Mangaturuturu Hut and the Ruapehu Solstice Ball, Tongariro National Park, New Zealand
In 2026 I handed the reins of the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club’s second annual Ruapehu Solstice Ball to the exceedingly capable (and more organised) Nicole. With 40 spots filled with punters, three vans and no vacancy in the lodge, it promised to be quite the weekend.
Friday — All-aboard
My demotion did not free me completely from responsibility, I had been tasked with van collection on Friday afternoon. I had just finished a last-minute pack when I got a message from Lauren that my ride was outside. We drove out from town to Seaview, the hire van pick up going without a hitch (other than one accidental activation of a handbrake). I made a quick stop at Pak’n’Save before heading back to Wellington Station to pick up the punters from Platform 10. When I arrived there were throngs of people awkwardly associating with one another, joint together by the shared assumption that so many people with tramping packs must be going to the same place. There were a few late stragglers but we still got away in good time just after 5pm.
This timeliness didn’t last. Within 10 minutes of being on the road we were crawling along at walking pace due to a crash on SH1. An hour later and we had passed Tawa, gotten through all our icebreakers and were considering the playlist. Thankfully further north the motorway freed up and we began zipping along Transmission Gully making up for lost time. The Bulls kebab shop staff looked disgruntled when their establishment was hit by a dozen hungry trampers 5 minutes before closing time. With bellies full of kebab we convoyed up the mountain, finally parking in Iwikau Village around 10.30pm. The air was cold outside but there was no snow to be seen. We made the trek with the contents of the van up the Lodge, being greeted there by Nicole and the punters from her van who had left earlier in the day. After formulating a bit of a plan for Saturday it wasn’t long until we all found our bunks and drifted off to a well-earnt sleep.
Saturday — A game of attrition
Continue reading for free on Sam’s blog here: https://medium.com/@bush-lawyer/a-tale-of-two-halves-2a8f5031c0a7?sharedUserId=bush-lawyer
