A ramble in the Ruahines to Maropea Forks

Thanks to Paul and the 5 other punters, for a great trip into the Ruahine tops…a first for most of us. It was a delayed start from the Railway station due to a spill on the motorway, leaving after 6 instead of after 5…with great relief we made good time after having dinner before we … Read more

Moss Pass

Like the best laid plans of mice and men going astray, the bad weather predicted for Nelson Lakes National Park meant that our proposed Mole Tops tenting trip had to be altered.  The new trip would be the Moss Pass route going via Sabine and over into the D’Urville. Day One – Sabine Hut to Blue … Read more

Mountainless Snow

Off we set into the Tararuas, ably skirting the rock fall on the access road and fording the Waiohine via an outlandishly large swing bridge. Our amble along the tops via Cone was a rare treat of good visibility and only the lightest zephyr of a breeze. Views from Cone extended from the Tararua Peaks … Read more

Iron Gate Hut

Friday night departure went smoothly. But things slowed to a halt when two of us ordered dinner at the Thai slow-food takeaway in Levin. Eventually our dinner arrived and we set off again. Our driver safely manoeuvred around the many roundabouts in Fielding, and after a bit of exploratory detouring we arrived at the busy … Read more

Orongorongas (North saddle traverse)

We left platform 9 on a cold Friday night with the promise of clearing skies and a warmer end to what had been an extremely cold month. The 40 odd minute drive through Wainuiomata, down coast road to the Orongorongos, sped by. We had boots on the ground before 6:30pm. Night tramping over the five … Read more

Anzac medium trip to Nelson Lakes

Three keen punters (we picked Richard up from the Junction Hotel in Spring Creek) assembled at Wellington train station on Tuesday evening, before embarking on the 5 minute drive to the Interislander ferry terminal. John and his group were also aboard for the van and ferry ride. The ferry ride to Picton was fairly uneventful … Read more

Kahurangi Tablelands 2012

Seven keen folk explored Kahurangi Tablelands for four days in exceptionally fine weather and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. We arrived at the road end, where we dossed for the night in the shelter, around 12:30am Friday morning, after a three hour ferry crossing and about a three hour drive. Another WTMC trip group arrived … Read more

To Peel or not to Peel

After many years of vigorously peeling any carrot that came within a co-eee of my cooking pot, I have recently found there is a strong movement of people who believe in a skin-on approach to culinary carrots. I therefore now feel more confident in writing this newsletter article about the lack of peel in our … Read more

Kiwi Saddle – Macintosh Hut

We started out on Labour weekend with a basic plan of staying a couple of nights around Studholme Saddle Hut, and possibly heading further up the main Kaweka Range during that time. Things didn’t work out that way. For the first time in a long time, at least as far as I can remember, we … Read more

The hard way to Waiopehu Hut

It promised to be a wonderful weekend in the sunny tararuas. And for once they were actually meant to be sunny! We set off Saturday after a week of rain from the railway station. On the way up I noticed the higher than usual flow in the rivers when we crossed the bridges… it occurred … Read more