The Three Kings – Tararua Forest Park

I am not a fan of the Barra Track. It is my least favourite part of the Tararuas. So as we started off from The Pines, I was wondering why I had planned a trip to visit The Three Kings. I still don’t really know the answer, but I’m happy I did because it made … Read more

Tararua Magic – Tarn Ridge Hut on a calm winter weekend

Saturday By the time we pulled up at The Pines at 9am on Saturday morning, there was a stunning, but chilly, forecast for the following two days- with no wind. Yes, you read that correctly…no wind in the Tararuas! The Waingāwa Valley was clagged in, so we set off with not much faith in the … Read more

Solo Adventurer – to Mid-King Biv and Beyond

This is the soggy tail of an overnighter-turned day trip. The plan: Donnelly Flats, Pinnacle Ridge, Baldy, South and Middle Kings, Mid King Biv, South Mitre Stream, the Pines and over the ridge to Holdsworth Lodge. The weather is glum for a 7.25am kick off. I’ve picked a handy looking spur below the first marked … Read more

The name is Tongue and Meats! A geriatric old codger braves the Ranges of Everlasting Mud and Misery

Are you from the Tongue and Meat tramping club?, the veteran Tararua Tramping Club member asked one of Hans’s punters in Atiwhakatu Hut on Friday night, when we arrived there after walking in for an hour and a half by torchlight from Holdsworth Lodge. No, she replied, clearly puzzled by such a strange name. Yes … Read more