Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
Tararua Range –what are some of its faults? The Tararua has many earthquake faults, and the Wellington Fault and the Wairarapa Fault have left many obvious geomorphological features visible to the hiker. 🌧 One of the faults of the Tararua Range is that it rains a lot and there are only about 80 sunny days per … Read more
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
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
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
Megan and Sam arrived at the train station to meet Simon on the Friday night, and the three of us were the only ones rattling around in the WTMC van. We stopped briefly for pizza & kebabs at Carterton, then drove to the Holdsworth road-end to arrive at about 7pm. We then hoofed up to … Read more
The trip started with an early Saturday morning meet at Wellington train station. It was a grey morning and a bit drizzly but with half the group on their inaugural WTMC trip (Ravi, Phoebe and I) and Lettie on debut as trip leader, nothing could dampen our spirits. We set off with the Sayers Hut … Read more
Sayer Hut, the oldest hut in the Tararua Range Photos of the outside and inside of Sayer Hut in the Waiohine Valley of the Tararua Range Sayer Hut is the oldest tramping hut in the Tararua Range and has a fascinating story to tell. In 1878 Sayer and Potts were prospecting for gold at Totara … Read more
Totara Flats 101 – a brief history story Totara Flats are are delight – but the story behind their formation is one of destructive geological movements along the Wellington earthquake fault-line. One of the nicest places in the Tararua Forest Park for an easy tramp is Totara Flats. There are a number of good tracks … Read more
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
What has happened to tubing in the club? Once it was an extremely popular summer activity. It’s a great way to see stretches of river that would otherwise be inaccessible. And of course it’s great fun! As Ratty said in the Wind of the Willows, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, so much fun as simply … Read more