Tramping Food: Real Meals

 A look at the Real Meals range of entrees

Tramping food is one of the most important items you will carry with you when you are venturing into the outdoors. To perform at your best you need the right type and amount of food to keep you moving. One option is the use of freeze dried and pre packaged meals. 

Classic packaging for a Real Meals

I often use freeze dried meals when I am out by myself...they are the easiest and most efficient way to provide yourself with sustenance. One of my favorites at this time are the Real Meal range. Many trampers believe they are the best freeze dried meals available here in New Zealand. 

Real Meals...some history:

Real Meals as a company has only existed for a couple of years but its history is much longer than this. Originally the company was called Absolute Wilderness and they were a fixture in the South Island and especially Nelson region for over a decade. If you could find their products you would be using them as they were quality meals.  

Absolute Wilderness meals...basic black packaging

Absolute Wilderness traded right through the 2010's up to 2021.  While their products were always difficult to find in the shops the full range could always be ordered online from their Nelson headquarters. Starting out with only a couple of meals they eventually increased their range until they had about 15 different meals available covering breakfast, lunch and dinner options. My favorites were the Creamed Rice, Wilderness Stew and Chilli Con Carne. 

Homemade ration pack for the Paparoa Track in 2020

A couple of years ago the company was brought out by Nathan Fa'avae the well known adventure racer and educator. Nathan was a fixture of most of the multi discipline events through the 2000's including the Coast to Coast,  New Zealand Adventure Racing Team and GODZone. His purchase of the company has seen its fortunes revived and it is now available in many outdoor sports and hunting stores right across the country. 

Nathan Fa'avae

I am hoping that the company will continue to increase their menu range over time as they gain market share and recognition. All of their products are delicious with some of the original Absolute Wilderness range still manufactured and the addition of many new and innovative entrees. 

A look at the Real Meals range...

Real meals have menus for breakfast through dinner with additional desserts and drinks. They regularly swap out items from the range and bring in a couple of new items every six months or so. At the time of this blog this is their complete range of meals:

Breakfast

Bircher Muesli

Banana Oat Porridge

Honey Yoghurt

Boysenberry Yoghurt

Eggs, Cheese & Chives

Lunch

Couscous Salad

Mexi Nachos

Bacon Mash

Cheesy Mash

Dinner

Sri Lankan Chicken Curry

Wilderness Stew

Tom Kha Gai

Macaroni and Cheese

Beef Stroganoff

Moroccan Tagine

Dal Makhani

Desserts

Apples with Creamed Rice

Tropical Pudding

Chocolate Cake Pudding

Others

Berry Smoothie

Mango Lassi

Baby Beetroot

Fruit Trio

Basmati Rice

The dinner meals are equally good for lunch or a savory breakfast and the Apples with Creamed Rice is one of my favorite breakfast meals. I'm not big on powdered milky drinks but I'm sure their Lassis and smoothies are going to be as good as any of the main entrees. 

Jon's personal picks...

I have yet to try a Real Meal that I do not like...they are all delicious. That said there are a couple which I really enjoy and buy often. I have four that I would like to talk about...the Apples and Creamed Rice, Sri Lankan Chicken Curry, Beef Stroganoff and Cous Cous Salad.

Apples with Creamed Rice:

To start the Apples with Creamed Rice is meant as a dessert but I most commonly use it as a breakfast meal. I love Creamed Rice and the Real Meal version is top notch. It reconstitutes really well, is sweet without being overly sweet, the fruit is delicious and it is filling. 

Real Meal: Apples and Creamed Rice

I get VERY sick of eating porridge (Oats/Oatmeal) all the time and I'm constantly looking for something else for breakfast. I pair this with some protein...cheese, salami or other dried meat as this meal is light on protein.  I sometimes add extra raisins to the pack because I love raisins and nuts are also a great addition.

It can be eaten cold but is best warm....

Couscous Salad:

I notice this is no longer on the Real Meal website but still available in shops. I was turned onto this by Marlee one of my tramping companions on the Abel Tasman Coastal Track back in October. She was eating these for lunch and I really liked the look of it.  It is lovely with a nutty, spicy flavor with a subtle under current of lemon and mint. This is an excellent dinner meal but it is really good for lunch as well.

Real Meal: Cous Cous Salad

 Couscous Salad is a vegetarian meal but you can pep it up with the addition of fresh/dried vegetables, stock cubes, dried meat or fish. I like this for dinner with some Backcountry dried vegetables, chicken stock and a tuna packet.

Yum!!!

Sri Lankan Curry:

This is my favorite curry from the range and I am always impressed whenever I tuck into one of these. It reconstitutes really well and the taste, consistency and appearance is just like a takeaway curry. It is mildly spicy without being hot and the flavor is deep through the vegetables and chicken in this meal.

Real Meal: Sri Lankan Curry

The meal as it stands is low on carbs so I always have this with some freeze dry rice, mash potato or a Naan bread. I just add this to the meal pack with the requisite amount of hot water and hey presto a power packed dinner meal. 

Beef Stroganoff:

This is my second favorite in the Real Meals range of freeze dried entrees. I initially ignored this one but I took a pack with me on a tramp earlier this year and it is really good. As well as the classic sauce it has pasta so this is a complete meal which requires no additional items. 

Real Meal: Beef Stroganoff

The sauce in this meal is rich and savory and it has nice chunks of meat, vegetables and spices. The pasta is a flat sheet pasta that rehydrates well. It is as tasty as any Stroganoff I could make at home and is now one of my go to meals for tramping. 

Honorable mention goes to the Wilderness Stew, Cheesy/Bacon Mash and Dal Makhani which are all good and worth a try...

Where can I buy these..?

So you ask...these meals are good but where can I buy them?

They seem to be widely available in most of the better outdoor and sports stores that sell camping/tramping equipment. Since the company changed hands they are much more visible and I have seen them in stores right across the South Island. I'm not sure about coverage in the North Island...

I like Apples with Creamed Rice for Breakfast

Here in Christchurch they are available at Hunting and Fishing, Bivouac, Macpac and Kathmandu shops. Hunting and Fishing have the widest selection and they have almost all the menu items. I have also seen them at Further Faster a really excellent independent outdoor shop. 

Real Meals have a range of entrees

They sell Real Meals in the Torpedo 7 in Nelson but not the one here in Christchurch. Some supermarkets in smaller towns like Hanmer, St Arnaud, Motueka, Te Anau and Lake Tekapo also stock them. There is a list of retailers on the Real Meals website with locations and website addresses. 

There is a list of retailers here

As with Absolute Wilderness the complete range is available online and you can order them for delivery through the Real Meals website. If you cannot find them in your local area this is your best option.

Real Meals Homepage

If you are thinking about taking some freeze dried meals on your next adventure you should really consider using a Real Meal. They are tasty, nutritious and much better than the other brands available here in New Zealand. The next time you visit your local outdoor retailer have a look at their food selection and see if they sell Real Meals. 

NB: I am not associated with this company I just really like their meals.

Lewis Pass National Reserve: Lewis Pass Nature Walk

A productive stopover at Lewis Pass

 I had a break at the Lewis Pass carpark on my way to Nelson Lakes NP a couple of weeks ago. I usually stop at the Lewis Pass carpark as it is roughly 2.5-3 hours drive from Christchurch and is a attractive spot to stretch your legs.

At the Lewis Pass Tarn, Lewis Pass National Reserve

  It is sometimes wet and windy but if it is fine it is a awesome spot to explore. There are tracks, lookouts, a day shelter and an alpine tarn here. 

Sign post at the Lewis Pass carpark

I have stopped at the Lewis Pass carpark a number of times over the years but only realised last year that there is a small loop track just off the St James Walkway. It is through an area of lovely sub alpine forest and glacial remains and it is a couple of hundred meters away from the tarn. The track is called the Lewis Pass Nature Loop Walk.

Distant Spencer Range from Lewis Pass carpark

On the way to the Loop Track you pass by the side of Lewis Pass Tarn so if you have never visited the tarn before stop and have a look as it is very picturesque...

On the Lewis Pass Nature Walk:

The first part of the track is along the beginning of the St James Walkway which is a 67 kilometer, 3-5 day tramping trip from here to the Boyle River Valley.  The junction for the Loop Track is about 200 meters from the carpark and heads off to the left...

Junction of St James Walkway and Nature Walk

The Lewis Pass Nature Walk is only 800 meters long and will take you from 20-25 minutes to complete. To start with you are walking over boardwalk but this changes to gravel track as you make your way towards an area of wetlands and rolling moraine piles left over from some ancient glacier. 

Boardwalk at the start of the Lewis Pass Nature Walk

The area around the Lewis Pass has been sculpted by ice and it was in the recent past. There were glaciers in all of these valleys as recently as 8000 years ago and there is much evidence of glacial action all around you. The small humps, rock piles and ridges along the walk are old glacial moraine walls while the shallow wetlands are dried up and silted over kettle tarns.

Silted up kettle tarn...Lewis Pass Nature Walk

Lewis Pass is particularly spectacular in the winter when this whole area will be covered with snow.

Subalpine vegetation on the Lewis Pass Nature Walk

There are awesome views of the surrounding mountain ranges like the Freyburg, Opera, Libretto and Spencer. Many of the peaks around here are from 1600-2000 meters a.s.l so they often still have snow on their tops even in summer. 

Lewis Pass Tops from the Lewis Pass Nature Walk

There are a number of open tussock fields with a variety of alpine plants growing. Most all of this flat ground would once have been tarns which are now dry and silted up. 

View east towards the Lewis Pass Carpark

You will find several informative panels along the tracks explaining the fauna, flora and geology of this area. 

Information panel along the Lewis Pass Nature Walk

The Lewis Pass Nature Walk alternates between gravel path and boardwalk as it winds around the outside of the flat tussock lands. 

Looking towards Lewis Pass from the Lewis Pass Nature Walk

At one point there is a good view of SH7 the Lewis Pass Highway and down along the mountain ranges which border the Lewis River Valley. The Libretto Range runs right along the eastern side of the highway and it is possible to walk from one end of them to the other along open tops...

SH7 the Lewis Pass Highway

This is the edge of the east-west divide so while the predominant tree species is Beech you will also see some Podocarp trees. Beech prefers the drier eastern side of the ranges while Podocarp forest dominates on the wetter West Coast.

Beech forest along the Lewis Pass Nature Walk

End of Opera Range from Lewis Pass Nature Walk

There is an excellent view up the Maruia River Valley from the track and you can see far enough up the valley to see the beginning of the Spencer Range. This is the route of the St James Walkway which hugs the narrow valley bottom till past the Faire Queene where the valley widens out into a series of tussock plains.

The snow capped Spencer Mountains 

There are a variety of alpine plants along the track including Turpentine Scrub, Snow Tussock, Red Tussock, Alpine Lilies and other rugged plants. Many of these can be seen in alpine regions in the South Island including Nelson Lakes NP,  Arthurs Pass, Mt Cook and down around Mt Aspiring NP.

The Lewis Pass Nature Walk winds over glacial debris

Further along the track heads into stunted Beech forest which is the dominant tree species around Lewis Pass. There are Black Beech and Silver Beech here with larger Red Beech further along the St James Walkway. Most of the forest is cloaked in strands of Lichen which gives it a ghostly appearance. 

Moss covers the trees...Lewis Pass Nature Walk

There is a DOC information panel near here which explains about the Beech line...the altitude at which Beech trees stop growing. Above the Beech line is the home of sub alpine and alpine plant species. 

Information panel about Beech forest

The track crosses some more glacial remains just before reentering the forest and there are more moraines and glacial erratic's everywhere you look. The area would be a geologist dream location as there is plenty to explore...

Glacial mounds on the Lewis Pass Nature Walk

Freyburg Range to the west of Lewis Pass

Heading back to the Lewis Pass Tarn

There is a terminal Moraine wall you climb up and over just before the end of the circuit. It is the furthermost edge of a retreating glacier...as the ice melted it left a pile of soil and rocks at the point where the glacier stopped moving forward. In areas like Aoraki/Mt Cook these can be 200 meters tall but here they are 20-40 meters high. 

Terminal moraine wall...Lewis Pass Nature Walk

Lewis Pass is at 900 meters a.s.l so it is often cloudy, misty and raining here. Because it is such a wet environment most of the trees are cover with lichen and moss. You see long wispy beards of moss hanging from the trees right along the Nature Walk

It is often wet at Lewis Pass hence the moss

There is a prominent waterfall coming down off the end of the Libretto Range. It is visible from several places along the Lewis Pass Nature Walk. They only run after heavy rain so are not shown on any topo map but they originate from tarns on Trovatore (1737). 

Looking to the Libretto Range from Lewis Pass

Waterfall falling down off Trovatore (1737)

The track winds its way back towards the track junction and before you know it you can see the end of the track coming into view once again. It is an easy walk but due to the gravel and small mounds it is probably not wheelchair friendly. 

More is the pity.... 

Turpentine Scrub along the Lewis Pass Nature Walk

Back at start of loop...Lewis Pass Nature Walk

Once off the Nature Walk you are back on the St James Walkway for a couple of hundred meters back to the carpark. FYI...I am planning a trip to the St James Walkway for early next year. The last time I walked the track was back in 2015 and I have been contemplating a return for the last couple of years. I would like to camp up at the head of the Boyle River... 

Back on the St James Walkway to the Lewis Pass carpark

The Lewis Pass Tarn is along the bush edge

Even if you do not walk the Nature Walk it is worthwhile coming down to this end of the Lewis Pass Tarn to take photographs. The view back along the tarn and down the Lewis River Valley is very picturesque. 

Lewis Pass Tarn from the northern end

Looking north to the Maruia Valley and Spencer Range

There are a number of other tracks accessible from the carpark at Lewis Pass including the Lewis Tops Route, St James Walkway and Rolleston Peak Route. You can also access the Zampa Tops Route off the St James and it is possible to walk to the eastern end of the Libretto Range near Boyle Village along the top of the range...

Map of the local tracks...Lewis Pass Tarn

There is a trampers shelter at the Lewis Pass carpark with a toilet and water tank. It is intended for those people waiting for a bus or other form of transport to collect them.  While it has over head cover it is a three sided building so you cannot sleep here. It would be a great spot to sit and wait for a couple of hours but the voracious sandflies would require copious sprays of DEET to ward off....

Track to the Lewis Pass Day shelter

Lewis Pass Day Shelter, Lewis Pass National Reserve

Right next to the day shelter is a viewing platform looking out over the Lewis Pass Tarn. It is nice standing here and looking down the tarn to the distant Spencer Range up at the end of the Maruia River Valley.

View from the lookout at Lewis Pass Tarn

The Spencer Mountains frame the end of the tarn

I spent about an hour at Lewis Pass before heading back to the car to continue my journey to Nelson Lakes. It was a productive visit with a nice walk and many photos and film clips captured!

Lewis Pass Tarn from near the shelter

Lewis Pass carpark was very quiet

The next time you are crossing Lewis Pass you should stop and go for a stroll...even if you only go take some photos of the Lewis Pass Tarn you will not be disappointed. It is a lovely area and deserves some of your attention...

Access: From SH 7 (Lewis Pass Highway) a short boardwalk track leads to the Lewis Pass Nature Loop Walk. You can access several other tracks from the carpark including the Lewis Tops Track, Rolleston Peak Track and the St James Walkway.

Track Times: It is two minutes to the Lewis Pass Loop Walk from the carpark (follow the signs). Other tracks are from 30 minutes to several days depending on length.

Miscellaneous: The Lewis Pass carpark is in a high alpine area and as such is prone to extreme weather. There is a toilet and trampers shelter near the tarn available to all visitors. Severe avalanche risk on the Lewis Pass Tops & St James Walkway in Winter/Spring so only proceed if safe (check the Avalanche Advisory website).  

YouTube link: Lewis Pass Nature Loop Track