I didn’t check the weather forecast, I didn’t organize any gear. I didn’t know who was coming, or who their emergency contacts were. I didn’t carry a PLB. Was I an irresponsible trip leader??? No… because this was the 2016 WTMC Christmas beer tramp… a laid back social in the city, walking between a few of Welly’s … Read more
We departed on Saturday morning from the Railway Station at 8am with a glorious day ahead of us. This was despite the small accident my water bladder had on the front passenger seat of the van. We stopped for water filling/coffee in Levin, and we also went on a tiki tour of farm land around … Read more
An early Saturday morning meet up (7am) and we headed off up the coast turning onto SH57 at the south of Shannon. A gravel road for the last 40 minutes or so to upper Mangahao Dam, the back seaters started to feel woozy and we were relieved to park up and get going on a … Read more
When does a tramp become a wade? 6 of us set out on Friday evening from the train station with some trepidation given the forecast for howling gales and torrential downpours to attempt the Pouakai Circuit on Mount Taranaki, leaving from and returning to the North Egmont visitors centre. Frances, our intrepid leader, was (tactically?) … Read more
Mitre Flats Hut navigation A hiking trip into Mitre Flats Hut via Blue Range without any tracks and using magnetic compass and map for navigation Ten WTMC members set off on Saturday 3 December with compass and maps to do an EM navigation trip to Mitre Flats Hut via Blue Range. It was such a … Read more
Summer Climb of Mt Taranaki A summer day walk to the summit of Mt Taranaki on the northern side of the mountain The following may be of interest to those unfamiliar with Mt Taranaki, but who are keen to climb it this summer. Last summer I climbed Mt Taranaki – via the Northern ‘tourist’ route. … Read more
There’s something very appealing about traversing a mountain range – crossing from civilization on one side, via snowy ridge tops, to civilization on the other side, without having to retrace steps to come back to the same familiar road end. And when you can do a key swap halfway to make transport easy, what could … Read more
After a relatively quick ride to WTMC Ruapehu Lodge, we had the general introduction – we were asked to kindly not to put the lodge on fire and told when we were expected to be ready for the tramps. The lodge is much more comfortable than a road end since road ends don’t have spring mattresses, … Read more
The Ashburton Lakes landscape is noted for its relatively unmodified, huge, harsh and vast inter-montane wetland system of wide open valleys, twelve lakes, and braided rivers. An area surrounded by tussock lands and bordered to the west by the Southern Alps it was never a place of interest to me, except as a place to … Read more
The WTMC hosted the 2016 Bum Sliding Competition at Mt Ruapehu on Saturday 5 November. There was a large turnout of enthusiastic riders (5 total) and many spectators lined the courses to watch (3 total for the last 10 minutes). The weather was described as ‘atmospheric’, meaning mist, rain, snow, and wind in various combinations … Read more