Hi,
We've had a cracking Easter weekend here in NZ my wife bought me an early Birthday present in the form of a rather nifty Canon G11 camera and I also managed to escape the kids and perantal duty over at the beach and sneak off down into the south Waikato for a trip into the Pureora forest park for some fixed camp bushcraft...
My destination was the Waihora lagoon which is supposedly one of the best spots in the Park..
So I lived it up with some nice fresh food a bottle or 3 of beer and my hammocking kit and Aussie Army issue sleeping bag ( warm, green and posessing a central zip..) all of this kit filled up my Vulcan and made for a heavy load.. Fortunately the walk in is only 10 or so minutes from the road end... Through some pristene NZ bush...
As it's been so dry the lagoon was empty so I was glad I'd brought 6 lts of water with me...
After the drive down and the short walk in I was ready for a brew...
So I cracked out the stove and got the billy boiling..
After a cup of tea I took a look around the lagoon area..
The forest is old and a lot of the trees are podocarps this type of forest is relatively rare in NZ as a lot of it was cut and logged back in the day..
The asteleia here on the trunk is pretty common and you have to be careful not to bivvy under them as they can let go without warning and you can end up squashed.. Some folk call em 'widow makers'...
Some interesting Tree ferns...
Anyhow I set up my tarp and hammock for the night...
Then prepped a fire site..
Before..
TBH I've given up using my SFA as it's just too much of a PITA to lug around even for a short hike such as this. A folding saw and my F1 did a find job of cutting this Kahikatea ( white pine) trunk and then splitting it for some kindling and some feather sticks.
A carefully carverd feather stick with some very fine curls took a spark from a fire steel and fire was soon established...
No chance to use the birch bark technique need birch for that and it's in short supply in NZ forest like this...
After the fire had established it's self I used a decent ember bed to get a kumura roasting..
Then cracked out the skillet and used the embers to cook a nice steak...
Dinner was roasted Kumura a Steak from the pan and a cold beer.. Is there a finer way of living....
Dusk fell and I stoaked up the fire with some of the Kahikatea logs and contemplated the sounds of the forest.... Before retiring to the hammock and the brainless fun that is Clive Cusslers Vixen 03.
After a comfy night the fire was resetablished for some bacon butties cooked bush style...
After breakfast I policed up the fire area
Then ensured I left no trace of my fire...
All packed up just need to pull on the boots before tramping back to the car..
You need a good pack and good boots for NZ and the Vulcan and these Lowa Desert Elites fit the job really well. Light weight fast drying boots make more sense than proofed leather boots or boots with a breatheable lining for NZ.
Then headed back to the car and back down the 4WD track and out of the bush..
Here is looking over South Waikato Farmland on a fine NZ Autumn Day..
All around the South Waikato you get good rock formations all around.. there are pretty typical..
I headed down the road a bit to the 4wd track to Bog Inn a back country hut.. Pureora has a number of camping shelters and I wanted to check one out to see what too expect if I'm using one in future with a group..
A typical bush 'lean to' shelter..
I'm not sure I'd be using the matteress inside....
Sadly not all Kiwi's who use the bush are clean and green as this proves...
Still I hope you enjoyed the photos the camera is great....
Cheers
John
We've had a cracking Easter weekend here in NZ my wife bought me an early Birthday present in the form of a rather nifty Canon G11 camera and I also managed to escape the kids and perantal duty over at the beach and sneak off down into the south Waikato for a trip into the Pureora forest park for some fixed camp bushcraft...
My destination was the Waihora lagoon which is supposedly one of the best spots in the Park..
So I lived it up with some nice fresh food a bottle or 3 of beer and my hammocking kit and Aussie Army issue sleeping bag ( warm, green and posessing a central zip..) all of this kit filled up my Vulcan and made for a heavy load.. Fortunately the walk in is only 10 or so minutes from the road end... Through some pristene NZ bush...
As it's been so dry the lagoon was empty so I was glad I'd brought 6 lts of water with me...
After the drive down and the short walk in I was ready for a brew...
So I cracked out the stove and got the billy boiling..
After a cup of tea I took a look around the lagoon area..
The forest is old and a lot of the trees are podocarps this type of forest is relatively rare in NZ as a lot of it was cut and logged back in the day..
The asteleia here on the trunk is pretty common and you have to be careful not to bivvy under them as they can let go without warning and you can end up squashed.. Some folk call em 'widow makers'...
Some interesting Tree ferns...
Anyhow I set up my tarp and hammock for the night...
Then prepped a fire site..
Before..
TBH I've given up using my SFA as it's just too much of a PITA to lug around even for a short hike such as this. A folding saw and my F1 did a find job of cutting this Kahikatea ( white pine) trunk and then splitting it for some kindling and some feather sticks.
A carefully carverd feather stick with some very fine curls took a spark from a fire steel and fire was soon established...
No chance to use the birch bark technique need birch for that and it's in short supply in NZ forest like this...
After the fire had established it's self I used a decent ember bed to get a kumura roasting..
Then cracked out the skillet and used the embers to cook a nice steak...
Dinner was roasted Kumura a Steak from the pan and a cold beer.. Is there a finer way of living....
Dusk fell and I stoaked up the fire with some of the Kahikatea logs and contemplated the sounds of the forest.... Before retiring to the hammock and the brainless fun that is Clive Cusslers Vixen 03.
After a comfy night the fire was resetablished for some bacon butties cooked bush style...
After breakfast I policed up the fire area
Then ensured I left no trace of my fire...
All packed up just need to pull on the boots before tramping back to the car..
You need a good pack and good boots for NZ and the Vulcan and these Lowa Desert Elites fit the job really well. Light weight fast drying boots make more sense than proofed leather boots or boots with a breatheable lining for NZ.
Then headed back to the car and back down the 4WD track and out of the bush..
Here is looking over South Waikato Farmland on a fine NZ Autumn Day..
All around the South Waikato you get good rock formations all around.. there are pretty typical..
I headed down the road a bit to the 4wd track to Bog Inn a back country hut.. Pureora has a number of camping shelters and I wanted to check one out to see what too expect if I'm using one in future with a group..
A typical bush 'lean to' shelter..
I'm not sure I'd be using the matteress inside....
Sadly not all Kiwi's who use the bush are clean and green as this proves...
Still I hope you enjoyed the photos the camera is great....
Cheers
John
