Thursday We piled onto the Thursday afternoon ferry, and the group started to get to know each other. We had a good mix of new and more experienced group members, including Harry and Paul, who had both attempted Snowflake via this route before – notably before the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake https://wtmc.org.nz/trip-report/slippery-snowflake/. We had a good … Read more
“I think they’re looking for escaped rebel dinosaurs who are on the run from work…….” “I bet they were surprised to see all our tents in the middle of nowhere!” This was our conversation the next morning after an Airforce helicopter circled over our campsite the night before with search lights on, presumably doing a … Read more
Looking across the Cook Strait my eyes habitually fixate on one striking feature – the centerpiece and highest peak of the Kaikoura Ranges, Tapuae-o-uenuku, also affectionately known as ‘Tappy’. A couple years ago I started consolidating the skills and experience to attempt Tappy and enjoy its panoramic and lofty summit at 2885m. Miraculously the stars … Read more
The Kaikouas are an impressive sight from Wellington’s south coast on a sunny winter’s day. Several times most years WTMC groups try and climb one of the large peaks that appear too rise up out of the sea. On one such trip in early October our objective was a 1870 metre peak simply called ‘Snowflake’. … Read more
Our trip kicked off to a luxurious start. While we had been planning on staying under a fly on Friday night, weather forecasts of high wind and possible heavy rain led us to take advantage of a well presented backpackers on Ure Road. After soft beds, electric lighting, warm showers and microwaved breakfasts we were … Read more
Yay, weekend! Flee from work, pack your backpack, don’t forget the communal dinner ingredients, and off you go to lonely landscapes and snow-covered tops, away from the constantly humming sound of city life. Debbie’s, Stephen’s, Steve’s, John’s and Weimin’s plan was to ascend Mt. Tappy, the highest peak of the Kaikouras whereas Mike, Antone, and … Read more
It is always difficult to write an article when the newsletter editor was actually on the trip. She will firstly change the text so that the truth is actually recorded and secondly will also be suspicious of any of my future articles. I had wanted to go to Sawcut gorge for a long time. Katy … Read more
Normally writing a trip report you can get away with a few continued jokes and well, general lies. This one is different as someone might actually want to know where we went or didn’t! A shiver runs down my spine, responsibility aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! So the serious stuff: We got permission from the farmer to cross his … 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
The journey to Mt. Tappy is one of the highlights of the WTMC winter schedule and this year was no exception. The trip got off to a poor start from a punctuality viewpoint as we arrived into Picton 90 mins late at half past midnight. The ferry staff put on free fish n chips to … Read more