From the President…

Introducing the 18/19 WTMC Committee

The new committee is now fully-formed following the April AGM. Heather joins us as Secretary, Sumudu as Comms Officer and Tony S as Social Convenor. All three have already made their mark with their contributions so far.

Huge thanks Kirsty, Caryl and Catherine for all their hard work on the committee over the past year or two. And of course to Tony G who’s stepped down as from his role as President after two years, but stays on board as Vice President.

A couple of non-committee roles have also changed. Mark is now Emergency Contacts Coordinator and Kate has taken on Paua Hut Maintenance. Thanks to Megan and Mike for their time in these roles.

The Committee meets once a month to discuss any club matters arising. We’re happy to hear suggestions from club members for new initiatives or improvements to how things currently work. Given all the committee members already have assigned club duties to fulfil, such proposals generally have a much higher likelihood of becoming reality if you also offer to make them happen yourself!

Full details on the printed schedule if you need to contact any of us. And our mug-shots are on the website too just for fun.

 

Van parking is a-changing

We’re currently trialling parking the vans at Kiwi Self Storage – Newlands so if you’re responsible for picking up/dropping off the van on a trip over the next few months make sure you’ve got the latest location and access details from Rene () or talk to the Gear Custodian when you pick up the keys. We know it’s not as convenient as the great deal we enjoyed during our long stretch at the Interislander terminal but this is by far the best option that we’ve found after several months of searching. Let us know if you have any alternative viable suggestions.

Huge thanks to Heather for doing all the organising behind this move, and to Jan & Brian for hosting the vans while they’ve been homeless!

 

Lovin’ the Lodge

Brian and his team have been going great guns with getting the WTMC Lodge at Whakapapa ready for the upcoming winter season. The new Custodian’s room is completed, new heaters are on their way and the cupboards have been replenished with bulk food stocks thanks to a recent working party.

Publicity for our lovely lodge as an on-mountain accommodation option is working well and attracting lots of interest. This means we’re also needing mid-week club reps to sign up to ‘host’ some weeks during the season. This involves opening up and shutting down, giving a safety briefing and generally ensuring that things stay hunky dory. We can easily train you up if you’re keen but haven’t done it before. Talk to Mike at if you want to get involved.

Lodge bookings for the winter season are already open for members and open to non-members from 1 June.

 

Helping out

With such an active club we are often on the look-out for people to step in and help out with one-off tasks, as well as ongoing roles. These are posted on the website under ‘Odd jobs – can you help out with any of these?’ Currently on the list are:

• Dehydrator ‘monitor’ – we’re looking for someone to get a little system set up for hiring out our new club dehydrator, kindly donated by one of our members. Probably needs some simple instructions for using it, bringing it back clean and a roster for people to book it. Email  if you can take on this task.
• Van cleaners – both our vans are currently in need of a good clean (ideally on a monthly basis). Email  if you can help out.

 

Keeping in touch

Just a reminder that there’s several ways you can keep up-to-date with WTMC.

Social media-ites have a host of options:

WTMC Facebook page – news and events are often posted here. You can register your interest in our Wednesday club nights so you don’t miss out on an upcoming talk.

WTMC Facebook group – thanks to Caryl and Juan for setting up this place to share photos from your club tramps or post information that might be of interest to members. Please bear in mind it’s a public forum so anything posted can be viewed by anyone. Remember to check your fellow trampers are comfortable with you sharing any photos of them before you post.

WTMC Instagram – Follow our fledging Instagram account @wtmcnz  #wtmcnz

 

Of course there’s also our WTMC Website (bookmark us now) which includes:

WTMC Newsletter – read the latest news and trip reports

WTMC Forum – look out for club-related announcements or post-your-own if you’ve got something to share. Again, remember this is a public forum so anything posted can be viewed by anyone.

 

‘Tramping comes first’

This month I’ve made it out and about on two club day tramps. I led a group to Burn Hut in the Northern Tararuas to tick it off my hut-bagging list and I joined in with Matt’s ‘Big Day Out’ to Mount Matthews. On the way up to Mt Matthews we passed lots of A24 traps including this one with some exhibiting some fairly recent success!

Some of our club members recently helped to install these traps (you can hear all about it at our club night on 13 June) so it’s great to see them in action.

I’m going to attempt one of these updates on a monthly basis (more imaginative title suggestions welcomed). Having said that, my rule for any of our volunteers including myself is ‘Tramping comes first’…so you know where to find me if you notice a hiatus!

See you in the hills!

Emily.

WTMC President