This trip started life as a short weekend trip to the Seaward Kaikoura range to do a Kowhai circuit but early on in the planning it was clear the ferry times were not going to accommodate our needs. Everyone who had already signed up was automatically transferred to my chosen alternative which was based around … Read more
After an eventful Friday night camping which combined fire warning sirens and some local dance music playing at 4-5 am—both of which I managed to sleep through—things were going pretty awesomely on my first trip with the club. We were dropped off at the Daphne Hut car park and we picked up the trail behind … Read more
Six left from the railway station at 8 am on Saturday morning. After a mid-morning stop at the Church Café at Sanson—the hot chocolates (two) impressed—we turned off toward Feilding and drove via Apiti to the Petersons Road end where Malcolm was waiting in the car park to join us. I enjoyed the drive into … Read more
Reading about Maarten’s achievements in visiting all huts in the Ruahines, and in particular his recommendation of Makaretu Hut as a hut to visit, prompted me to finish the report for a trip to the hut we did back in August. While the natural home for the WTMC may be the Tararuas, I grew up … Read more
Many trampers choose to take on a challenge to give their tramping adventures a purpose. Te Araroa trail hikers are one example, Kuldeep Nandurkar, who is bagging 900 huts in 900 days, is another. Even amongst our own club members we have some ambitious hut-baggers and long-distance adventurers. Maarten Ruiter is one of them. Earlier … Read more
We set off from the railway station on Friday afternoon together with the Easy group and drove the 4.5hrs to the trailhead (I highly recommend our kebab stop at Istanbul in Carterton along the way). The road to the trail head has probably seen better days, so the last few kilometres were a bit bumpy … 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
The trip got off to a great start, with an uneventful 5 hour drive north on Friday evening. We dropped the hunters off at Masters Shelter for their own adventure and the rest of us continued another 10 minutes up the road. On arriving at the parking place for the beginning of the short 10 … Read more
The weather forecast for this trip was pretty bad, and we debated whether it was a good idea, with a forecast of heavy rain and gales, to go into a hut where the only way out was via ridge or river. After some careful analysis of the weather maps, our leader, Richard, encouraged us to … Read more
Trampers / Masterchefs: Mark (Trip Leader) – Supervisor, menu designer, apron wearer Emily – Chocolate Cake Billy Baker Garth – Steak Master Extraordinaire and Scrambled egg Supremo Bridget – Queen of custard Objective As a first time leader, an easy walk to the hut, eat well, enjoy the scenery and relax. Simples! Why Gourmet Tramping…? … Read more