I’ve been away overseas for most of this month so this might be a short update. I learned on this trip that involvement in the Wellington tramping scene brings connections the world over. I sat down for dinner at YHA Grasmere in the English Lake District only to find that one of my dinner companions was a TTC member! And while in Singapore we had lunch with an expat WTMC member (who confessed to being an avid reader of this monthly update which is always nice to hear!).
Thinking about all the friends I’ve made through WTMC reminded me how important it is to make Wednesday club nights welcoming for new comers. Aimee and her door team do a great job of greeting people when they first arrive and explaining how things work, but do give a new face or anyone who’s looking a bit confused a smile, ask them about what’s brought them along to the club, or even get them involved helping to put out the chairs.
Meanwhile, WTMC has of course been continuing full throttle with the new schedule now out, the behind-the-scenes email support switched to a more efficient service thanks to Juan our Web President and the scholarship fund now re-opened.
Scholarships re-opened
Thanks to the incredible fundraising efforts from WTMC and VUWTC bringing the NZ Mountain Film Festival to Wellington, we now have more money in the WTMC Scholarship fund. If you are eligible (you must have been a member for a year and already be, or be willing to commit to, giving back to the club as a volunteer), then you are encouraged to apply to help WTMC build further skills across many outdoor activities.
Paua Hut
Paua Hut has passed its 3-yearly DOC inspection with a polite reminder to all Orongorongo Valley hut users that firewood can only be collected from fallen trees.
We’ve now got a Paua Hut working party scheduled for January and will need some help from members both to get this organised and with the on-weekend tasks so please get in touch if you are able to help.
Ruapehu Lodge
We are also holding a strategic planning session for the running of the WTMC Lodge in November. This is an initiative from the Lodge sub-committee to help with longer-term lodge use planning. If any members would like to feed into this let me know via
Emergency Services Expo – this weekend at Te Papa
There’s an Emergency Services Expo at Te Papa on 28th September…I mention this because some of your awesome committee members have recently put together a flyer about WTMC to help promote the benefits that being part of a tramping club can bring to your experience in the hills, for the LandSAR stand at this event. Saturday 11am-2pm if you want to pop along.
Gear
Yenfei, our awesome Gear Custodian, or Gear President, as she may be preferred to be known, needs a few helpers to cover some weeks in October. Let her know if you could step in to sign club gear in and out between 7 and 7:30pm on a Wednesday night via
That’s it for this month…I’ll leave you with the view from the top of Scafell Pike – England’s highest ‘mountain’, which I managed to pop up while I have been away. It was a rare clear day and a great way to spend a September Monday.
Emily Shrosbree
WTMC President