Speaker: Harry Smith I am going to talk about two little-known huts that I visited with Kevin Cole on our way back to Wellington at the end of our Christmas trip in the Canterbury High Country in 2018. The club has occasionally run Mystery Trips where the participants don’t know in advance where they are going; … Read more
These days I hardly ever do any actual tramping – I spend all my time trying to write bloody calendar reviews for Tony Gazley. Write a review of my new tramping calendar, he says. No, I say. Come on, write a review, says Tony. No, I say. Just a simple review, he says. It won’t … Read more
In one of our first trips together, Caryl and I signed up to Maarten’s “Easy-Medium” to Renata Hut. Unfortunately we only made it as far as Kapakapanui Hut on that occasion, so we both felt we had unfinished business with Renata Hut. When I saw it on the winter schedule I thought leading it would … Read more
One of my favourite pieces of poetry is a prose poem by the great 19th century French poet Charles Baudelaire called Get Drunk. In English translation it goes like this: Get Drunk! It is essential to be drunk all the time. That’s all: there’s no other problem. If you do not want to feel the … Read more
Summer Climb of Mt Taranaki A summer day walk to the summit of Mt Taranaki on the northern side of the mountain The following may be of interest to those unfamiliar with Mt Taranaki, but who are keen to climb it this summer. Last summer I climbed Mt Taranaki – via the Northern ‘tourist’ route. … Read more
Looking at the weather report on a daily basis I felt we would have at least one good day – and that would be the day we would go across the tops. We camped at the road end which made it easy for setting off the next morning and we could take our time tramping. … Read more