After what seemed to be weeks and weeks of rain this Saturday morning the sun was out again. A good start for the easy ‘novelty’ walk to the Rimutaka Forest Park organised by Steve. (Originally, the ‘novelty’ part was to be hot lasagne; later changed for soup.) We met part of our group at platform … Read more
Family tramps work nearly the same as the usual tramping that we all know and love. Early starts, gruelling days through all weathers, getting far into the backcountry – well, we don’t do any of that. Four hours is a long day, persistent drizzle is enough to make us seriously consider staying at home, and … Read more
– the Journal winners go to Christchurch and beyond Late 2009 we were happily surprised by Tony and Jackie announcing we had won tickets to Christchurch with our journal contribution. As people often mention Chch itself is not too exciting, but it is a great gateway to the Alps, Kaikouras and Banks Peninsula, so we … Read more
There were three, or maybe four, punters signed up for the Mt Luna fit trip. At the last moment two punters signed up for the med–fit trip. Hence the fit group heading over Luna divided back into a fit and med-fit party, who then re-molded together as one group made up of two separate groups, … Read more
For the 4th year in a row for some! we looked forward to another great Whanganui river canoe adventure ☺ All the essentials were lined up… Good company, food…even weather! We love this place… with its stunning scenery and nice out of the way location. The trip in Summary This is an epic trip suitable for relative … Read more
New Years Day 2010 a bunch of keen yet slightly crazy trampers jump onto the interislander on a 9 day excursion taking them deep into the heart of the Southern Alps going from Lewis Pass up to Nelson Lakes. The initial plan is to head over three alpine passes Three tarns pass, Thomson Saddle and … Read more
If people sign up for a Mystery Trip, they might expect that at least the trip leader might know where they’re going, what transport would be used, how long the cycling would take, and where they’ll sleep. This was however a Mystery Trip of the better kind, where such trivial things even remained unknown for … Read more
The special theory of relativity formulated by Albert Einstein in 1905 predicts that time slows for fast-moving objects. Presumably then, by moving quickly objects should have plenty of time to reach their destination. But we now have irrefutable proof that Einstein was wrong – because on a recent trip to the Richmond Range although we … Read more
During a cycle trip last year Hans was positively surprised by the landscape of the Pohangina Valley so this year he made sure it was on the trip schedule again. He suggested that, although you can easily camp near the bridge north of Komako, the campground in the Totara Reserve next to Mt. Richards might … Read more
As I passed Wellington airport with the orange needle horizontal on Cobham Drive, and the radio informing me that wind gusts of up to 140km/h were being recorded, I was beginning to wonder why I was heading into the hills. The horizontal hailstorms announced that summer had ended and autumn had begun. Buses were crashing … Read more