Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
In the quest to explore more of my backyard, I signed up for the Howlett’s Hut tramp, my very first with the WTMC. We met Dan, our leader, at Platform 9 on Friday evening, to gather along with Tash’s Easy-Medium group heading to Ruahine NP. All eleven of us piled into the van to drive … Read more
Our target for the weekend was Blue Lake Hut, nestled in the Nelson Lakes National Park next to reputedly the clearest water in the world – Blue Lake with 80 meters of visibility. Walking in and out on the same track, we conservatively estimated eight hours of tramping each day. Our weekend jaunt to the … Read more
The first club trip I led was to Mole Hut in Nelson Lakes a few years ago, where we spent a really enjoyable day exploring the Mole Tops. When we were up on the tops I remember looking south along the Ella Range and thinking that it looked inviting to head along the range to … Read more
The life of the WTMC Ruapehu Lodge custodian in summer is unfortunately one of making unending and excruciatingly stressful decisions. Especially if the twenty guests are Year 13 college students staying for a week. It all comes about because the students have been instructed by their school teachers to do without argument exactly as told … Read more
I had never been to Hutt Forks in the Tararua Forest Park so I was interested when I saw that this trip to Alpha Hut would go there on the way. I didn’t know much about Quoin Ridge but it didn’t look too bad on the map. Tash had to pull out of leading so … Read more
Paua Hut has over the last few years looked a bit tired and forlorn – the outside appeared shabby and the inside was getting a bit grubby. Clearly some TLC was needed. A club maintenance trip was included in the schedule for January but only attracted a small number of helpers. Nonetheless the trip went … Read more
The middle section of the Rangitikei River offers some scenic paddling with a few rapids up to Grade 2. These rapids are mostly straightforward fun in a packraft and the views on the way down river are quite spectacular especially where the river flows between high cliffs. Three of us paddled the 35 km from … Read more
After three dead cows along the river, lots of river walking and a gust or two we made it to Mangatoetoe hut, about an hour in from the van. The night before, we’d driven to the campsite with the Easy group (in the other van), all stopping at Lake Ferry Hotel Restaurant for dinner. We … Read more
Are we on the right track? Our journey began with a traffic jam at Kaimanawa Road end. Being Labour Weekend, every man and his dog (literally – we were joined by a gorgeous kelpie) was out tramping. After a skillful 100 point turn, our shuttle driver deposited us at the beginning of the Umukarikari track. … Read more
Two Thumb Range – Boundary Stream, South Opuha River A 3 day hiking loop trip through The Two Thumb Range above Lake Tekapo passing through Boundary Stream and the Opuha River areas. As is a common occurrence, this trip started life as three days of perfect weather camping in the basin below the Dasler Pinnacles … Read more