Things you'd like to tell trampers from overseas

i saw people at whakapapa, in hte info centre wearing street clothing including jeans, wanting to walk to the top of ruapehu ,,, they were told. theres two metres of snow at the top.... a lot of people dont have a clue what they are letting themselves in for. the poor tracks that are hard to navigate let alone walk on because of the loose rock, mud, endless tree roots. steep and vertical slopes. tracks that are only riverbeds.... severe weather year round.... tourist sites dont help, the accentuate the positive , minimise the negative...

Milford Sounds only pub is changing into a cafe !. "It's the only pub in town, but you will no longer be able to just pop in for a pint at Milford Sound. Alcohol will no longer be available at the Blue Duck Cafe and Bar - Milford Sound's only pub - unless it is purchased with food when the venue moves to a 'cafe only' licence on May 1". http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/67618404/milford-sounds-only-pub-is-changing-into-a-cafe

Thank you all for the comments, suggestions and opinions! As Graigo said, it is indeed my goal to make my clients more aware of the risks they take and that they are prepared accordingly. I fully understand the negative feelings some of you may have about ignorant tourist behaviour. I have the same (all over the world) when meeting people with inappropriate gear starting too late, when they think they can just go out there and do the hike without any homework done, when they dont pay fees (which are a bargain for the fantastic infrastructure offered in NZ) ... However, I am also aware that I have a certain conflict of interest. As waynowski mentioned about tourist sites I am also dependent on the number of clients who want to use my service and there is a potential risk to subtly accentuate the positive. When I will emphasise on safety issues or other important tramping requirements too much, I may lose a portion of my clients to travel agencies or they just organize all by themselves. This said, it does not mean I am not advising about safety etc, it plays a very important part of my services. I would rather not offer my services to clients who do not want to hear the negative things to be considered. But I have to balance these with the things the clients look for when they visit your country: having a good time trekking through wonderful landscapes and getting away from their daily hustle and bustle.

Hi again. Um, adding to advice: * With the possible exception of Great Walks (and then only in season), New Zealand doesn't do much to protect people from themselves. Information about any areas won't necessarily be up-to-date or accurate. Bridges might be missing. Tracks might be washed out or non-existant. DOC staff can offer good advice, but even they won't necessarily be up-to-date. This applies nearly everywhere and it's important to be prepared for that possibility. * In part due to the above and in part due to things like accidents, never assume that you'll reach an intended destination. It's not uncommon in NZ for accidents to occur from people making really bad decisions that stem from being in a state where they've convinced themselves they *need* to do something high risk. eg. Trying to ford a dangerously flooded river, during torrential rain, whilst being in sight of a nice shelter on the far side. The best way to prepare for this is to always be carrying good portable shelter, and always be mentally prepared to stop if it's unsafe to continue.

my experience is people who seek advice are more likely to listen to it than those who think they don't need advice, i was on a guided trip over the tongariro crossing in winter and all the people were serious about the clothing they wore. they had tood qualitiy approprite clothing and listend to what the guide told them, as opposed to the people who go on tehir own the large no's who ignore signs warning them about being prepared as they wear their street clothing up the mountain with little or no wet or cold weather clothing....

Completely off topic now: but regarding the long surgery waiting time, a lot of these publicly funded orthopedic surgeons have their snouts in the private trough as well. So a system that forces people to wait a long time will send them shuffling off to have it done privately, the way I sees it. The obvious question to me is how come the German health care system meant that lass could have her clavicle repaired so quickly? And why can't it happen here? The other complicating factor is that sheduled ops are always at risk of being deferred as accidental injuries arrive at A&E.

The german system is quite different to any other and apparently works quite well. The way money is collected is quite similar to our ACC system in that it is collected by a levy separate to and ring fenced from the tax system. That money then funds a mixture of Government and private hospitals which are paid for out of that fund. ACC here quite happily pays private hospitals to get people through quickly but it is run purely by accountants and has a fair bit of political interference over what it is and is not allowed to do. It also has to administer accident related benefits which is by far its largest expense. The German system is overseen by people that know what they are doing in the health system and doesnt have any other aspect of peoples care to worry about. Apparently its not that expensive either.

Political interference with ACC. Agree and I believe it's a push to get privatisation as this industry is very profitable. In other words, politicians looking out for their mates again and not the public (sigh).

Off topic for one most post… @honora, I don't know how she got the op so quickly, but I wish that system was in place here… Interestingly another tourist I know of broke his clavicle 'surfing' the sand dunes in Northland recently and was seen by a local German doctor and sent to Auckland to have it fixed with plate and screws. He was out three days later and is back with his tour group. The German girl had two serious breaks with no hope of fusing but was sent home in a sling by the doctor on duty (can't say which hospital it was). It took nearly five weeks before anyone was willing to admit it needed surgery and another four to get theatre time. Boils down to whom you see it seems...

Yet another close call on Tongariro. It's not a great idea to go above the snowline wearing shorts & sneakers. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11451963 What would I like to tell people? Respect the mountains. It can be very different conditions a few hundred metres higher than where you start off from.