Frequently Asked Questions
We realise there’s a lot to think about when coming on an adventure – especially if it’s your first time getting outdoors (or it’s been a while!)
We also realise we do things a little differently than tramping clubs or tour companies.. probably because we aren’t either of those things!
So we’ve compiled a wee list of things that will help ease you into your first Got To Get Out Adventure:
The difficulty of each trip will clearly be shared in the event marketing of each trip. This information will be listed both on our Facebook and Eventbrite, so you know what you are signing up for. We follow a strict (externally audited) health and safety protocol and one of the main things we need to do, is called ‘disclosure of risk’. So expect us to tell you if it’s going to be an easy/intermediate/hard walking trade, or grade1 / grade 2/ grade 3 mountain bike trail etc. Also, please do your own homework: we go places that are in the public domain, a quick google search of past visitors to the parks or trails we are planning to visit will give you loads of info.
As with the answer above, we will make it very clear what skills are required before you book onto our trips. In general, our trips are easy-intermediate (when hiking or biking), but events organised locally within a Got To Get Out group could in theory be harder – and not officially sanctioned by us or following our audited procedures. At the time of writing Got To Get Out is ‘not adventure regulated’ for our outdoor activities, meaning that we need to stay under a certain threshold of difficulty when guiding people. This doesn’t apply when members of our groups arrange their own trips using our groups as the platform, so just keep that in mind when saying “yes” to an event listed in a group!
Everything you need to bring will be listed in the event information on Facebook (or Eventbrite) and likely also emailed to you pre departure. We give detailed lists of the gear you need to be safe and prepared for anything! If you’re lucky, we will also provide you with a discount link to one or some of our partners. There’s certain mandatories per event-type. Read more about gear here
Everything you need to bring will be listed in the event information on Facebook (or Eventbrite) and likely also emailed to you pre departure. As a rule of thumb, guests always bring kai (food) suited to their own needs – depending on the length of trip – but ALSO bring something to share. A big element of Got To Get Out trips is the sharing of food, which helps bring people closer together. Think healthy, think plastic-reduction, think home-made 🙂
Each trip has it’s own age restriction. As a rule of thumb, our trips are for adults and kids over 16. However, we do have a section of our check-in website where caregivers / responsible people can sign for under 16s. Why do we have this age restriction? It’s for a few reasons, the first is that some trips are physically demanding, or our gear is a certain size. Other times its because the events are ‘for’ adults, with discussion and opening-up that’s for the mental health benefit of older people. Sometimes it’s due to our guiding ratios – we need more guides for younger people. Every attendee needs an Eventbrite ticket, and everyone needs to Check-in before attending.
As with the question above, if youth are allowed it will be clearly listed in the event information on either Facebook or Eventbrite. Sometimes kids aren’t allowed because we consider the risk too great for young people, we may not have enough guides to go-around, or we’ve just decided it’s an adult trip – bringing grown ups together. That’s our call case by case, but we will always consider younger people coming under the care of parents! We understand that kids have #gottogetout too 🙂
We love animals! Sometimes animals are allowed (usually on our hikes) but in general, alas your pooch or moggie needs to stay home due to council or DOC rules. Another issue is if lots of people bring dogs, and they are all on our bus, there could be fights etc and we can’t have that! It will be clear in our Facebook or Eventbrite marketing if dogs are allowed.
This depends. If an event is free of charge, and we are car-pooling to the location, then yes bringing your own car can be OK. But most often if you are booking into an officially-organised event, we will be providing transport in our buses. This achieves a few things for us: first it means we all depart and arrive to destination at the same time. Secondly it means guests all get the same experience. And lastly it means people can have a yarn in the bus and relax. We find there are frequently issues with self-driving whereby the majority of people arrive to the track-start at the same time, then need to wait for the car or cars who have got lost.. It’s usually better to travel together.
Usually it’s clear if BYO bike or board is an option when you get your ticket. You should private message us prior to an event to double-check though, because if everyone brings their own bike we may not have space in our trailer. So, just check prior to your event. Another part of this, is sometimes the guest-bike isn’t up to scratch, and our guides spend all the time adjusting brakes.. So if you book one of our bikes, just use that.
Great question! First you find the event on on our Facebook page and click “interested” or “going”. Next, you get a ticket. This can either be from Facebook, or if you don’t use Facebook, from our Eventbrite. Usually, if you don’t have a ticket, you can’t come to the event. Tickets often sell-out even on our paid trips, so get in quick!
Follow our Eventbrite profile, and each time we upload an event you will be notified.
Our terms and conditions are listed here and are also listed case by case on Eventbrite. As a rule of thumb you can cancel your ticket 7 days before an event and get a full refund, but within that period it may not be possible to get a refund. This is because we have to pre-pay for matters like accommodation or third-party services, and we may not be able to get out of it. If you are booked on a trip to Nepal, there will be a unique arrangement, because of the rules imposed by the airline or in-market costs that may have a longer cancellation period.
Bummer you can’t come! Yes this is possible, but it’s really important the new person knows all about the event, what to bring, how to prepare. The new person won’t have recieved all the important information that you have. The best idea is to change the name on Eventbrite yourself, if you can. But if it’s the last minute, it’s best to notify us with who the new person is, so we can have a chat to them. Note, they need to check-in still, even if you already have.
We only accept payment via Eventbrite, with the exception of our trip to Nepal which due to the large size, is usually an invoice to your account.
We notify guests 24 hours prior to an event if we are going to cancel. To give you an idea, we only cancel if it’s REALLY bad. We believe getting outdoors with a bit of rain/wind/cold is actually character building – we often get the best feedback after a bit of adversity. So don’t think that because some rain is forecast we are going to cancel! Remember, unless we cancel, you don’t get your money back for not showing up or pulling out last minute.
Oh, one of those ones are we!? Ok you need to call your trip host quick. Their details are usually listed in your pre-event emails. Has the driver left yet? It’s quite possible that they are still at the carpark checking everyone in and doing the morning briefing. If you’re really late, you either need to self-drive and catch up the bus, or get dropped off in such a way that the bus can collect you with the minimum disruption. Our advice is to call ahead asap.
Hello future sponsor! Giving some stuff away falls into the area of ‘maybe’. Maybe it’s OK for you to do some product sampling or get involved, or maybe it’s not. This may be because we already have an existing partnership with a competing brand, which stops us from aligning with other brands. Or maybe we just don’t approve of what you’ve got (like it creates heaps of waste or isn’t healthy). So, best to email robert@gottogetout.com for that one BEFORE showing up with your boxes of plastic novelty ponchos 🙂
In the terms and conditions you sign when you check-in, it says that we can use your photos to basically promote Got To Get Out and encourage more people to participate. In real terms, this means we will put the photos we take during an event on Facebook, Instagram, and maybe onto our website. If we are going to use them as a billboard or TV campaign and it clearly shows you – we will of course get in touch to talk about it first. FYI – this has never happened. But, we do put a lot of stuff on social media.
