Our plan had been relatively simple – walk to Angelus Hut via Speargrass Creek, climb the peak, then return via Robert Ridge. In the week before we set out, conditions looked more and more ominous, with south-easterly gales, heavy snowfall and the avalanche risk in the alpine zone rising from moderate to considerable. Dan decided … Read more
On Friday 5th August we met at Wellington railway station with heavy rain showers passing overhead. There were two trips joined in one minibus for the weekend away. Ours was the Upper Travers, arranged by Mike Moore, a three-day excursion to Nelson Lakes National Park. The plan was to take the water taxi from St … Read more
This was a weekend traverse of Aorangi Forest Park, starting from the sea, ending at the sea, and going over some big hills in between… Friday night we converged on Platform 9 and bundled into the club van to test drive the newly opened Smart Motorway. Opinions about its performance varied slightly but generally were … Read more
Friday afternoon had arrived and it was the long weekend – that meant only one thing – off to explore the hills! I knew it would be a long drive after our 30min dinner break in Carterton but our group got off lightly as we were dropped off at road end just below Makahu Saddle Hut, … Read more
Fourteen trampers started out from the railway station at 4.15pm. We had a long drive ahead of us – 6 hours up to Lake Tutira campsite, just north of Napier. We stopped for gourmet delights at Country Chef Fast Food in Dannevirke and then got back on the road. The campsite was only marked by … Read more
INTRODUCTION Breaking historical ground (as far as we know), Frances led the first WTMC Musical Tramp with expert skill and agility. The ‘genius’ behind this trip was in the detail: if either of the tramping or musical components had not been achievable – due to adverse weather, broken strings (including hamstrings), or an overcrowded hut … Read more
There’s nothing like gale forecasts of 100 km/hr to lend the run-up to the weekend a slight nervous edge. But spirits were high in the minibus so I could only assume either the others hadn’t seen the forecast or that I was the mad one: that heading up to a ridge with that forecast was … Read more
Mike: It’s Saturday night, before 8pm. I’m hunched below a top bunk of Cow Creek Hut, feeling very well fed and trying to scribble these notes by torchlight. Debbie and Eleonora are already trying to go to sleep. Debbie’s had the wood-burner going, and it’s toasty enough for me to have switched to a downstairs … 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
This tramp started from Putangirua Pinnacles, walking down to Mangatoetoe (Cape Palliser) via a number of huts. We had left Platform 9 at 5:15 pm on Friday for a couple hours drive to the Pinnacles campsite. Apparently the water at the campsite was not safe to drink, so we had filled our bottles at a … Read more