https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113...tararua-ranges
How on earth anyone would think it was ok to attempt the northern crossing during the weather we've had since Thu night is just beyond me :wtfsmilie:
Unbelievable !
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https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113...tararua-ranges
How on earth anyone would think it was ok to attempt the northern crossing during the weather we've had since Thu night is just beyond me :wtfsmilie:
Unbelievable !
Airforce chopper just went back in, still looking it seems
Not good place to be, if not in a hut
https://www.facebook.com/TararuaRange/?epa=SEARCH_BOX
But its Queens Birthday weekend,we gotta do it:O_O:
We had one too
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12236699
Something doesnt sound right to me with that one....heres the stuffed article.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113...son-lakes-area
I suspect he's the kind of optimist who "always got away with it before"
Comedian Ron White talks about a man who refused to evacuate before a storm in the US.
"He said that at 53 years of age he thought he was in good enough physical condition to withstand the wind and the rain from a force 3 hurricane.
......Alright.. Lemme explain something to ya. It isn't that the wind is blowin, it's ...What the wind is blowin.
If you get hit with a volvo..it don't really matter how many situps you did that morning."
Blind optimisim is a killer.
That explains all the chopper activity this morning
doesn't seem right. seems the guy left her and went on to the hut. If they didn't have a PLB, probably no other choice. other than he retraces his route
you'd think he would have been more help staying with her. dry warm or whatever
who knows
and another couple were headed for trouble same time, same place. but lucky enough to get cell phone call out
could say both were dumb decisions, then you don't know what you don't know
Doesnt seen right that he made the hut that night but didnt/could radio for help till next morning? It is only a stuff article tho.
I dont recall if that hut has a radio in it I have only stopped in to cook a feed for lunch but it is a very popular hut and in peak season always has "Honorary hut wardens" so may well have a permanent radio.
Does not make sense why he would be heading to Holdsworth - it is a hell of a slog from Mitre down to Holdsworth.
If he started in Otaki and planned to finish at Holdsworth, that sounds more like a modified Southern Crossing.
The area between Arete, Lancaster and Mitre is not poled, hardcore terrain up there even in good weather...
@ebf, he went in from Levin, stayed at Arete bivvy, didn't leave entry in hut book but did text his partner he was heading to Holdsworth. few trampers doing Nth Crossing bypass Mitre and exit at Holdsworth. He left Arete biv on Thursday, snow was bad until late Saturday I think.
The Otaki Forks bit was usual Stuff reporting
It’s not like the shit weather wasn’t well forecasted?
Looking out my back door at the ranges, plenty of snow up there. It wil be fn freezing, hopefully he makes it out OK.
Sad but I think he is
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Should really do the following
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One still missing down here as well , awesome lake completely surrounded by bush but its ruff as fcuk at times iv been caught out twice .
https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-ti...t-in-southland
Not looking good...
Wx is turning poos again for next 24-48 hours.
Does it get much below minus zero at the tararuas. It was minus 3 at galatea at 1 am.
well below zero on the tops...
in winter you can get ice down to 800/900m
if you factor in wind-chill it is a grim place to be.
common to have 50 to 80 kmh wind in exposed places
Yea.....Its actually not all that high at around 1650asl but it is a long way from the bushline....especially from the mount Robert route with all that exposed ridgeline to walk its about the worst way possible to access in bad weather, Speargrass route keeps you in shelter 90% of the way and there is a hut at the bushline if conditions are too bad to continue...maybe the river put them off that route I dont know.
you have got to feel for the SAR people who will be out trying to locate people like this...one bad decision and they will be out there giving thier all to try and bring them home to thier families..... looking up at the hills here recently Im very pleased Im not having an unplanned night out.
Hmmm how many people across time have been told not to underestimate the New Zealand high country and back country and yet still choose to do things that are ill advised ad at times to their peril? I hope this pommie bloke is OK. I for one wouldn’t fancy being up there at the moment.
The hardest decision to make is too turn around but I think you would be hard pressed to final an example of where a fatality has happened when a party has retreated to shelter / cover in inclement weather
Too little water is very rarely a problem in NZ tramping.
Too much in the form of rivers is the big killer.
Most NZ berries are poisonous to humans. Safest food is fish koura etc from streams, or rats and possums. ( assuming they havent bern 1080'd)
For a start most all the insects and larvae you find although Wetas taste pretty foul. Koura and eels are fairly easy to catch and thereafter head up the animal scale. come with me to a park some day and I will find you some stick insects, cicadas and grass hoppers to get you started. After your first cicada I bet you take the wings off the next one.
Locusts and cicadas aren't bad. You can fry them, but they're fine fresh.
Cicadas have a nutty sort of flavour. Locusts have a gelatin sort of texture and a grass-like taste once you get past the initial 'crunch' and get into the juicy innards. Great source of protein and a host of valuable minerals. :)
If you're in the sub-alpine/alpine you can eat Spaniard Grass roots - which taste a bit like carrot/parsnip. In fact, I'm pretty sure they're in a similar family. They can be quite tough to chew on and are nicer cooked. Some of the early NZ pioners actually lived off Spaniard roots when food was scarce.
Coprosma berries - another source of food in alpine areas across the South Island. They're small perfectly round berries about the size of a large matchstick head, and they come in different colours: reds, yellows, blue/purple. They're very sweet and a handful of them can be quite moral boosting.
Thistles - you may find them close to farmland or in low-land bush. You can eat the leaves fresh (once you've taken off the prickles), boil them, and you can also eat the heads of the bulbs (they're similar to a 'nut') and the stalks (quite stringy, but you can get a bit of moisture/minerals from them). You can also eat the roots of thistles. The younger the plant the sweeter the root. Thistle leaves are actually used in salads in some Asian dishes, and I'm fairly sure it's a European thing as well (or at least used to be).
Chicken fern fronds.
Lichen.
Mushrooms (better take a field guide with you).
Hedgehogs, possums, rats, mice etc.
You won't fill your belly as you may at Mcdonald's, but it's enough to keep you alive until you knock over another deer.
And with deer, you can eat the eye balls, bone marrow, brain, heart...you can get most of the minerals you need. The muscle meat alone won't cut it and it may upset your stomach if that's all you're eating.
Plenty of stuff to try. :)
And Huhu grubs. I love those bloody things straight out of the log. I have been eating them for over sixty years.
Yea, quite like a feed of huhus myself. Don't get them much round here tho. Cooked on a sqauremouth shovel over a fire used to be the norm.
Any news about the fella gone missing?
Cabbage tree too. If you happen to be close to one.
Quote..”And Huhu grubs.”
Waikato and Huhu grubs,MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE,gourmet tucker..
...............what was yr dads name????.we might be related
I’m not sure hunger is the guy who’s lost is his biggest need right now.
We can last a lot of time without food so long as we are warm enough and have fluids.
Personally, I can only ever recall during my lifetime (seems like a long time) one occasion when someone lost has had to revert to eating off the land to actually survive. Does anyone remember the 2 sisters who were lost many years ago in the Waiau up near Waikerimoana?