Deep in New Zealand | Hacker News Reader

Deep in New Zealand

nybooks.com

40 pointsPetiver34 comments

New Zealand is great, and Wellington is a wonderful city. I've even seen a little Maori before in the museum and recognized the style even if I don't know the words. But. I have no idea what I just read.

This excerpt from the publisher's site might help, though I didn't take away the same meaning personally:

> Going Bush

> Kirsty Gunn

> Kirsty Gunn meditates upon her childhood in New Zealand, revisiting in writing the landscapes she once explored through sight, sound and touch. Struggling with the stifling norms of colonial society, the young girl becomes fascinated by ‘the bush’ – that fringe of sodden, savage vegetation bordering the town’s tidy gardens and parks. Both threatening and irresistible, the bush becomes a powerful metaphor for the wild, with all its contradictions: marginalised but intrinsic, feared but desired. Interweaving essay, memoir and narrative, Gunn explores the influence of this disquieting presence on her early life and how it was able to provide her sustenance during the painful years of growing up.

I just happen to be on vacation (sorry, "on holiday") in NZ right now, and I just did an 8km hike or so on Urupukapuka Island, barefoot. And I found it amusing that the only thing I encountered that was the least bit painful was when walking on a manicured patch of lawn at my pickup spot - something growing under the grass was kind of stabby.

The lack of snakes and relative lack of nasty spiders did factor in to my decision to go barefoot, fwiw.

Ah Onehunga weed, the bane of my childhood. Just develop thick callouses like the rest of NZ and you'll be fine.

Just watch out for white tail spiders, those are nasty buggers. Only ones I'll squash.

> Urupukapuka Island

I've just went sailing two weeks ago up there. Just like the rest of New Zealand, it was gorgeous. The beauty of this country is impossible to describe. I don't think there is any better place in the world.

> But. I have no idea what I just read.

You are not alone my friend. Thanks for the excerpt.

Somewhat off topic to the article, but if you ever get the chance to go deep into New Zealand Bush, do. There's nothing quite like it, the air is thick and wet, it has an incredible smell. Stuart Island is particularly good.

Is the NZ fauna as bad as Australia's? I have spent a lot of time walking in North American forests, and I feel pretty safe in them, even with possible bear presence (I was in Alaska twice and it was majestic). I'd be scared to walk in a forest/bush in New Zealand or Australia.

No, not at all. One of my Kiwi friends describes it as "in Australia, everything wants to kill you, in New Zealand, nothing does."

That is a pretty classic joke around NZ.

I'm pretty sure NZ has a less deadly set of wildlife than Oz, though surprising a boar could still end badly. No crocs, fewer snakes, spiders and dropbears.

In fact, no snakes at all.

In fact, there is occasionally (ok very rarely) sea snakes are found on the coast of the North Island.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/80026544/Ven...

Don't walk in long grass or go river dipping in far north Queensland and you won't see them in Australia either.

Far more of us get eaten by sharks than killed by spiders/snakes/crocs combined.

NZ and Australia have very different fauna. They might look close on a world map but the distance from Sydney to Auckland is over 2000 km.

Just one example: Australia has a wide variety of mammals (mostly marsupials, e.g. kangaroos). NZ has very few native mammals, but it does have a huge assortment of unusual native birds. (Indeed, birds fill a lot of ecological niches that mammals normally do.) In fact, there's an ongoing effort to get rid of all non-native mammals: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/22/big-kill

Finally, the "all the Animals in Australia want to kill you" idea is popular and kind of amusing, but hugely overblown. Yes, there are deadly animals but you typically have to be doing something unusual or silly to encounter one in a dangerous way. Plus there's no poison ivy...

I believe the only native mammal in NZ is actually a fruit bat [0].

(although Wikipedia includes sea mammals, such as dolphins and sea-lions as well.)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammals_of_New_Zealand

We do have this though - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides

Yep, nastier than poison ivy - from personal experience.

True story - during WW2 when US soldiers were stationed here, some clever larrikans told the yanks that particular leaf made good "toilet paper".

I am surprised we are still allies.

The relationship during WW2 wasn’t always great: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brisbane

Sure, but it's only in far north rainforests. Poison ivy is all over the place in North America.

> Yes, there are deadly animals but you typically have to be doing something unusual or silly to encounter one in a dangerous way.

True everywhere except the far north (North Queensland, Northern Territory and the top end of Western Australia) where there are saltwater crocodiles.

In that part of Australia, unless there's a sign saying otherwise, assume any body of water has a crocodile in it, watching you :)

When you take into account where most of the Australian population lives, doing anything in the far north arguably qualifies as unusual :)

There are no venomous animals in New Zealand worth mentioning. The biggest risk in the bush is getting cold imo. I'm more scared of going into the bush in Japan because there are snakes here. They aren't aggressive, but I wouldn't want to stand on one accidentally.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamushi

In New Zealand, sandflies might be somewhat irritating, and kea parrots might try to damage your car while you're tramping in the bushes.

Land based fauna, there is pretty much nothing to worry about, other then maybe wild pigs. Couple of venomous spiders but they are fairly mild to humans anyway.

Sea based, the usual sharks, sting rays etc. But as most countries attacks are pretty rare.

Your far more likely to get into trouble by either falling, getting lost, or not having suitable gear with you.

Or drowning crossing a river - long called "the New Zealand disease", because so many die from it.

New Zealand has amazing bush and a network of very basic huts, and it's well worth visiting if you like hiking and camping. Personally I think The Southern Alps provide the best hiking in the world, which is why I live here.

So welcome, but come with respect. Please don't go alone, and learn about how - and more importantly when not to - cross rivers.

What about the flora? Actually, our flora is pretty benign too, but we do have the aptly-named bush lawyer that is a sort of micro-razorwire vine. Escaping it usually means bloodshed.

New Zealand tree nettle is kinda nasty [1], but it has a very limited range and while I can verify from personal experience how painful it is, it's probably not going to do permenant damage.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urtica_ferox

I walked 400km of the Te Araroa trail earlier this year. Compared to Australia, there is a marked absence of fauna. A number of other walkers commented about the same thing. The only encounters with animals I heard of that were possibly dangerous were a surprised goat and a falcon acting defensively about it's territory.

You're more likely to die from cold exposure (I got very chilled one time) or crossing a river. Sandflies and spear grass will annoy you at times but they won't kill you.

Australia can be dangerous, but not for the reasons people think.

People who go wandering into the outback (think Death Valley a few times the size of Europe) or swimming in hidden rips are more likely to end up on the news for the wrong reasons than being randomly eaten by a croc.

I don't think there had been a spider death in Australia for decades. Snake deaths happen occasionally but almost always because some kid is running into long, dry grass in summer. Recently a NZ woman was killed by a croc on the beach after ignoring explicit warnings and running around drunk during their feeding time - in a remote far north rainforest.

Sharks are present and dangerous though, another reason to be mindful before jumping into the clear blue ocean.

Second this, there's nothing quite like a walk through nz bush.

I would add that NZ bush walks aren't curated forest walks. You're walking through rough dense terrain. Check the weather, be prepared for sudden changes and carry food and water for a couple of extra days and a PLB. That or stick to the super popular tracks but they're just not the same.

Any chance you could link into some material how to do this correctly? So far I've been sticking to tracks and they were good enough for me. But it does feel like I should go off-road. I've been to a walk with a meetup group, but that wasn't proper bush either.

Your best bet is to find a local tramping club, each area has different challenges. Beyond that DoC has a good set of tips http://www.doc.govt.nz/safety

Interesting tidbit: in Maori, the 'wh' digraph is pronounced like an 'f', so e.g. 'Whakarewarewa' sounds like 'Fakarewarewa'

http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/learn-te-reo-maori/whakahuat...

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