We had an awesome trip away to Te Urewera over Matariki weekend. It was a perfect way to celebrate our new public holiday and opportunity to do what Matariki is all about, reflecting on the past, celebrating the present and looking to the future. Heading away to a very remote and untrodden part of the … Read more
Friday night, the ferry arrived early in Picton, which we quickly found out doesn’t show movies on long weekend evenings (due to lack of demand!). Next morning, the E-M group we were sharing the van with kindly agreed to being on the road by 7.30am. Nearing the Richmond Ranges, we saw the rewards of the … Read more
Picton to Bluemine Island, Camping at Ratimera Bay two nights. We got the ferry to Picton and arrived Friday around midday. We then had plenty of time to settle into the hostel (with Mandarin tree!), visit the Marlborough Sounds adventure company for a briefing (and meet the very good boys Fred and Peanut), stock up … Read more
U Pass Fiordland National Park A 2 day hiking loop trip through the unusually shaped U Pass between Mistake Creek and Hut Creek in Fordland. While licking ice creams at the Manupouri Café after our successful ascent of Mount Titiroa, Pete suggested we make the most of the next two day weather window by going … Read more
We met at the train station at 7am except for Hugo who met us at the trail head before setting out on our adventure at 8:50. The weather was looking good as the winds had changed to a southerly and the rain stopped. We forded a small river in our SUV that was fairly high … Read more
This looked like a cruisy easy medium trip – just what I needed when getting over COVID. Then, less than 24 hours before departure, an email from the trip leader arrived ‘due to an unexpected circumstance I may be unable to go on the trip . . . I was wondering whether either of you … Read more
Thursday (3h20)After the customary ferry delays and many dolphins, we drove to Rolling junction via a kebab shop in Richmond, arriving at the road end at 8.30pm after crossing the Dart Ford without issues. With head torches, we walked at a good pace along the great wall grade track for a few hours. Arriving at Kings … Read more
As usual, WTMC trampers met at the Wellington train station on Friday night to start the adventure north. With a full van and cheery disposition, driver Tony picked up two Kapiti Coast trampers along the way. While everyone had their dinner in Bulls, Tash had an impromptu date with DoC ranger “Dave” a lovely fellow … Read more
The forecast was for rain and wind in the Tararua but we had no unbridged river crossings and only a very short section of exposed tops so we set off on Plan A to reach Neill Forks hut from Waiohine Gorge road end, via Cone, Neill Peak and the unmarked spur NE down to the … Read more
The original plan of visiting Tableland Circuit in Kahurangi National Park didn’t eventuate because of a challenging road up to Flora Car park that was made worse by a heavy rain fall on the Thursday. But the team worked together to identify exciting alternatives that would leave the group with long positive memories of their … Read more