Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
Merry Christmas everyone! Oh, I must be confused with the northern hemisphere; I thought Christmas was coming soon given the hail storm and poor weather in Wellington. But no, it is only mid-winter Christmas. Anyway, all conditions were met to spend a great weekend up in the club lodge on Mount Ruapehu, socialising and enjoying … Read more
Day 1. The drive north to Mahaku Saddle. It’s a fairly full hire van that leaves the Wellington railway station on time. Eleven people and packs and bags squeezed in. The drive north is made longer with roadworks and delays on the Rimutaka hill. But the real challenge lies in finding decent food on Highway 2 … Read more
Given that our Medium Fit minibus companions were embarking on a trip entitled ‘Dundas: the Hard Way’, one could be forgiven for thinking that there is an ‘Easy Way’ to reach Dundas Hut. This would be a mistake. Dundas is a wonderful, challenging, rewarding trip… but easy it was not. We set off from Putara … Read more
The plan was to spend the weekend in the Ruahines but given the adverse weather conditions we reconsidered it and opted for a closer tramp to the Tararuas. Yes, the Tararuas are not known for their best weather conditions during winter, especially when it is raining, but since shoes and gear were already packed, we … Read more
Saturday 9 May 2015 Departed Wellington 08:00 am Mangahao Lower No2 Dam 10:25am Burn Hut 2:25pm (6km, 300m to 800m) Near vertical hill. Grabbing tree roots and toeholds in the muddy earth. Right leg starts crammping during climb. Raining as we hit the ridge tramping out of the forest. Three of us Claire leads with … Read more
Originally this trip was going to Howlett’s Hut in the Ruahines, but looking at the weather outside on Friday and the forecast ahead, Kevin and the trip leader of the tandem EM group (Garth) made the right decision to postpone and relocate to the Tararuas. After having a pie stop en route (unusual on the … Read more
The last long weekend for a while meant quite a few people headed to the Kawkeas for three days of excellent tramping. The medium’s plan was to camp out all three nights, which meant lugging our tents up hill and down dale. No huts for us, even though there were a few on the route. … Read more
Day 0 – Fly Camping at Mangahao Dam After Megan skilfully negotiated the windy road from Shannon to the top Mangahao Dam, we fly camped at the face of the dams. The recent rain had meant that the spillway was open and a little noisy. Day 1 – Mangahao Dams to Te Matawai Hut via … Read more
The adventure started before the trip even began. Heavy flooding stuck Wellington the day before, closing offices and stranding commuters. There was some concern that the road north might be closed and that even if it wasn’t driving in the direction of the weather we had just experienced was foolhardy at best. These concerns … Read more
After stopping at Carterton’s Wild Oats Café for the obligatory pre-tramp and in a few people’s cases, necessary, morning coffee, our party of 12 arrived at the Holdsworth carpark mid-morning. After divvying up group gear and food we started walking in fine but crisp weather. Unnaturally for the Tararuas, we had clear skies and virtually … Read more