At the end of January Phil and I went for a trip into the Orongorongo valley with our friends Craig and Tim.
The focus of the trip was testing our camping gear and practising survival skills. As good libertarians we like to “Be Prepared”, and that’s especially important in Wellington. The ‘Big One’ (a major earthquake) could happen at any time.
From the entrance past Wainuiomata there is about 1.5 hours walk through the bush until you reach the river valley, which extends for many kilometres down to the sea. It is very wide and flat, flat enough to drive 4WD vehicles up and down between the coast and the many huts along the valley.
Here’s our collective dinners on the first night – noodles, soup, beans, and couscous (we had separate meals).
Here’s Phil using my ceramic water filter. These usually cost about $250, but I found this one on Trademe for $80. It did a great job of filtering the rock snot out of the river water!
Here you can see how wide and flat the river valley floor is. Imagine it in flood!
Here’s my bivouac. The weather was fine so I didn’t put too much effort into it!
Phil’s shelter is a bit more professional, although he would need to raise and tension the fly for rainy weather.
Here Phil teaches us back bearings. Unfprtunately I wasn’t a good student.
I taught the guys some handy knots, including the McGyver of knots, the adjustable grip hitch.
Craig gave a first aid lesson to remind us of the basics.
We encountered some wild sheep which live in the valley. Craig and Phil chased them around for exercise, in a regression to their hunter-gatherer roots. 
Sunset on the Saturday night.
The campfire was our constant companion, source of warmth, comfort and hot meals. It was also useful for drying shoes which got wet in the many river crossings.
It was a great trip and really made us think about the equipment and food we carried, how useful it was, how heavy it was, and what we would really need to survive.
Are you prepared for the Big One?
Nice easy country that!
When I worked in wellington I used to keep enough gear at work to tramp back to the Wairarapa, should an earthquake hit.
Over here, I have stores for six weeks (not three days!)My opinion is that in the event of a major quake, most of the resources will be prioritised for the city and small country towns will be SOL.
A bit of prior thought and a bit of practicing living rough, as you have done, will pay off big time when it really matters!
But that s being a Libertarian- thinking and taking responsibility for yourself!
Left by Oswald Bastable on March 8th, 2009