Day 1: D’Urville Hut to George Lyon Hut – Weather: Sunny, no wind, 16 degrees CDOC travel time: 8 hrs/ Group travel time: 9.45 hrs /Pace: Slow – medium After arriving at Lake Rotoroa campsite at about 10pm Thursday night, we slept fitfully amid the roar of stags from the local deer farm. Prior to … Read more
As is the tradition, we met at Wellington train station at 5pm, for a 5.15pm departure to Egmont National Park. We arrived at the Camphouse, our accommodation for the night, which is situated close to the Egmont National Park Visitor Centre (North Egmont)/ DOC office, at around 10.30pm. The Camphouse is located right beside the … Read more
Not a great walk, but an epic one! You know you are up for an incredible weekend when you have a smooth drive out from Wellington, enjoy a primo kebab a la Bulls (OMG those chips and Iskenders), and instantly connect with a bunch of awesome people from the get-go! This weekend was no exception. … Read more
Disclaimer: This trip report was written by ChatGPT. Trip start date – 17 March 2023: I can’t think of a better way of reconnecting with my deep and treasured Irish roots on St Patrick’s Day than a dry, teetotalling WTMC club tramp along the famously brown volcanic Central Plateau. I do not speak of hiking … Read more
The Club continues to be very active with a wide range of activities taking place. One weekend during March, for example, we had five trips taking place (two tramps based from the Lodge on Mt Ruapehu, a navigational exercise, a day trip and a tramp to Mitre Flats). During March we also had a tramp … Read more
Friday 10 February The Southern Crossing in the Tararuas has been on my to-do list for the last few years and when I saw it on the trip schedule for February, I did not hesitate to sign up for the walk. The plan was to have two groups of trampers do the Southern Crossing, with … Read more
While it was not the trip we had planned originally, our 50km+ Ōtaki Forks circuit tramp had a little bit of everything: views, blue skies, slugs and slips. Our intention had been to stay at Maungahuka Hut on Saturday evening. Maungahuka is known as a difficult hut to reach. It involves climbing a steel ladder, … Read more
Most of our group met at Wellington railway station at 4.30pm on Friday, apart from Jo, Caeden, and Antonia who travelled separately. We shared the van with the Medium-Fit group. We met up with Jo and the others at Bulls and then at the top of Bruce Road at Whakapapa ski field, where we went … Read more
The first stop on this trip was the mysterious Mount Holdsworth Pizza restaurant. This joint – a Canadian Rockies style log building located close to the Mount Holdsworth camping area – is only open on Friday nights during summer. It’s a full-blown pizza restaurant however, serving delicious pizzas to an enthusiastic clientele. I can recommend … Read more
Day 1 Cobb Hut to Fenella Hut (with a side trip from Fenella Hut back to Lake Cobb)Total time: 6 hours, 20 minutesTotal moving time: 4 hours, 45 minutesDistance: 18.9km After packing up at the Motueka Top Ten after four hours of sleep we all jumped in the van and drove the two and a … Read more