DOC promote this Great Walk as a 3-4 day tramp with two or three overnight stays (Mangatepopo, Oturere, Waihohonu Huts) for good reason. The scenery is exceptional. Alternatively, it can be walked in two days with each day at least 8 hours. However, the Northern Circuit in a day is possible. Trail runners run it … Read more
We were all ready for a weekend away and the best excuse is the opportunity to get back into nature. We arrived Friday night with a relaxing 30 minute walk to Alice Nash Memorial Heritage Hut. The advantage with reaching summer time is the long day light hours and arriving to the hut before dark. … Read more
I am not a superstitious man, but even I am loath to tempt fate by venturing out, away from civilization, on All Hallow’s Eve. On the night of Samhain, when the veil between the worlds is thinnest and the spirits of the dead are free to roam the earth, anything is possible, and good, sensible … Read more
Not a hut, not a tank, but a Turk working bee……this line from the Mountain Turk Club website intrigued me as I was hobbling around Wellington in a moon boot last February. I quickly agreed to fly south to Queenstown to assist the Mountain Turk Club building a Turk for a weekend, light relief as … Read more
Sometimes trips I lead are a bit chaotic. This one was no exception! High winds forecast for the Sunday afternoon ruled out camping anywhere along the ridge, so our crazy plan was to summit Te Ao Whekere and return in one VERY long day. After a booking fail (my fault) with the ferry, we ended … Read more
Any trip worth its salt has an epic long drive and it seems this one was no different – it involved Matt having to do a superb job navigating around a pack of farm dogs that seemed intent on stopping the club van progressing up the road – I think they got the club van … Read more
With Wellington returning to Level 1, and club life starting back up again, I was very keen to get out into the bush on a proper club trip. As the week progressed, the forecast dampened my enthusiasm. Not only was there going to be extremely high winds (between 40 and 90km/h on the Saturday and … Read more
We left Wellington on the Friday evening with a small medium-fit group and had the Konini Lodge at Dawson Falls, Egmont National Park to ourselves. With our expected walking time of 3-4 hours to Lake Dive on Saturday, we had ample time to explore the Dawson Falls and Wilkies Pools loop tracks (30-60 minutes each). … Read more
The 2020 WTMC Photo Competition was judged in an online Wednesday club night 2 September by Grant Newton. As in previous years Grant offered critical comment on every photo entered – which is of course a great way to learn what is good and what is not so good in a photograph and therefore how … Read more
Akatarawa Forest – the Secret Seven and the quest to find 73 A fun day walk in the Akatarawa Forest to find the checkpoint No 73 from a previous rogaine orienteering event Way back in 2010 Tony and Jackie entered the Akatarawa 24 hour rogaine with the idea of being totally non-competitive and just cruise … Read more