This was billed as an easy walk and was probably one of the easiest that I’ve been on in a long time. Our walk, the second in a series on the Te Araroa walkways began in Shortland Park right at the end of The Parade down in Island Bay looking out to Taputeranga Island. The … Read more
This was the first of the formal Te Araroa Trail walks organised through the club, an EM daywalk from Porirua to the Cable Car. Twelve punters took the 8.30 am train from Wellington Central to Porirua. The weather forecast had promised a still, hot day and clear views. Pete led the group through central Porirua … Read more
INTRODUCTION Breaking historical ground (as far as we know), Frances led the first WTMC Musical Tramp with expert skill and agility. The ‘genius’ behind this trip was in the detail: if either of the tramping or musical components had not been achievable – due to adverse weather, broken strings (including hamstrings), or an overcrowded hut … Read more
After the last attempt to go around the loop was stopped due to bad weather in the Tararuas (how surprising!), some of the punters were more than keen for another shot. Fortunately a good weather window coincided with the trip schedule. Some us were left waiting at the road end ready to go, wondering where … Read more
Hello to those of you at the club who I have not met. This is a short summary of my first trip away with the club. The long Easter weekend started with a swift jaunt from work, spare socks, billy and a toothbrush thrown in the pack and we were off! Sharing our journey down … Read more
This day trip showed me just how accessible the bush is from Wellington city. Our very organized trip leader (Clinton) gave us all the details we needed to get to the start of the Whakanui track using only public transport. In short you can take the 8.35am train on a Saturday morning from Wellington Railway … Read more
Saturday morning all participants gathered at Wellington Station where Richard picked us up with one of the club vans. After the drive to Catchpool carpark we met up with the other trip leaders, Kevin and Pete. We started with some practice using our compass and other navigational skills taught by Kevin, analysis and interpretation of … Read more
Taranaki East Ridge – and the Sharks Tooth A WTMC trip to Mt Taranaki and a climb of the East Ridge to the Sharks Tooth and the summit. “You know you have to come back right?” Tony said to me as we were driving back to Wellington in December. “You did the the right thing, … Read more
The tramp began at 8.35 pm on Friday evening at the end of Mt Holdsworth Road, reached via Carterton. Although we set out for Atiwhakatu Hut when it was still light, it quickly turned dark while we were walking and we had to get the head torches out. The gravel track is in good … Read more
From the 21st anniversary WTMC Journal, “Impressions of a Tramping Club”. It took two weeks of interminable wrangling, four customs agents and dozens of rubber stamps and signatures to clear the two tons of expedition gear and food through customs in Lima – a very depressing time. Ken and I had stayed in Lima for … Read more