n August 2012, during the ascent on a snow caving overnight trip to Bills Basin above the Temple Basin ski field, the Temple Basin ski field manager came up to us and asked us if we had Poo Pots with us. We had the choice of using Poo Pots or going down to use the toilets at the shelter. He made it plain that he did not want us poohing anywhere in the ski field and certainly not in Bills Basin as the basin contains the tarns that supply the water to the ski field lodge and other buildings. So we did as he asked, and used the toilets as we had not brought Poo Pots with us. This made for some rapid early departures the next morning, as it is some distance from Bills Basin to the shelter's toilets.
Temple Basin gets lots of visitors every weekend, summer and winter, so it is not just one party but the cumulative effect of lots of people toileting directly on to the ground/snow that will leave an awful mess come the summer thaw and a very unhealthy water supply all year round.
So, if going to Temple Basin, and other popular sub-alpine & alpine areas including the Aoraki/Mt Cook special area, then take a poo pot. This is done routinely overseas in similar areas - we have yet to catch up, so please lead by example as responsible users of the outdoors.
The links below, particularly the second one, give good information about how poo pots work, what to do and what not to do, and how you could make one if you wanted to. They are very cheap to buy from DOC, re-usable, and user friendly when used in conjunction with newspaper to roll the pooh up in before transferring it to the poo bag which in turn is placed inside the solid plastic poo pot with the screw-top lid.
The first link also gives indicative pricing at DOC Mt Cook visitor centre.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/national-parks/aoraki-mount-cook/plan-and-prepare/pack-it-out-poo-pots/
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/plan-and-prepare/care-codes/activity-minimal-impact-codes/disposing-of-human-waste/
Where to get them from in CHCH? The only place that we know of is at
DOC Christchurch Information Centre
31 Nga Mahi Rd, Sockburn, Christchurch 8042
Ph (03) 341 9113 Fax (03) 341 9101
PO Box 11089, Sockburn, Christchurch 8443
email
It would pay to ring up the Information Centre well in advance, in case DOC is out of either the Poo Pot or the Poo Bag. Note that DOC Christchurch Information Centre is not open in the weekend.
Warwick Dowling
CTC President