Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
We met at Platform 9¾ bright and early on the 10th November and headed off, via a crucial pit stop at Maccie Ds, to the road end of the Whakanui Track. Once there, we kitted up and headed up what felt like a near-vertical climb to meet the McKerrow Track. We enjoyed a gentle tramp … Read more
Summary: 10h total walking (including breaks), from Catchpool to Mt Matthews, out down Mukamuka stream and to Wharekauhau, South Wairarapa. Would likely be a Medium weekend trip or Medium Fit day trip. Weather: Warm with broken overcast and strong/gale northerlies. Access: Start at Catchpool road end – we left our car there and retrieved it … Read more
I’d heard about the Mukamuka Munter from friends and read a bit about it on the website. It sounded hard and I’d always had an excuse for giving it a miss until 2012 when I found myself listed next to the race in the Spring Trip Schedule. Even then I wasn’t unduly worried thinking nobody … Read more
This trip had been anticipated for a long time. Turere is a popular Orongorongo hut that needs booking well in advance. Planning began back in May for this trip. We met on Saturday at Catchpool, where bags of food were distributed for punters to carry in for our substantial dinner. The weather was kind on … Read more
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
I’ve always wondered about that lonely meandering track from the Orongorongo valley, that finishes in the unfashionable backwaters of the South-West Wairarapa. And I see that Kate Cushing must feel that way too, since she’s leading a trip here on 29 June. Two of us took a look last month on the spur of the … Read more
With nine punters signing up rather early we were confident it would turn out to be a good weekend. And indeed, it was a weekend with a good atmosphere, made more so by the Paua Hut rat having been caught earlier this year. The rain during the days prior to the weekend meant that the … Read more
The Coast Road heading south from Wainuiomata provides a picture of New Zealand ruralness so idyllic, it feels a bit like you’ve driven onto a huge scenic calendar. The road winds through a landscape of ideally green paddocks, wooden water troughs and tumbledown sheds. Cabbage trees appear with regular randomness, as if part of a … Read more
After what seemed to be weeks and weeks of rain this Saturday morning the sun was out again. A good start for the easy ‘novelty’ walk to the Rimutaka Forest Park organised by Steve. (Originally, the ‘novelty’ part was to be hot lasagne; later changed for soup.) We met part of our group at platform … Read more
Family tramps work nearly the same as the usual tramping that we all know and love. Early starts, gruelling days through all weathers, getting far into the backcountry – well, we don’t do any of that. Four hours is a long day, persistent drizzle is enough to make us seriously consider staying at home, and … Read more