Brass Monkey Biv A 2 day hiking loop trip through the Lewis Pass Tops passing by the Brass Monkey Bivouac and over the summit of The Apprentice. If you belong to a mountaineering club then maybe every now and then you think about actually climbing to the summit of a mountain. But one immediate problem … Read more
This weekend was scheduled as an Alp 1 trip to Bounds Peak in the Raglan Ranges. It’s proving a very elusive objective, with a growing number of thwarted attempts over the past few years. The weather was definitely not good enough for alpine climbing, so we settled on an overnighter to Powell Hut, to play … Read more
A relaxed start and some questionable navigation lead us to the Ōrongorongo Station carpark at 9:30am. We left a car there, drove to the Catchpool Valley carpark, and were walking by 10am. In no time at all we were heading up the Ōrongorongo Valley. A vague attempt was made to keep boots dry on the … Read more
Eager Beaver Canyon v4a2IV** A long day hike to Waiorongomai Hut then to Eager Beaver Canyon and return after rappelling the three 40 m waterfalls. In 2021 club member Megan Sety wrote an article for Wilderlife titled, ‘Near Miss – How not to get into canyoning. It was the story of an attempt by a … Read more
Mt Tarahaka – on the Road to Nowhere Mt Tarahaka in the Seaward Kaikoura Range Dino chickens. Stalked by horses. Vigorous totara trees. Electric shocks. Ambiguous routes. Nothing is ever simple in the Seaward Kaikōura Range it seems. Tony and I have a bit of a running record with this area where our trips don’t … Read more
18 months after the trip, we realised that no trip report had been written. Here is one; better late than never. Because our trip was at the Easter long weekend, we had to camp because all indoor accommodation had been booked out well in advance. But I think most of us didn’t mind camping. On … Read more
A very light sprinkling of snow fell as we arrived at the WTMC lodge at Iwikau Village, Mount Ruapehu, on Friday night. And some of it was still apparent first thing in the morning, though disappearing rapidly once hit by the sun: a brilliantly clear start to a calm and sunny weekend. After breakfast we … Read more
Our journey began on Friday night with a drive up to the Ruahine Range. We parked at the track end on Mangleton Road, and donned our packs for a 5 minute walk in to Sentry Box Hut. After that exhausting ordeal we headed straight to bed, ready for a slightly longer day tomorrow. Saturday dawned … Read more
The long weekend started with a Friday evening drive to Norsewood, to camp overnight. This allowed us to break up the long drive, along winding gravel roads, to the beginning of the track at Makahu Road road end – about 1.5 hours from Napier. It was sad to see some of the damage caused by … Read more
Kiwi sightings: 9Number of huts bagged: 16Number of days: 8Number of days with wet boots: also 8Distance: 117 kmElevation gain: over 6,500m – a very undulating track! A Rakiura haiku: The mud is everywhere. Bog-a-licious, soggy mud. No coffee cart here. Friday 13 October Landing in Mason Bay8km of local exploring, 2h Boarding a tiny … Read more