Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
We left Wellington Train Station at 4pm on Friday and drove to our accommodation for the night at Te Wera Valley Lodge (www.tewera-lodge.co.nz) located on a remote road called the Forgotten World Highway – about 37km from Stratford. It was a very cold winter night and we arrived at 9.15pm. We were the only guests … Read more
What a trip, what a weekend, what a day! We had a wonderfully smooth sail on the Interislander, and used the time to scour our maps and discuss where we would go! It’s a wonderful feeling to pour over topo maps and evaluate track options when possibilities abound! So exciting! We had been informed by … Read more
My hopes to complete a circuit in the Kawekas over King’s Birthday weekend were compromised by the ongoing impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle. Without being able to confirm road access or track conditions, we were onto plan B: a delightful off-track adventure in a remote part of Whanganui National Park. However, with heavy rain in the … Read more
Mt Richmond is on my aging list of ‘50 Best Tramping Peaks’ from the Wilderness magazine, way back, hence why I suggested it for the WTMC trip schedule. And on this weekend, it did indeed turn out to be a spectacular tramping peak. There were six of us, plus three from the EM group, on … Read more
Trains, Tubes, Bikes and Boots ‘The 9.55 am train to Masterton has been delayed’ boomed the loudspeaker at Wellington Railway Station. Harry was unfazed. ‘This always happens to me’ he sighed. With a tight timeframe, we planned to train to Woodside, cycle to Bucks Road, tramp to the Tauwharenīkau River, tube the gorge and then … Read more
Due to poor weather, the plan for this trip ended up changing quite a bit. Originally, this was meant to be a Howletts Hut overnight trip in the Ruahine Ranges, but due to this walk having a decent portion of ridge travel and river crossings, we decided to do a loop walk a little closer … Read more
When the Aorangi Crossing has been on the schedule in the past it has attracted a handful of signups. This time however, there were two handfuls – in fact a round baker’s dozen of keen beans signed up. The reason for this, I believe, is simple – people love a challenge. The last club trip … Read more
Saturday morning 6:30 we set off from Whakapapa village to join Juan to tick off his final great walk. The crisp morning led us to shatter the DOC times and tramp to Mangatapopo hut in 2:15 instead of the designated 4 hours. After a quick break we joined the refugee caravan on the Tongariro crossing. Hundreds of … Read more
We had a good group of people keen to get into the Richmond Range and do some reconnoitring over the long Wellington Anniversary weekend. Having recently come out of a mission to Carkeek Hut (and beyond) I was still a bit sore but keen to get into this great part of the south island, having … Read more
A warm sunny evening greeted our group as we departed Wellington on the Friday night. We stopped for dinner at the yummy Turkish restaurant in Carterton before making our way to the Anzac Campground near Norsewood. We arrived after dark meaning we had to set up our tents with our head torches on, but as … Read more