Do you know a place within 30 minutes from a city where you can walk amongst predominantly pristine podocarp forest? Yes – from Wellington! Just go past the Petone waterfront and over the hill into the Wainuiomata Water Collection area! The Wainuiomata Water Collection area has stayed almost completely intact, except for a little logging … Read more
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
I left the car just after 5:00pm Friday night & headed off to Purity Hut, the first half an hour or so up the farmland is a steep haul but once you get into the bush this is a another good route on to the tops. Daylight saving had just finished, so once in the … Read more
Five years ago at Easter I had to bail on a club trip to Whirinaki because of a cold. Despite multiple sneezes on the day we departed, this time I decided to take a “kill or cure” approach. We don’t often go to Whirinaki because of the distance: seven hours driving under the best possible … Read more
This was my third overnight trip with the WTMC and I must say also the best because of the great scenery, the nice track and the time we had for exploring and relaxing. We left on Friday evening from the station with another group (medium) led by Kate Cushing. Jo Boyle was driving the van, … Read more
It looked like being one of those trips when before you set sail on the ferry on Friday night, they announce that the crossing will be pretty bad, then you feel sick even before you’ve got past Evens bay, its an ominous sign. Then despite having a rather flat crossing in the stright, the backpackers … Read more
Just the name seemed to be a good enough reason for two part-time trampers, who we will call J and T, to go and visit the spur and its crooked hut. So with weekend flights already booked it really wasn’t a difficult decision for them to make. Their usual late Friday night arrival in Christchurch … Read more
“Arthur’s Pass. Arthur’s Pass. This is Goat Pass Hut, Goat Pass Hut” “Go ahead Goat Pass Hut” “Arthur’s Pass, we were wondering if we could get an up to date weather forecast for tomorrow?” (Sounding slightly irritated that anybody would be foolish enough to go into the outdoors based on yesterday’s forecast) “It’s much the … Read more
It had been a while since I’d headed into the hills, and my feet were getting restless. The Tauherenikau Valley is the primary reason that I’d joined WTMC after unintentionally spending two nights in the open, without a fly or sleeping bag, in horrendous conditions (including snow), several years earlier. It was time to face … Read more
From 1st May 2011 the 2 club minivans are now being stored at the Inter Islander Terminal. They are being stored outdoors in the terminal car park so should be easily spotted when being collected by designated drivers somewhere along the wire fence by the rail tracks. You are free to drive your own car … Read more