Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
Intro The group had signed up to do Syme Hut, but changed plans given the conditions and out of respect for the two climbers who lost their lives on Mt Taranaki 4 May. Our first night was at Konini Lodge by the Dawson Falls Visitor Centre. Saturday we drove 50 minutes around the mountain and … Read more
This was my second time on the Pouakai Circuit. The last time I went, just over a year ago, the track was underwater and there was no mountain to be seen – the pictures in that trip report say it all. While I absolutely enjoyed that trip, I was hoping for much better weather. This … Read more
Platform 9, 5.15pm, we know the drill. Two groups heading up to Taranaki, 6 to do the Pouakai Circuit and 5 for a tramp to Lake Dive Hut. The formalities continued with kebabs in Bulls, par de course for many trips to the western side of the North Island. We arrived at Konini Lodge and … Read more
We drove up to Taranaki on Friday night with the standard stop at Bulls. The journey took around 5.5 hours in total with the weather steadily deteriorating as we got closer. We stayed at The Camphouse on Friday night, arriving about 22:30 hours. It’s just above the the North Egmont DOC Visitor Centre. As well … Read more
Ten of us drove to Taranaki/ Mt Egmont on Friday evening and camped at a picnic spot along the North Egmont Road. Saturday was forecast to have a strong southerly wind with a minus 10 degrees C wind chill on the summit, while Sunday was forecast to be an absolutely stunning day. Needless to say, … Read more
Our trip started badly which was luckily not a sign of things to come in terms of fun and mood, if not weather. Traffic out of Wellington was slow and the sun was blazing into the van turning it into sauna. It took us about an hour to realise we hadn’t actually turned the A/C … Read more
When does a tramp become a wade? 6 of us set out on Friday evening from the train station with some trepidation given the forecast for howling gales and torrential downpours to attempt the Pouakai Circuit on Mount Taranaki, leaving from and returning to the North Egmont visitors centre. Frances, our intrepid leader, was (tactically?) … Read more
The eight of us met at platform nine at 5 pm in an attempt to get away for a slightly early departure for the long drive up to Taranaki. Despite our best efforts, including Dan sneaking out of the office while his boss wasn’t looking, a crash on SH2 and then roadworks on SH1 meant … Read more
We left Friday evening, the van was full and everyone was happy and excited for our tramp. After a quick dinner in Bulls, we arrived at a backpackers place in Stratford, where we found out that we would get to sleep in until 8am, so we were already off to a very good start of … Read more
We tramped the Pouakai circuit and we were happy because it was plan A. Dan planned everything so that we could have an amazing week-end. But one question remained: Did Dan carry food in his backpack? Friday night was a long drive, approximately 5 hours to arrive at the North Egmont camphouse. We didn’t forget … Read more