A MONTH IN NEW ZEALAND
by Matt Steffens
A REVIEW ON WHISPERLITE, GRAYL,
AND BIG AGNES
What would you say to the opportunity to go traveling
for one entire month in one of the most remarkable
and accessible outdoor countries in the world, New
Zealand? Well I am not sure what you would say, but I
said ‘Yes!’ and started packing.
Packing for a trip to a country that offers such a
diverse set of weather conditions, topography, and
things to do can make for some difficult decisions
when determining what to bring, especially when you
must keep that bag under 50 lb. or pay some ridiculous
amount of money for additional “checked baggage”
(thanks airlines!)
Well, needless to say, I stuffed 47.6 lbs. worth of a lot
of stuff into my Patagonia Blackhole bag and after
one month of adventuring around some of the best
backcountry of my life to date, there were certainly a
few items that I am glad made the journey, and will be
making most future adventures as well.
The second item that I recommend packing is still related to food, but
more on the hydration side of things. I have used many different types
of water purification when hiking but perhaps none have been as quick,
and easy, as the Grayl Ultralight Purifier. Despite the remoteness of the
areas we were in there were still warnings regarding water viruses and
reports of sickness.
Well we didn’t get sick. We drank from whatever was around to quench
our thirsts (stream, waterfall, or alpine bog). The Grayl made it so that
we didn’t need to worry if the water was drinkable which allowed us to
think about more pressing matters, such as the steepness of the moun-
tain passes or incredible itch that are sand fly bites.
Due to the greatness that is the New Zealand backcounty, a tent is not
commonly needed (they have ‘huts’ spread across virtually all of their
wilderness) but when we found ourselves in need of shelter the Big
Agnes Tumble 2 MtnGLO kept us dry, secure, and well lit.
The tent easily fit into my pack but when assembled the amount of
room comfortably fit my wife and I inside. And the single vestibule out
the front kept our packs dry in the rain. It is simple to assemble and al-
though I never thought I would need LED lights built into my tent, I found
them so convenient that I will not own a tent without them from now on.
After what I will simply say was an ‘epic trip’ to New Zealand I can
certainly attest to the gear that I found essential, useful, and convenient.
These items fit meet those criteria and made exploring New Zealand
more enjoyable. They quite simply allowed us to focus on why we were
so excited to go on this trip and why we sat on a plane for 17 hours. It
was for the adventure. And what an adventure it was.
The first item that I found indispensable was my MSR
Whisperlite stove. It boiled water for coffee when we
slept in “picnic areas” to avoid more costly (and less
awesome) conventional camping areas. It had no
problem combating winds to warm our meals after
summiting mountain passes. And it even made heaps
of popcorn in a backcountry hut (which paired nicely
with the ‘night cap’ brought by other trampers). Sim-
ply put, this is the one item that was used every day
of the trip. It is simple. It is adjustable. It is lite. Most
importantly, it allowed us to make whatever meals we
WANTED to eat, from fresh to freeze dried.
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