Prize trip a little off the beaten track
But Auckland University students Miles Mason and Tommy Fergusson are in their element.
The pair completed a 21-day tramping expedition in the Kahurangi National Park, near Nelson, last month.
They visited the park%26rsquo;s highest, deepest, northern and southern-most points, including descending down the 889-metre Nettlebed Cave and climbing 1875-metre Mt Owen.
On the second day we ended up combining two days into one we ended up walking 28 kilometres in 11 hours, says Mr Mason.
We called it the mammoth.
The 19-year-olds, whose longest tramp prior to tackling Kahurangi National Park was just four days, were inspired after winning a tramping scholarship in Wilderness magazine.
For a scholarship like that they%26rsquo;re looking for something with a bit of a theme.
And the pair put the $2000 prize to good use, using it to pay for everything from flights to supplies. The friends faced some mental challenges on the trip, but Epsom resident Mr Mason says he enjoyed the simplicity of life in the wilderness.
It was nice to only have to worry about the basics, he says. Your routine was whatever you made it.
They also had to plan every detail of their trip meticulously, working out exactly how much food they needed to carry with them. Meals consisted of dehydrated dinners, muesli bars and crackers. But a bigger challenge for the engineering students was having to constantly replenish their water supply.
When you exercise that hard, you need a litre of water an hour, so you need to take four to five litres each, Mr Fergusson, from Mt Albert, says.
And now they%26rsquo;ve completed their first big tramp, the duo are hooked, with Mt Taranaki, Stewart Island, Fiordland and even Canada on the cards.
But the pair say that will have to wait until the next university holidays.
Now we%26rsquo;ve had one successful tramp under the belt, hopefully it%26rsquo;ll be a bit easier to attract sponsors, they say.
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Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 1:30 am under