Photo: Justin Sprecher
US-based gear site, Gear Junkie, has turned its gaze down under, featuring two of Aotearoa’s and five of Australia’s cottage gear brands.
It’s a great reminder that you don’t need to look to distant shores to get high-quality gear made specifically for our antipodal conditions.
Also in this week’s outdoor news: Is tramping losing a bit of its soul as boots become a thing of the past, Russell on the cusp of becoming first mainland town to achieve pest-free status, Hāhei Beach Short Walk eyes Christmas reopening and more!
Missed yesterday’s feature? What’s in my pack: Tramper, photographer and Wilderness contributor Sam Harrison.
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Meet FMC’s new president
Allan Brent, Federated Mountain Clubs’ new president, is Otago-born and bred and now based in Wānaka. Walk Shorts writer Samantha Mythen interviewed Allan to learn more about his tramping history and why he was inspired to be the new leader of FMC.
Current Issue - Nov 2026
Discover this stunning 47km stretch of TA, 10 films to avoid before your next trip, a rugged, three-day tramp into the remote Tara Tama Range, the nightmare of being lost, the pros and cons of a smartwatch and dozens more stories in our latest issue.
Hut of the week 🏡
Visitors to Page Shelter have reported hearing footsteps and one person was even dragged across the floor. Photo: Hugo Young
Page Memorial Shelter, Temple Basin Ski Area
This supposedly haunted shelter, at Downhill Basin, was completed in 1966.
The shelter was partly funded by Nancy Page as a memorial to her husband Robin and son Fred. The Pages were early members of the ski club; one outcrop at Downhill was known as their ‘landmark’. After their deaths – Fred en route to London as a teenager – the shelter was built on that outcrop.
Several almost identical accounts of footsteps circling the hut were collated by Rob Greenaway, who had his own bone-chilling encounter there in the 1980s – he felt his mat dragged 3m across the floor.
Want to see more haunted huts? We featured eight in our October 2023 issue.
Have a hut you want to see featured? Send an email to [email protected] with the hut and why you’d like to see it featured.
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