Letters to the Travel Editor
Following the signs Dear Sir, As I read Stephanie Holmes’ article [“Left, right and over it”, Travel, January 17] I couldn’t help but think: “Finally someone has said it!”
I have actually thought about writing a written complaint regarding the Te Mata Peak trails in Napier for the exact same reasons.
As a regular walker of large bush areas I feel as though I can’t possibly be the only person finding myself lost.
Forks in the path with no signs, no written directions pointing to where I need to go and the smallest arrows pointing in obscure directions were my main reasons for complaint.
We ended up walking about 2km off of our original track and had to back track 1km of it to try to find where we parked our car.
Surely the Deaprtment of Conservation can afford a few wooden signs stating “top car park this way”, “red track left” etc. I actually tend to believe it will be more cost-efficient than responding to what I can only imagine are hundreds of lost tourists. Look after yourself out there, Kristy Dear Sir, Reading Stephanie Holmes’ article “Left, right and over it” in last week’s Travel, left me feeling totally sympathetic at your plight. You were voicing my sentiments exactly.
Earlier last year, my partner and I spent a day exploring Kawau Island. While walking along so called marked tracks we felt the signage left a lot to be desired. DoC signs can be hard to follow.
Like yourself, we considered ourselves reasonably intelligent, fit and healthy yet were left somewhat befuddled as to how to reach the destination of Copper Mine Bay.
No evident ongoing signage indicated along the way how much further we needed to go or if we were even heading in the right direction.
At one stage we were detoured down a steep hill to a bay overlooking the mine, but by which access along the shore line was not possible as the tide was too high. An steep upward journey took us back to the existing path. Finally after walking several metres further, we gave up in frustration and headed back down to the wharf fearing time would escape us.
We both commented at the time about how poor the signage was and felt the Department of Conservation needed to up its game.
Thank you for your article bringing this valid point to the fore. Kind Regards, Lindsay Humphreys The Travel Editor replies: Couldn’t agree more! Our outdoors are fabulous and we should be encouraging more Kiwis to explore them. A little certainty around signage would go a long way.