A Southern Crossing with the help of numbers

Before I get into the juicy facts, here’s a wordy summary of our Southern Crossing Medium tramp from Otaki Forks to Kaitoke. We headed up to Field Hut from Otaki Forks around 8pm on Friday night. It was a beautiful night, with an almost full moon. We set off from Field at 9am the next … Read more

Syme Hut and Mt Taranaki – a Sherpa assisted ascent

Syme Hut and Mt Taranaki

Syme Hut and Mt Taranaki – a Sherpa assisted ascent An attempt to climb Mt Taranaki with two trampers acting as Sherpas and carrying all the shared camping gear We met at Wellington Railway Station at 1730 on Friday night: Tony, Illona, Rachel, Becky, Meena, Dave and I. We were very interested to meet the Sherpas … Read more

At the top table – Four days around Mt Arthur Tableland

The extended Waitangi Day weekend afforded the perfect opportunity for WTMC members to take in the delights of the top of the South. So along with a ‘fit’ group tackling the Leslie-Karamea track and others defying gravity in the Nelson Lakes area, a select group of three ‘easy-mediums’ took on the less strenuous, less technical, … Read more

Kehu Travers summer rock routes

To the South Island with racks and ropes and heavy packs.  We started out early on Thursday with a water taxi across Lake Rotoiti to Coldwater hut, weather calm and sunny, couldn’t ask for more for the 8-9 hour trudge up the Travers valley. Lunched at John Tait in fairly good time and continued up … Read more

Upper Makaroro Hut

We set off to Hawkes Bay via a takeaway stop at Carterton, where we scattered in about five different directions to explore the smorgasbord of culinary options there. We eventually got to the road end, at around 10pm. After a splash through the river, and taking a wrong turn, the GPS was consulted and we … Read more

Good Rock – Organ Pipes

New Zealand is a new country geographically speaking. The Southern Alps grow every year, and Aoraki has a go at shrinking every year. For a NZ rock climber, the primary goal is to find “good rock”. Not to seek out nice “starred” routes with lovely outlooks and beautiful sequences. No, the goal is to find … Read more

Tarn Ridge Hut trip

It was going to be a great weekend with light winds and sun shine for Weimen’s trip to Tarn Ridge hut. I had been in that area many times, so I asked Weimen what he had planned and I gave him the times I thought the different options would take. After he had studied the … Read more

Southern Main range

It had been five years since I’d last been to Maungahuka, so I signed up to lead the southern main range, a physically demanding trip which takes you across the tops between Bridge peak and Crawford. Friday night: Tramped to Field hut. Saturday: We arose with some hunters at 5:30 am and were away by … Read more

Overnight to the not officially open Kime Hut

With only one punter signed up (Alyn) for the official WTMC trip to Snowy Hut, the trip became an unofficial WTMC fit trip with a party of two, later to become three punters on a 24 hour jaunt into the hills. I was the only person in the party not to have visited the hut … Read more

Te Kopahou/Bunkers Daywalk

We met at the club hall in Moncrieff Street at 9am, and then travelled in two cars to the Wind Turbine car park above Brooklyn. After a short briefing about the walk, we set off. The walk goes through the Te Kopahou reserve, following the metalled track past the radome on Hawkins Hill to the … Read more