Build it and they will come, or is it vice versa?

So we spent a few weeks on day explorations and it is time to head off into a bit more wilderness. Why start small? So we started with the tallest peak in the Waikato, that’s our region… a two day trip up Mt. Pirongyia. It was pretty fun climbing up and down on the thin ridge of an ancient volcano through all kinds of weird and wonderful plants, roots and mud (Pirongyia is famous country-wide for its mud, and it delivered... on us). Also the word “switchback” is clearly not in the New Zealand vocabulary. Why go around something when you can go over it? "No worries, mate!" So up and down we did. 

Now it is hard to capture steep inclines with a camera but let's just say that the chain in the right picture was not there for no reason.

A great view of the ridge we followed.

From the peak across to a smaller cone with Waikato farmland behind it

Hopefully the pictures share a bit of how beautiful the "bush" is, but then you likely already know about that from others stories. But most striking to us, was not the beauty but the facilities. It is the priority this country places on outdoor recreation and the facilities to make it tick. It is absolutely amazing. Pirongyia is not a "Great Walk" (the name for the tourism marketed NZ wilderness trips), in fact it barely gets an auxillary paragraph in the Lonely Planet Tramping Guide. It is known mostly for nice views and a lot of mud (both true). But the network of trails (and signed and interpreted nature walks) up and around it are amazing. On top there is tons of boardwalk to avoid the mud (in the middle of the top of a mountain) . Here is a picture of the hut you can stay in at the top for $5 a person a night. In fact this hut is slated for demolition to be replaced by a bigger and better version. Out tent site cooking shelter put the roadside provincial park campgrounds on the bike trip this summer to shame (and they cost $30-$40)

Most of all we loved the solar powered composting toilet system which excretes clean water for the plants and the end of the process. It is perched on the cliff with an awesome view.

Since Pirongyia we headed to another cool spot (more on that next blog). Again this one is not for international tourists. 

Check out this solar powered hut in the middle of a beautiful alpine wilderness valley...

and the boardwalk infrastructure leading up to a higher peak. 

The hut sleeps 80! and is three hours up a mountain. Guess what? It is filled up all weekends and all summer, every night (the rules sign said they turn people away if you do not have a reservation... and what if you did not bring a tent?). We were there on a Tuesday in what was equivalent to mid-April in Nova Scotia. There were 25 folks in the hut so we chose the campground. Thousands of people stay here every year, and these are regular old New Zealanders. There is a big ethic of high schools taking students backpacking. We saw several  large groups of students. We ran into a Dad and his two kids (10-12 or so) on the trail. He was out for 3 days in the bush with the kids and had taken them out of school. He was a farmer and had to get back for afternoon milking. Outdoors is a priority and the infrastructure in the backcountry to support tramping is phenomenal and everywhere. And the infrastructure tradition has been there long before New Zealand recognized it could make money off global tourism. How did this amazing outdoor priority develop? Now there's a question for further investigation...