Unfortunately, our original plan to do a return trip to Triangle Hut from the western side of the Ruahine Range was not to be, owing to the high winds and soggy weather forecast for the weekend. However, it looked like the Eastern side of the Range would have a better weather profile, so we opted … Read more
As the sun rose over Wellington on ANZAC Day morning, four trampers hurtled through Transmission Gully, bound for Mangleton Road and Ruahine Forest Park. Google was telling us that the difference in travel time between the SH1 or SH2 from Wellington and Woodville was negligible. The closure of Kereru Road, near Kereru itself, due to … Read more
Our journey began on Friday night with a drive up to the Ruahine Range. We parked at the track end on Mangleton Road, and donned our packs for a 5 minute walk in to Sentry Box Hut. After that exhausting ordeal we headed straight to bed, ready for a slightly longer day tomorrow. Saturday dawned … Read more
Our trip planning got off to a shaky start when James Wratt, the original trip leader, needed to isolate as a Covid close contact. Finding out I would lead an overnight trip for the first time, two days before the trip was due to start, was a bit of a shock. However James had done … Read more
Any trip worth its salt has an epic long drive and it seems this one was no different – it involved Matt having to do a superb job navigating around a pack of farm dogs that seemed intent on stopping the club van progressing up the road – I think they got the club van … Read more
After a long drive on Friday and the usual kebab stop in Carterton, we parked at the Road End around 11pm. Within half an hour, four of us were enjoying a bunk in Sentry Box Hut, and the three others had their ground sheets and mats laid out on the floor. We also managed to … Read more
Are you a ‘peak bagger’ a ‘hut ticker offer’? Do you love going out into the bush to satisfy your personal desire to experience our beautiful natural heritage? Let’s face it; unless you are leading a trip helping others, tramping is done for our own selfish reasons of personal enjoyment and experience. And there is … Read more
It is depressing to all those that love the outdoors that so many of NZ’s native birds are either recently extinct, or are now classified as nationally critical or nationally endangered. Kea that were once common in large flocks are now rarely seen on tramping trips in the South Island mountains, falcons and rock wrens … Read more
We set off to Hawkes Bay via a takeaway stop at Carterton, where we scattered in about five different directions to explore the smorgasbord of culinary options there. We eventually got to the road end, at around 10pm. After a splash through the river, and taking a wrong turn, the GPS was consulted and we … Read more
As usual we met at the train station on Friday night for our trip to the Ruahines. We stopped for kebabs on the way and then in what seemed like no time at all were at the road end. We had a few hours to walk on the first night to get to Parks Peak … Read more