Raymond Morgan has run the first two transport/food/accommodation trips to our Ruapehu Lodge this season, and I was lucky enough to get onto both trips. While a lot of us got in some great skiing and boarding, Ray took us on some amazing adventures as well. I’m hooked! 18-20 July – Ruapehu Looking back at Ruapehu … Read more
To the South Island with racks and ropes and heavy packs. We started out early on Thursday with a water taxi across Lake Rotoiti to Coldwater hut, weather calm and sunny, couldn’t ask for more for the 8-9 hour trudge up the Travers valley. Lunched at John Tait in fairly good time and continued up … Read more
Planning mountaineering trips like this in advance you hope for at least one goodish day out of two so that you can get to the summit. This time was different – the forecast was brilliant 5 days before and fell to a little windy by Friday. The only problem with weather like this is the … Read more
Featuring Assembled Cast Members: Ye Enlightened and Wise Instructors: Sharron Came, Mike Phethean, Marie Henderson Keen Bean Students: Sam Thorndon, Fiona Elliot, Emily Shrosbee, Doug Jones, Adam Threlkeld, Inky Hickey, Nicky Shields, Megan Sety, James Skeggs First of all, if you’ve never done the snowcraft course or been on trips in the snow, I would … Read more
Some work weeks can be quite nice, some are ok, but this one just had sucked from the very beginning. However, knowing that there are some great outdoorsy activities waiting at the end made the week a lot easier to endure, especially when it is a really scenic destination such as Mt. Egmont. As usual, … Read more
We: Mike, Sharron, Michael and Me (Brendan), met at platform 9 on the Thursday evening and all headed to the ferry terminal. The 3 hour ride across the strait was calm, dinner was served and 500 was played, Sharron didn’t do so well on the 500 front, but like the crossing remained calm. At the … Read more
The trip was a lodge based ice climbing trip. The difficulty: no ice. I only had one other punter and due to severe jet lag they decided to bail too. What to do? The answer was to recruit someone on really short notice. Luckily I was climbing with Simon on Thursday and persuaded him that … Read more
This trip promised great things: 3 days away, good weather (which always seems to happen in Nelson Lakes), an easy walk in and an achievable peak. And that was before I met everyone else on the trip. Our party were: Mike P, stalwart leader, Katie, Rini, Paul, Gary, Kevin and myself (Paula). The ferry trip … Read more
Firstly, for those who know me, let me state that this trip actually started and was completed on Plan A! Yes, I managed to actually lead a trip that not only went someplace but was successfully completed on the intended plan and I didn’t lose any punters along the way. You can check with my … Read more
It’s Thursday night and I’m tired. My bed is the back seat of the Club van parked at the George Stream road end. Not a bad option if you are short in stature, short on time and good at sleeping. Friday night and my bed is half a minaret pitched on a grassy flat about … Read more