Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
Plan A: lug rock climbing kit up the Hopkins to Dasler Biv enjoying spectacular views of Mt Ward along the way. Camp in an alpine basin above the biv and climb the Dasler Pinnacles: a spectacular set of grey pointy things at 2315m. Plan abandoned due to a lack of interest in the frostbite thought … Read more
Just in case I have written a boring trip report and you don’t get to the end, let me put one of the concluding points at the beginning: this was Dmitry’s first time to lead a trip – and he’s a great trip leader! I admit that my opinion may have been influenced by the … Read more
Day one we all gathered at the shed, five of the team had spent the night on the shed floor, and five more made their way from Nelson early on the Thursday morning. The teams for the trip: Debbie & Elizabeth (Bob) – known as Anzac II Brendan & Katy – known as Anzac I … Read more
We piled into the Van for the 6.15pm sailing on the Thursday night, settling quickly and introducing ourselves to those we had not met before (amongst the 9 trampers, that meant for me, every one). The original plan for the trip was to have a look around the Mt Owen area (and summit), but the … Read more
First decision to be made was should we go SH1 or SH2?? Which will have less traffic and be the quickest? Majority said go SH2 so we did, although our first driver was a bit unsure as we got to some heavy traffic with a “Delay accident ahead” sign. But it all cleared very fast! … Read more
John C Bidwell, an arrogant British trader, made the first ascent of Ngauruhoe in March 1839 against the express wishes of Te Huehue the Tuwharetoa chief. Then after his climb Bidwell proclaimed to an angry Te Huehue that he was greater than the mountain god because he alone had stood on the top. Bidwell used … Read more
The Howlett’s Hut loop trip via Te Hekenga has been on the schedule for a while now, repeatedly postponed by weather, and it was great to finally knock it off. After driving up with the Rangi Hut trip group and having a good feed in Levin we stopped off at Mangaweka campsite for a few … Read more
Leaving platform 9 an hour later than usual turned out to be a smart decision, with most of the Friday afternoon traffic already gone it was a smooth drive to Levin where we stopped for some food and to check out the public toilets with background music… really weird. Back on the road again we … Read more
A dawn chorus of korimako wakes us long before the sun hits our shaded campsite at Courthouse Flat. The results of a successful predator trapping campaign soon become evident as we headed off into the eastern side of Kahurangi National Park. It’s like stepping back in time as korimako, piwakawaka, toutouwai, kereru and miromiro swoop … Read more
We met up at Platform 9 for the usual last minute tramping requirements, and introductions to members of our party and the MF group. We had a comfortable trip out to Masterton along with an exciting, extended adventure in Chinatown. Chinatown is found in Greytown, where it takes 40 minutes on a Friday night to … Read more