Top 5 essentials for a multi-day hike

Here's my top five essentials that are always part of my kit for several nights in the New Zealand wilderness.

You're off on a classic Kiwi tramp and the daunting feeling of what to pack creeps in when you see everything strewn all over the floor. No  matter how many times you hike on multi-night adventures,  panic generally sets in when you can't  possibly see food, sleeping bags,  clothes, wet weather gear etc actually fitting into your backpack. Everyone has their favourites, their must-haves they take with them when they hike. So here's mine which might help you on your next adventure in Godzone.

1. Tramping in New Zealand by Shaun Barnett. I call it the green bible and it highlights 40 of the best New Zealand Great Walks and back-country hikes from around New Zealand. Husband and I are on a mission to complete as many of these as we can. What's awesome about this publication is that it's updated from time to time and has a pretty good description of what you are about to embark on with notes on where to park, what the huts are like, if there are good camping spots and how hard it might be. It also gives an indication of times it takes - which helps you plan your multi-day hike. (NB Some of these times could possible be set my Usain Bolt without a 15kg back pack on but they are a general guide). If you are keen on doing more hikes in New Zealand, get yourself a copy. While I don't take it hiking - its for inspiration and preparation - husband and I make sure we photocopy the appropriate pages and take them with us to compare with Department of Conversation (DOC) times. 

2. Anker compact portable charger. This might seem a little extravagant and irrelevant since you are heading out into the technology free wilderness, however hear me out. A cameraman I work with put me on to the Schneider iPro Lens system, it's an amazing kit for iPhone where you buy a cover and use different lens to take some pretty amazing shots.

 It saves space and weight from dragging along a large camera. It fits into my backpack hip pockets and I use it all the time. My phone I use primarily as a camera, maybe zone out in the huts with Spotify or play some music over New Years so it will definitely need to be charged. I looked into solar charges and while these might be better for weeks in the wilderness - this charger is awesome for four to five days. It charges my iPhone 6 Plus about 1.5 times or any other devices as it has two USB hubs. Its also good for making friends in huts where people are desperate for a charger.

3. Sea to Summit X-Cup.These light weight silicon cups are perfect as they squash down flat, so perfect for stashing in your shorts pocket when you are tramping near rivers for a quick drink. Saves you carrying a heavy full water bladder in your pack or heavy drink bottles. 

Sea to Summit has a great range of products for camping and hiking. There are the bowl versions of these cups too which are easy to pack and when you turn them over you can cut food like a chopping board on their base.

4. Dry Sacks. We use Kathmandu dry sacks - there are a range of sizes and all of them are great from small versions for phones, wallets, valuables etc through to the larger 25LT sizes. I put my clothes in one, sleeping kit in the other and that way you don't have to haul out everything individually - they are compartmentalised and can double as pillows too.

Even if your pack gets wet and you aren't using a liner or a pack cover, these dry sacks mean you keep everything in your pack dry, even in the worst downpour.

5. The  Jetboil Flash cooking system. For years I have used a stove, screwed onto a gas canister and its a perfect system which still works well. We used to take a lot of different ingredients to cook like rice, pasta or fry up some things but I'm now sold on the lightweight easy and pretty tasty Back Country Cuisine. Freeze dried food isn't too bad and these meals for a 2 person portion run at around $NZD12 or $USD8.  Two years ago I saw a guy boil some water in a hut on the Jetboil and I was fascinated - it took seconds for him to get a hot cup of tea. We only use the water system, but it does have attachments for using pans, however, it just means all we have to do is boil water and this system does it super quick and then packs away into itself. You can fly with it but obviously not carrying the gas canister. It has been worth the investment (around $NZD150 or $USD100, you are not sitting around waiting for water to boil - it takes around 2 minutes - and the helpful colour changing heat indicator on the side of the unit tells you when it's done.

Should TV cameras be allowed in court?

It’s not every day we get a good court room drama played out on our television - and it's for a good reason. Most of the day to day happenings in New Zealand courts are akin to being locked in an overheated room and forced to watch a four hour highlight reel of the Queen’s Christmas speeches.

Cameras in NZ courts since 1995

Droll, droll, droll. So when a murder trial pops up – it’s already news. If it involves a good looking farming family from friendly Fielding, then you know it’s going to be on the nightly news in heavy doses. I’m not saying it’s why the recent Ewen Macdonald murder trial got so much coverage, but it certainly helped. I’ve directed television in New Zealand – it’s not exactly a rich stomping ground for telegenic types who can answer a question on camera without the “yeah, but nah” signature sign off.


Sketch artist's impression inside court


When I started out as a reporter, those lovely sketch artists were gainfully employed.

Where are they now? Most likely working abroad, since New Zealand courts, unlike those in England and Wales, have allowed cameras to cover courtroom trials since 1995.

Prior to the mid 90s, court on television for us here in lil' ol' New Zealand was limited to shows like Judge Judy  and The People's Court . It was reality programming before reality TV was even a sign on a TV commissioner’s door. Then things changed and we joined a growing number of countries which allow cameras into court. Of course it’s not like the media can just wander into any old courtroom and start rolling – there’s red tape – hey, it’s the Ministry of Justice would you expect anything less? The rules are many and set out on the Ministry of Justice website. And as back up? Filming is always at the judge’s discretion. So why does The Law Society want to turf cameras out of our courts? President Jonathan Temm announced earlier this month that cameras should be banned to stop sensationalist and selective reporting.
 Justice Minister Judith Collins has promised a review. She cited the Scott Guy murder trial and the 'reality tv' style coverage. The argument that broadcasters can create this sensationalist and selective reporting is strange. I’ve worked in both print and on television. It’s all selective. That’s what we do, time and space dictate that. We can't go back to the days when The New Zealand Herald filled its inside pages with all the freaks and weirdos appearing in docks up and down the country. But I don't see how we can suddenly turn around and ostracise the television cameras?

C.P Scott, an editor at The Guardian once famously said early in the last century: “Television? The word is half Latin and half Greek. No good can come of it”. And in a 1936 The Listener editorial Rex Lambert said “Television won’t matter in your lifetime or mine.” Bold statements of the day that look a bit silly now!

In England, the move to get cameras into their courts has had a monumental shift this year. In April this year a single camera was allowed into Edinburgh's High Court to film the sentencing of David Gilroy. It was a legal first. Hearings in the UK's highest court, Westminster Supreme Court are already broadcast live. The Queen has now announced plans for a bill to lift the ban of cameras in court. She said: "The presence of cameras in our courtrooms will lead to greater public engagement and understanding of our legal system. We look forward to working closely with the judiciary and the government to ensure that justice will now truly be seen to be done." So as more worldwide courts polish the mahogany and allow cameras to roll, will New Zealand be one of the first countries to try and scrap idea? I hope not.

The real Downton Abbey

As the third season of Downton Abbey begins on ITV (my British FB friends smugly keep pointing this fact out weekly), the rest of us around the world sit in front our tellies with a pack of chocolate biscuits and the kettle ready drooling in front of TV and listening out for that signature piano tinkle.

However in lieu of actually having the real thing to watch, I was in Blighty recently and asked, neigh forced, husband to make a slight variation whilst in the Wiltshire countryside. Actually our host from the previous evening had suggested we visit Highclere Castle aka Downton Abbey since she is friends with the owners of Highclere Castle and has on more than one occasion taken tea there. “Oh yeah, who’s that?” I asked her intrigued. It turns out Highclere has multiple personalities. It’s in the Carnarvon family. Who? The 5th Earl of Carnarvon was with Howard Carter in 1922 when they discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Tutankhamun! Brilliant. A telly show upstairs, an Egyptian treasure trove downstairs! No room for the owners among the dusty old relics, the Downton day core and the walls lined with portraits. They live somewhere else on the property according to one of the stoic and matronly looking types who work the downstairs study. Their castle for part of the year is overtaken with hordes of British tire kickers who are shipped in tour bus after tour bus – most with an average age of 85. Given their progressing years actually walking around the rooms of Highclere makes for a slow journey. It wasn’t really built for wheelchairs and the stairwell to the upper level is the straw that broke the camel’s back for many!

I was quietly humming that famous intro title as we came upon Downton Abbey on a sunny September day. We were greeted by a car park chocker full of SUVs, e-type Jags and old men sitting on fold out chairs with a flask of tea clearly bored and leaving their wives to it while they tuned in to the 2.35pm at Doncaster. Undeterred, I soldiered on, even shelling out £32 for myself and husband to give the castle the once over. On a stunning sunny day, it’s just like on telly. The grounds are huge and you can meander to your heart’s content. Post castle tour, there’s makeshift tea and cake eateries littering the back of Highclere Castle. The turnover alone on scones must go some way to the upkeep of this awesome property.

Inside it’s a mish mash of old and some new – new being recent family snaps of the Carnarvon family adorning side tables. They sit alongside picture cards of people like Hugh Bonneville with a caption stating that you are currently standing in his study in the tv show. Despite it feeling large and grandiose I can sympathise with the series directors as there must be limited space shooting on set, especially in the upstairs bedrooms.

Once downstairs, you sink into the murky, bricked depths of the castle, the official website describes it as the cellar. This is where the staff once used to work. The actual set for Downton’s staff is filmed at Ealing studios in London. In fact check out the Downton Abbey Red Nose Comedy special (see below) with Joanna Lumley, Kim Cattrall, Jennifer Saunders and raft of other celebs who take over the set in a hilarious version of the show and poke fun at the two different shooting locations.
In Highclere’s cellar you’re shown the story of Lord Carnarvon and his expensive and long quest to find ancient treasures in Egypt. He managed to get his hands on a lot of the booty from Tutankhamun’s tomb – most of the good stuff however is in the Cairo Museum. Emerging out into the grounds of Highclere, I wondered if Dame Maggie Smith was hiding around the corner at one of the tea rooms all pokerfaced, leaning on her cane and aghast at the mass of commoners who had descended upon Downton. While the tour is probably not a good substitute for the show, it got me excited for the upcoming series and respectful of the Carnarvon family who has opened up Highclere for public viewing and probably to turn an extra bob or two. Yes, quite!

How to use business video on your website

By Michele Simpson

A web developer asked me yesterday whether he should shut up shop and go into the online video production business as he’d heard there was a lot of money to be made and plenty of work.

I told him to stick with web development - but it did confirm what we all are seeing and hearing – more and more businesses and companies are looking to use video in some form for their websites or in social media.

Why Use Video for Business?
Most companies, no matter what industry they are in, could probably benefit from a web video. The question is obviously one of cost but also how can they use it? We’ve put together a vReport on business video which highlights a few key areas of online video and how some companies have experimented with them.

Video Testimonials
Video Testimonials are a good chance to have clients and customers endorse your business. There are many companies who opt to film these themselves – the results are mixed! Often I’ve seen the clients or customers looking like stunned mullets starring down the barrel of a camera - their lines are forced and seem scripted. It comes out looking a bit amateur.

Is Filming Your Video a Good Idea?

And filming video yourself, which is highlighting products and services or presenting a business opportunity has to look good – it’s a shame even a small Canadian video production company ironically did such a terrible job on its clip.
Former Australian cricketer Ian Healy kindly helped out his web company with a video endorsement – only problem is he throws in a few cynical lines about the team not knowing what they are doing or how to measure results - which are probably jokes but delivered so dead pan that someone may think he’s serious.

Worst Corporate Video Ever!
A little bit of planning around how the video will look at the end and how the people involved in the video will appear can save time, money and a lot of extra editing. I’m not sure if the Worst Corporate Video Ever on You Tube intended to have that title when they started the project.

Michele Simpson is Snapparazzi's producer

http://www.snapparazzi.co.nz/

Haul Video - The latest trend in online video

So what's a haul video? Yep, I asked the same question when I first saw a headline in the New York Times. It's basically when teenage girls and even some guys get on webcam and brag about what they bought at the mall. So why do we care? Well marketers, retailers and advertisers are loving it because they see it as a cheap way to get mass exposure.

Some of these teenagers have thousands of subscribers and get half a million hits each time they put up a haul. Haulers, as they are called can gain such a large following that companies are desperate to send them free goodies. There's also cash to be made from the online advertising revenue on their You Tube channels.

With the explosion of online video set to take off these haul videos - which can be around the 15 minute mark - tend to say a lot of really nice things about the clothes, make up and other goodies they are given or supposedly buy.

So is it retail porn or marketing gold? Have a look at our short vReport on this online phenomenon that's dominating the Millennial's viewing these days.