Bleary eyed I emerged from my car at Takapu Rd Station. Here I encountered my first obstacle: getting into the WTMC van. This was was far too difficult for half past six in the morning, taking a swift blow from Richard’s boot to finally dislodge the door from its jammed state. At Wellington Station we … Read more
Looking through past trip reports it seems the club has a tradition of organising Te Puia tramps over Queen’s birthday weekend. And it’s a great tradition; what’s better than soaking in hot pools on a winter tramp. So the 2021 tramp was organised to live up to the tradition and make the most of the … Read more
Intro The group had signed up to do Syme Hut, but changed plans given the conditions and out of respect for the two climbers who lost their lives on Mt Taranaki 4 May. Our first night was at Konini Lodge by the Dawson Falls Visitor Centre. Saturday we drove 50 minutes around the mountain and … Read more
Having done the drive up to Taranaki on Friday night (as is traditional), we and the Easy-Medium group all stayed at Konini Lodge at Dawson Falls visitor centre. It’s a great facility with cooking equipment, hot showers, decent bunk rooms and the rest; although in my experience it’s always been cold – consider yourself warned. … Read more
Thursday 1 April: Our Easter weekend’s tramping began with a late ferry crossing to Picton, where we stayed in a bunkroom at Sequoia Lodge Backpackers. Friday 2 April: Next morning we drove to Kahurangi National Park, with stops at Pelorus Bridge and Motueka. We arrived at Cobb Reservoir roadend in the early afternoon and set … Read more
We shared a van with a medium group heading to Alpha Hut, and left Waiohine gorge road end at around 9:30. We first “investigated” a trail that headed down to the river, before heading back and crossing the river on the swing bridge. We next “investigated” the start of the trail to Cone hut, before … Read more
“The lights are moving—the aliens are coming for us now!” I jokingly teased Tony and suggested we both hide in our tents… Tony and I had decided to do a two-day tramp exploring our own backyard a bit more—a circumnavigation of Mt Matthews that would include both on and off-track travel in the Remutaka Forest … Read more
“Is anyone alarmed that I’m still considering the original plan?” This question came on Friday night from our trip leader James after consulting the weather forecast to see that not only did we have a severe weather warning for the Tararua Range due to heavy rain rolling through, there were also gale force winds forecasted … Read more
Belmont Regional Park is one of my favourite places in the Wellington area. The Park has plenty of tracks and is easily accessible by public transport. The Puke Ariki Traverse travels the length of the Park from the Dry Creek entrance to Cornish Street in Petone. The total length is about 24km. Polly and I … Read more
Ferry booking mix-ups and more than an hour’s delay to board meant it was well after 10pm when we arrived at the Matiri Valley West Bank road end. The hydro scheme construction works mean the walk in to Lake Matiri hut is now only 50min mostly on construction road, which during working hours you need … Read more