Nicola and Noeline on their way to Crosbies Hut in Coromandel Forest Park
Lila and Hiromi Adams tramp together every summer when Lila comes home from Australia. Nicola Bowman inherited her love of tramping from her mother and has, in turn, shared her love of the outdoors with her daughter.
With Mother’s Day around the corner, we asked two readers what they love about tramping with their mothers.
Do you have a memorable outdoors experience with your mum? We’d love to hear about it. Send us an email with the details to [email protected]
Missed yesterday’s feature? Escape the overstimulation of the city and camp near secluded tarns on this tramp.
Quiz
Epiphytes are commonly found on mature Podocarp trees, what are they?
A. Non parasitic plants that grow on other plants.
B. Parasitic plants that grow on other plants.
C. The term for nests that large birds like kererū build.
D. Large spiders that prey on insect life.
Scroll to the bottom of this email for the answer…
Current Issue - May 2026
Trips with mum, visit the new Brass Monkey Hut on the Lewis Pass tops, two Wilderness gear experts explain why they're bucking the ultralight trend, mapped trip reports, gear guides and dozens more articles!
Recipe: Vegetable marinara
This easy meal gives the creative sense of preparing a home-cooked meal in the backcountry.
Photo: Jessica Meyer
Profile
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Serves: 2
Ingredients
1 pack of penne pasta (for extra protein consider pasta made with quinoa or legumes)
1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
1 tbsp dried onion flakes/powder
1 tsp dried garlic flakes/powder
1 vegetable bouillon cube
2 tbsp dehydrated peas
½ pack of 50g of kumara powder (or ¼ cup of self-dehydrated kumara slices)
¼ cup dehydrated mushroom
1 sheet of dehydrated tomato passata ‘fruit leather’ equivalent to a half jar of
700g passata or tomato puree
Parmesan cheese topping (or nutritional yeast for a vegan alternative)
Method
Add the dehydrated marinara ingredients, except the pasta, into a small billy or drinking mug with approximately one cup of water. Soak for 5-10min as you prepare the pasta in a large billy on the stove. Boil the pasta per packet instructions, drain then set aside.
Heat the soaked dehydrated ingredients in the small billy or drinking mug until just before boiling, adding water as necessary. Once both the pasta and marinara are cooked, gently mix the sauce into the pasta.
Sprinkle on parmesan cheese and enjoy your ‘home-cooked’ vegetable marinara.
Featured Book
Environmental Defenders
For over 50 years the Environmental Defence Society (EDS) has been at the forefront of protecting NZ’s natural environments. This is the story of how a small organisation took on the establishment and won.
Subscribers get a 10% discount.
Poll results
On Monday we asked Wilderness Daily readers over your tramping career, how many near misses have you had?
The results are in: 17% of you have had no near misses, 52% have had 1 or 2, 24% have had 3 or 4, and we can’t believe that 7% of you are still alive after 5+ near misses!
Here is a selection of comments from readers:
“Got lost on track after cyclone Gabrielle when trees had come down and I couldn't find track after getting around them. Managed to get 111 call out late evening, LANDSAR, local farmer and rescue heli came about midnight. Amazed and very embarrassed.”
“If turning around to chat to someone or look at something, I now practicing always turning with my backpack to the bank, face to the ravine. This lesson was learnt after a toppling head first backwards off the Routeburn.”
“Scary river crossing, recall hanging onto river bank with feet whipped from under us. There were 3 of us crossing together.”
“In 1985, six 15-16 year olds and 2 dads set off on the Tongariro crossing with the plan to stay in Ketetahi hut. It wasn't a popular walk back then and I don't remember if we saw anyone else. When we got up to the top, clouds came down and we could barely see where we were going. Everyone was getting very cold so the dad's made the call to camp up there the night - fortunately we had 2 small tents with us. One dad headed off in the white out and found a sheltered place. We put up the tents with rocks to hold them down and spent hours warming up. The next morning the weather had cleared and we walked back out to Mangatepopo hut (and very relieved mums who were driving the van to pick us up and couldn't find us on the other side).”
Quiz answer
Answer A - Non parasitic plants that grow on other plants.
Want to receive fewer emails? Did you know you can select the days of the week you receive Wilderness Daily? Update your preferences here.
