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Hi guys, I think that improving the visibility of the forums and posts will make participation easier and lead to more of it. I'm planning to... 1) move the forums link for more visibility; 2) rationalise the number of forums; 3) add a box to the home page to show what's going on in the forums; 4) modify the layout substantially so you can see what is happening in the forums without visiting each one; 5) add notification functionality so that you are informed when someone responds to you. 6) add functionality so that misplaced threads may be refiled easily. Some of this work will happen very soon, and I think it will help.

Hi Matthew Seems as if you have been extremely busy overnight answering the different questions and generally making inroads into fixing up the forums for easier access. Well done, just wish I had the skills to be able to do something like it. I'm sure that once you have finished tweaking the odd knob and twirling the odd dial everything will be much better and the forums will become much more active, I hope so anyway. I like the introduction of the Tramping Partners section and trust this will allow many more opportunities for members to get together thus hopefully creating more active participation within the forums. Look forward to the future changes you have planned for us.

yeah job well done on this website matthew, it is superb and seems to be getting more use all the time. one thing i would like to talk about, although maybe i should be in the tramping partners forum, and that is female trampers, are there any females who like myself try to go tramping every weekend?, being single i am keen to find out!!!, on a more serious note though is there many females that go tramping or are they like most of my mates and would rather spend the night in the pub getting trollied than in a nice, cosy hut somewhere? a lot of my friends think i am loopy for going tramping every weekend. do all you others find the same thing? just thought i would enter into some lighthearted discussion!!

I for one don't think you're loopy Russy, quite the opposite in fact. Speaking from the male perspective I can assure you that we also ask the same questions. Seems it's the same for either sex really: Finding tramping partners doesn't appear to be an easy task. Having said that I have had only females reply to my ads for tramping partners. Go figure! Hope some of the female members of this community can shed some light on your light hearted discussion.

I have often found, that the people I less expect to be into tramping turn out to be the most keen... I rarely go tramping, and quite often my tramp is combined with fishing the river I am walking up. For that reason I have done the Goulter valley tramp 5x now. Once winter starts I would have more time to go tramping. I have not decided whether I prefer to go tramping solo or with others... the company is nice to have but I also like to have the freedom to go at my own pace.

Better still would be to find someone who enjoys the same pace as you perhaps? I know what you mean though, there is something nice and almost spiritual about being alone in the great outdoors, and I confess to having had moments of absolute wonderment at the world we live in whilst alone on a mountain peak, but having said that I have often thought how nice it would be to share those moments with someone who (presumably) thinks along the same lines as you. At the other end of the spectrum are the times when things go decidedly pear shaped and another person would be an absolute Godsend, especially in a really dire situation. I think the jury will perhaps always be out on this one, for me anyway, but I know that for some there would be no tramp at all if it were not for the company of others, conversly I know of people who shun humanity altogether in order to find that elusive solitary peace. Each to their own I guess?

i think it does depend on the situation, some of my favourite tramps have been with my two best mates who enjoy tramping as much as i do but at the same time it is great to go solo and soak in the views, do want you want and just enjoy the peace and serenity. pity i cant get out today and go tramping, being on call for work sucks!

It would certainly appear to be an individual thing and very dependent upon the kind of tramp you are doing as well perhaps. I have done 7 day tramps on my own and admit there were times when I could have used the company, as I ended up talking to myself on more than one occasion. But I also remember how peaceful it felt to be at one with the environment, with nobody else to consider and in some cases, actually look after. For some shorter routes I would certainly recommend going solo just to get away from everyone and everything, however when it comes to big mountains I usually err on the side of caution and would most likely go with someone else, just in case! Sorry about the work thing, but hey, just think of the money!!!

yeah true, the money is good to get! carrying on with the same thread, do other trampers who tramp with other people belong to tramping clubs?, how many of us actually do belong to a club?, i myself do not, as i feel that working 6 days a week can make it a little hard to get out on the planned club trips, especially the trips spent out of my area. thats not to say i wouldnt join a club, i was a club member briefly till i moved towns. i would have thought most solo trampers do not belong to a club or am i wrong? what are the pro's and con's to being in a club?, any thoughts?

Like you I do not belong to a specific club as such (except the NZAC) but being in Oz I too would find it quite difficult to comply with most club's joining rules, eg you have to do three day/overnight tramps with them before being considered for membership. I would love to do just that but someone else would have to pay my airfares because I certainly couldn't afford to come over the ditch that often. Of course there are clubs here in Sydney but bushwalking here, though I do it, isn't my cup of the proverbial; too many spiders and snakes for my liking (being a Pom we are not used to these things, well I'm not anyway). I did however form and run a club at university which turned out to be very successful, so much so that I later developed it into a full time job and ran my own company on the back of it. I think there are certainly merits to joining clubs in that you meet like minded people who share the same passion, but I also feel there is also the danger that many clubs are steeped in rules and regulations which at times have a tendency to shackle the more adventurous tramper. Some people are simply "club" people and feel the need to belong to something, which is a tad ironic in a sense because it is perhaps the very essence of going bush that one tries to get away from that feeling of belonging to anything other than nature itself, if that makes any sense? (I dare say someone will tell me if it doesn't)