Pizzas, High Ridge and a Wild Pig – Tararua Forest Park

Friday (Road end to Powell Hut – 2h 45min) As we hopped into the van with the EM group on Friday, the vision for the trip was clear: there would be pizzas. How we would justify it as a club trip and what the tramping would actually involve was not as clear, however… The trip … 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

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

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

Totara Flats Hut

Totara Creek Hut

The Totara Flats tramping crew was a mixture of more experienced trampers and complete newbies (myself included!). The tramp was graded an easy-medium trip, with around 4-5 hours walking to our destination of Totara Flats hut. After a very early and groggy start to Saturday morning for some of us, we met at Wellington Train … Read more

Totara Flats via Waiohine Campsite…in the rain

I was keen for an overnight tramp despite the horrendous Tararua weather forecast. We’d decided that given the forecast for heavy rain and gales, our best bet was a trip in the valley that avoided any major stream or river crossings. We’d settled on Totara Flats as neither Kate or Emily had done the walk … Read more

Aokaparangi Loop

Aokaparangi

INTRODUCTION This route is one of the few opportunities to make a weekend loop from Holdsworth that gets you onto the stunning middle range of the Tararua Ranges. It does, however, require quite a bit of effort to make it work, with multiple steep climbs and descents, and with Powell Hut currently out of commission … Read more

High Ridge Adventures Part II

On my last trip to High Ridge we did not manage to get to Totara Creek or Totara Flats hut and instead found ourselves marooned on Flaxy Knob on the Saturday night. There is good travel along High Ridge and I was keen to do the section from Flaxy Knob to Totara Creek. Pete put … Read more

Snow Cone

Despite the miserable forecast for Saturday, I was looking forward to Uta’s Medium ‘Holdsworth to Waiohine’ trip in the Tararuas. Not only is Uta a most excellent leader, but the company promised to be top-notch. In particular, I was looking forward to being reunited with my snowcraft buddy Juan who (when I wasn’t clinging to … Read more

Mid-Waiohine Hut (transformed into High Ridge Adventures)

I had last visited Mid Waiohine hut many years ago and I’ve been keen to go back there for a while. So I signed up for Matt and Maj-Britt’s trip there. We met at Wellington station on the Friday evening and departed for the Wairarapa. As we were driving we were already discussing other options … Read more