Ah what luxury! Showers, flushing toilets, running water, electricity and hot water on demand! I speak of course of the opulent WTMC lodge a stones throw away from the Top O the Bruce on Ruapehu. Compared to huts, even Great Walk huts(!) the lodge presents a sense of civilised creature comforts that are otherwise sacrificed … Read more
Our trip kicked off to a luxurious start. While we had been planning on staying under a fly on Friday night, weather forecasts of high wind and possible heavy rain led us to take advantage of a well presented backpackers on Ure Road. After soft beds, electric lighting, warm showers and microwaved breakfasts we were … Read more
The weather forecast was not looking good for the weekend when I left work on Friday evening. A colleague said “See you on the news” as I left; the train conductor patted me on the shoulder when I mentioned I was going tramping saying “Good luck mate…. I really mean it” and I noticed that … Read more
Sue is off gallivanting at the opposite end of the earth in honour of her 31st birthday, so your friendly newsletter editor has stepped in. We have some spots available in September for club talks and I’d like to surprise Sue by having every single spot filled. To bribe reward you for volunteering – anyone who offers … Read more
Bivouac store hosts Wellington Avalanche Awareness Evening – August 20 @ 7pm Bivouac is hosting Andrew Hobman from NZ Mountain Safety Council on 20 August to show some short films and discuss techniques on avalanche awareness. Tickets are just $5 and Bivouac will be providing spot prizes and offering discounts on snow gear and clothing on the … Read more
Read on to hear about the club’s recent volunteer trip to Kapiti island and further down find out about more opportunities to volunteer (and visit)! After an early Saturday morning false start, the boat skipper called me about 2:30pm with the news the weather had calmed down enough to take us across late Saturday afternoon. … Read more
The planned trip had initially been to go into North Ohau Hut via the Mangahao River. However the forecast for the weekend was not so good. So plans were altered to a less weather dependent route for North Ohau Hut via Deception Spur. The contingency if the weather was really terrible was to go up … Read more
See more photos from Sarah Friday night saw our group doing an extremely quick march to Atiwhakatu hut after which I declared there would be a mutiny the next morning if we were walking that fast the rest of the tramp as my pack was stuffed full of an abundance of warm clothes. We arrived … Read more
Raymond Morgan has run the first two transport/food/accommodation trips to our Ruapehu Lodge this season, and I was lucky enough to get onto both trips. While a lot of us got in some great skiing and boarding, Ray took us on some amazing adventures as well. I’m hooked! 18-20 July – Ruapehu Looking back at Ruapehu … Read more
The first (and biggest) problem of the trip happened a month before it took place: the farmer would not give us permission to cross his land so we no longer had access to the track to Purity Hut. This called for Plan B, and after some research, Kevin Cole, who was leading the medium trip … Read more