The weather forecast for this trip was pretty bad, and we debated whether it was a good idea, with a forecast of heavy rain and gales, to go into a hut where the only way out was via ridge or river. After some careful analysis of the weather maps, our leader, Richard, encouraged us to … Read more
I was a bit concerned about the weather and this trip certainly had a reputation (as I had been told that the last Club attempt at the Pinnacles resulted in a trip turn-around due to weather). Nevertheless, once the trip was organised and food allocated, we met up at the train station on Friday night … Read more
The lure of Christmas shopping, or perhaps the panic of not having done it earlier, meant that there were only three of us on the medium tramp to Triangle hut in the Ruahines the weekend before Christmas. We shared transport with the equally select ‘gourmet’ easy tramp group of four who were heading up to … Read more
The four of us left the Railway Station on a sunny Friday evening bound for the Pohangina Valley and the Ruahines. The good weather forecasted for the weekend and the free-flowing traffic along SH1 meant spirits were high in anticipation for a good weekend’s tramping even before Maarten announced he would be providing a breakfast … 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
There’s something very appealing about traversing a mountain range – crossing from civilization on one side, via snowy ridge tops, to civilization on the other side, without having to retrace steps to come back to the same familiar road end. And when you can do a key swap halfway to make transport easy, what could … Read more
When Tony emailed out the trip plan to me, the sole punter, there were strict instructions to meet at platform 9 at 7.30am Saturday with my car. Since I was still struggling with daylight saving, my thought was pretty much ‘Struth! Tell him he’s dreaming.’ At 7.32am my clapped out wannabe Holden Barina screeched into … Read more
The trip was originally planned as a navigation trip to Alpha hut via the Quoin Ridge, and then returning via the Eastern Hut river. Amanda’s initial email warned that this would likely be at the upper end of the medium grade with two longish days of up to nine hours. In the end there five … Read more
After the usual Friday departure, a quick trip out of Wellington, and the regular Friday night stop for dinner we got to the road end for the EM group near Dannevirke at a reasonable time on Friday night. The next morning we drove to our road end, Kashmir Road, with a quick stop in Dannevirke … Read more
Two weeks out from the trip, leader Debbie emailed us two plans. Plan A would be Taranaki South Face ALP1 (M) – subject to the weather, snow conditions and avalanche risk. Should the weather, snow conditions and avalanche risk not be to Debbie’s liking, then Plan B – a tramp around the Pouakai Loop (M) … Read more