October 2024
Don't Pack Your Oldest Gear for Your Hardest Terrain. Here's What You Actually Need.
A new season at Pupu Rangi is approaching, and before it begins it is worth addressing something that has a bigger effect on people's experience than almost anything else: the gear they arrive with. Full packing lists are on the volunteer and immersion pages, and they are worth reading carefully. This post is a more direct take on the things that actually matter — and what happens when people get them wrong.
The Gear That Will Carry You Through the Season
Start with footwear, because nothing else comes close in terms of impact. The terrain here is not like anything on a tourist trail. The forest is wet, the paths are uneven, the mud is persistent, and the gradients are real. If you are staying for a week, proper trail trainers will get you through — not comfortably, but adequately. If you are staying for two weeks or more, ankle-support hiking boots are required, not suggested. Your ankles will be working hard on uneven ground every day, and the cost of getting this wrong is not just discomfort. It is days lost to injury.
The sanctuary sits at 550 metres above sea level in a high-rainfall part of Northland. Nights are cold, particularly in November and December when the season is getting started and the temperature drops more than people expect. A good rain jacket — waterproof, not just shower-resistant — is essential. A warm sleeping bag matters more than people tend to think when they are packing in a warm bedroom at home. These are not items to economize on.
What Not to Bring — and What Is Fine
Do not bring the shoes you have owned since you were fourteen. Do not raid a parent's or grandparent's cupboard for gear that has been sitting there since the nineties. Old boots whose soles are starting to separate, rain jackets whose waterproofing has long since washed out, sleeping bags compressed into a brick — none of these will perform in this environment, and the forest will find out before you do. Glue does not hold in the wet conditions here. Volunteers have discovered this in the middle of a five-kilometre section of track, and it is not a fun discovery.
Clothing is a different matter. T-shirts and work trousers that you don't mind ruining are fine — things will get dirty and stained, and that is completely expected. The one thing to avoid is an excess of cotton. Cotton absorbs moisture and does not dry well in a wet climate, which means you stay damp for longer than you need to. Synthetics and merino dry fast and are worth prioritizing for base layers. A reliable head torch is also on the required list — do not assume a phone torch will do the job.
The principle is simple: bring gear that works. The terrain and the weather here ask enough of you already. Good equipment does not make the days effortless, but it removes a layer of difficulty you do not need — and gives you the best chance of spending your time here doing the things you came for.