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
Being an Irishman I am accustomed to inclement weather letting an occasion down and was hoping that this wouldn’t be the case over Labour weekend. Luckily enough the weather Gods took pity on this group of mostly beginner kayakers and offered pleasant sunshine and reasonably calm waters for three days and 68 km of kayaking … Read more
This was a sunny Sunday day trip into the Tararuas. We had a late start (due to Aimee arriving late with the van!) So after asking my team to be at the Railway Station at 8am sharp, I made them wait for 15 minutes. But we were on the road by 8.15am, and it was … Read more
Kapakapanui (1102 m) is known for its fine views across Kapiti and into the Tararuas and our group of five was looking forward to seeing it for ourselves. With Kapakapanui being so close to Wellington (inland of Waikanae), we had a leisurely start and left from Wellington Railway Station at 9am on Saturday and then … Read more
The Kaikouas are an impressive sight from Wellington’s south coast on a sunny winter’s day. Several times most years WTMC groups try and climb one of the large peaks that appear too rise up out of the sea. On one such trip in early October our objective was a 1870 metre peak simply called ‘Snowflake’. … Read more
If the weather were on our side, we were looking to do a big semi-circuit anti-clockwise tramp. From Ballard Hut to Kiwi Mouth Hut via Venison Top and Manson, around to Mackintosh Spur via Kiwi Saddle, down Mackintosh, across Matauria Ridge returning to the Makahu Saddle carpark. But we (party of two) learnt ahead of … Read more