"They are a day time bird so night time should be ok." Sorry but this is NOT true! At Shelter Rock hut on the Rees/Dart we had a night from hell when about 15 - 20 keas started attacking our tent at 1 a.m. and kept it up until dawn. I spent all that time using a reversed trekking pole (another use! lol ) to poke them off the tent, which survived. They didn't actually land on the top of the tent until dawn but kept creeping up onto the snow flaps at ground level and attacking from there. Some other folk, in an expensive tent, were not so fortunate and dropped off to sleep at 4 a.m. and their tent was wrecked.
Had a similar experience at White Horse camp ground at Mt Cook Village spending the early hours beating the little b*****s off the roof of our camper, which had our kayaks on.
I have taken a tent overseas and brought it back into NZ. They just take it away and clean it somehow. No damage or hassle really except having to hang around waiting and nearly missing our connecting flight to Nelson.
you want to use a cheap tent in an alpine environment? the southern alps are extremely windy. theres no shortage of weather that would destroy a cheap tent esp above the bushline.
if theres something interesting around, keas may be up to no good any time night or day. problem is in bigger groups they lead each other on and seem to be bolder, i've come across smaller groups that havent been a major problem at night, but they have their own personalities, the cafe at arthurs pass goes through a fortune of broken crockery from their outdoor tables.
i've heard customs have steam cleaned some gear, not sure how often they do that, not sure what else they do, maybe just use chemicals to kill bugs, but i'm not aware if thats the case
if your tent is free from dirt and seeds they shouldnt need to do anything to it and should let it go, i scrub my boots before coming back into nz and they've never touched them. i've never come in with a tent.
The Hilleberg is brand new, so i think there is no problem with the customs.
The problem is I dont want to waste 700€/1100$NZ for a damaged tent. I used this type of tent weeks in scandinavia (Norway/Sweden/Iceland) and very stormy conditions but there are no tent destroying monster parrots, only very annoying mosquitos haha
Hi. I think if you make sure there is no food in your tent, and pitch away from areas of interest, you should be OK. Earlier this year I set my tent up next to Bealy Spur hut, which as over-run with mice. I left food in my tent - the mice got in, and so did a Kea. My son and his friend had no issues in their tent, and neither did other people in theirs. My tent was closest to the hut, and had food in it.
It was a Hilleberg Akto - I ended up with a 5cm long tear which was easily patched - I called Motomox for some spare material and Twin Needle completed the repair.
Based on the weather I experienced on Saturday (gale force winds and rain) at Woolshed Creek, I would recommend taking the Hilleberg. Bad weather is far more likely, and far more dangerous, than Kea damage.
We were in a Keron 4 GT, and it stood the storm really well.
@TheGoodLife But where do you store the food?
This post has been edited by the author on 15 December 2015 at 09:55.
Hang it from a tree. Most dry bags (exped, sea to summit) have a roll top that create a loop that can be closed over a branch.
If you are really worried about Keas and mice getting into the food bag, or worried that there won't be any trees nearby, then you could invest in one of the indestructible bear bags they have in the US.
re trees, there are none anywhere near cascade saddle. theres nothing but tussock grass for miles...
KEA Cannister? Lol
It may well end up being rolled down the hill...
Some type of bag which is odour proof, bear bag sounds sensible.
This post has been edited by the author on 15 December 2015 at 10:51.
If you aren't leaving the tent i.e going climbing and leaving it then it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I mean if they are being a pain at least you are there to defend it.
Food may or may not be an issue, many times they just want to play or investigate. I had a bunch at Mt Brewster wake me up at 4am by sliding repeatedly down the sides of my tent, cackling with laughter the whole time.
As for bringing a tent into NZ, I have never had a problem with customs. They have always treated it with some disinfectant but I was never charged and they are OK with it.
personally its a pretty tiring day climbing up to cascade saddle, i wouldnt want an interupted nights sleep from keas if i was up there. I need my beauty sleep on tramps like that... you're more likely to find keas where people frequent in the mountains, the less they frequent an area the less chance kea will be around.. People go over the cascade saddle most days over summer and into autumn.
i was on a track in the middle of a wide grassy area in a valley, there was a group of kea right on the track , they were waiting for people and or food...
theres loads of alpine places you can camp in NZ, if you are worried about kea, find somewhere where fewer people hang around,
