a heart attack. He thought doing the 20 hour Heaphy Track walk on a regular basis, which most trampers do over 3 or 4 days, was just the thing. Over the years he became a legendary walker and has walked the Appalachian Trail and Lands End to John O’ Groats in UK. And he invented what may be a uniquely Kiwi business model along the way!

Loose ends:

  1. Cobb Valley Pilgrimage and Asbestos Cottage – I’d hoped to write a trip report on the incredibly rich tramp we experienced in the Cobb Valley Hut, and the wonderful people we met. In addition, I wanted to write a piece examining the widespread appeal of the unlikely story of Henry and Annie Chaffey of Asbestos Cottage fame. Like so much else, these topics have already been covered by others!
  2. Meeting with people and better understanding the work of the Walking Access Commission, NZ Alpine Club, and Federated Mountain Clubs is a future goal.
  3. While visiting NZ the first three months of 2018, we tramped for x days, covering xxx km, and we visited y huts. Here are the lists:
    • List of tramps 2018
    • List of huts visited 2018

cross cultural comparisons

Cross-cultural Comparisons of Huts: methodological notes

Cross-cultural Comparisons

as a Component of Country Studies of Huts: methodological notes

by Sam Demas

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

While learning basic facts about NZ huts (e.g. how they are organized, operated, funded, and used), I was quickly drawn to trying to understand the cultural context of huts and long-distance human-powered travel in NZ.  While I made progress in learning the facts, developing even a slightly nuanced understanding of the broader context for NZ huts will take more time, travel, tramping, talking and reading.

This “NZ country study” – still a work in progress — is one building block in a larger project to compare and contrast huts across 6 – 8 nations.  Tramping, traveling and talking in NZ informed my approach to country studies in part by stimulating many questions of cross-cultural comparison.  I found myself trying to compare what I was learning in NZ with what I knew about the topic in the USA.  Wow!  Confronting my incomplete and idiosyncratic understanding of my own culture was a useful, if humbling, experience!  Travel abroad can certainly help us understand ourselves and the place we call home, as well as a bit about other peoples and lands.

I’m just beginning to learn how to think about cross-cultural comparisons and have a long ways to go……. 

So what follows is not a cross cultural comparison of NZ huts with US or other nation(s); I simply don’t know enough yet to go there.  Rather these are thoughts and questions, using NZ as an example, towards a more intentional method of cross-cultural comparison as a lens for studying and comparing hut systems.

The hope is that these notes will stimulate useful comments and criticisms, and perhaps even lead to collaborations in exploring this arena of comparing hut systems around the world.

1. In beginning a country study, I focus on ascertaining the obvious facts about a hut system so I can begin to draw comparisons with huts in other nations.

2. This leads to identifying the unique features of each nation’s hut system, comparing and contrasting them. What makes this hut system different from others in the world?  For example, in NZ this includes:

  • Historical development of tramping and huts
  • Tramping culture and tramping clubs of New Zealand
  • The large DoC government-owned and operated hut system
  • Great Walks and other categories of tramps and huts
  • Hut architecture and design
  • Private walks and huts
  • Maori operated huts and tracks
  • And small but interesting topics such as: the innovative gear industry of NZ, car relocation services, the Kiwi bach as a related architectural type,
  • Overview of the relevant literature, including books, magazines and websites; and a sense of the state of relevant publishing, maps, libraries and archives.

3. Next, I try to drill deeper, looking at key attitudes, metrics and indicators of land use, environmental awareness, and recreational culture. Most nations do not have book like Shelter from the Storm, which provides a starting point for such analysis.  Among the topics in this arena are:

  • Land use and environmental attitudes:
    • What are the historical patterns of land use and how do they influence environmental attitudes today? It was invaluable to have a broad overview, such as that provided in Chapter 26 “Land under Pressure” in Michael King’s Penguin History of New Zealand.  This includes a sketch of the historical patterns of land use, the dawning of environmental awareness, the arc of environmental activism and legislation, and key environmental organizations.  This background informs questions I ask in interviews and casual conversations.  Geoff Park’s Theatre Country is another example of environmental history shedding light on present attitudes and challenges.
    • What percentage of land is in public ownership and how is it administered for recreation and conservation?
    • What is the role of private land and of land owners in recreation and conservation?
    • Extent, operations and changing attitudes towards wilderness, national parks, and other lands with conservation value? Wild Heart edited by Mick Abbott and Richard Reeve, for example, brings together differing perspectives, and points to areas where Kiwi attitudes converge and diverge from those in the USA, Australia and elsewhere, and specifically addresses ideas about huts and wilderness.
    • Key features of the culture’s attitudes about and engagement with environmental issues such as protection of natural resources, recycling and consumer habits, environmental education programs.
  • Recreational culture in general:
    • What is the historical arc of recreational culture over time? For example, in former British colonies, how were British attitudes to alpinism, rambling, outdoor clubs, and hunting absorbed, transformed and/or rejected. The prevalence and extent of elitist vs. egalitarian ethos of tramping and tramping clubs, and of alpinism, for example.  These evolved differently in New Zealand than in Ireland, Canada, and the USA.  These differences may shape and can help to understand cultural differences in recreation in these nations.
    • Roles of clubs and other mechanisms for promoting and supporting participation in tramping? Extent of permission and overlap with conservation organizations?
    • What are the recreational motivations and values of a culture (e.g. solitude, not seeing others, tolerance for crowding, etc.) and how do they shape huts, tramping and camping? How and why have the relationships of hunters and trampers evolved?
    • What is the history and culture of long distance, human-powered travel in a nation? Extent and nature of trails and of accommodations for skiers, walkers, and cyclists?  How are hospitality traditions of a nation reflected in modern recreational culture?
    • Miles/km of tracks/trails and nature of the trails? Nature and difficult of the terrain? Trends in trail maintenance?
    • General health and fitness of the populace, rates of participation in long-distance human-powered travel, preferences for terrain, accommodations,
    • Trends in camping, hiking, cycling, etc.? How do these affect interest in/use of huts and other accommodation systems?
    • Rights of access – NZ, USA and Ireland have similar laws around legal rights of access for walkers on private land; these are based largely on English laws that have long since been changed in the UK. Most other European nations seem to recognize traditional rights of way to a greater extent than the former British colonies.  Similarly rights of access to coastal lands (e.g. Queen’s chain in NZ) differs among nations and can affect the extent of tracks by rivers/seas/ocean.  The overall impact of these legal differences is of course affected by the extent of publicly owned lands, by other relevant legislation.  Is there a Walking Access Commission or other entity advocating for the rights of walkers?
    • Laws related to recreation – For example, in NZ the laws providing for health care for trampers injured in the backcountry, combined with laws prohibiting recreationists from suing a company or government for liability in case of death or injury create a more relaxed and creative approach to outdoor recreation than in the USA.
    • Tourism and impacts on nature
  • Attitudes toward, use, and role(s) of huts:
    • Societal attitudes towards and extent of knowledge of, huts as recreational infrastructure?
    • Hut etiquette varies among cultures, and differences can be sources of tension in the remarkable experience of communal living that huts provide.  It will be interesting to study differences among nations and how they relate to deeper cultural traits, preferences, and values. 
    • Level(s) of amenities and how this reflects cultural preferences and traditions? Nature of the terrain?  Demographics of use (age, gender, race, education, domestic, international).  Rates of participation compared with other recreational opportunities?
    • Use of huts for educational, conservation, therapeutic purposes?
    • Affordability of huts?
    • Categories of hut visitors catered to? For example, in NZ huts are categorized as catering to Backcountry Comfort Seekers, Backcountry Adventurers, Remoteness Seekers, and Thrill Seekers.  In the far less developed hut systems of the USA, there is no guidebook to hut systems (I’m working on one now!), and there are no equivalent categories signaling the comparative level of amenities/difficulty/challenge of a hut system.

4. Finally, I hope to understand some of the broad historical and socio-economic context, the key challenges of a nation that condition efforts to create its environmental future, and how these factors may influence the present and future roles of its huts. In the case of New Zealand, some of the fascinating broad features of Kiwi culture that resonated with me include a set of conflicts and conundrums that arise in part from its unique position as the last large land mass to be settled by Europeans.  In his Penguin History of New Zealand, Michael King opens the book with a quote from Geoff Park that summarizes a central conflict of the nation’s identity and future: 

New Zealand’s fertile plains were the last that Europeans found before the Earth’s supply revealed itself as finite.  Our relationship with them has been completely unsustainable…..[We] have exploited these islands’ richest ecosystems with all the violence that modern science and technology could summon….We must live with the rest of nature or die with the rest of nature.

While the environmental challenges faced by Kiwis are certainly not unique, they create a set of salient characteristics of NZ culture that influences attitudes to huts, tracks, tramping and outdoor culture.  This seems particularly so due to the rapidity of environmental degradation in this young nation, the broad awareness of the populace of the issues, the comparatively large amount of land in the conservation estate, broad popular support for DoC and its brief to protect and conserve natural resources, and the apparent strength of the environmental movement.

A few of the remarkable contradictions, conflicts and conundrums that struck me as central to NZ’s current challenges and environmental futures:

  • The rapid deforestation of over 50% of the land in pursuit of the goal of creating the Great Britain of the southern hemisphere, complete with a pastoral landscape aesthetic creates ongoing environmental challenges.
  • The designation of 40% of the nation’s land mass as part of the conservation estate sets up a stark dichotomy in land use: developed and conserved.
  • These islands with no native terrestrial mammals have established an economy based on animal husbandry.
    • An island of 3.5 million people, produces food (especially particular dairy and meat) to feed 40,000,000 people per year, which incurs internal environmental costs.
    • Kiwis have among the highest annual rate of consumption of meat per person in the world.
    • The growing export economy for dairy products is utilizing water resources at a stunning rate. A very wet nation appears to be facing issues of water quality and, in some areas, sufficiency.  Resolution of this issue may open a Pandora’s box of issues, including Maori water rights.
  • The role of Maori citizens in civil society in general, and in conservation and tourism issues in particular is a major challenge and an opportunity.
  • The legal personification of former national parks, such as Te Urewera, is a remarkable development, introducing a parallel system of land rights and management. It will be fascinating to see what the Maori do with the dozens of huts for which they are now responsible.
  • An island nation with a sense of isolation from the rest of the world, Kiwi’s are in fact very much tied into the rest of the world. They are: curious about and engaged with the larger world, while mindful of the fact they have created something special that they don’t want to spoil, and simultaneously always looking elsewhere for answers, affirmation and a sense of what is worth paying attention to.  This brings to mind the aphorism “be careful what you wish for”, and is encapsulated in Allen Curnow’s warning,

Always to islanders danger, 

Is what comes over the sea.

  • New Zealand is “Clean and Green” and “100% Pure”, and also competing in the international economy with nations that have no such aspirations.
  • An important part of NZ economy is international tourism, which inexorably veers into “mass tourism”, and
    • strains the patience of Kiwis and threatens the natural beauty and integrity of the very ecosystems that make the land so appealing; and
    • strains DoC’s ability to cater to a broad range of recreational uses of the conservation estate, while also pursuing its lofty conservation goals;
    • prompts the question: who benefits and what suffers from the seemingly inexorable growth in international tourism. Is it sustainable over time, and at what costs?
  • Conservation conundrums: for example, use of the pesticide 1080 as a divisive issue; viewed as “correcting a blunder with a crime”.

Most of the items on this short list of major challenges certainly have analogs in other cultures.  While I can’t get lost in the deep weeds of these issues, I am fascinated by discussing with colleagues:

  • How do these cultural particularities inform national environmental values and aspirations? and
  • How do they condition attitudes and programs in environmental education, recreational culture and in the roles of huts in a particular culture, and across cultures?

In the end, the real fun will come in trying to look across what I learn about Ireland, New Zealand, USA (and eventually other nations such as Switzerland, Austria, France, Norway and Japan), to see if I can detect patterns, anomalies, unique features, trends, and interesting ideas.  To the extent this comparison of hut systems might be grounded in some level of cross-cultural comparison and understanding, the work may have greater meaning.  Ideas travel far and wide and find new meanings as they go……

New Zealand Hut Heroes: John Taylor, master of hut restoration

Photo above of JT (John Taylor) and Max Polglaze working on restoration of Riordans Hut

New Zealand Hut Heroes: John Taylor, master of hut restoration

by Sam Demas

[Photos Courtesy DoC Takkaka, Neil Murray & Tony Hitchcock]

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

Antarctica, one place John Taylor works on hut restoration, is the only continent on earth where human’s first dwellings still stand.  Less than 12 hours after he returned from work on an ongoing project in Antarctica (this was the only time we could find to get together, and he insisted we do it!),  JT related this remarkable fact over breakfast on a Saturday morning.  Before we started talking about him, he regaled me with stories of huts in Antarctica, where he is currently helping establish a base camp for hut restoration work, and gave me a marvelous booklet Antarctic Historic Huts of the Ross Sea Region (Antarctic Heritage Trust, n.d.).  I knew immediately that his would be a fun and informative conversation.

JT on the job restoring Riordans Hut

JT is really excited about his work in multiple arenas.  He is a talented, energetic, dedicated and wide-ranging public servant; in my humble opinion, an exemplary DoC ranger.  This man is fascinated by history, full of inspiration and a natural teacher.  Its not surprising that through his energetic and visionary work in the Golden Bay DoC he has quietly led by example — just doing it — in restoring historic huts.  He is a key link in the transmission of the skills and techniques of hut restoration from one generation to the next.

Continue reading →

Paul Kilgour

New Zealand Hut Heroes: Paul Kilgour: story and video

Kilgour Was Here: the story and a video of a hut nut 

by Sam Demas

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

Talking about huts, Kiwis I met often spoke with awe about Paul Kilgour, the Golden Bay tramper who has “visited more huts than anyone else in New Zealand”.  We ended our Cobb Valley tramp just ahead of Cyclone Gita and drove to Takkaka, where we hoped to meet Paul and others.  Very soon, in talking with Gerard Hindmarsh (whose books are a delightful trove of Golden Bay stories, including some about huts and about Paul) we learned that Paul is his  friend and neighbor. We got through to Paul and invited him for dinner or a drink, he turned the tables, inviting us to his house since Takkaka was essentially closing down for the cyclone and he really didn’t want to go out.  So we brought along beer and pizza, and Paul’s partner Janet provided a garden salad and a super-delicious southern-style apple pie (she is from Tennessee!).   [They met on the Heaphy Track where she was a hut warden, at the end of his “great walk”, but thats another story].  We spent a wonderful evening talking, spent the night in our camper parked in their driveway, and had coffee with them in the morning.  A memorable visit from which I learned a great deal.

Paul Kilgour

Paul Kilgrour and Janet Watchman

However, after dinner that night, when our partners had grow weary of all the hut talk and retired for the night, I took out the video camera and recorded Paul telling his story.  He was on a roll!  What follows is a brief written profile of Paul and a link to the video.  You may want to skip the writing and go right to the video at the end of this post!

With his Gandalf beard, bright eyes and glowing good health, Paul has a beatific presence.  His elfin whimsy, great energy, and thoughtful, loving affect, make it clear he loves people and is genuinely compassionate  He seems the sort of person who can talk with anyone.  He connects with people in part because he is quietly alert, endlessly curious, and seems knows at least a little about a-lot of things.  For example, trained in the air force as an airplane mechanic, he seems to know lots of folks with planes, a handy thing when getting around in the backcountry.  He loves the “old ways” and has great respect for the self-reliant Kahurangi folks who “make do with what you got”.

Continue reading →

Architect Ron Pynenburg: New Zealand Hut Hero

Architect Ron Pynenburg: New Zealand Hut Hero

by Sam Demas

[black and white photos below excerpted are from Pynenburg’s thesis, included here with permission]

Hut design reflects cultural values and recreational preferences, and can become an expression of national identity.  This is certainly true in New Zealand, where Kiwi’s have definite opinions about and resonances with hut architecture.  Most love the older, smaller huts with open hearths. Some hard core trampers are disdainful of the newer “flash” (fancy) huts.  As I explored NZ huts, I couldn’t help wondering:  Who designs these new huts?  What design principles and preferences inform these designs? Where is the hut system headed?   And, as Andrew Buglass suggests, is there a two-tier hut system evolving in which lower-use backcountry huts are losing support in favor of high-use serviced and Great Walks huts?

Ron in Dingleburn, Courtesy Pynenburg

In addition to talking with Brian Dobbie of DoC, I had a chance to meet Ron Pynenburg, the architect of many recent New Zealand huts.  For me, learning a bit about Ron’s  early influences and about his perspectives on hut design, past, present and future — the topic of this profile — cast light on these questions.

European huts (OK, I know one really shouldn’t generalize across so many distinctive nations!) are mostly very “flash”, i.e. more like mountain hotels than primitive shelters.  For a Swiss architect, I’m told, a commission to design a hut is as prestigious as one to design and museum or a church.  The multidisciplinary high-tech project selected to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology , the design and construction of the New Monte Rosa Hut, is a remarkable monument to the place of huts (and Swiss hospitality, design and engineering) in that nation’s identity.

As an American, I was amazed to realize that every one of the 105 huts in the 18 U.S. hut systems has a higher level of amenities than every one of the 962 DoC huts, including those on the Great Walks.  Like the Europeans, but in our own “pioneer” ways, we Americans sure like our comforts!

Continue reading →

Brian Dobbie: New Zealand Hut Hero

Brian Dobbie: New Zealand Hut Hero

by Sam Demas

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

Few have visited as many NZ huts, and even fewer know as much about the DoC hut system as Brian.  Working in the Recreations and Historic Unit, he is part of the team of DoC staff planning and managing the hut

Brian Dobbie, courtesy Brian Dobbie

system at the national level.  Since 1987 Brian has contributed greatly to shaping the development and operation of the world’s largest hut system.  His perspective encompasses a broad understanding of the genesis and infrastructure of the system as a whole, the attendant policy and budget issues, how huts fit into tourism and Kiwi culture, and a deep knowledge of the nitty-gritty of hut operations.  He seems to have been involved in every major controversy and policy decision related to DoC huts, wrote or helped to write the foundational operating documents and procedures, and helped figure out how best to respond to an endless series of budget cuts — and the occasional significant boost in funding — over the years.  And he loves huts: as of early 2018 he had visited 770 of the roughly 962 huts in the DoC hut system.

Continue reading →

Shelter from the Storm: dream team, genesis and impact

Shelter from the Storm: dream team, genesis and impact

Sam Demas, September 5, 2018

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

{Photo above by John Rhodes, courtesy Shaun Barnett}

Shelter from the Storm: the story of New Zealand’s backcountry huts deeply influenced my understanding of huts and how they are — in addition to shelter — both evolving cultural reflections of the terrain and the society in which they exist, and also manifestations of human relationship to nature.  I was so excited when I first read the book that I wrote an extended review in hopes of increasing sales/readership in the USA.  While traveling in New Zealand I learned how profoundly the book has shifted Kiwi perceptions of huts as a treasured elements of culture and history.  As an offshoot of talking with the authors and the publisher I pieced together a little bit about the genesis of the book and its publishing history.  Talking with trampers all over New Zealand I heard repeatedly about how the book has shifted perceptions and the national conversations about huts.  I am now even more impressed by the book and am moved to share my deepened enthusiasm.

The full impact of this book has likely only begun to play out.  It is a classic.  While I am clearly not the best person to write about its publishing history, what follows is the germ of a story I really want to tell to my hut friends in the USA.  So, I am moved to jot here some threads about the publishing history of this book, musings about its impact in New Zealand, and some personal notions about the future of huts.

Continue reading →

Geoff Spearpoint: New Zealand Hut Hero

Geoff Spearpoint — Backcountry Tramper and Hut Advocate

by Sam Demas

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

After a lifetime of tramping, Geoffrey Brian Spearpoint is steeped in the NZ backcountry, and in Kiwi hut and tramping culture.  Embodying this culture, he is known as a hard core back country tramper who is not the least bit elitist.  When asked about a logbook comment “looks like another hut lost to the tourists”, he looked genuinely pained. He said his priority is that everyone, Kiwi’s and tourists alike, have the opportunity to experience the joys of tramping and huts.  Strong and sprightly, small in stature, he has an elfin glow.  With a gentle demeanor, he is clear about his views while open to new ideas.  Clear-sighted, Geoff seems to think outside the box. I read an account in which he was praised for his work on a Search and Rescue Team for discovering the footprint that provided the clue to locating a lost child: Geoff is the only one on the team who crawled under the fallen log (everyone else went over it).  There, in a child-sized space, he spotted the small footprint, which clearly pointed the direction in which the lost child was finally found.  Everyone in the tramping community seems to know and admire Geoff; the most common terms used to describe him are “inspiring” and “authentic”.

Sam and Geoff

 

While traveling in NZ I kept hearing stories and reading about Geoff, and was delighted to finally get a chance to talk with him briefly at the end of my trip.  As an outsider looking in, this post is an amateur’s attempt to introduce to a U.S. audience a genuine and beloved exemplar of Kiwi huts and tramping.

 

Continue reading →

Shaun Barnett: New Zealand Hut Hero

 

New Zealand Hut Heroes: Profile of Shaun Barnett

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

By far my best idea when planning a three month study tour of New Zealand huts was to read Shelter from the Storm and contact the authors.  All three members of this Dream Team (Rob Brown, Robbie Burton, Geoff Spearpoint) were helpful, but Shaun’s thoughtful and generous email exchanges were spot on in guiding me on who to talk with and where to go (i.e. what huts to visit!).  Finally meeting him in person — over a delightful four-hour lunch at his home in Wellington — was a highlight of our trip.  A gracious host and a wellspring of knowledge, there was so much to talk about!  Our rambling conversation helped me process lessons learned in my first month of tramping, and sharpened my focus, methods and questions going forward.   His advice on part two of our journey targeted my interests, expanded my horizons, and significantly advances my learning curve.  Wow!  I hit the jackpot by meeting New Zealand’s “go-to guy” for studying huts and tramping!

Shaun Barnett at summit of Mt Pureora, Pureora FP, King Country, 29 Dec 2017, courtesy Shaun Barnett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue reading →

New Zealand Hut Heroes: Rob Brown

Rob Brown: tramper, photographer, activist and diplomat

By Sam Demas

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

We spent several hours talking with Rob in his Wanaka home (and enjoying the harmonious  background presence of his two lovely daughters), before heading out to stay in one of the many huts (Meg Hut) that he urged us to visit.  Clearly a gifted photographer and committed activist, he pursues his passions — for art, activism, and partnerships in support of the great outdoors — with vigor on a national scale.  These accomplishments — combined with his inherent  enjoyment of advocacy, policy and process — make him a  real player in the world of New Zealand huts and wilderness.

Continue reading →