Summer Lodge
Ruapehu 2019/2020
To all you potential Ruapehu summer lodge users.
This year we are extending our ‘Open Lodge’ period, from just the two short weeks of Christmas/New Year to include the week or so after. So, the lodge will be open from Boxing Day 2019 through to Thursday 16th January 2020, a period of 22 days. This has come about after the success of last year, where we averaged 19 people per night over the nine day period.
Not only have we lengthened out the period, we have also changed it from ‘Open Lodge’ to ‘Summer Lodge’. This is because we are changing it from a ‘No Bookings Required’ system, to one operating the same way as in winter i.e., you now need to book. The is simply a way of giving the lodge custodian (me) certainty in occupant numbers and ease of organising bunk space. Note that you do need to supply your own food.
I had a great time looking after the lodge last year and put my hand up to trial the longer period this coming Christmas/New Year. I think I did a different walk every day last summer and still had walks I didn’t get to do. This year I hope to get a daily trip list going, where less experienced people can tag along with someone who knows where they are going: up to the summit of Ruapehu for example. Then of course there is the SkyWaka gondola to ride, with NZ’s highest restaurant waiting at the top. Others may use the lodge as a base to do multiple car trips to central North Island locations. The options are endless!
So, get online, book in a day or more, and join a group of punters enjoying the relaxed setting of a Ruapehu summer.
See you up there,
Miles
