Thursday We piled onto the Thursday afternoon ferry, and the group started to get to know each other. We had a good mix of new and more experienced group members, including Harry and Paul, who had both attempted Snowflake via this route before – notably before the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake https://wtmc.org.nz/trip-report/slippery-snowflake/. We had a good … Read more
After a busy work day and a mission to find dinner at Paraparaumu, our tramp began at the Ōtaki Forks carpark. Being a hot summer weekend, there were plenty of cars parked. We zoomed along the road and over the slip track, making it to Parawai Lodge in about 45 minutes. It was very full … Read more
This trip started with a long hot wait on a Friday afternoon to get on the ferry to Picton. After several sailing time changes, we were glad to see the ship arrive in Wellington Harbour, and even gladder to get on and get settled. I made good use of the wait time, however, signing up … Read more
Our group met at Wellington Railway Station at 8am on Saturday morning. We drove to Shannon, and then into the hills behind the Mangahao Power Station. Opened in 1924, this was New Zealand’s first large hydro power station. The road is very windy and it seemed to take a very long time to reach the … Read more
Emily and I took an impromptu trip up to Tongariro, excited by the promise of clear sunny skies and Emily a chance to get moving again after a bout of illness. We decided Mangatepopo would be a good Friday destination, followed by a climb over Tongariro via Hardman’s Ridge, a full moon camp in the … Read more
“I think they’re looking for escaped rebel dinosaurs who are on the run from work…….” “I bet they were surprised to see all our tents in the middle of nowhere!” This was our conversation the next morning after an Airforce helicopter circled over our campsite the night before with search lights on, presumably doing a … Read more
Day 1: Poads Rd to Te Matawai Hut (31st Dec) Poads rd to Waiopehu: 5hWaiopehu to Te Matawai: 4h We met at 8am at Ōtaki Forks, left a car there and drove up to Poads Road. It was 9am and already pretty hot when we started heading up Waiopehu track, which was suspiciously dry. After … Read more
Our team of 9 club members gathered early on an overcast Saturday morning at the Woolshed in Belmont Regional Park. We were all excited to see what the weekend held and looking forward to gaining some new skills to make our tramping experiences safer. There was a wide range of people on the course. The … Read more
The five of us met at Wellington Train Station at 9am on Sunday morning and drove out to Kaitoke Regional Park. The Park is located in the foothills of the Tararua Ranges. The plan was to drive out to the Te Marua entrance of the Park (5km north of Upper Hutt) and walk the main … Read more
Five of us met at the Wellington Train Station at 8.30am on Sunday to catch the bus out to Paremata Train Station – where Elodie and Megan met us in their cars and where Valentina was also waiting for us. We then drove out to the main entrance of Whareroa Farm via Transmission Gully. The … Read more