Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
The idea Following the thrill and tranquillity of water-focussed South Island tramps at Christmas, I was keen for aquatic adventures closer to home. Spencer floated the appealing idea of a weekend pack float along the Waiohine river from Mid-Waiohine hut to Totara Flats. It sounded fun and challenging. The planning Meticulous research and preparation happened … Read more
We were rushing to get out of town on Friday night and eat a fast dinner, because David Heffernan and Shay had planned to tackle the SK challenge – the North to South crossing of the Tararuas in under 48 hours. Since the Medium and Medium-Fit trips for the weekend only had one punter and … Read more
Summerlike conditions with bright sunshine and highs of early 20’s were promised and delivered for the weekend, and a couple of keen lads were ready to go. The track up to the Holdsworth/Totara Flats junction seems to have been continuously upgraded towards a metalled highway of constant gradient. In the warm weather, a break at … Read more
The sun shone strong on our transit as we wound along the highway north oh Featherston. The unseasonably warm and almost cloudless sky illuminated the countryside’s early spring greens. So marvelously distracting was the prospect of a golden weekend, that navigator couldn’t be blamed for the missing the first turn off, but perhaps he should … Read more
Editor’s note: Since 1997 some keen WTMC members led by Lindsay Cuthbertson have been publishing a little know guide called “Accounts of week-end, two-day and 24-hour Schormann – Kaitoke (or Putara-Kaitoke) traverses of the Tararuas, North Island, New Zealand, via the Main Range, Tarn Ridge, the rivers and in reverse!” I’ll be looking to update … Read more
Broken Axe Pinnacles The Not Tappy, Light and Fast Daywalk A day hike loop from Holdsworth carpark over the Broken Axe Pinnacles “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley.” And so they did. What was to be a three day trip to climb Tappy became a furtive dash in the Tararuas … Read more
After Ngauruhoe high camp was cancelled, I decided I needed a weekend of tramping to keep my fitness for Tappy in a few weeks. For family reasons, Spencer was about to enter a period of tramping abstinence and wanted a good solid tramp. As well as keeping tramping fit, Elizabeth needed an excuse to avoid … Read more
There are all kinds of hard yakka trips, but to qualify they must test you to breaking point and beyond. A recent trip back in to the sunny Tararuas cracked me. Not so I couldn’t be put back together again, but I definitely did lose it. Hard yakka trips come from my husband Robert. There … Read more
There were 3 in our happy band. After many days of beautiful, calm, sunny weather, there were howling gales and lashing rain forecasted for the weekend. Driving from Wellington on the Friday night, the worst of it did not arrive until we actually parked the van at Otaki Forks about 9pm. We opened the van … Read more