Beginner looking for partner beginning of Feb..
Original post
Hi, I'm Matt from London I've lived in Wellington since I arrived in October. I've saved up some cash and bought some camping gear to travel some of the country. I am a complete beginner and would like some advice on what other equipment I might need.. I have a backpack, a tent and a sleeping bag. I also have another bag with snorkelling gear. I'm guessing my sneakers won't be good enough and should probably invest in some boots?.. Any more essential things I might need?
I'm planning on leaving the beginning of Feb and travelling for 2-4 months or maybe longer. I was going to go to lake Taupo 1st but now I'm thinking maybe to start in Abel Tasman, also not too fussy if people have other plans and know any good spots..
It would be great if I could meet someone or a group of people to teach me how the basics on tramping and surviving in the wild.
My end goal in life is to live self sufficiently (live off the grid) and never have to pay bills again. I think this is a good way to start and to get some practice living in the wild.
Thanks in advance for any comments and advice.
You may find the ideas in Jory's blog of interest...
http://journeyofjory.wordpress.com
Hey,
You might want to check out the Tararua Tramping Club page http://www.ttc.org.nz/ as they have training nights in Wellington and also have some organised trips.
I'm only getting started in this whole tramping thing so probably can't teach you anything but while you are in Wellington you might want to travel out to Masterton and do a couple of walks from Holdsworth Road end to begin with. There are lots of great entry level walks around here.
As for what gear you need - I guess a stove, cookware/billy, thermals, a good rain jacket, first aid kit. If you have a smartphone I recommend downloading "New Zealand Maps Free" which is all the topo maps for nz.
Im going to take a guess from your name and suggest TTC might be a little old. Excelent club but the average age is around double the number in your name.
Depending on where you will be staying in Wellington you should also look at WTMC.org.nz and HVTC.org.nz
This gives you the 3 major clubs in the Wellington area.
I've heard the TTC is doing quite well with finding younger members to be active lately, but haven't checked it out. The Vic Uni Tramping Club is also very active (and might sometimes accept non-student members). Another option is something like the Wellington Tramping Meetup Group, which is much more casual in organisation but it might be more random as to how much you'd learn, depending on who you meet.
Also, check out courses offered by the Mountain Safety Council if you just want to learn stuff. Maybe even consider joining and build up lots of skills to the point that you can train others.
Yo dude. I would suggest getting into gardening and learning to make stuff as opposed to hiking if you were wanting self sustainable skills. There are a few places around wellys that do stuff like that. Try community gardens.
Tramping is fun but it's not really survival focused.
Alternatively you might be looking for a community closer to this one: http://bushcraft.org.nz/
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| Forum | Tramping partners |
|---|---|
| Started by | Matt30uk |
| On | 8 January 2015 |
| Replies | 6 |
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