Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
Photos from Tony Gazley Sadly, for a NZer, I’m reasonably well informed given that I can name around 20 plant species, and identify quite a few of them. However, I wanted to be able to tell the difference between a couple of species by bark, given that these trees grow very tall, and leaves are … Read more
Our weekend starts with Katie pulling out at 5.30pm on Friday due to a pulled muscle. We hear there was a good party on Saturday night too…. Katie was a good sort, acting as a shuttle driver to and from the club van, and passing over her group rations; including a wonderful dessert that even … Read more
On a dreary Saturday morning we contemplated alternative routes as we made our way to Levin. A southerly was forecast and there was already snow on the coastal foothills of the Kapiti coast. As we ascended the windy road to Mangahao Dam 2, the sunny calm weather convinced us to stick with our planned trip … Read more
It was with some trepidation that I joined a group of fellow trampers at the Wellington railway station on Friday evening. I had signed up to tramp into the Ruahines over the weekend. This was my first major tramp into one of New Zealand’s mountain ranges, near winter. I know it’s been said before but … Read more
A blustery Friday evening saw 12 eager punters off along State Highway 2 over the Rimutakas towards the Ruahines in Southern Hawkes Bay. 5 destined for an Easy grade walk to Sunrise Hut and 7 for the Easy Medium aiming for Top Maropea Hut. A slightly longer than expected but worthwhile wait for kebabs in … Read more
Out tramping again with WTMC for my second weekend in a row, we met at the station on a sunny Saturday morning for the 2.5 hour drive up to Mangahao Dam road end. The trip along the gravel road to the Upper Mangahao Dam is a long, bumpy ride in, taking about 50 minutes. We … Read more
The tramp started really well for me: I hadn’t been tramping in a number of years but thought I had all my gear together in one place since I had recently done a trip to cycle and camp the Otago Rail trail. So, I decided that I could leave packing my bag until 11pm on … Read more
Having a spare weekend in mid-February, I decided to sign up for a club trip. There were two trips going from the Kaitoke road end, meaning a Saturday morning start (yay!). The Medium trip appeared to involve a long slog along the Marchant Ridge, which I’ve never done, having been deterred by its reputation. The … Read more
Tuesday evening before the tramp. I was supposed to be leading a Medium trip to Kime on the coming weekend but unfortunately one signed up. Thankfully, Paul Jefferies was leading an overnight tramp to Tutuwai and as there was space I decided to join Paul’s trip. Friday 17.00. At this point on a weekend tramp … Read more
After a wet week in Wellington I imagine everyone in our group was looking forward to getting away from the town and out into the Tararuas. For some reason I have never tramped in the Tararuas before and I was keen to have a look for myself after seeing many club night photos of popular … Read more