Tauwharenīkau River – Tararua Forest Park

Trains, Tubes, Bikes and Boots ‘The 9.55 am train to Masterton has been delayed’ boomed the loudspeaker at Wellington Railway Station. Harry was unfazed. ‘This always happens to me’ he sighed. With a tight timeframe, we planned to train to Woodside, cycle to Bucks Road, tramp to the Tauwharenīkau River, tube the gorge and then … Read more

Mount Reeves – Tararua Forest Park

Due to poor weather, the plan for this trip ended up changing quite a bit. Originally, this was meant to be a Howletts Hut overnight trip in the Ruahine Ranges, but due to this walk having a decent portion of ridge travel and river crossings, we decided to do a loop walk a little closer … Read more

Maungahuka Hut – a tramp with a different purpose

Maungahuka Hut – a tramp to fix a long-broken water supply tap A hike to Mungahuka Hut to replace a broken tap and deliver a new log book and enjoy one of the favourite Tararua huts. Maungahuka Hut is my favourite Tararua hut, and the hut that inspired my tramping journey. So when Tony and … Read more

The Island Forks Wet Undies Club – Tararua Forest Park

After a busy work day and a mission to find dinner at Paraparaumu, our tramp began at the Ōtaki Forks carpark. Being a hot summer weekend, there were plenty of cars parked. We zoomed along the road and over the slip track, making it to Parawai Lodge in about 45 minutes. It was very full … Read more

Burn Hut – Tararua Ranges

Our group met at Wellington Railway Station at 8am on Saturday morning. We drove to Shannon, and then into the hills behind the Mangahao Power Station. Opened in 1924, this was New Zealand’s first large hydro power station. The road is very windy and it seemed to take a very long time to reach the … Read more

Dobson Loop Track

The Dobson Loop Track is located in one of the most southern points of Tararua Forest Park. The great thing about this walk is you get a good day out walking in what feels like a remote and very scenic back country area yet it’s only a 30 minute drive from downtown Petone – so … Read more

Tramping to Sayer Hut

We met at the train station at 7am except for Hugo who met us at the trail head before setting out on our adventure at 8:50. The weather was looking good as the winds had changed to a southerly and the rain stopped. We forded a small river in our SUV that was fairly high … Read more

Neill Forks Haikus

Tararua Goblin Forest. Photo Lynsey.

The forecast was for rain and wind in the Tararua but we had no unbridged river crossings and only a very short section of exposed tops so we set off on Plan A to reach Neill Forks hut from Waiohine Gorge road end, via Cone, Neill Peak and the unmarked spur NE down to the … Read more

Maungahuka Loop

Sunrise at Maungahuka Hut

Our group of four decided to take advantage of the long Wellington Anniversary weekend to get up onto the Main Range of the Tararuas. Starting (and finishing) at Holdsworth carpark, we’d gain the Main Range via Powell Hut, Mid Waiohine Hut and finally a climb up onto Aokaparangi, before traversing the Main Range to Maungahuka … Read more

Tararua Southern Crossing: West to East

Friday 18 March – The night walk in We had a stunning Southern Crossing adventure, enjoying one of the classic Tararua tramps! On the Friday, seven of us met up at the Wellington Railway station at 3pm, ready for an early departure to Otaki Forks. Arriving at the “new” Otaki Forks carpark at 4.30pm, we … Read more