Photo: Niels Meyer-Westfeld in his Wellington studio.
Artist Niels Meyer-Westfeld’s new book, Feathers of Aotearoa, is filled with exquisite drawings and intriguing facts.
Deputy editor, Leigh Hopkinson interviewed Niels for this month’s Track Chat. Read or listen to the story in our latest Wild Podcast.
Missed yesterday’s feature? Take this route for a Jollie good time hiking to these two rustic huts.
Quiz
The Umbrella Mountain Range straddles which two regions?
A. Tasman and West Coast
B. Canterbury and West Coast
C. Otago and Southland
D. Southland and West Coast
Scroll to the bottom of this email for the answer…
Current Issue - March 2026
Every Tararua hut ranked, the possibilities of packrafting, three life changing journeys, 7 mapped trip reports, gear guides and dozens more articles!
Recipe: Coffee, coconut and cardamom porridge with caramelised pears
A bowl of oats and a cup of coffee are two welcome hand-warmers on a frosty morning. This recipe goes even further, combining the two so you don’t have to juggle the crockery.
Photo: Izzie Thompson
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Time: 15 min
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Porridge:
¾ cup oats (or two sachets microwave oats)
4 tbsp chia seeds
⅓ cup desiccated coconut
2 tsp cardamom
2 mugs freshly brewed coffee (or 2 cups water and 2 tsp instant coffee)
Coconut milk powder sachet (enough for two serves – 500ml)
6 dates, finely chopped
1 banana, chopped (optional)
Pinch of salt
Toppings:
Neutral oil
3 tbsp maple syrup or honey
Handful nuts (walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, etc)
1 pear or other fruit
Coconut chips to garnish
Method
At home: combine all dry ingredients, except the oats, in one zip-lock bag.
At camp: prepare the coffee. Tip the oats into a pot and toast on medium-low heat for about 5min, or until they start to smell nice and nutty. Pour in the coffee and all other ingredients, stirring well so the powders are absorbed.
Bring to a boil, then turn the heat all the way down and cook for a further5+ minutes, stirring regularly, until the porridge has reached your desired consistency.
Meanwhile, finely slice the pear and heat a little bit of oil in another pan. Gently fry the pear with 2 tbsp maple syrup and the nuts/seeds for a few minutes, until the liquid thickens slightly.
Remove from the heat and sprinkle some coconut chips over the mixture.
Taste the porridge for sweetness. If you added dates and banana it should be good; otherwise stir in the remaining maple syrup.
Serve with the caramelised pears and nuts.
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Poll results
On Monday we asked Wilderness Daily readers if they’ve tried packrafting.
The results are in: 4% of you are total converts, 10% have tried it once or twice, 39% haven’t but would love to give it a go, and 47% of you aren’t interested in packrafting.
Here is a selection of comments from readers:
“I often think about how much easier and quicker it would be to raft down a river especially when I have been in the mountains and am tired on the way out!”
“Love it! Based in Aus, we’ve done a number of overnighters on the river. Love how it opens up possibilities for new adventures! ”
“Not a great swimmer and hate the cold.”
“I am keen to try pack rafting in my hunting trips. It will open up new hunting areas easily than tramping to some of those spots.”
Quiz answer
Answer C - Otago and Southland
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