A tale of two Aorangi Crossings – Aorangi Forest Park

We had an extraordinary number of sign-ups for the Aorangi Crossing trip, originally graded Medium, which was very encouraging to see. We were keen to accommodate as many trampers as possible, as the club had signed up to support the Federated Mountain Clubs (FMC) ‘Love our Huts’ campaign (unbeknown to those who had signed up). … Read more

Mangatoetoe Hut and Kawakawa Hut – Aorangi Forest Park

Friday: We met at 4 pm at Wellington Train Station in the carpark by platform 9. After a 2 1/2 hr drive we arrived at Aorangi crossing carpark, Cape Palliser road. It took an easy-paced 1 hr 10 min hike along Mangatoetoe Stream to reach Mangatoetoe Hut -just as the light started to fade. This … Read more

Penn Creek Hut – Tararua Forest Park

The group assembled at Platform 10 (basically 9 ¾ for WTMC) for what would end up being a wet, but enjoyable, weekend in the Tararuas. The plan originally was to head to Winchcombe Biv. However, the weather forecast was not in our favour, with winds from 35-40km/h and gusts up to 100km/h predicted for Saturday … Read more

Minimum effort, maximum gain: Sentry Box, Parks Peak and Upper Makaroro Huts – Ruahine Forest Park

Unfortunately, our original plan to do a return trip to Triangle Hut from the western side of the Ruahine Range was not to be, owing to the high winds and soggy weather forecast for the weekend. However, it looked like the Eastern side of the Range would have a better weather profile, so we opted … Read more

Tapuae – o – Uenuku – Inland Kaikōura Range

For a lengthier and much more creatively written report of this trip take a read of Sam’s account here: https://medium.com/engage/tapping-out-of-tappy-de5027b8a21b. We caught the ferry on Thursday afternoon after squishing five people’s alpine packs into the car, and then stayed the night at a Picton backpackers – which made for a very leisurely start to the … Read more

Herepai Hut – Tararua Forest Park

We met at the Wellington Train Station carpark for an 8am departure. We were sharing the club van with the medium group of four who were planning to go to Cattle Ridge Hut via Roaring Stag Hut. With heavy rain forecast for later in the afternoon and for much of the following morning, we were … Read more

Finding Tin Hut – Belmont Regional Park

The five of us met at Wellington Railway Station and caught a bus at around 8.30am to Petone. At Petone Station we crossed over SH2 and headed to the Cornish St entrance of Belmont Regional Park, to start walking the Korokoro Stream Track. Belmont Regional Park walks and map https://www.gw.govt.nz/parks/belmont-regional-park/ After a quick check of … Read more

Maungahuka Hut – Tararua Forest Park

Fri 11 Oct – Waiohine Road End to Totora Flats HutWe joined the medium group in the van on Friday after work and headed over the hill to Waiohine Gorge road end, via the supermarket and takeaways in Greytown. This was to be Isabella’s first tramp in New Zealand! – very gutsy going straight for … Read more

A beautiful weekend for Blue Range Hut – Tararua Forest Park

On this beautiful sunny Saturday morning our group left Wellington Railway Station at 9am. Lizzy was having her first overnight tramp and we couldn’t have hoped for a better day for it. In Featherston we stopped for coffee and when we arrived at the Kiriwhakapapa road end the day was still looking great. As we … Read more

Sunrise Hut – Ruahine Forest Park

We met at Wellington Train Station at 5pm and piled into the van for the trip north, stopping in Levin for dinner on the way. We’d neglected to heed the notice on the DOC website that Fletchers Crossing Bridge was closed, so we unexpectedly came across a very-much-not-there bridge and had to backtrack to the … Read more