Photo: Jonty Crane
Link huts on a three-day loop from Ōtaki Forks, with tops travel, quiet bush ridges and the seldom-walked tracks.
Missed yesterday’s feature? Learn why these three hikers opted for a private walk.
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More than 38km of private trails across three days and two nights await.
Hosted by Will and Nicola Bradstreet of Piquet Hill Farms, the welcome is warm, generous and exclusive.
Quiz
The Southern Crossing in the Tararua Forest Park connects which two trailheads?
A - Ōtaki Forks and Kaitoke
B - Ōtaki Forks and Holdsworth Road end
C - Poads Road and Holdsworth Road end
D - Poads Road and Kaitoke
Scroll to the bottom of this email for the answer…
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Recipe: backcountry quesadillas
Profile
Cook time: 10 min
Serves: 4
Ingredients
100ml olive oil
8 round sheets of flatbread
1 tube of tomato paste
250g cheese, grated
2 capsicums, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
6 button mushrooms, finely diced
250g Chorizo sausage, finely diced
Mixed herbs, salt and pepper
Method
Lightly fry the diced ingredients and set aside. Spread a thin layer of tomato paste on a piece of flatbread and then add a sprinkling of the diced ingredients. Add a layer of grated cheese over the top and top with a second sheet of flatbread. Fry for a couple of minutes till the underside is golden brown then flip and fry till the second side is brown and the cheese is melted. Chop into eighths and serve.
For a decadent alternative, you can substitute chocolate for cheese and fill with dried fruit, nuts etc.
Poll results
On Monday we asked Wilderness Daily readers what they think about private walks.
The results are in: 47% of you are curious, 28% say they’re not wild enough and 25% love ‘em.
Here is a selection of comments from our readers:
“Been on a couple, were well looked after and planning was done for us. We just had to hike!!”
“Just love tramping through areas that are not generally open to all the public.”
“Mostly on farmland. I need wilderness and to be alone in the mountains.”
“Having had surgery to both knees and being relatively old, private walks make it possible and indeed pleasurable to walk with bags being carried. There is an aspect of luxury to some which is also fun”
Have a question you want to ask your fellow Wilderness Daily readers? Send us an email at [email protected]
Quiz answer
Answer A - Ōtaki Forks and Kaitoke
The Southern crossing route is approximately 32 kilometres long and typically takes two to three days to complete. Read more about the route here.
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