Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
Day 1: Friday Tash, Nate, Richard, and I met at Wellington Train Station and started driving north, stopping in Masterton for sneaky kebabs. With our stomachs (very) satisfied, we continued to the trailhead at Kiriwhakapapa Campsite. As darkness settled in, we donned our tramping gear and headlamps and set off towards Blue Range Hut. The … Read more
Blue Range Hut is the perfect spot for newbie trampers to test their fitness and learn some navigation skills. Who knew that tramping-fit is totally different to walking-fit? Or that ending up slightly off track from your planned route, does not mean you are lost? Or that lightly salted mango and biscuits are considered gourmet? … Read more
With Wellington returning to Level 1, and club life starting back up again, I was very keen to get out into the bush on a proper club trip. As the week progressed, the forecast dampened my enthusiasm. Not only was there going to be extremely high winds (between 40 and 90km/h on the Saturday and … Read more
All photos taken by Tony S. Tony’s Tarn Ridge trip appealed to me for two reasons. The first being the physical challenge. The trip had an “MF” label that would usually have sent me screaming in the other direction. However, over the past few weeks I had done a number of long day trips and … Read more
Day 1 – Kiriwhakapapa Road end to Blue Range Hut The walk started off at sunset at the Kiriwhakapapa Road campground in the Central Tararua ranges. We arrived after stopping at the usual kebab shop in Carterton, which I believe the club must be getting kick-backs from judging by the amount of business we send … Read more
This was a sunny Sunday day trip into the Tararuas. We had a late start (due to Aimee arriving late with the van!) So after asking my team to be at the Railway Station at 8am sharp, I made them wait for 15 minutes. But we were on the road by 8.15am, and it was … Read more
Mike: It’s Saturday night, before 8pm. I’m hunched below a top bunk of Cow Creek Hut, feeling very well fed and trying to scribble these notes by torchlight. Debbie and Eleonora are already trying to go to sleep. Debbie’s had the wood-burner going, and it’s toasty enough for me to have switched to a downstairs … Read more
The plan was to spend the weekend in the Ruahines but given the adverse weather conditions we reconsidered it and opted for a closer tramp to the Tararuas. Yes, the Tararuas are not known for their best weather conditions during winter, especially when it is raining, but since shoes and gear were already packed, we … Read more
Armed with maps, compasses and lollies, we headed into the hills from the carpark at Kiriwhakapapa (Ethnicity; lit. genealogical skin) with the trip leader, Amanda, to show us what’s what. After following the Old Tram Track up to the first saddle, we settled down to our first lesson in navigation. Instructions were laid down for … Read more
The original plan for this trip was to go to Howletts Hut in the Ruahines via a Friday night stay at Longview. This would be a great plan for a dry and moonlit Friday night, but that wasn’t the way the weather was shaping up. Instead, the forecast was for strong winds and heavy rain … Read more