Happy New Year! I hope you have all had good weather to facilitate your summer holiday tramping adventures. Things are gradually getting back into routine at WTMC, although club nights often feel a bit quieter than usual in January.
Paua Hut is now a brighter shade of green
This past weekend a group of six WTMC volunteers carried a range of equipment (including a step-ladder!) along the Five Mile Track into Paua Hut. Saturday afternoon was spent painting the hut in and out so it’s now sparkling fresh. Thank you to everyone who helped over the weekend, and particularly to Tony G who made several trips in and out on foot earlier in the week to ensure we had a large enough supply of paint. Two of the party had never used Paua Hut before yet were still volunteering their time to help maintain it for the club which is awesome. There are still plenty of other jobs on the hut maintenance list so if you fancy getting involved then let know. Really, we also need someone to take on the role of Paua Hut Maintenance Officer to ensure the hut gets the ongoing love it deserves.
Check out the short film Tony made from the working party weekend to see how much fun we had! Here’s a shot of working party members admiring the new green exterior.
Membership subs are due
All our members should have received an email invoice for their subs for the coming year. Other than the nice warm fuzzy feeling you get from being a WTMC member, it also gives you reduced trip fares and cheaper rates at the lodge (providing you are a fully paid up member by 1st April ahead of the winter season).
There’s a discount if you pay before 5th February. Only around 30% of members have paid so far so some of us seem to be cutting it fine for getting the discount! If you haven’t received an invoice, then please get in contact with our Membership Office Jane via
Huge thanks to Jane and Juan who’ve put in a few hours of computer work over their Christmas holidays to get the invoices out to you all.
Leadership Course for the Wellington Region
The club is running a Leadership Development Course for all tramping clubs in the Wellington Region, with the support of FMC. This course is open to anyone who wants to build their trip-leading skills. You can sign-up on the sheet at club on a Wednesday night – the date is now set for one weekend in March.
We also need experienced trip leaders to help out with running the course so please contact if this could be you.
Comings and goings
As I mentioned in my last update, some committee members are standing down at the upcoming AGM, so we are looking for new committee members. The roles of President, Vice President, Secretary, Social Convenor and Transport Officer need new people to step in from April 2020. If you might be interested/able/willing or just mildy curious about any of these roles or joining the committee as a general committee member, then please get in touch. You can chat to me or any of the existing committee members at club nights, out on trips or via email.
WTMC Lodge – Building Report
We have been informed by the Ruapehu District Council that they intend to carry out a visual structural inspection of all the lodges on the mountain. We don’t know the timing of these inspections, but what we do know is that our lodge is unlikely to meet current building standards required for its location. Regardless of the RDC inspection, we have decided to commission a full engineers report to help us understand to what extent we are short of the building standards and what might be involved to fix things. This will also allow us to do the responsible thing of keeping our lodge users informed about the building they are staying in.
Reminders:
- Van log books – if you are picking up or dropping off either of the club vans please remember to write the mileage in the log book.
- Scholarships are still available for those who are willing to help out with running the club. These can be used for professionally guided courses/events to enable members to try a new activity or build new skills. More details here -> https://wtmc.org.nz/training/scholarships/
- The WTMC AGM will take place on Wednesday 1st April, at 7:30pm in the TTC Clubrooms.
- The new trip schedule is out! Check out the trips page on the website or pick up a paper copy at club night.
Since my last update I have spent a couple of days biking the Timber Trail, seven days traversing the Dragons’ Teeth/Douglas Range part of Kahurangi NP, five days rafting 200km along The Clarence/Waiau Toa, and a long weekend exploring the Two Thumb Range. All these trips were in great weather so I am feeling very lucky. Keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of the summer!
Emily
WTMC President