The original plan for this trip was to go to Howletts Hut in the Ruahines via a Friday night stay at Longview. This would be a great plan for a dry and moonlit Friday night, but that wasn’t the way the weather was shaping up. Instead, the forecast was for strong winds and heavy rain … Read more
We made a 7:30 am Saturday departure from the Railway station, with a couple of guest punters, Gareth and Steve coming along to do the van driving and their own gourmet tramp. After passing through the Wairarapa towns without kebab or coffee stops, we were at the road end and ready to tramp at 9:15am. … Read more
We met up at Platform 9 for the usual last minute tramping requirements, and introductions to members of our party and the MF group. We had a comfortable trip out to Masterton along with an exciting, extended adventure in Chinatown. Chinatown is found in Greytown, where it takes 40 minutes on a Friday night to … Read more
After a slightly bleary-eyed 7.30am meet on the Saturday morning, a club minibus jam-packed with sleepy trampers left for the Tararuas in hot pursuit after Illona’s car. As a tramping-virgin, I had been warned about the mysteriously misty, murky and muddy Tararuas and had sat through various club presentations picturing drizzly-looking forest and decidedly damp-looking … Read more
When Gareth asked me for the sixth time “have you committed to the Jumbo-Holdsworth?” I weighed up the pros and cons for the sixth time. Pros – no time left to do any training, have run the route before and enjoyed it, unlikely to be snow this time. Cons – have not done any training, … Read more
As we were doing a crossing we had a few transport logistics issues. We left Wellington Station on the 5:30pm train bound for Masterton, a lovely scenic ride, with the goal getting a pickup from the MF Blackwater-Makaretu group on the Sunday afternoon. We arrived in Masterton a bit hungry and in no real hurry, … Read more
It’s hard to think of a new angle on a trip across the Southern Crossing. It’s a classic Tararua tramp, but so well traversed by so many feet that all sorts of invention is practiced to make it a more interesting story to relate. This ranges from the traditional one day and moonlight versions, through … Read more
This, according to trip leader Tony, was all we needed to find the track back up the hill from Totara flats to the ridge via the old unmaintained hunters’ track: Imagination, plus a map and a compass. And find it we did – battling through long grass and a hailstorm in the process. For a … Read more
We were lucky with great weather this weekend. Departure from Putara Road was in bright sun. The group of 11 set off upstream leaving a vocal farm dog behind us. The trip was a pleasant day in the bush, marked with a couple of breaks. We arrived at Roaring Stag early afternoon, with plenty of … Read more