As a brand-new member of WTMC, I was informed by the trip leader that the newest members have to write the trip reports. I think it’s a freshly made-up rule, but here it is anyway. The aim of the trip was to climb Girdlestone on Ruapehu. We never actually saw Girdlestone, nor did we even … Read more
Labour weekend was a good chance to venture further afield so four of us set off from Wellington for the Kawekas on the Friday evening. Kuripapango campsite, on the Napier-Taihape road, is a long-way from Wellington and with holiday weekend traffic and a pizza stop in Carterton we didn’t arrive until 11.45 pm. Kuripapango campsite … Read more
Many trampers choose to take on a challenge to give their tramping adventures a purpose. Te Araroa trail hikers are one example, Kuldeep Nandurkar, who is bagging 900 huts in 900 days, is another. Even amongst our own club members we have some ambitious hut-baggers and long-distance adventurers. Maarten Ruiter is one of them. Earlier … Read more
Long summery evenings are a most wonderful thing. It was still light as we bounded along the Orongorongo Valley track on Friday evening; dark only settling down upon us as we reached the river. Using a waypoint that Bram had marked on his gps we successfully navigated in the, suddenly rather dark darkness, to the … Read more
The Service is a volunteer, non-profit organisation dedicated to providing radio communications in remote areas where no other forms of communication is available. It was set up by trampers for trampers and others. The service urgently needs a volunteer to assist with bookings and handling radios in the Wellington city area. Tramping experience is very … Read more
I’ve been ice climbing and I’ve been camping before, but never at the same time. And I suppose the spoiler of this story is that I’ve still never been ice climbing and camping. From an initial sign up of eight, disease, injury and maybe even a little pestilence took it’s toll and come the day of … Read more
What a great snow season that was! We finished it off with a sold out Labour weekend. Now it’s time to think about summer trips to enjoy barbecues on the deck and everything Tongariro National Park has to offer. Don’t forget the lodge in summer There are lots of great club trips scheduled for early … Read more
On a nice sunny Thursday evening in mid-November we drove up to Ohakune feeling very excited to be having yet another long week-end—and with no need to carry any heavy packs! I was eager to get back on the river (which now has its own legal status) after a break in my annual pilgrimage, but … Read more
At our usual club night on 8 November 2017, WTMC celebrated its 70th birthday. Volunteers had put together some excellent photo boards with photos of club members out in the hills from the last seven decades. Illona bought along some old-fashioned tramping gear for us to marvel at, including the “kidney crusher” and the “mountain … Read more
You might have noticed we’ve been gradually migrating information from the old WTMC website to this flash new one. The latest information to be moved are the WTMC policies. These policies are our guiding stars for running the club safely, fairly and efficiently. They are written with WTMC’s core purpose of enjoying the outdoors at … Read more