Dundas Hut

Given that our Medium Fit minibus companions were embarking on a trip entitled ‘Dundas: the Hard Way’, one could be forgiven for thinking that there is an ‘Easy Way’ to reach Dundas Hut. This would be a mistake. Dundas is a wonderful, challenging, rewarding trip… but easy it was not. We set off from Putara … Read more

Chamberlain Creek v3a3VI**

Leaping into Chamberlain Creek, Tararua Range

Chamberlain Creek v3a3VI** A long day down the canyon of Chamberlain Creek, Tararua Range involving jumps, abseils, and swims. I saw the trip on the planning schedule and asked David about it—being generally curious about any Tararua epic close to the wilder side of things. This revealed it was a trip David was really keen … Read more

Roaring Stag Flora and Fauna

Photos from Tony Gazley Sadly, for a NZer, I’m reasonably well informed given that I can name around 20 plant species, and identify quite a few of them. However, I wanted to be able to tell the difference between a couple of species by bark, given that these trees grow very tall, and leaves are … Read more

Dundas, deer and dialogue

See photos from Kevin Cole It was the kind of hot Friday night that cricket commentators call balmy or sultry when our party of five departed on a two day Medium/Fit Dundas tramp.  Our first goal was to get from the road end to Herepai Hut in total darkness. The modern marvel that is the LED light … Read more

Hot dates and roaring stags

I woke up to my alarm at the ungodly hour of 6:00AM on a Saturday.  This only reminds me of my time as a struggling student, having to wake up for the early morning shift at Moore Wilsons.  Nevertheless I put on my tramping gear and threw my pack over and ventured into the early … Read more

Not your usual Tararua tramp

We were rushing to get out of town on Friday night and eat a fast dinner, because David Heffernan and Shay had planned to tackle the SK challenge – the North to South crossing of the Tararuas in under 48 hours. Since the Medium and Medium-Fit trips for the weekend only had one punter and … Read more

Trip to Roaring Stag

After a slightly bleary-eyed 7.30am meet on the Saturday morning, a club minibus jam-packed with sleepy trampers left for the Tararuas in hot pursuit after Illona’s car. As a tramping-virgin, I had been warned about the mysteriously misty, murky and muddy Tararuas and had sat through various club presentations picturing drizzly-looking forest and decidedly damp-looking … Read more

Roaring Stag

We were lucky with great weather this weekend. Departure from Putara Road was in bright sun. The group of 11 set off upstream leaving a vocal farm dog behind us. The trip was a pleasant day in the bush, marked with a couple of breaks. We arrived at Roaring Stag early afternoon, with plenty of … Read more