My good friend Paul Rodley has been emailing me this evening with links to this very interesting mashup about DOC tramping tracks in NZ. In true mashup style, it brings together Google Maps, with maps of the local area and other information such as an elevation profile. Paul knows of my keen interest in walking the many tracks around the country – something I’m now sharing with the scouts in the local troop that I am a leader in, so I’ll certainly be sharing this link with them also! The mashup still has some way to go before it’s fully featured and graphically interesting, but is certainly an excellent start!

This mashup is a step up from entries in the ‘Best visitor experience using DOC data’ category in the 2010 ‘Mix and Mash – the Great Remix and Mashup Competition‘, sponsored by the Department of Conservation who made available the range of datasets necessary to complete the exercise. This was won  by  Daniel Pietzsch with is NZ Walks Information (illustrated right) that provides a rather clever and visually appealing way of drilling down to information about the range of tracks that DOC has available.