Walk Talk

Free tours of Pukaha Wildlife Centre While the world focuses on Covid19, Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre at Mt Bruce in the Wairarapa is turning its attention closer to home and encouraging locals to visit, to connect with nature and forget the worries of the world. We’re offering free daily tours of the reserve. These are available each day at 12.30pm, for around 45 minutes. As an immediate priority, we’ve put proactive health and safety measures in place for all who visit and work here at our national wildlife centre.

Only$59.95 Plus $7.00 P&P Keep Waikaremoana pristine or risk limiting access People have a duty to care for the land and its kaitiaki when they visit Lake Waikaremoana, says Walking Access Commission Ara Hīkoi Aotearoa Chief Executive Ric Cullinane. Cullinane says news that freedom campers and visitors are dumping rubbish and felling trees at Lake Waikaremoana is deeply saddening. “Te Urewera is a unique and beautiful place. It now holds its own legal personhood status. We should treat it with the same respect and care that we treat people,” says Cullinane. Cullinane says Ngāi Tūhoe, who care for the land, should not be picking up after disrespectful recreational users. “If we do not treat land with respect then the people who care for that land will increasingly call to limit public access,” says Cullinane. The Commission’s role to is increase and support public access to the outdoors. Advocacy for better public access is much more difficult if people do not show respect and care with the access they already have. One of the responsibilities of the Commission is promoting rights and responsibilities of recreational land users and landholders. It publishes an Outdoor Access Code and regularly provides advice and education for recreational land users. Above: Lake Waikaremoana. DOC photo

Your favourite walk could win you a free subscription We are looking for readers’ favourite New Zealand walks. Many of us go out regularly walking on a route which we class as our favourite, for a number of reasons. Perhaps because for it’s scenery, it’s safe, it’s challenging, it’s flat, it’s hilly, it’s varied, or for whatever reason. We would like you to tell us in your own words what is you favourite walk and why. Email us a story from say 250 up to 1200 words including a photo or photos. We will now give you a FREE subscription (six months or more, depending on the article), or extension to Walking New Zealand magazine for walks published. You can also post an article to Walking New Zealand, Freepost 78863, P O Box 1922,

Palmerston North, or fax 06-358-6864.

If sending a photo by email please make sure photos are in high resolution.

Our email address is: walkingnz@xtra.co.nz.

Please put “My Favourite Walk” in the subject line and include your name and postal address.

Walking New Zealand digital edition Walking New Zealand magazine has just gone digital on our own website. Viewers can read through the lastest issue for only $2.50 an issue, paid by credit card before viewing. Walk talk

Go to www. walkingnewzealand.co.nz and mouse over Shop and Subscribe and then click on Latest Issue - Digital. Enjoy! Fiordland area roads status The Milford Road was heavily damaged during the floods Well known Waiheke host passes It is with great sadness that we have heard of the recent passing of Waiheke Walking Festival friend Sir Rob Fenwick. A wonderful openhearted man, filled with wisdom, kindness and a You can now view back issues of Walking New Zealand magazine, two issues back from the latest, FREE at : http://issuu.com/walkingnewzealand. Issue number The cover only on the last issue had the wrong issue number. It had 276 instead of 267. The inside pages had the correct issue number. on 4 February 2020. Since then, it has partially reopened to bus convoys. As to 16 March 2020, the road is reopening to all vehicles, at night only (5pm to 7.30am). During the day it will be bus convoys only while road repairs continue. The situation can change at short notice depending on weather and conditions. You are encouraged to check on the state of the road here prior to starting your trip. The Hollyford Road (not managed by NZTA) remains non-driveable. love of our unique land and marine environment – Niue now a whole country Dark Sky Place and a champion for native trees. Sir Rob and Lady Jennie so generously gifted a large piece of their Te Matuku land to create a stunning section of the Te Ara Hura walkway and provide wonderful walking opportunities for Niue is the world’s first whole country to become a Dark Sky Place. It has received formal accreditation from the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary and International Dark Sky Community, thus covering the whole country with Dark Sky protection and recognition and deeming it a ‘dark sky everyone. nation’. Sir Rob also hosted walks Niue now has formal protection for its sky, through their private land land and sea with the IDA International during the Festival for Dark Sky designations adding to its many years, leading walks existing marine reserve that encompasses through the native bush, 40% of Niue’s exclusive economic zone visiting his favourite puriri and the Huvalu Forest Conservation tree, and enjoying oysters and wine on the foreshore. Area which contains some of the most threatened flora and fauna in the world.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO OUR READERS AND SUBSCRIBERS Issue 268 was unable to be printed at the usual time of the month due to the Covis-19 Lockdown, but an online link to the digital copy was sent at the beginng of April to all subscribers that we had email addresses for. If you did not receive an email with link to APRIL issue 268, please send your email address, name, address and customer number to us at walkingnz@xtra.co.nz with the EMAIL ADDRESS in the subject line. As more readers would like to read the magazine on line we have now changed the font and increased the size to be able to be read on all devices. You can subscribe for 12 months for the digital edition for only $29.00. That is only $2.50 an issue). The digital edition is the same as the print edition. http://walkingnewzealand. This issue you are reading now is the co.nz/product/digitalupdated 268 print edition. subscription-12-months/ Due to the down turn of advertising especially from big walking/running events due to the corona virus lockdown the next issue of Walking New Zealand 269 will be published in early August.