A four seasons Easter around Mount Ruapehu – Round the Mountain Track: Tongariro National Park

Summary:  Thursday 28 March:   Friday 28 March (Day 1): 19.36 km  Highlights: Walking times:  Saturday 29 March (Day 2) – 19.43km  Highlights: Walking times: Sunday 30 March (Day 3) – 22.72km  Highlights:  Walking times:  Monday 1 April (Day 4) – 29.86 kms   Highlights:  Walking times:

Round the Mountain Track – Tongariro National Park

Nine people signed up for the club’s New Year Round The Mountain – Ruapehu trip. The group featured a few people new to multi-day walks, a few new to the club, as well as some very experienced club members and trampers. The distance and demanding terrain mean that an excellent baseline fitness is a prerequisite, … Read more

Tongariro Northern Circuit – Tongariro National Park

Not a great walk, but an epic one! You know you are up for an incredible weekend when you have a smooth drive out from Wellington, enjoy a primo kebab a la Bulls (OMG those chips and Iskenders), and instantly connect with a bunch of awesome people from the get-go! This weekend was no exception. … Read more

Rangipo Hut

Lahar valley. Photo: Jon Keyzer

Tash was the original leader of this trip but caught covid leading up to it so handed over the reigns to me. Luckily for me she still did all the pre-trip organising, and what a thorough and excellent job she did! It was super easy for me to take over, and as a result things … Read more

I had not done the Tongariro Northern Circuit for many years so signed up for this tramp when it was advertised.  Dan was the leader but unfortunately he had to pull out a few days before we left due to blisters that he had developed on a tramp to the Kaweka range.  Luckily Dan had … Read more

Tongariro Northern Circuit in a day

A scoria descent from Red Crater to the three Emerald lakes. Blue Lake is at top left. 11.15 am

DOC promote this Great Walk as a 3-4 day tramp with two or three overnight stays (Mangatepopo, Oturere, Waihohonu Huts) for good reason. The scenery is exceptional. Alternatively, it can be walked in two days with each day at least 8 hours. However, the Northern Circuit in a day is possible. Trail runners run it … Read more

Tongariro Northern Circuit

Saturday morning 6:30 we set off from Whakapapa village to join Juan to tick off his final great walk. The crisp morning led us to shatter the DOC times and tramp to Mangatapopo hut in 2:15 instead of the designated 4 hours. After a quick break we joined the refugee caravan on the Tongariro crossing. Hundreds of … Read more

Covert Ops Black Tie Lunch at the Waihohonu Hilton – November 2011

Friday night, 5.30pm, Wellington Railway Station. Perfect. We have infiltrated a party of climbers heading for “The Lodge”. This lodge will be a perfect base for our weekend operation. We hope this lodge will prove as comfortable as it sounds, even if it  traffic reports indicate we might be in for a long drive. Friday … Read more

Ruapehu Round-the-Mountain

Thursday Thursday 5.30pm found Amanda and I corralling punters into our respective vans at a very busy platform 9 on a warm and overcast evening. We were headed for the club lodge for the night; the other van was headed for somewhere north of Taupo. Unusually, we encountered no traffic issues; we were all the … Read more