Tramping With My 60+ Yr Old Mum | Tramping for Seniors :: Pinnacles Hut Overnight Hike, Coromandel

[@finnbarnett9694]

Cool video!!

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

Thanks! So glad you enjoyed it!

[@irenebuchan5135]

This video made me smile! I'm in the same age bracket as your mum. I see myself in her, carefully picking her footing slowly around steps and obstacles. And yes, I add 50% more time to the stated times on back-country tracks! Anything less is a bonus. Just so worth the effort to get out into our phenomenal scenery!

[@NorwayHikesTrails]

Nice walk with your mother. Quite a walk. Lovely video. You have a wonderful day.

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

It certainly threw a few curveballs at us that we weren't expecting! But a great experience nonetheless :)

[@binman5233]

Lovely video Ladies. This was the track that got me back into tramping following my 60th birthday and having not done any walking for a decade or two. I was inspired by meeting a friend who had just returned with his ten year old. It is incorrectly described by DOC as an easy tramp, it isn’t. It is hard going up and harder going down. Incidentally, I completed this overnighter mid week in February following the school holidays, there were only six people in the hut. .

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

Wow, so great to hear of your experience on the trail and especially compared to how we found it! We would definitely concur with that assessment. I think it took us 4 hours to get up there (and the same down the following day in all that rain)! That was after the 70-something lady at the visitor centre told us it usually takes her about 2.5 hours! But it just takes Mum about twice as long to get up and down each step as everyone else... Nevertheless, we did it!

[@OAPAdventures]

I have only recently stumbled across your channel, and Ive been having a bit of a binge watch recently. Im a 60+ tramper and its great to see others out doing stuff. I recently returned from the Pinnacles so I very much enjoyed seeing the familiar trails and bridges again.

[@johndivita4842]

Hey, Michelle, Your cinematography and editing skills just keep improving, good for you! That's really fun to see you hiking with your Mom! She seemed very relaxed on camera. Did she have any reservations about being on KZbin?

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

Thanks so much John! It was really nice to be able to put together another trip story again after so long. Mum and the rest of my family are pretty used to me pointing a camera at them by now. As children me and my sister were constantly in front of a lens, because for a few years we travelled through NZ and then lived here and sent regular updates back to our grandparents in England. Dad used to edit together the family videos and send them copies. And anyone who comes hiking with me now knows that there will be some element of being on KZbin associated with it. It's a good question though, we've never sat down and actually had the conversation about what it means to be on KZbin. It's something we should probably do, because of course they are all entitled to their privacy and it's not a decision that they've specifically made. I'm constantly aware of this when I'm on the trail and filming other people. You can't possibly ask every single person if they're happy to be on KZbin, so I just try to make sure that I respect the privacy of these people as much as possible. I capture glimpses of them, but don't go over the top. And as much as possible I make sure the camera's pointed at me rather than anyone else. Those who are super sensitive to cameras usually speak up pretty quickly anyway in my experience :)

[@ReviloNZwalks]

That would have been great quality time with your mum! Cheers Michelle!

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

It certainly was! Looks like you're very much back into the swing of things and getting ready for summer. Some awesome adventures coming up I hope? Let me know when you're down this way... if I don't have open homes or appointments over the weekend I would be very keen to tag along!

[@ReviloNZwalks]

Trying to get back out there and make some plans for sure! Awesome, sounds good and I will. Regretfully never got down for a winter Tongariro trip this year

[@gymrat2647]

Wowsers that hut looks a very posh hotel or resort in nature

[@rajr5130]

we call that a poncy motel for Aucklanders ha ha.

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

@@rajr5130 Haha funnily enough it was mainly Queenstowners who were at the hut on this occassion in winter! But I can see how it would be VERY popular with the Auckland trampers!

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

It is absolutely ridiculous. You don't feel like you're far from civilisation in this one at all! 80 bunks in total, two separate 40-bunk wings, huge kitchen and dining area, a television (although no signal lol) and even a cold shower! I think the warden's quarters are even better!

[@christinewinterton7111]

Much better to use the small camping site by the wardens hut. Very quiet!

[@robertdean1579]

Looked like a fun time you got to have with your mother. Treasure those memories. So, have the Covid lockdowns been fully lifted in NZ at this point? My understanding is that NZ is still closed to international travel though.

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

Thanks Robert, it was a great time! No Auckland and parts of the country immediately south of Auckland are still in lockdown. Most of our current cases are centred there. The government is now requiring high vaccination rates before they're prepared to open up the country again and let Aucklanders out of lockdown. International travel is basically impossible now unless you are vaccinated, a NZ citizen or resident and return negative tests. And currently no quarantine-free travel with Australia.

[@michaelbranch7909]

Nice video 😊🙃 I’m going to try and do this before the end of the year I think...

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

You really should Michael... get in there before we see all the tourists back in the country. Now's such a great time to be exploring New Zealand with a few less people out in our remote areas :)

[@dr.heididouglass9872]

Hi, thanks for sharing another great destination for us to check out here in NZ. I think it is so cool that your mother went with you. However, the comment that you made about how long it was taking her to hike eg "takes her twice as long as a 'normal person'..." was pretty shocking to hear. It came across as very ageist. How is she not 'normal'? Compared to whom? I am only 4 years younger than she is and I am not a speedy hiker either. Does that mean that I am not 'normal' either? Maybe the word normal could be bleeped out? I found it offensive as an older hiker. Maybe she is just being cautious and hiking to her ability? Since when is "normal" considered just what people in your age bracket can do? I think we need more diversity and more acceptance of varied ability on the trails. I wish you all the best.

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

Thanks Heidi, I really appreciate you speaking up and calling me out on this. You're right, it was a bit insensitive of me. Mum is very critical of herself anyway and you will often hear phrases like this come out of her own mouth... very easy to repeat them. But definitely something to watch in future!

[@johndivita4842]

Hi Michelle, I'd like to send you a photo of two star clusters that are supposed to be visible only in the southern hemisphere. What's the best email address to use? I'm not on Instagram or Facebook.

[@LongWhiteGypsy]

Hi John! Nice to hear from you and sorry for the delay in replying. you've emailed me before on the LWG email so it should be in your history, but send me a message through the contact form on my website and I'll send you one back :) longwhitegypsy.com/contact