RUAPEHU: Secrets, histories, treasures and mysteries of Tongariro National Park

Kia ora e te whānau, I’m Hazel and I’m addicted to Ruapehu (though I swear, I can stop any time). I’m a writer and I live in, and love, the Ruapehu region. I’m usually found somewhere near a mountain, and I’m particularly passionate about the Tongariro National Park.

Over the past two years I’ve been researching and writing a book about the backcountry history of the Tongariro National Park. The book is huge (130,000 words), my magnum opus, and it contains everything from plane wrecks, memorials and cairns to daring rescues, avalanches, ghosts, mysterious fires, crevasses, a secret inscription on a summit stone, sly grogging and carrot waving. Ultimately, it’s a love letter to my favourite mountain. The book isn’t just history, though – I’ve spent the past few years going out into the hills and wearing out my tramping boots on missions to find the tangible remnants of these histories and recreate these episodes, and you’ll read about that, too. I’ve found tonnes of fascinating historic images to go into the book, and I’ve also snapped a lot of my own during my backcountry trips to research these histories in the present day. Sometimes I've taken photographers with me – such as the talented Mandy Rothe (@mandyrothephoto), who took the stunning shot of the Crater Lake / Te Wai ā-moe at the top of this page.

I’ve written this book entirely at my own cost and in my spare time, while holding down a full-time job in something totally unrelated. In New Zealand, books don’t often make money – in fact, they sometimes cost money. We want to make this book big, bright and beautiful. Hitting our funding target will mean we can get the cover wrap illustrated by leading New Zealand artist Lisa Moes (@lovethyland), afford to get historic images digitised, pay the photographers who came on trips with me, and publish it in full colour. I’m not asking for money for myself – only to make my crazy dream a reality. Your donation, however small, will be a game changer. Even $5 makes you a legend. 

In publishing this book I’m collaborating with Massey University Press, a leading New Zealand publisher of intelligent, relevant books for intelligent, inquiring readers. MUP published my last book, Solo, and I reckon they have a keen eye for what people will be interested in. They’re also just really good humans. All going well, the book should be on sale in the first half of 2025.

What's in it for you?

• Warm fuzzies from knowing you're supporting a piece of literature in the tramping community that otherwise would struggle to become a reality
• A discount code for a copy of the book, thanks to Massey University Press
• A discount code for a piece of art by Lisa Moes, @lovethyland (https://lovethyland.company.site/)
• My everlasting and heartfelt thanks

Mountaineering has usually been about getting up a summit peak, about ‘conquering’ the landscape. Remember, even Sir Ed said “we knocked the bastard off”. Well, I want to explore different ways of thinking about mountains and our backcountry spaces. Instead of racing up a summit, can we spend time on the mountain’s flanks? How can we really get to know the hills? I’m passionate about engaging people in our history and linking them up with the land, and bringing to life stories people don’t know about. Whether you’re an avid mountaineer or an armchair adventurer, I hope this book blows your fluffy pink socks off.

A little bit about me, and what qualifies me to be here asking you to dip into your hard-earned cash ... I’ve published three books previously – Solo: Backcountry adventuring in Aotearoa New Zealand (MUP, 2022), Wild Westie (Penguin, 2014), a biography of Sir Bob Harvey; and Sell! (Penguin, 2013), a history of the advertising industry. Solo was shortlisted in the New Zealand Mountain, Film & Book Festival book awards (2022) for mountain and adventure narratives and was a New Zealand nonfiction bestseller. I'm still getting fantastic feedback from readers about how Solo has inspired them to get out into the hills! In 2022 I completed a Masters in Creative Writing with first-class honours. I often write for Wilderness magazine, where my pieces focus on backcountry history and our human interactions with outdoors spaces.

Thanks for reading, and hit me up with any questions or comments. Keep being awesome!