Kia ora,
There is a lot to cover this month! Changes on the Committee, Membership renewal, new members night, and more:
- WTMC December and January recap: Committee, trips and lodge updates
- Volunteers needed! Paua and Lodge bookings, New members night
- Coming up in February
If you have any questions, comments or ideas please get in touch.
Ngā mihi
F trip to Emily Peaks (Trip leader and photographer: Emily – of course)
Left: Nardoo Biv (2 bunks) – the group spent almost 24 hrs here with four of them and all the gear carefully tessellated into comfortable spots while the worst of weather went through. It has a vault toilet, which some of them timed our visits to better than others!
Right: Mathew and Sam route finding down to Burn Creek hut. The very gorgey Burn Creek can be seen below. Negotiating the route down there the next day was super fun and included number eight wire (rope option too) to assist a steep descent as well as many waterfalls and at least two stops for refreshing swims!
WTMC December/January recap
FROM THE COMMITTEE
Chief Guide vacancy – Unfortunately for us, Monique recently had to step down from her role on the Committee due to other commitments. Her contribution as Chief Guide enabled the club to run awesome trips over the last year, and her contributions around the committee table have been very valuable. Going forward, we are looking for a few volunteers to help in the interim, and for someone to step into the Chief Guide role on a permanent basis. For more information, please read this article or get in touch with me.
Has your membership expired? – For most of our members, annual membership is expiring on 31 January. Thanks to those who have already renewed. If you haven’t yet, please log into Hello Club and follow the prompts. If you choose to pay by bank transfer rather than credit card, please make sure to use ‘Subs’ as a reference and let the membership officer now. For any queries relating to membership, please contact David at .
Members survey (next steps) – In October, we ran a survey of our members to better understand how we are doing. You can read a summary of survey results here. The Committee discussed the results and will progress work in a number of areas, in particular we noted:
– (trips) demand for cruisy/gourmet trips, shorter trips, more involvement with track maintenance and conservation activities, having multiple groups spending the nights at the same hut, and appetite for training courses.
– (social activities and comms) demand for more variety in club nights, active use of the website to seek out information, support to continue a monthly email, the possible need to review how we use social media and our instagram account.
– (lodge) strong interest in thinking proactively about the future of the lodge, with conflicting views as to whether we need to keep investing and operating the lodge.
AGM on 10 April and Nominations for the new Committee – The AGM is pencilled in for Wednesday 10 April at the club rooms. A formal notice, agenda and relevant papers will be circulated to all members at least three weeks before the AGM. A standing item is the election of the new Committee. If you are interested in stepping into a Committee role please get in touch with anyone on the Committee, we can provide more information on what each role entails and answer any questions.
Updating the Constitution – As communicated to our members, we are refreshing the Club’s Constitution to meet new statutory requirements. A new Constitution will be presented to members for approval at the AGM in April. Thank you to members who provided feedback and the brave volunteers who attended the Constitution meeting this week, we are making good progress. For more information about the changes and how you can participate, please read this article or contact David at .
EM – Round the Mountain Track over the Christmas break, co led by Jo and Debbie (credit: Jo)
VOLUNTEER UPDATES – WE NEED YOU and THANK YOUs
– Paua hut booking officer – Our long standing volunteer Irina will step down in April! We are looking for a volunteer to take over the role (about 1-2 hours per week depending on the number of queries). It involves monitoring booking emails, responding to enquiries related to Paua hut, and managing the booking system. The code for the key lock box needs to be changed a few times a year, which can be done by yourself or by club trips who visit the hut. For more information please get in touch with me at .
– Lodge booking officer – The role is shared with another volunteer (Paul) in a rotation system. It consists in answering booking enquiries, coordinating with the food officer to ensure that food is ordered for winter guests, processing bookings and refunds, sending out pre trip info emails and assigning guests to bunks. For more information please get in touch with Miles at .
– New members night – On Wednesday 28 February we will run our usual new members night! We are looking for a few volunteers to come along, welcome potential new members and answer any questions. If you are interested in helping please email Mathew at .
– Social convenor – After helping for many years Megan S is stepping down! Nye has kindly offered to step into the role and will be responsible for finding speakers and coordinating club nights, with help from others.
– Chief Guide support – Our call for help has been answered – thank you to Lynsey, Jo, Natasha H and Daniel who promptly put their hand up to help out while we fill the Chief Guide vacancy! It’s great to be able to share the load and will make the transition a lot smoother. If you are curious about the Chief Guide role and joining the Committee, please read this article.
TRIPS UPDATES
Member-only trip to Paua hut (all levels) – Coming up soon in February, we are running a large member-only trip based at the club’s Paua hut in the Orongorongo valley. We will split into groups for day trips of various difficulties on Saturday, and regroup for kai and fun in the evening. Day trips will range from tramping to hut bagging to scenery appreciation. There’ll be something for everyone, so we would love to have as many members along to this event. Sign up online.
Gear rental going cashless – As indicated in November, we have moved to cashless gear hire. For more information please check the club gear webpage. Please direct any questions or concerns to Daniel at .
LODGE UPDATES
Club trip from the lodge (26-28 January) – We are pleased to confirm this summer club trip to the lodge generated a lot of interest! It is fully subscribed and weather permitting two full vans will be heading up to Whakapapa this weekend to enjoy walks around the lodge and complete a moonlight Tongariro crossing. Stay tuned for a trip report.
WTMC Bushcraft (Credit: Kevin)
For the first time in a couple of years, WTMC ran an in-house intermediate bushcraft course.
Special thanks Kevin for running the course, as well as Tash & Mon for co-instructing.
Coming up next
Check the trip schedule for upcoming club trips
31 January – WTMC Talks: How and why to make plan Bs.
14 February – WTMC Talks: Memorable huts.
22 February (Thursday): Visit of the NZ Rescue Coordination Center. Find out more and sign up on the trip schedule page.
28 February – WTMC Social night: New members night! details to come.
EM trip – Queen Charlotte Track (Credit: Jacqui)
Highlights included meeting an Alpaca called Yanni at Mistletoe Bay campsite and a long discussion with a Finnish girl Onahau Lookout (a one hour return side trip from the main track) who confirmed it was -30 degrees back home and that a lot of people have saunas in their homes in Finland.