Fair Weather Trampers: in the NZ bush with the Cock & Bull Tramping Club A book by Julia Millen with sketches by Barbara O’Reilly Writes Hill Press 156pages; original sketches & maps ISBN: 978-0-473-20009-1; $30 One summer morning a group of drinking mates set out from Owhiro Bay for a short walk. Twelve hours later, … Read more
Wow, what a glorious weekend! The weather gods were extra kind to the young trampers. This was the writer’s first tramp in … let’s say her son is nearly 17 and leave it at that. Her external frame pack was the focus much discussion but hey: isn’t retro in? I’m sure mustard coloured, swing jackets … Read more
With nine punters signing up rather early we were confident it would turn out to be a good weekend. And indeed, it was a weekend with a good atmosphere, made more so by the Paua Hut rat having been caught earlier this year. The rain during the days prior to the weekend meant that the … Read more
Out tramping again with WTMC for my second weekend in a row, we met at the station on a sunny Saturday morning for the 2.5 hour drive up to Mangahao Dam road end. The trip along the gravel road to the Upper Mangahao Dam is a long, bumpy ride in, taking about 50 minutes. We … Read more
The tramp started really well for me: I hadn’t been tramping in a number of years but thought I had all my gear together in one place since I had recently done a trip to cycle and camp the Otago Rail trail. So, I decided that I could leave packing my bag until 11pm on … Read more
On the weekend of March 10/11th, I went for my first overnight tramp with Dad. We were in a large party of 5 families. The youngest was only 6 months old! We set off on Saturday from Holdsworth carpark for Atiwhakatu hut – a distance of 5 kilometres. It was a beautiful sunny day, but … Read more
We just can’t pass up the chance to walk Sawtooth Ridge on such a fine day Awfully long way back to the car at Rangiwhahia but! It will be ok says Mike So decision made, we turned and headed North along Sawtooth Ridge on Sunday morning. It wasn’t supposed to work out this way, but … Read more
After many years of vigorously peeling any carrot that came within a co-eee of my cooking pot, I have recently found there is a strong movement of people who believe in a skin-on approach to culinary carrots. I therefore now feel more confident in writing this newsletter article about the lack of peel in our … Read more
To ensure the club always has enough volunteers to drive the club Ford Transit 12-seater minivans when heading away each weekend we are going to hold a Minivan Famil session on the morning of either Saturday 21st or Sunday 22nd April, depending on peoples preference. The famil, open to members and non-members who are … Read more
WTMC 2012 photo competition results The annual WTMC photo competition was a great success. Thanks very much to Grant Newton for his encouraging feedback on our photos and for selecting deserving winners! Congratulations to these winners and runners up of the 5 categories: Above bushline: Tony Gazley and Spencer Clubb Below bushline: Spencer Clubb … Read more