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
Jam Hut – Seaward Kaikoura Range A tramping trip in the Seaward Kaikoura Range to visit Jam Hut via George Saddle If you are not sure of your route in a boulder field on the way to or from Jam Hut, always pick the left stream branch. I chose the one on the … Read more
Friday 8 September:The team met at Wellington train station and set off for Anzac Park (the one in Norsewood, not Palmerston North). Dinner was had enroute at the very originally named Indian Taj; a warning to future visitors, the staff implement the term “mild” in the most English sense. Tents were quickly pitched on arrival … Read more
Ten of us left Wellington Train station at 9am on a Sunday morning for the approx 2 hour drive to the start of the track. We took 2 cars – one group started at the Ashhurst end and the other group at the Woodville end. The plan was to meet in the middle and have … Read more
An overly excited group of eight met at Wellington Airport at 8.15am on a Saturday morning for a flight to Queenstown. Dick and Beverly were already down south and would be meeting us at Queenstown airport. This is one thing I have come to enjoy about WTMC – I knew Noel and Jane, but the … Read more
An epic weekend spent picking off a few huts in the Travers valley in Nelson Lakes National Park. The trip began with us all meeting at Wellington Train Station to catch a 3.45pm sailing to the South Island. With Daniel and Mon in the group, we spent a lot of time talking about club policies! … Read more
Four hardy souls decided to tackle the Dundas Loop over a weekend. The original plan had been to tramp from Putara carpark to Dundas Hut on the Saturday. But common sense prevailed. So Friday afternoon saw us making the two-hour drive from Wellington to the remote Putara carpark. After a brief stop in Greytown for … Read more