A mother and daughter who had to be plucked from an icy ridge while tramping in Taranaki at the weekend say there was no warning about the track's level of difficulty.
The slopes of Mount Taranaki. Photo: Pseudopanax at en.wikipedia
Megan Boyd and her 12-year-old daughter Hanna went tramping on the Dover Track in the Pouakai Ranges in the Egmont National Park on Saturday. The pair had to crawl on their hands and knees along a high narrow ridge in the snow.
She said there were sheer drops on either side of the ridge and they could only walk in single file. The trip was taking a lot longer than expected and she decided it was too late and too dangerous to turn back.
They were rescued by helicopter on Saturday night, after Mrs Boyd's husband was able to pinpoint their location through an iPad app.
Mrs Boyd said there was nothing in the Department of Conservation (DoC) information to alert people about the level of difficulty of the track and bout if she'd known how difficult the tramp was, she would never have gone.
"We had looked on the DOC websites - done quite a lot of research - but at no point was there a description that it was going to be like that.
"We also spoke to a lady who was working that day at the North Egmont visitor centre ... I talked to her about the fact that it was going to be me and my 12-year-old daughter doing it and she never said at any point that that was a very difficult track."
Ms Boyd said she wasn't blaming the Department of Conservation, but she's unsure where she should have turned to find the information.
Mt Taranaki Photo: 123RF
