Small groups (two to four people)

Travelling in a small group was by far the most popular way to experience the Fiordland wilderness. Almost 80 per cent of respondents were in a group of this size, and they gave several key reasons for travelling with companions (rather than alone). The primary consideration was safety. Due to the remoteness and isolation of Fiordland (like most New Zealand wilderness), they felt that it was necessary to travel with at least one companion in case of accidents or emergencies: ‘In normal circumstances, I often hunt by myself, but in places like Fiordland I generally stay with at least one other person - for safety reasons’ (R 230). A number of the hunters actually spent a great deal of time travelling alone during the day, but always rejoined their companions at base camp each evening. If there was something particularly difficult that they were going to have to navigate, however, then they generally travelled in pairs:

A lot of the time we might spend by ourselves - we split up, but you always go back to base camp in the evening, and if you're planning to do tricky bits, like climbing some tops or something, then you'll make sure you have someone with you - just in case (M 244).

Other reasons for choosing to travel in a group rather than alone included practicalities such as the high cost of accessing a remote area alone (especially with a substantial amount of

equipment); the hunting ballot system88, and logistics related to the particular activity being undertaken - for example climbing or portaging kayaks alone is extremely difficult. Finally, a number of people said they chose to travel with others because they valued the social aspect of experiencing wilderness with friends. Although most respondents enjoyed being able to spend time alone during their trip, they also found great pleasure in sharing their adventures with their companions. As explained by ‘F’:

And you're often hunting by yourself of course, but to come back at the end of the day and to have a chat with your friends, and to be able to share what you’ve done with them, well it just adds so much to the whole experience - sharing it is fantastic… Well, in saying that, I wouldn't want to share it with a lot of people (laughs!), but three or four people, it's a good thing to share! (F 134).

The idea of spending time with friends in the wilderness is a cultural tradition in many

countries like New Zealand with a strong history of outdoor recreation. As will be revealed in Chapter Ten, many of the New Zealand respondents in this study have grown up with the tradition of visiting wild and remote areas with their families, and continuing to do so with friends is an extension of this.

The belief that wilderness experiences can foster, and help to develop, friendships and relationships was also a popular theme in the diaries and interviews. Participants enjoyed travelling in small groups and overcoming the challenges and difficulties together because it enabled them to forge stronger relationships. This is illustrated in the following interview extracts, and is discussed further in Chapter Eight:

When you’re in such a small group in a place like that, you're totally focused on the people you're with, because there's very little outside interference, and so you get to spend good quality time with those folks (D 007).

There are so many things that happen during your experience that draw you closer together and help you to forge these friendships. I guess it’s partly the remoteness and the element of danger that help to do that… Like a couple of years ago we were just setting up camp late at night and one of the guys dropped his sleeping bag over the side of a huge cliff and we had to go climbing around in the dark in this really dodgy area for hours to find it. It's crazy, but you do it because that's just part of the

experience. And so you form this really amazing bond with the guys you're travelling with - I'm not sure whether you can really get that in other areas of life (B 196).

Although there was a general acknowledgement that travelling with companions was the best idea, respondents also discussed the importance of keeping group sizes small. Reasons for this included the practicalities of travel in rugged areas (keeping a large group together and

88

With the hunting ballot system in New Zealand, a group of hunters (up to a maximum of 8 people) are designated a particular area, or block, for a ten day period. They are transported into the area at the start of the trip, and then spend the rest of the time hunting that area.

finding somewhere for everyone to camp for the night can be very difficult) and more importantly, the difficulties of making group decisions when there are too many people:

I think that 3 was a really good number, but anything over 4 or 5 would be too many… If you increase the group size too much more, then you start having factions and things like that (J 061).

It is also interesting to note that even in a smaller group, the experience can be challenging – especially if the living or travelling conditions become particularly difficult. This was the case with one of the more adventurous kayak trips down the Fiordland coast. The group of four had successfully paddled a considerable distance during the first six days of the trip before running into some difficulties when the wind picked up coming into one of the sounds. This led several members of the group to break one of the ‘rules’ that the party had decided on before the trip (staying within a certain distance of one another). A culmination of this, and the dangers faced during that day, caused tension within the group, and eventually one member of the party decided to leave the others behind and depart Fiordland by helicopter before the planned trip was over. This incident was described by respondent 332:

Day 7: The head wind started to pick up and soon was 20 to 30 knots from the south.

At that point we probably should have turned back but we decided to go on round into the inlet. The wind and waves were really bad at this point and I was fast running out of energy. If we had stopped paddling we would have been on the rocks and probably dead within a very short time… Stu and Andy (in the other kayak) had broken our rule of staying within 50m of each other and I felt very vulnerable out there. After 9.5 hours of paddling we made it to the larger of the Passage Islands and landed on a small beach where the others were waiting for us. I never want to experience conditions like that again.

Day 9: Things got a bit tense later as we discussed what we might do from here. After

our scare coming down the coast on Thursday, Stu is refusing to paddle the south coast and Andy and I are not very keen either, unless the weather is perfect.

Day 12: … Today Stu decided to leave us to it and got a ride out in a helicopter. This

makes it impossible for us to do any more paddling along the coast… Josh is pretty disappointed as he put a huge amount of time and energy into organising this trip (Diary 332).