Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
As is the tradition, we met at Wellington train station at 5pm, for a 5.15pm departure to Egmont National Park. We arrived at the Camphouse, our accommodation for the night, which is situated close to the Egmont National Park Visitor Centre (North Egmont)/ DOC office, at around 10.30pm. The Camphouse is located right beside the … Read more
I was so happy when I saw there was a surf trip on the WTMC’s online schedule. I love tramping, but how cool is it to get to do other activities with your tramping friends!As there was no leader yet, Werner and I signed up to lead the trip. The sheet already had Opunake as base … Read more
We’ve regrouped at the top of a 300m long stretch of steep scoria on the way down the north ridge of Mount Taranaki. The sun blazes from a cloudless sky, there’s no wind and it’s hot – a heat haze shimmers off the dusty slope. Having climbed over 1500m today our legs are tired and … Read more
What do WTMC trampers do after they have declared they are ‘all tramped-out’ after many trips over the previous six weeks of fine summer weather and they are then presented with a forecast for a further one-day window of perfect weather at a cool little mountain where fine days are rare? Well – they just … Read more
We left Wellington on the Friday evening with a small medium-fit group and had the Konini Lodge at Dawson Falls, Egmont National Park to ourselves. With our expected walking time of 3-4 hours to Lake Dive on Saturday, we had ample time to explore the Dawson Falls and Wilkies Pools loop tracks (30-60 minutes each). … Read more
This was my second time on the Pouakai Circuit. The last time I went, just over a year ago, the track was underwater and there was no mountain to be seen – the pictures in that trip report say it all. While I absolutely enjoyed that trip, I was hoping for much better weather. This … Read more
Taranaki always seems a lonely mountain separated from all his mates on the Central Plateau. The Maori story of how he ended up standing alone, sad, and badly wounded explained it all perfectly—although nowadays the theory of plate tectonics seems even more plausible. But whichever you believe it is still a fun peak to climb … 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
The following may be of interest to those unfamiliar with Mt Taranaki, but who are keen to climb it this summer. Last summer I climbed Mt Taranaki – via the Northern ‘tourist’ route. I had wanted to do the day climb for a few years but just hadn’t got around to researching what I might … 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