I inherited my love for the outdoors as a child, growing up fishing, riding horses, and getting lost on far too many bush walks. When I went to University, I was introduced to multi-day tramping by the University of Otago Tramping Club and never looked back!

I hope this blog - designed at first to share my adventures with families and friends - can help others to plan their own outings. I know I often browse trip reports to get inspiration for an adventure, so I want to give back by including track information and GPX files!

As a day job, I'm an accountant by trade - there's more information about my professional life in my LinkedIn profile below.

I moved to Sydney, New South Wales in February 2024 to support my partner's work in cancer research, and I'm looking forward to exploring all that a new country has to offer!

Gear and camera set ups

Long story short: committed to that ultralight life

Sure, it's just walking. But if you enjoy it, why not spend more time thinking about what's on your back?

Camera: camera gear is highly subjective. Personally, I run an A7r (full frame camera) generally carrying two prime lenses (a Samyang 18/2.8 ultrawide and an adapted Canon 50/1.8 normal lens), hanging on a Peak Design clip (pictured left). In the past I used to carry a Canon M5 with a 15-45 kit lens and a 22/2 pancake, but found that the slight weight penalty for full frame gave me great enough results.

On the flip side,  if you're not into photography that would be way too much camera for hiking - the weight is too much, and it adds extra complication for no benefit. If you enjoy hiking but aren't fussed about photography, get out there and enjoy it! Popping a phone camera in something like a Gossamer Gear feedbag means you won't miss the shot. 

Gear: Ultralight gear helps me to keep on my feet for longer so I can enjoy more of New Zealand. There's way more gear advice out there on the internet than what I can write, and realistically, I'm no expert.

What I would say is that a lot of gear available locally from great retailers like Further Faster, Pack Gear Go and Living Simply. The Wilderness magazine's Wildcard is a great way to find good small outdoors retailers in NZ with the added bonus of discounts if you subscribe (and then there's access to some great reading and trip plans!)

I'd also recommend using Lighterpack or something similar to track your pack weight - lots of small items is where weight can add up, and when you're carrying something for five+ days it should be intentional.