Holdsworth daywalks – Gentle Annie Saddle, Pinnacle, and the summit. Three hikes in the Holdsworth area of the Tararua Range – Gentle Annie Saddle, Pinnacle, and the summit of Mt Holdsworth – including route guides, photos and a video. Gentle Annie Saddle Inspired by a TTC day trip of many years ago Tony and I … Read more
Lake Nerine – Routeburn North Branch and Park Pass A 3 day hiking loop trip through spectacular mountain scenery of the Humboldt Mountains, Aspiring National Park, New Zealand, from the Routeburn North Branch, to Park Pass and the Rock Burn. Sidle unpleasantly steep snowgrass and hard earth slopes on the Rockburn side. Our imaginations run … Read more
Gunsight Pass – a nice daywalk from the North to the South Temple, Ruataniwha Conservation Park A day loop hike over Gunsight Pass from the North Temple to the South Temple starting and ending at the DOC Temple Campsite. Matt and I had been thinking about Gunsight Pass for over a year after our trip … Read more
Brass Monkeys, a Devil’s Den and Lucretia – all from Lewis Pass A 7 day hiking loop trip through scenery in the Lewis Pass mountains Old mouldy monkeys were out and new monkeys were in! I was on a week’s solo tramp in Lewis Pass and I had been dropped off by the East by … Read more
Ōtaki Forks temporary walking access, and Ōtaki Forks Road reinstatement A guide to DOC’s Emergency Access Track that provides a walking track to Ōtaki Forks bypassing the slip at Blue Bluff that has closed the road, and a photo story of the Otaki Forks Road reinstatement at Blue Bluff. Update 26 March 2025 DOC … Read more
Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club (WTMC) Lodge – Mt Ruapehu accommodation for winter skiing and summer hiking The Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club (WTMC) lodge on Mt Ruapehu is located in Iwikau Village adjacent to the Whakapapa Skifield. It offers comfortable, reasonably priced, backpacker type accommodation for up to 32 guests and 2 custodians, … Read more
WTMC Ruapehu Lodge Blog The Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club (WTMC) owns and operates a lodge at Iwikau Village on Mt Ruapehu. This blog is intended to complement the lodge webpage by offering general news about the lodge and for readers to be able to comment. It will slowly develop over hopefully many years. The … Read more
WTMC Ruapehu Summer Lodge – and the remarkable Unnamed Glacier The smallest glacier on Mt Ruapehu is the most unusual – it is possibly the only glacier in New Zealand not melting away. And it is relatively easy to get to from the WTMC Ruapehu Lodge. There are nine named glaciers on Mt Ruapehu, including … Read more
WTMC Ruapehu Lodge – its survival may depend on your help Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) who has run the skifield at Whakapapa for 60 years is in Liquidation and Receivership. If no buyer can be found before the 2025 ski season it is very likely that all skifield infrastructure will be removed from the mountain and … Read more
Mt Ruapehu accommodation – the WTMC Summer Lodge at Whakapapa skifield The Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering club owns and runs a lodge at the Whakapapa skifield that will be open for public accommodation during 29 December 2024 to 12 January 2025, and is ideal ‘backpacker type’ accommodation near Mt Ruapehu. More people visit Tongariro in summer … Read more