Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
Friday 14 January – evening drive up and stay at Konini Lodge A weekend forecast for sunny clear skies and a cooling breeze got eight keen WTMC trampers very excited to scope out Syme Hut, high on the slopes of Mount Taranaki. A long five hour drive got the crew to Konini Lodge, a nice … Read more
Having done the drive up to Taranaki on Friday night (as is traditional), we and the Easy-Medium group all stayed at Konini Lodge at Dawson Falls visitor centre. It’s a great facility with cooking equipment, hot showers, decent bunk rooms and the rest; although in my experience it’s always been cold – consider yourself warned. … Read more
I was so happy when I saw there was a surf trip on the WTMC’s online schedule. I love tramping, but how cool is it to get to do other activities with your tramping friends!As there was no leader yet, Werner and I signed up to lead the trip. The sheet already had Opunake as base … Read more
This was my second time on the Pouakai Circuit. The last time I went, just over a year ago, the track was underwater and there was no mountain to be seen – the pictures in that trip report say it all. While I absolutely enjoyed that trip, I was hoping for much better weather. This … Read more
INTRODUCTION Over Easter weekend I took a trip through and around the Forgotten World Highway, between Taumarunui and New Plymouth. This area is surprisingly beautiful for how little I have heard about it before going, and still relatively quiet in terms of traffic. As you pass through, there are stunning views of the Ruapehu massif, … Read more
The policeman standing at the end of the track asked me, “did you see any pink ribbons?” And then immediately said, “I hope you didn’t try to climb to the summit from Kahui Hut.” When I answered with the second ‘yes’ he scowled. A few weeks previously Emily President had led a club trip to … Read more
16 plus hours of plodding, scrambling, crunching, kicking and (bum) sliding, half of it in the dark, with no sleep, up one of the most serious and steepest mountains we know? Tony, Matt, Byron, Emily, Marie and Aimee all said “yes please!” (well, maybe not yes please, but at least they didn’t say no…) A … Read more
Platform 9, 5.15pm, we know the drill. Two groups heading up to Taranaki, 6 to do the Pouakai Circuit and 5 for a tramp to Lake Dive Hut. The formalities continued with kebabs in Bulls, par de course for many trips to the western side of the North Island. We arrived at Konini Lodge and … Read more
Staying the night at the Konini lodge we woke at 7am to crystal blue skies and glimpses of the mountain. After cooking up our breakfast at the lodge (facilities include stoves, plates, cups, glasses) we had a team photo outside the tourist centre. With time working in our favour we took a quick detour and … Read more
Not so long ago many mountain gods lived happily together on the central plateau of the North Island. All the warrior mountains longed after Pihanga, the lovely bush cloaked maiden volcano— but particularly Tongariro and Taranaki. Eventually they fought ferociously, the sky darkened, there was thunder and lightning, and lava spumed from their summits. Tongariro … Read more