Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
After stopping at Carterton’s Wild Oats Café for the obligatory pre-tramp and in a few people’s cases, necessary, morning coffee, our party of 12 arrived at the Holdsworth carpark mid-morning. After divvying up group gear and food we started walking in fine but crisp weather. Unnaturally for the Tararuas, we had clear skies and virtually … Read more
INTRODUCTION This was listed as an Easy-Medium (EM) tramp, so we decided to begin on Saturday morning, rather than Friday night, because there is nowhere to camp at The Pines road-end. Some people also highlighted that they were not experienced trampers, and so I didn’t want to risk a long night-walk to the hut. … Read more
Day 1 – The Pines to Mitre Flats Hut Our trip began on Friday evening at The Pines, Wairarapa. The advertised trip had been to do the Northern Crossing starting at the Poads Road End, near Levin and ending at The Pines. However, 90 kmh forecast winds on the Saturday evening and Sunday morning meant … Read more
On a Friday night in May 2006, a band of hardy WTMC M trampers ventured into Northern Tararuas. Three days later they emerged – scratched and broken by leatherwood, attempts at compass navigation in the dark and arguments about oversized watches. Their Haukura Ridge trip was to gain enduring life as a case study in our … Read more
With rumours of Cyclone Pam encircling us, our determined band of ten trampers headed in to Otaki Forks, hopeful of some time on the tops. On arrival, our erstwhile leader Anna had to make a decision and with some reluctance, relinquished hopes of glory and great views in the face of uncertain weather and the … Read more
It had been a beautiful week of weather. Of course the forecast for this, the following week is also primo! However, in-between, we would be tramping in horizontal rain with a southerly bringing a wind chill and a not-so-balmy minus 5 degrees. Most of us had what we needed and other put a little more … Read more
Hooper-Loop – An experiment in trail running by Emily Sharron and Sarah’s mountain-running adventures were giving me a severe case of FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) so I decided to give it a go myself. I signed up and started doing a bit of training, mostly running around the Wellington city tracks like the Southern Walkway and Skyline … Read more
After a dismal forecast predicted for the weekend, our trip was changed to plan B which avoided swims in the Eastern Hutt river that had been part of plan A. Saturday saw a 7am start for the drive to Otaki Forks. From here we walked up the Pukeatua track with Emily setting a good pace. … Read more
What a weekend! I would say 4 seasons in two days, but really, it was a spring blast of winter for most of the weekend. This trip was a special one – my first overnight away without the toddler. As an added bonus, I was talking 4 other mums with me, for a night away … Read more
On Friday night at the Holdsworth roadend our group decided not to bother setting up a tent and a fly. As it was fairly gusty but reasonably warm and only lightly drizzling, it seemed simpler to set up mats and sleeping bags in the semi-open shelter by the carpark (including underneath the picnic table), and … Read more