I’d softened. After basking in the Australian sun for the last two years and next to no opportunity to climb hills, I was a tad anxious about my ability to cope with a fashion statement involving boots, let alone for a whole weekend. As part of my easing back into the back-country life, I had … Read more
Whenever I sign up for a trip like this it is because I have absolutely no idea what the trip is apart from there will be some glaciers and ice plateaus and so “yes please” pops out well before my rational side can pipe in with “Hmmm well that must also mean crossing some potentially … Read more
Wellington Anniversary Weekend meant an opportunity to have a slightly longer trip in the Tararuas than the usual weekend, and we used it to visit the middle part of the main range, beginning from Otaki Forks and ending at Poads Road near Levin. The forecast leading up to the weekend was uninspiring, suggesting several large … Read more
Holy shit! I am so knackered. I am lying on one of the top bunks of a small mountain hut in Arthur’s Pass national park. It is cramped. There are barely nine inches between my nose and the slope of the ceiling. It doesn’t matter, though, because I am too tired to sit up. I … Read more
We all finally met in the vehicle line-up at the ferry car park. The trip leader had waited the previous half hour sunbathing and enjoying the perfect still evening air, watching the ironing board flat sea and the growing number of various shades of pink in the sky. An idyllic ferry crossing passed with pleasant … Read more
What a wonderful weekend trip to Paua Hut. The weather was superb and we had enthusiastic children that loved the whole experience, helped by having each other as company and fireworks and chocolate snacks. More about that later. We all met up at the Catchpool carpark on a beautiful Saturday morning at 10.30am. Constanze and … Read more
I volunteered to lead this medium trip after Michael Lightbourne pulled out due to unfamiliarity with the route. On the trip list were six club members, plus Vlad. Vlad had never tramped in New Zealand, although assured me he had hiked in the Ukraine. Best let him know what he’s in for, I thought. You … Read more
Some people go all the way up to the Central Plateau to do a bit of cycling, and indeed the well-known 42 Traverse is up on the trip schedule for early December. That should be an interesting ride, on average downhill, starting on a crisp summer morning and probably ending with that nice combination of … Read more
For this trip we had the club’s second van – ‘DPY’, and took it across on the ferry. It’s easy to drive and a real asset of the club. It took a bit over two hours to get to Kaikoura and the Mt Fyffe carpark. The forecast was for clearing weather on Saturday, but on … Read more
The original plan was to access Mt McKay (2300m) from the Sabine Valley but once we discovered that the water taxi across Lake Rotoroa was closed for the winter and that the avalanche risk was high we opted instead to approach via the Rainbow Valley. The Rainbow Valley is home to cattle as well as … Read more