Check out the latest news and trips reports below or view the archives using the menu on the left. If you want to know more about the newsletter including submitting stories, see Newsletter>Publication Details. To learn more about the club, check the top menu. Some links will take you to the old website, but content will eventually move to this site.
Once again, Bivouac is offering an exclusive opportunity just for WTMC members next month on Tuesday 21 July (time to be confirmed but around about 6pm) at their store on 39 Mercer St in Wellington. Come along to get an exclusive look at what’s new in tramping and mountaineering gear. More importantly, if you come … Read more
The club recently ran a very successful two-day first aid course with a special emphasis for trampers. Sixteen club members have now updated their first aid to First Aid Level 2 under the enthusiastic instruction of Margaret from St John. They revised their CPR skills, stemmed serious bleeding, tended to fractures and wasp stings and burns, warmed hypothermic … 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
It is depressing to all those that love the outdoors that so many of NZ’s native birds are either recently extinct, or are now classified as nationally critical or nationally endangered. Kea that were once common in large flocks are now rarely seen on tramping trips in the South Island mountains, falcons and rock wrens … 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
Having scheduled a couple of trips to the Kaimanawas only to see them founder from a lack of interest I was getting pretty desperate to explore this unknown Forest Park. It was fortunate therefore that it now appeared on the schedule as both medium and easy medium trips, so I keenly signed up. Following … Read more
The serious bit for those wanting useful details: We took the 6:30pm ferry to Picton, and drove 1hr 30mins to camp overnight at Kowhai Point beside the Wairau River ($6pp). Saturday morning we drove 2hrs to Flora Saddle road end. There is a phantom bridge across the Motueka River marked on the road atlas. Make … Read more
One of the most important pieces of kit we carry when heading into the hills is a map – especially for those heading far away from marked tracks. LINZ provides the data for the maps we use – and are lost (literally) without. So have a read of the info from them – we cannot … Read more
Megan Sety has moved on from the role of newsletter editor and left me (Tony Gazley) to try and maintain the blog to the standards she set. Well that’s going to be difficult. So to make it a bit easier I’m proposing a couple of changes. Instead of emailing a manually produced monthly notification to newsletter subscribers … Read more