Tablelands – Cobb Valley (combined EM and M trip – Kahurangi National Park)

Thursday 1 April: Our Easter weekend’s tramping began with a late ferry crossing to Picton, where we stayed in a bunkroom at Sequoia Lodge Backpackers. Friday 2 April: Next morning we drove to Kahurangi National Park, with stops at Pelorus Bridge and Motueka. We arrived at Cobb Reservoir roadend in the early afternoon and set … Read more

Lake Peel and Balloon Hut

After leaving the ferry at Picton on Friday evening, we drove to Rai Valley hoping to camp in one of two spots for free camping. Alas, by 10 pm both sites were chokka with vehicles. Available spaces were small and sloping, and puddles plentiful. So we backtracked to the DOC campsite at Pelorus Bridge where … Read more

At the top table – Four days around Mt Arthur Tableland

The extended Waitangi Day weekend afforded the perfect opportunity for WTMC members to take in the delights of the top of the South. So along with a ‘fit’ group tackling the Leslie-Karamea track and others defying gravity in the Nelson Lakes area, a select group of three ‘easy-mediums’ took on the less strenuous, less technical, … Read more

Kahurangi Tablelands 2012

Seven keen folk explored Kahurangi Tablelands for four days in exceptionally fine weather and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. We arrived at the road end, where we dossed for the night in the shelter, around 12:30am Friday morning, after a three hour ferry crossing and about a three hour drive. Another WTMC trip group arrived … Read more

Rocking rock shelter

This Easter trip promises to be a sort of easy-going natural history expedition. That’s what Illona’s billing suggests: moa bones, caves, an asbestos mine, a historic hut, rock shelters as well as Kahurangi’s flora and fauna, plus gourmet dining every night. We arrive late at Flora Saddle car park on the Thursday night and pitch … Read more