South Saddle via Goat Stream – Remutaka Forest Park

Six of us left the Catchpool carpark just after 9 am in slightly cool conditions. We were soon in the Orongorongo Valley and headed upstream to Goat Stream. At Goat Stream Hut we had morning tea. We didn’t see the person staying at Goat Stream Hut, but the door was unlocked and there were signs of habitation in … Read more

Navigation Course

Navigation in action

After having to cancel the bushcraft course, the next best thing seemed to be a day out in the Remutaka Forest Park for a bit of map and compass practice, with an intro to river safety. We started the day with map reading theory at the Catchpool carpark. Identifying symbols on the map – easy! … Read more

Corner Creek to Mt Matthews in photos

Corner Creek to Mt Matthews

Leave the Catchpool Carpark at a leisurely 10:00 am Saturday morning. Wander through to the Orongorongo River – always pleasant no matter how often you go. Climb up to South Saddle and try to avoid being blown off the ridge in the north-west gale. Scurry down into the Mukamuka to find a sheltered spot for … Read more

Intermediate Bushcraft

As the next step in my transformation from city slicker to baby bear grylls, I signed up to the Intermediate Bushcraft course run by Kevin, Richard, Matt, Emily and Bram on the weekend of 11-13 August 2017. I had high hopes for this course. Until that time, GPS devices were just cumbersome old-school mobile phones … Read more