The four of us left the Railway Station on a sunny Friday evening bound for the Pohangina Valley and the Ruahines. The good weather forecasted for the weekend and the free-flowing traffic along SH1 meant spirits were high in anticipation for a good weekend’s tramping even before Maarten announced he would be providing a breakfast … Read more
There’s something very appealing about traversing a mountain range – crossing from civilization on one side, via snowy ridge tops, to civilization on the other side, without having to retrace steps to come back to the same familiar road end. And when you can do a key swap halfway to make transport easy, what could … Read more
We went up to Alice Nash Memorial Heritage Lodge for the night. Very nice and tidy hut about half an hour from the road end. We were joined by two hunters who camped outside on the deck and carried in a full load of beers! On Saturday occasional fine breaks with high clouds and clagged … Read more
After the usual Friday departure, a quick trip out of Wellington, and the regular Friday night stop for dinner we got to the road end for the EM group near Dannevirke at a reasonable time on Friday night. The next morning we drove to our road end, Kashmir Road, with a quick stop in Dannevirke … Read more
This trip shared the van with a group going to Howletts Hut. The Cattle Creek road end had a campsite and toilets, so it made sense to stay there on Friday night. It had been arranged that we had enough tents to use at the road end, but there was a fresh set of dry (and light) … Read more
We thought you might like a quick update on the WTMC trap line. The trap line is based at Upper Makaroro in the Ruahines and encloses a river valley that is home to Whio (Blue Duck). Members of the WTMC visit the trap line around once every month to empty the traps of predators and … Read more
In late June four of us headed up to the Ruahines to tend to the WTMC trap line. The tramping club adopted the line in early 2015 and it forms a circuit, with another line, to enclose a section of the Makaroro River where Whio (Blue Duck) live. The idea is to visit the line … Read more
Friday 6th of May (10min) Our nine person tramp started out on a cool Autumn Friday night. A swift trip over the Rimutaka’s led us to the comforting stop that is Café Istanbul in Carterton. We all spread out amongst the cushions and enjoyed our nutritious yet affordable kebabs in a semi authentic setting. It … Read more
The tramp to Rangiwahia Hut on the Saturday took us 2 hours with quite a few stops. The return trip on Sunday was quicker at 1½ hours and fewer stops. We walked about 4.4 kms each way, and climbed approximately 500 meters to reach the hut at 1,327 metres above sea level. The route This … Read more
It’s great that the WTMC is looking after a Ruahine trap line to help protect blue duck from predators, and a visit had long been on my to-do list. I’m currently attempting to get fit for summer trips so I ambitiously signed up for Amanda’s Medium-Fit option. I emailed Amanda: “err…. I’m a wee bit … Read more