The last long weekend for a while meant quite a few people headed to the Kawkeas for three days of excellent tramping. The medium’s plan was to camp out all three nights, which meant lugging our tents up hill and down dale. No huts for us, even though there were a few on the route. … Read more
Once again, Bivouac is offering an exclusive opportunity just for WTMC members next month on Tuesday 21 July (time to be confirmed but around about 6pm) at their store on 39 Mercer St in Wellington. Come along to get an exclusive look at what’s new in tramping and mountaineering gear. More importantly, if you come … Read more
Day 0 – Fly Camping at Mangahao Dam After Megan skilfully negotiated the windy road from Shannon to the top Mangahao Dam, we fly camped at the face of the dams. The recent rain had meant that the spillway was open and a little noisy. Day 1 – Mangahao Dams to Te Matawai Hut via … Read more
The adventure started before the trip even began. Heavy flooding stuck Wellington the day before, closing offices and stranding commuters. There was some concern that the road north might be closed and that even if it wasn’t driving in the direction of the weather we had just experienced was foolhardy at best. These concerns … Read more
After stopping at Carterton’s Wild Oats Café for the obligatory pre-tramp and in a few people’s cases, necessary, morning coffee, our party of 12 arrived at the Holdsworth carpark mid-morning. After divvying up group gear and food we started walking in fine but crisp weather. Unnaturally for the Tararuas, we had clear skies and virtually … Read more
Having scheduled a couple of trips to the Kaimanawas only to see them founder from a lack of interest I was getting pretty desperate to explore this unknown Forest Park. It was fortunate therefore that it now appeared on the schedule as both medium and easy medium trips, so I keenly signed up. Following … Read more
The serious bit for those wanting useful details: We took the 6:30pm ferry to Picton, and drove 1hr 30mins to camp overnight at Kowhai Point beside the Wairau River ($6pp). Saturday morning we drove 2hrs to Flora Saddle road end. There is a phantom bridge across the Motueka River marked on the road atlas. Make … Read more
One of the most important pieces of kit we carry when heading into the hills is a map – especially for those heading far away from marked tracks. LINZ provides the data for the maps we use – and are lost (literally) without. So have a read of the info from them – we cannot … Read more
INTRODUCTION This tramp was over the Easter four-day weekend, and the huts were booked out so we decided to camp each night. As such, we had big and heavy bags with the tents and food we needed, and so I tried to organise the trip to have easier days to suit the Easy-Medium (EM) listing. … Read more
INTRODUCTION This was listed as an Easy-Medium (EM) tramp, so we decided to begin on Saturday morning, rather than Friday night, because there is nowhere to camp at The Pines road-end. Some people also highlighted that they were not experienced trampers, and so I didn’t want to risk a long night-walk to the hut. … Read more