On a Friday night in May 2006, a band of hardy WTMC M trampers ventured into Northern Tararuas. Three days later they emerged – scratched and broken by leatherwood, attempts at compass navigation in the dark and arguments about oversized watches. Their Haukura Ridge trip was to gain enduring life as a case study in our … Read more
This walk is in the Akatarawa Forest, and starts and finishes at Maungakotukutuku Road near Paekakariki. It’s no problem finding the turn-off for Maungakotukutuku Road, just look for the two metre long road sign requiring two posts. The Road took us well up the hill, cutting down the amount of climbing we had to do … Read more
We set off on Friday evening to get to Paua hut so we could make an early start on Saturday. It was a perfect warm calm evening for us to sit outside Paua Hut and Alastair to talk us through the trip he had in mind, and to give some a crash course in navigation. … Read more
After a dismal forecast predicted for the weekend, our trip was changed to plan B which avoided swims in the Eastern Hutt river that had been part of plan A. Saturday saw a 7am start for the drive to Otaki Forks. From here we walked up the Pukeatua track with Emily setting a good pace. … Read more
Where am I?? Wandering aimlessly & exasperatedly for hours. Worries turn into desperation. Add thirst, fatigue and darkness into the equation – and you are in danger! Believe me. It’s not a nice feeling! Our Haukura Ridge Nav trip with Amanda was to practice some off track nav skills to avoid such situations. Knowing the … Read more
Armed with maps, compasses and lollies, we headed into the hills from the carpark at Kiriwhakapapa (Ethnicity; lit. genealogical skin) with the trip leader, Amanda, to show us what’s what. After following the Old Tram Track up to the first saddle, we settled down to our first lesson in navigation. Instructions were laid down for … Read more
We made a 7:30 am Saturday departure from the Railway station, with a couple of guest punters, Gareth and Steve coming along to do the van driving and their own gourmet tramp. After passing through the Wairarapa towns without kebab or coffee stops, we were at the road end and ready to tramp at 9:15am. … Read more
David’s plan for this EM nav trip was to investigate rumours of an alternative route into the YTYY hut. This route was purported to depart from the track somewhere in the vicinity of a large slip, which has already forced a short re-routing of the original track, and ascend towards the summit marked with a … Read more
Navigation tips from Marie Henderson Aunty Rata (who knows I get lost more regularly than most) asked if I had any tips to share on navigation. Although the newsletter is not the place to learn a practical skill like navigation and there are lots of great written resources already that people can read, here are … Read more