VUWTC: Active Threads

Crossing the Rimutakas: Late 2012

DominicOberhumer — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 18:20:53 GMT

Ivan wanted something with lots of rivers. I wanted something that would take a while. Achim was happy to oblige and wanted to throw some bush-bashing into the mix. Sergey just wanted to take some nice pictures.

After catching a bus to Wainuiomata there was a brief time spent on the track heading up Nikau Creek. Roughly twenty minutes was spent on the track before a turn uphill was taken. A proper DoC walking track would not be encountered again until the next day. The uphill was reasonably short-lived though rather intense and at a pace that was not really sustainable. We walked along a bushy ridgeline and through the catchment area for a water treatment plant which you’re not really supposed to do according to someone.

Strolling down into a valley there was the loud roar of a chainsaw the owner of which might not be pleased about a group of trampers walking through what was technically a restricted area. Walking into the valley was fine as there was plenty of bush cover and little chance of being spotted but at the bottom there was a bridge which was part of the water works that we had to cross. It was decided that we should just cross the bridge briskly and nonchalantly. If someone yelled out at us that we shouldn’t be there we’d just walk faster until we couldn’t hear them shouting anymore. That went off without a hitch and we found a tunnel which we could use as a short cut to the river that we were going to spend most of that day walking up: the Orongorongo and one of its tributaries. The tunnel was long but not quite long enough to need a headtorch. After a small dam in the river (the last sign of civilisation) we stopped for half an hour to have lunch in the sun; we walked from 9am to 9pm that day and that half hour for lunch was the only time we weren’t moving.

Walking up the Orongorongo was pretty fun, never getting very deep but wet boots were inevitable. At some point it started to drizzle but it was still quite warm so it didn’t really matter. After a few hours we reached the tributary we were going to take up to Waiorongomai saddle. Bush bashing was back on the menu heading towards the saddle, interspersed with walking in the stream from time to time, still fairly easy going. When we got up to the saddle things got a bit rougher.

There was mud, lots of it, knee deep in places and filled with supple-jack and the odd piece of bush-lawyer here and there, it was not easy going. After some time trudging and some discussion as to where exactly we were and how best to avoid cliffs and canyons that were in the generally vicinity it started to rain. Within five minutes of the rain it started to hail and then soon after there was thunder and lightning. I will never forget the brief conversational exchange that occurred in response to the new walking and weather conditions. Sergey turned to us, knee deep in mud, wrapped in supple jack, being pelted with hail stones and having to compete with thunder to be heard and said “this is awful, what are we doing here? Why would anyone want to do this?” Whether it was Achim or Ivan who responded I can’t recall but the reply that came out was delivered perfectly “Well, you wanted to see the real New Zealand” and that was that.

We found our way to the other side of the saddle and realised we weren’t we wanted to be and would have a steeper down climb than we had hoped into a valley and would have to spend more time in the stream at the bottom as well. After part falling, part climbing and part sliding down to the river it had turned dark and head torches had to come out. Walking over the saddle had been bad (it was slow, frustrating, a little cold and just a little bit filthy) but now, now it got miserable, or I thought so at least. It was that really impressive kind of miserable as well where you can really sink your teeth into or drape it over yourself like a cold, wet blanket and really just fester and grumble in it. The sort of misery that leads you to denounce tramping as a pass time and decide that this is your last one, you’ve had enough, it’s not worth it. Worse still is the knowledge that this is entirely your own fault, you didn’t have to come, you didn’t have to be here and this was your choice. With that comes the thought that the only way to get out of this god-awful situation is to keep walking, to grit your teeth and push through it. The river was filled with slime filled rocks, the banks covered in supple jack, bush lawyer and now a healthy dose of ongaonga for good measure. I couldn’t see anything in the river and kept falling over. So I was cold from the air, wet and cold from the river, bruised from falling onto rocks constantly, I was tired and hungry, sore and scratched up and this went on for several hours. You either fell over in the river or you got stuck on the bush along the banks. At some point since this experience I realised that I’m addicted to that sort of thing.

We got to Waiorongomai Hut, had dinner and crashed. The next day Ivan, Achim and I went up another stream to try and find a waterfall. It was large enough that from no vantage point could we see all of it in one go. After that we splashed out through the Waiorongomai River towards western lake road. This was a really easy day, the track was good, the river was nice, the sun was shining, everything was just kind of fantastic. When we got to the road we hitch hiked back to Featherston; Achim and I got picked up by a couple that had just come from a wedding rehearsal. Smelling very trampy and still being quite muddy I spent that car ride sitting next to a pristine bridesmaids dress, it was nerve racking. From Featherston we caught a train back to Wellington and that night I slept amazingly well and ate a lot of peanut butter.

With: Ivan Andrews, Dominic Oberhumer, Achim Gaedke and Sergey Maximov

Meeting the Kaweka Tops: Easter 2012

DominicOberhumer — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 16:58:28 GMT

Most trips into the Kawekas involve clear skies, good views, lovely hot pools and relaxing with a choice beverage or five. This was nothing like that at all.

This was the third club trip I’d been on, the first was Freshers which apparently didn’t really count and the second was an overly ambitious trip to Maungahuka and that didn’t work out so well. The plan this time around seemed flawless in its simplicity; there were hot pools and we were going to them, marvellous. The car ride was long but I spent it asleep so can’t really complain there.

Trouble started when we reached a river we were supposed to cross in the cars. I later learned that there was a metal pole in that river: bottom half painted white, top half painted red with the implication that one should not attempt to cross if the water reached the red. We could not see said pole on this particular day so plans had to change. We agreed to head to another road end from where we could head out along the tops and ridgelines of the Kawekas and there was a hut five minutes from the road we could stay in that night. Things still sounded pretty good, we just accepted that we wouldn’t need our togs after all and tried to put out from our minds the reason for the rivers being so high.

We didn’t sleep in the hut (Makahu Saddle Hut) but for a cause still unclear to me decided to set up flies to sleep under. There were nine of us but we had large flies and tarps so we figured it’d be fine. We cooked up a meal and got into our sleeping bags at 6pm, we didn’t get out of them till 8am the next day.

It had been wet throughout the night, it hadn’t been raining or anything, it was just wet, really wet. We packed up, had breakfast and started walking, the weather decided to remain wet. We strolled up to Kaweka J and in the process experienced several types of the “are we there yet?” question: first joking then genuine then desperate. When we reached the top there was nothing to see and it had started to rain in that most fantastic of directions: horizontally. The next four of five hours were a complete blur. There was rain, there were rocks underfoot, there was rain, there was a complete lack of views and there was rain. We may have stopped to eat at some point and we may have talked a little but mostly we just put our heads down and walked. For not the first and certainly not the last time on a tramping trip I thought to myself “Am I actually enjoying this? Is this supposed to be fun? Are the people around me having fun? They don’t look like they are. Is this perhaps a little dangerous too?”

I learnt two things that day 1) Good friends are made in bad conditions. 2) Calling anything waterproof is laughably arrogant… and just plain incorrect.

We finally ended up scrabbling down a rocky slope towards Ballard Hut, sure it was a four bunk hut and there were nine of us but we were bedraggled and it had a roof and better yet a fire. I arrived at the hut first and put my head through the door. Two hunters stared back at me, clearly bewildered that anyone would have the audacity to walk here and join them in this weather. “Uhm, would you guys mind if another nine people were to come in here?” I asked trying to sound as unimposing as a person can under such circumstances. The bewildered stares were now accompanied by hanging jaws as a response. “Well ahh, six of them are girls if that, um makes it any better” I had no idea what I was meant to say but felt that somehow that fact might help things along. One of hunters retained his blank stare whilst the other gave me a more interesting look. It was a look that suggested that not only did he believe that I was pulling his leg but that at this point he thought the entire universe was taking the piss. “Ok, well, we’ll just let ourselves in then” I said quietly as I realised there was a queue forming behind me outside the hut. So in we walked and that was that.

We hung up or wet clothing, went about making dinner and then sat around the hut drinking and chatting and laughing until we went to sleep. Two of our group slept outside in a tent, some of us double bunked and some of us slept on the floor.

The next day was miserable in the morning but much better from just before midday onwards, we still got no views but we were lower down and everything was just far more pleasant. There were river crossings and valleys to walk into and out of and it was all just quite nice. Someone assumed that I knew how to navigate by map so I ended up doing a bit of that though I’ve no idea when or where I learnt to do so. We got back to the car park in reasonable time and though we were a little tired everyone seemed pretty pleased with the experience. It was a good trip.

With: Pia, Dana, Sacha, Joe, Ashley, Mae, Dom, Anita and Anna.

Dundas Loop 20-22 June 2014

achim — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 04:56:25 GMT

A medium fit trip to the alpine Northern Tararuas

Costs: 25NZD transport, food share, hut tickets

Time: Leaving Friday 20 June, 5:30PM - Coming back Sunday 22 June, evening (same year)

A tentative schedule:

Friday:
2.5 h drive to Putara Rd.
1 h shopping/fastfood
2 h walking to Roaring Stag

Saturday:
7 h Dundas Hut via
Cattle Ridge
↑ 1400 m ↓ 600m

Sunday:
8 h walk back via Herepai
↑ 1000 m ↓ 1400m
2.5 h drive back

(Paul and Alyn did this as an overnight trip in 2012, can't be that hard...)

Interested? Please contact me (email).

Te Urewera Trip between Easter and ANZAC day 2014

achim — Tue, 27 May 2014 17:23:39 GMT

Mon, April 21st

We (Matt, Keith and Achim) started in the afternoon on Monday, trying to drive up as far north as possible. In one go we reach Pak'nSave for shopping in Napier. I (Achim) had three different tramps in mind (Waikareiti/Manuoha Loop, Whakatane/Waikare Loop and something at the Te Urewera Mainland Island / Tauranga river with access from further north) and we decided to settle on one of them once we were in the Urewera Ranges.

In the evening we drove up to the Waikare River Mouth campsite (at the Waikar*i* river!), that is about 20min off the SH 2. We pitched our tents on the free campsite and had a quick evening tea - expecting a long day tomorrow.

Tue, April 22nd

The campsite turned out to be a beautiful spot at the river mouth, it takes about a quarter of an hour by foot to the coast. Matt and I enjoyed the sweeping morning view of Hawkes bay.

Back on the road we did the final shopping in Waiora and drove off to Lake Waikaremoana, where we had a planning session in the visitor centre, we were quizzing around the staff on shuttle prices, track conditions and safe places for cars. After we got the numbers, we discarded the option of closing a potential gap in our tramping routes by hitch-hiking or shuttle - finally we decided to go the Whakatane-Waikare-Loop. There is no intentions book in/around the visitors centre, so we asked DOC to call Cécile - our emergency contact - from the land line to update our intentions. (I had some trouble spelling Mataatua properly!)

We reached Mataatua at 2PM. Makarei in the last house promised to take care of our car for the next days (a koha of 40NZD). We did a 2.5 hour walk along the Whakatane river, had fun with the walk-wire over one of the side streams and reached our destination well before darkness. We had Tawhiwhi hut for us. It features a big open fireplace and funny three storey bunk beds.

Later in the evening we had a chat with Sarah and ??? - they gave Matt a little big fright on entering the hut, as he bumped into two bright head torches and a gun. They were roaming around to hunt some possums in darkness.

Wednesday, April 23rd

The early morning fog hung in the trees magically, the tranquil Whakatane valley looked exactly like one of the plenty haunted and misty photos from the Te Urewera national park. We slept in and started late-sih. Once the sun broke through the mist the day started promising and - indeed - becomes quite warm!

We were walking up the Whakatane past Ngaheramai Hut, and meeting another couple doing hunting and chilling out. They seem to know everyone but also wanting to learn everything on them and dear trails. We were warned about some sections of the track after Hanamahihi Hut, as people left heaps of complaints in the hut books.

A fairly easy tramp brought us Hanamahihi Hut, which was a bit of a ***-hole in a beautiful spot. On the front porch we had a sunny lunch time here. After crossing the Whakatane via a swing bridge, we were climbing over a hill and we did good progress while listening to a number of roaring stags - sounds all in all like massive digestion problems.

After reaching the river again, the track sidles along the steep valley side and crosses several gnarly slips with tree fall and loose gravel. We had some great expectations on 40m slide and (hopefully) taking a plunge in the river. Progress was pretty slow. Less dangerous but more tedious were the flat bits, the track just vanished in lush high grass. We discovered one or the other hunters camp. One of them featured a quad-bike in a makeshift garage! At the end of the flats it was some effort to find the track again. At the 3rd flat, I became impatient and dropped into the river bed. Though the Whakatane river was well filled, but the banks were still wide, so we did more than 1.5 km in no time!

That was the opportunity to train Matt and Keith up for river crossings, at each crossing a bit more - till disaster stroke. At the bent just 300 m from the bridge over the Waikare (here with E at the end), I made a bad judgement and we crossed the river at the bottom section of a rapid instead of wading or swimming through calm but deep pool on top of it. The water turned out to be waist deep, we didn't train the caterpillar to turn around and also Matt and Keith had no idea how to swim with backpacks. - More than half way across I got knocked off my feet and swam back to the shore, while Keith and Matt thought it would be a good idea to take refuge at the logs inside the river a little bit more downstream... (The water flows beneath the logs and tends to drag people into submerged branches, me shouting out that they should swim past the logs were unheard. - Ok, always give the full set of instructions beforehand.)

No good idea, it took me a while talking to get them out of this situation: Keith being in an awkward position hugging a log and Matt ending up with the foot stuck under the roots. (Furthermore, the PLB was with Matt in his backpack. It is advisable to have the PLB in a pocket or on the belt to have it REALLY handy in case of emergency, one might decide to abandon the backpack - typically without the chance of unpacking it.)

Once we were out of the water (quite wet, shaken in confidence), we changed clothes and bush bashed up steeply till we found the track again. The bridge over the Waikare was reached soon. A final climb over the hill should bring us to the hut, dusk was setting in. And again, at another clearing we lost the track and I wasn't able to find it in the darkness. Using my (very basic) GPS bought us finally back to the track and into the Waikare Junction Hut.

The hut was welcoming us with a lit candle in the window and a radio transmitting static, so we knew some other occupants were not far away. We settle in one half of the hut and soon the other half is full of three generations male Maoris, they came by horse, had more dogs than they could count for hunting. Initially a bit reserved, but later quite friendly and chatty. They told us about a Dutch exchange student coming to one of the Maori settlements out there, who went out into the bush with them some years ago. The contrast must have been overwhelming for that kid.

Thursday, April 24th

We got up at 7AM, not too early (would be damn cold for the river) and not too late (assuming this is the most difficult day). Without many deliberations we started the 3 km river bash up the Waikare river from the confluence with Whakatane till the valley widens - after yesterday's ordeal it was surprisingly easy! From there we found track markers for sidling tracks. Progress was surprisingly good, we made it in roughly 3.5 hours to the former Waikare Whenua hut site next to the swing bridge in the middle of nowhere. Short after dropping down into the creek Keith is celebrating the 50th river crossing, we all had fun bashing up Motumuka Stream (indeed, one can't miss the distinct Te Kumete stream fork in order turn sharp left.) The creek was just beautiful (Ivan would have loved it!), there were two canyon-like sections which we bypassed using marked tracks. After the 100 and so-and-so-th creek crossing (Keith gave up counting just before the hut.) we reached Takurua Hut - finally a hut which was used more frequently for tramping than hunting.

One note on the vegetation of the Te Ureweras: It is a lush green rainforest with a much thicker fern cover on the ground than I've seen it before. Whenever we stopped, we've heard birds singing and coming closer. The forest makes a much more untouched impression than the normal Tararua forest.

After a good lunch time, we faced the biggest uphill on this trip: 360m (oh, what an easy tramp!) - and also the highest point on our tramp: Te Wharau with 666m (nearly disappointing, but beautiful with groups of tall trees without much bush, these places remind me of Europe). The track was hidden under a dense fern cover and on the way down we had trouble to find the right way from time to time. But finally, we made it back to Tawhiwhi Hut - just an hour before sunset, this evening Keith's knees were crushed.

Friday, April 25th

Our way back starts with a short sprint back to Mataatua and picking up the car, it was well guarded, thanks! We continue the way on the SH38 towards Rotorua - completing this SH becomes another achievement on this weekend. Driving along the wiggly and sometimes narrow road is nearly as beautiful as tramping, the bridges are shared with the horses - The surface is slippery, so hitting the ditch seems to be a kiwi habit (I was told).

We made an hour long stop in the hot pools in Waiotapu - we and our sore legs loved it! The SH5 to Taupo was blocked anyway (we've seen the totally destroyed truck on a long truck) - unfortunately the cleanup wasn't finished when we were on the road again. So we had to take the detour, which offered some more excitement with more slippery backcountry roads - sharing the road with trucks, buses, campervans... having another near miss - this time with traffic on the other side. Anyway, after that we drove non-stop and without any incidents to Otaki in no time. There we got a Subway and someone was distracted by a beautiful waitress.

I think, I need to get back to the Ureweras in summer for a bit longer, as driving there and back was entertaining as well as tiring - 2 days driving (thanks, Keith) and 3 days tramping is not bad for a short Urewera Tramp. - We loved it, got wet and we had no rain!

That funny type of fun...

DominicOberhumer — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 22:40:26 GMT

Describing this trip, I might just start off with how we actually started our trip: Discussing the 3 types of fun at the Hunter’s car park: Firstly, fun you have while doing something, then the kind of fun you have after doing things which might have been not that much fun while doing them, which is type 2, and last but not least type 3, which is fun while doing something that is not as funny afterwards (e.g. things you do when you’re drunk). Our trip did indeed consist of fun type 1 at some points, for example at the estimated 50 times we “finally” found the right trail, another 20 moments we thought we knew the direction and will be out of the bush in an hour or two and especially that moment when you get out of the bush after 20 hours at 8 AM in the morning. As you can guess, there might have also been a few things which potentially tend to be more a type 2 kind of fun… I mean, afterwards it IS really funny that we got completely lost in a navigation trip. It is absolutely funny that we were thinking we are on a really relaxed stroll at day 2, telling type 2 fun stories about getting lost at tramps in the hut the night before. And it is also funny how our thoughts and sorrows at the beginning of the trip changed from “my shoes are wet”, “hopefully there’s not again a giant slug on the tree I want to hold on to”, “I have a bit of mud on my jacket”, “I hope that not another Giant Weta will jump into my neck” or “hopefully we don’t have to walk for more than half an hour in the dark” to things like “maybe the sun is rising soon so we don’t have to worry about running out of head-torch batteries anymore”, “it would be good if we had enough food to keep everybody energized at all times”, “I really want to make it out of that bush someday” or “hopefully I will make it down that almost 90° slope with my backpack” at the end of the trip. Well, what basically happened is that... I have no idea. After having had a really relaxed Saturday including a 2 hour drive to Otaki Forks, an hour at Pak’n Save, learning how to cross rivers and how to make outdoor-knots, learning-by-seeing how to Pack-float (thanks to Dom at this point), eating Nachos, drinking mannerly (no irony at this point), and a lot of sitting and talking, we started our Sunday around 10:30 AM with a really healthy and delicious chocolate-marshmallow-sweetcondensedmilk-peanutbutter-cadburrycreameggs-porridge, before making it onto the peak of any mountain in our wet shoes. Until there the type 1 fun definitely predominated. We had a stunning view over the Tararua mountains. And also the first part of strolling down the ridge off the beaten track was really enjoyable. Then it started raining. And it got dark. Which was not too bad until we noticed how difficult it could be and that it may possibly take us a bit longer to find a way out of that slightly intimidating forest. But even then it felt really adventurous going up and down steep, well, not paths, but, you know… things between, above, under and next to still living vertical or not so still living, horizontal trees, increasing tension through some bushlawyers, leatherwood and slippery mud. Another good thing was that time passed really quickly between numerous breaks used for finding bearings, keeping hydrated and ingesting as many calories as possible. Of course, not being wet and cold all over could have been nice, but, honestly, that would have been really boring. After all I feel like I do have a tiny bit more bush-experience than I had before the trip, and it was also really interesting to see how capable and enduring our human body acts in such situations. And in the end, returning to your car after a 21 hour over-night tramp, finding that it doesn’t start because of an empty battery is indeed a bit of type 1 fun as well.

Updates on the club meeting today (25.02.2014)

achim — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 17:02:20 GMT

I found this in a facebook page, might be of interest to club people:

Come and celebrate the last Tuesday before Uni starts with a bonfire at Makara Beach!! The majority will be meeting at the Hunter Carpark at uni at 5:30pm and heading off to the beach. The usual meeting will also be at 7:30pm at the Welsh Dragon Bar then we will go to Makara at 8:15ish (instead of Tacos). If you have a vehicle, please bring it we may be pushed for spaces.

https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/Makara+Beach/@-41.2085902,174.6968573,12z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x6d38b3bff9e799fb:0x500ef6143a33040

Trip this Weekend: Carkeek

achim — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 07:12:40 GMT

Ok, here comes the weekend thing:

The trip to Carkeek will be pretty much a copy of my last Carkeek weekend, we will do a maintenance trip to one of "our" huts. - But this time, we can take advantage of cleaned mattresses (thanks, Beth and Francis), clean walls, a big frying pan and heaps of firewood (thanks to all)... AND the track & marking has improved a lot (thanks, Kieran)! That will make the tramp easier!

In deed, Carkeek hut is in the very middle of the Tararuas, depending on the fitness, one needs 6 to 12 hours to get there.

On Friday (24.1.2014, leave at 5:30PM from Hunter Car Park), we will walk in from Holdsworth Lodge to Jumbo hut (that will safe us an uphill-slog on Saturday).

On Saturday we tramp to McGregor and drop (nearly literally) down into the Waiohine river. As we go we do some work on the track. For a change we splash along the river till we reach Park Forks. Then we climb up the Carkeek ridge, till we arrive at the very hut!

On Sunday we do the same backwards and finally rolling down the hill and along the Atiwhakatu river... Fish and Chips on the way back!!!

Recommended for medium (sore legs on Monday, but happy) or fitter people (no problem...)

Taranaki Jan 2014 - by Raquel Crosier

Josh Girvan — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 01:10:19 GMT

Taranaki Hardcore!!

Thirty hours after arriving in Wellington from the US the rowdy VUW Tramping Club welcomed me to New Zealand in true kiwi fashion by taking me on an adventure I will never forget; up to the Mighty Naks and the summit of Mt Taranaki.

Josh, our leader and local expert, set up the logistics. I was to meet Keith at the main Kelburn campus bus stop at 9:30am. Not having been to campus before I had no idea where on campus to go. Luckily, I wasn’t hard to spot with my large backpack and the dumbfounded look on my face. Mark found me and lead the way to the usual Tramping Club meet up spot where we met Keith and got on our way.

While stopped for fuel I asked how long the drive to New Plymouth was. The boys estimated that the trip would take four to five hours. Seven hours later, after a false dead battery, a brewery tour, speaker shopping, a fast food stop, and a few wrong turns, we arrived in New Plymouth to pick up Josh and Adam. Buried under our packs we drove up towards the Pouakai Range. We started from Mangorei Road, hiking 1.5 hours uphill to the hut. The wind was roaring when we got to the top and I was glad I had packed 4 liters of beer to keep me anchored to the ground. We cooked a delicious dinner and waited for the rest of our group (Matt, Natasha, Elliot and Natalie) who arrived at 9pm, hiking by headlamp light most of the way up. We played some cards, shared some drinks and stories and hit the bunks to prepare for the long day ahead of us.

When we woke up Saturday the clouds were starting to clear and we got our first view of Taranaki. We took some photos of the beautiful mountain from the top of the Pouakai Range and Josh pointed out our summit route. We then packed back down to the cars, did some restocking in town and drove to Dawson falls. From there we hiked straight uphill for four hours; up stairs and skree fields. Straight up… I learned that kiwis don’t believe in switchbacks. But with every vertical step we were encouraged by even more stunning views of the mountain and the landscape below.

When we arrived at the Syme hut around 6pm we found that there was already a group of six in the hut which is intended for ten. Fortunately, the group welcomed us to stay anyway making a cozy sixteen of us in a ten person hut. But with good weather and incredible views of the coast line and snow capped peaks we spent very little time indoors. During the evening, we ate a delicious homemade chickpea and chorizo stew by our chef Natasha, watched the sunset and a rising red moon before cozying up in our overcrowded bunks.

Sunday we woke up at 5:30am for a morning ascent of Mt Taranaki. But getting ten people packed, fed and geared up takes patience. We hit the trail at 7:30am to endure a long, hot, frustrating trudge through more skree. We made it to the summit of Mt Taranaki by 11am. The 360 degree view from the top made every step worth it. We stayed on the summit for a while taking it all in and exploring the terrain. After taking hundreds of photos, screaming triumphantly, playing in the snow, and some indecent exposure, we hiked back down to the hut. From there we packed our bags and headed down to Dawson Falls for a much deserved cool down.

After the falls, five of us (Josh, Mark, Keith, Natasha and I) continued on to Tahurangi Lodge for the night. We arrived at our luxury accommodation after dark, at 10pm. The lodge had heating, electricity, showers, a full kitchen, stereo and board games. We cooked another gourmet dinner, sipped on whisky and played Jenga until we couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer.

On Monday morning the tired bunch tramped back out to the car, exhausted but exhilarated by the weekend’s adventure. I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome to New Zealand. Thanks to my new friends on the VUW Tramping Club!

Taranaki Jan 2014 - by Raquel Crosier

Josh Girvan — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 01:10:07 GMT

Taranaki Hardcore!!

gear shed shopping

achim — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 21:10:36 GMT

There are some items "on sale" in the gear shed:

VUWTC 2013 t-shirts @ 20NZD
good quality packliners (FMC) @ 2NZD
"Safety in the Mountains" booklets @ 5NZD

If you want to buy some stuff, just get in touch with Theo or me (see committee contact list).

Dec 1st trip?

achim — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 17:10:20 GMT

Hi all!

I'm keen on getting out on Sunday, thinking of a Medium (maybe ME) trip to the southern Tararuas, something like going from Kaitoke to(wards) Tutuwai Hut and back on the other side of the river.

We would start at 9AM from CBD or so and come back at about 8PM.

Just get in touch with me!

http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap/nz43554/Tutuwai-Hut/Wellington

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/wairarapa/wairarapa/smith-creek-tauherenikau-river/

historic hut (sites) trip

achim — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 07:23:47 GMT

Here is a first/rough version of this trip.

Friday: (22.11.2013) leaving at 6PM from Hunter Car Park to Waiohine Rd end, usual stop at supermarket, walk in to Cone hut and enjoy some candles. We could read some horror stories?!

Saturday: (22.11.2013) a mixture of swimming river crossing, searching for Allaway-Dickson Hut remnants (VUWTC hut from the 50s and 60s) roughly where the Block XVI track comes down. Walking over to the Totara Flats, e.g via Coal Creek Track or from Rees directly northwards, afternoon tea in Totara Flats and Sayers Hut, making a fire and enjoying the hut!

Sunday: (22.11.2013) Back via Waiohine and Ridge (fairly walkable) to the car.

That's a figure 8 tramp :-)

Fitness grade: medium (maybe the easy end of it), roughly 600 m uphill each day (incl Friday), and a bit off track.

Trip costs: 20 NZD for transport. Expenses for dinner on Sunday will be shared. Please bring your hut tickets/passes.

Some links:

http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap/nz43557/Cone-Hut/Wellington

http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/historic/by-region/wairarapa/cone-hut/

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-stay/backcountry-huts-by-region/wairarapa/wairarapa/sayers-hut/

The VUWTC own Tararua huts gallery: http://vuwtc.org.nz/cs/photos/tararua_huts/default.aspx

If you are interested, please contact Achim <dot> Gaedke <at> gmail <dot> com or o21o4994o2..

Watch out for some more details on this page.

New Constitution

Kieran — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 00:17:26 GMT

Hey all,

As mentioned at the meeting we are currently in the process of rewriting our constitution so that we can become an incorporated society.

Take a look at our draft constitution here and submit any suggestions/corrections/improvements to us by next Monday 7 October.

These will form the rules governing how our club works going forward, so are pretty important! Feedback to myself (patonomatic@gmail.com), Emma (bemmakiwi@hotmail.com) or Anita (anita_bonita_banana_eater@hotmail.com) or comment on our facebook page if you want wider discussion.

The process from here will be for us to collate any feedback received and present a final copy of our proposed new constitution at the meeting next Tuesday 8 October, 7 days in advance as required by our current constitution. Then we will formally vote on accepting it and on becoming an incorporated society at the AGM on 15 October, with a 2/3 majority of those present required to vote yes in order to replace our current constitution.

More details on the benefits of incorporation can be found on the societies website which might help explain the impetus for making this move to incorporation. The reason we have not done this previously is that we used to affiliate to VUWSA who were incorporated, and as our 'umbrella' organisation these benefits flowed through to us. Now with VSM (Voluntary Student Membership), VUWSA affiliation is no longer an option for us so we really need to become incorporated ourselves to gain these benefits.

For reference our existing constitution from 2002 can be found here - given it referenced VUWSA affiliation in several clauses, it is pretty much invalid now and needs replacing anyway!

Cheers,

Kieran

Pancakes on Powell Hut on Sunday morning!

achim — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:05:35 GMT

(This would be the trip I'd love to run for this weekend... but I decided to stay in Wellington, after several weekends of tramping)

Loosely following Anita's instructions for planning a trip, I wrote up what is required:

We need you!

and a car, driver and some more participants!

This is a medium overnight trip to the eastern Tararuas, highly likely to have snow up there!
Powell Hut (see also Easy-Access huts DOC page)is pretty flash, has a good view, heating, gas stoves and toasters(if I remember correctly)!

(If you want to make it a medium easy trip, take more time on Saturday for walking to Jumbo Hut (is a bit smaller than Powell Hut, but has also gas stoves and heating) via Atiwhakatu Hut/Raingauge Spur, i.e. doing the loop the other way round. This is also ideal to have a second, independent group.)

The Holdsworth-Jumbo overnight trip (DOC page, map) goes as follows:

Friday:

get people and car sorted, grab gear from the gear shed (maybe also possible on Saturday: contact gear custodians)

gear required:

a billy
a frying pan for pan cakes, a wooden spoon! (not from the gear shed)
some ice axes (to be on the safe side)
map and compass
group first aid kit

Saturday:

Start on afternoon from Hunter Car Park, drive to Petone, buy food at Pak 'n Save, drive to Holdsworth Carpark

Walk in to Powell Hut, the track is easy to walk - except that it goes up roughly 900 m (will take about 3 hours), you might remember half of it from the Freshers trip. The last 200m might be a bit windy on Saturday evening, but the track is wide enough to be safe.

Have a dinner party!

Sunday:

Get up (!), have an epic breakfast - the pan cakes are optional, but highly recommended , (wait for the clouds lifting) and enjoy the view! Expect snow!

The track to Jumbo & Jumbo hut has poles on it, it is easy to follow. Take ice axes as walking aids - easy to use for non-AIC people...
(A short-cut is possible via the East Holdsworth track. If you want to do more, do a side trip to Angle Knob.) In Jumbo hut, have an afternoon tea or coffee and get down via Raingauge Spur.

From Atiwhakatu Hut a less than two hours, cruisy walkout brings you back to the car...
(back to Wellington, drop off people, return the car.)

Monday: sleep in

Tuesday: trip report, epic photo session on facebook and return the gear...

Costs: between 15 and 30 NZD:

Petrol: about 15 NZD pp
(a hired car: about 15NZD for 5 persons as required...)
One serviced hut fee: 15 NZD pp or hut pass (these expenses are normally ignored in the cost calculation.)
Food for dinner, breakfast, lunch, snacks

Nelson Lakes 2013 M Group Report by Kaitlin Maddever

DominicOberhumer — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 02:28:11 GMT

We all met up the ferry terminal at more or less the right time, barring a forgotten jacket and a late bus. The ferry trip over was fun, we got to know the three crazies we'd be spending the next week with and wrestled with Bluebridge's free wifi. When we pulled into Picton we drove off and made for Blenheim (more or less) to go to Pak n Save.
We started the tramp by working out what we'd be eating. Most important. We found the wonderful potato flakes, picked up the hyperessential wooden spoon (serious) before loading back into the car and heading to the Mount Robert carpark, with maybe a stop to look at a lake and some ducks.
At the carpark we sorted the group gear and Achim and James did a funny car juggle, leaving one car at the carpark and the other in a technically safer place. The quick (read: mad) group set off without their last member and our medium group awaited the drivers' return.
When they did Achim chased after his group while we headed up the beautiful Paddy's track to Bushline hut.
The hut already had three occupants. We had some fantastic mashed potato soup courtesy of Matt and stayed there for a single night. In the morning we farewelled the ski tourers and took off for Angelus, passing a couple of their friends en route. "To the summit, never mind the blood" was what they advised us.
Given that this was a Sunday, there were a few people around. We heard that the other group had made it to Angelus late the night before, apparently upsetting someone in the main room. We got passed twice by two blokes in red jackets on their way up and down but most importantly there was more and more snow as we continued, eventually wading/bumsliding down to Angelus Hut- which the other group had left that morning.
It was empty for us, though. When we arrived it was too toasty to be comfortable, but this heat proved invaluable when night fell and the bedrooms were freezing. We dragged out some mattresses.
That night we played strip poker, though within this trip report is held the truth- it was all imaginary. No actual stripping. There, I said it.
True to the club, the headtorch was last, and we all had a giggle when James, who continued to lose beyond the number of clothes he was wearing, was sent out naked on the frozen lake with a headtorch set to flash.
The next day was probably the toughest. We headed out across the frozen lake (noting a half made snowmen and some footprints that hadn't been there the night before, and uneasily recalling some unusual sounds during the night) and followed the other group's footprints up and over Sunset Saddle (lovely name, lovely view, not so lovely trek) but the ice in the streams and the sparkling ground definitely made it an experience.
Wearing crampons as we were, Paul demonstrated how this can cause a slide to go painfully wrong. James, inexplicably, followed him down but improved upon Paul's "crampon catching in the ground" technique, while Matt and I walked because we love living on the edge.
With our Glorious Leader injured, but not too badly (no broken limbs, anyway), we continued. Photos of this time on the saddle are so regrettably few because our official photographer had lost the inclination to take any. It was pretty, though.
So fun climbs and very slow and nervous descents (on my part, anyway- Matt has loads of fun) down the scree slopes. Out of the snow at last, we put away our ice axes one by one but keep wearing our helmets until we reached Hopeless Hut (depressing name, lovely hut).
Worshipping of Sir Edmund Hillary ensued; it was generally agreed that he built the hut (no credit whatsoever went to the NZ Alpine Club that the sign falsely claimed had built it), and that his hands independently built benches while he slept (hence benches enough to pretty much take all the floor space) and by the end he was practically dethroning Chuck Norris.
James, in a remarkable turn of events, started winning cards, managing to get a near perfect hand every round regardless of the dealer. This was only the start of the betrayal of my cards. They proceeded to play favourites throughout the trip, but never for me.
The next day would be our last day of walking for a while, and it was a mostly flat, really lovely day. We had lunch at John Tait Hut, checked the intentions book for the other group who we had heard over the radio had stayed there the second night but couldn't find them (BAD) and generally complained about the many biting insects. We chatted to some older trampers who had arrived and hoped they didn't follow us to Upper Travers, where we planned to spend our rest day.
After lunch we continued on, reaching the sole upward slope of the trail and crossing avalanche paths. No avalanches happened, although it was worrying to see that John Tait is at the bottom of one of these paths.
We did see a waterfall though, which was gorgeous, and Matt was thrilled to find the source of the schist which had been everywhere. Paul was quizzing him on everything and has probably fulfilled the requirements for first year geology now.
Past the avalanche paths, we saw a little bit of snow and up ahead, the twenty-eight bunk (I think) Upper Travers Hut.
We spent our rest day there, intending to wait out the forecasted bad weather before going over Travers Saddle to West Sabine Hut. The normally barebones DOC sign even said "West Sabine Hut - 6 hours. Are you prepared for Travers Saddle?", the first question I have ever seen on one of those signs.
Unfortunately the forecast, told to us by the radio guy (thought by us to actually be Sir Ed, transformed into radio waves) was for gales. We decided to have our rest day and see what the weather was doing later.
A mattress fort was constructed in front of the fire, since we had the hut to ourselves. Unfortunately the table, which was the central support, made it very difficult to get at the fire. After several incidents of head banging, the next fort was constructed in the kitchen area, using a bench. It was awesome; you could sit up in this one. To complete, we pitched our emergency tent on top of it. This did not make Fort Travers V2 any warmer.
Forecast was for gales again. We finally decided to scrap the Saddle and stay for another day, making our "rest day" a total of three nights at Upper Travers. Team CMI were grateful for the respite for their "Collection of Minor Injuries", including screwed legs, blisters, axe wounds, and sore axes and knees from picking fights with rocks.
By the time we left we were very eager to get moving again. We retraced our steps, paused at John Tait again (enjoying the upside down tap) and had lunch with the sandflies at the Hopeless junction before continuing along the swing bridge that we hadn't taken several days before.
This was a fairly long and- though I hate to say it because I am as slow as molasses uphill- pretty uninteresting walk, except for the rampant bird life. We learnt some stuff about rocks courtesy of our resident geologist and about children's memories courtesy of our resident psychologist. We saw some ducks, discussed whether they were paradise or whio, and met an aggro little robin. It didn't want to be friends if I didn't have any food.
We got to Coldwater Hut, found a dead rabbit in the lake, spotted some swans and some more ducks. We lit a fire in the awesome fireplace to drive out all the biting bugs and since we had two dinners for only one night, decided to have Chinese-flavoured rice that night and exploding mashed potato for breakfast.
Seriously. The flavouring didn't respond well to being heated.
Also that night was our farewell to the radio guy, but to our dismay it wasn't our best friend, our constant companion. We decided Sir Ed had some other important business to attend to.
We left Coldwater in the morning after a lazy start and it was several hours of walking around a most beautiful lake. We lost Paul for a bit and left him sitting on a jetty in his happy place.
When we got to the exit point we hung about for a bit. The other team drove down and picked up James, taking him away. We considered raiding his bag for the insect repellent but the dude packs ridiculously well.
Anyway, he came back with his car and we set off for St Arnaud, the bush portion of our trip sadly complete.
In St Arnaud there is a general store, and a fish and chip store. We went straight for the general store and bought a pie each. James went crazy and bought a bottle of something fizzy and a bag of chips as well.
That was the best pie ever, after a week of mashed potatoes, rice and porridge.
So we went to the rented bach, found the other group showered and clean and had our own showers. At five we headed down to the fish and chip place and got some of those and topped up again at the general store.
We all hung out at the house, it was awesome. There were other baches with cool names like "Amble Inn" and "Elsewhere". This one was called "Dik's". Classy.
We played a game of modified Fiasco (look it up, it's awesome) and eventually we all got tired and found places to sleep.
The next morning Achim was making breakfast on a cooker by the light of his headtorch. Habits die hard. However it turned out the water and electricity were on the blink and so we staggered around for a few hours before organising ourselves and loading up the cars. As it turned out, the overnight rain had soaked the boots left outside. Some people were sad.
We stopped for lunch, devoured half of McDonalds and stopped by New World, and continued on to Picton. We checked in early and chilled around the cars for a bit. Eventually we got on the ferry, played cards, was awesome, and then eventually the ferry trip was over and so was our extravaganza.

Full Moon Trip to South Coast

achim — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 01:18:22 GMT

Wednesday is full moon - let's have a night walk!

Start: Aro Fish Supply, 5PM (*) (**)
(please come earlier if you need some supplies.)

We will start uphill through the Polhill Reserve to the Brooklyn Wind Turbine and try to catch the last rays of the sunset up there!
Then we carry on south to the radome and WWII observation point, enjoying the star sky and moon. From there we drop down to the beach (the one or the other way) and walk to Owhiro Bay. Finally we end up in Island Bay (maybe 8 or 9PM) and catch a bus to the city centre.

Highly recommended: head torch and shoes with profile.

Some links:
http://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap/nz41961/Te%20Kopahou/Wellington
http://www.wellingtonnz.com/sights-activities/red-rocks-scientific-reserve

___________

(*) Wednesday, the twentyfirst of August twothousand-and-thirteen years after the imaginary birth year of someone important (at least for some people around here).

(**) Whaaaaat, you don't know Aro Fish Supply? ask google!

the club logo's history

achim — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 18:34:47 GMT

Hi there!

Yesterday I borrowed the book "Tararua:The Story of a Mountain Range by Chris MacLean" from the Wellington City Library - and this is what I read on page 223:

"This advertisement appeared regularly in Tararua Club magazines in the years after the war. Later the symbol of a goat or sheep on top of a mountain was adopted by the Victoria University Tramping Club as their unofficial logo."

And this is the advertisement:

Skyline tonight

craig — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 19:36:13 GMT

Hello everyone, here are the details for the skyline tonight. If you are keen to some along just show up - make sure you have the right gear though

Meet

5:20 (we will leave at 5:30) at the Seddon memorial in the botanic gardens (this is at the end of Kinross street and just before the Bolton street cemetery map and stuff below)

Bring

HEAD TORCH!!! (hand torch will do if you don’t have one)

Warm clothes

Rain coat

Snacks

Water

$$ for the train ride home later

Trip

We will walk up to Karori and start at the end of Hatton street then go along the skyline to Johnsonville. The trip is about 10km and I would expect that it will take between 2 – 3 hours (4 hours max).

So theme is kind of: “DOWN A DOUBLE DOWN THEN A DOUBLE BROWN” so if you are keen for that I can see this being amazing.

Craig

0210400989

MID WINTER II South island extravaganza

craig — Tue, 30 Jul 2013 20:17:58 GMT

There will be more information to come on this. But if you are keen to sign up:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nEyPILQF9pGL7CB-cmBTXhxcKd0nFCOzrM8z6FWPI_M/viewform

This is trip is up to one week long and is in the south island in the second week of the uni holidays . There are going to be 3 options to choose from. Tramping, Climbing or ski touring. Tramping will be the primary trip and the others will happen if we get the numbers. The current plan for the tramping trip is Nelson lakes with a different trips for different finesses.

To come on the tramping trip you MUST have done Alpine Instruction Course / snow craft. You MUST have done a bit of tramping in New Zealand and preferably have come on a few club trip experience and have been on an. Have a talk to us if you are unsure

To come on the climbing trip you should be proficient at rock climbing and preferably have your own gear

The Ski touring trip is for people with significant experience only – you must have all your own gear for this

a Sunday tramp in the Tauherenikau Valley

achim — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 21:42:14 GMT

Hi there!

I'm keen on getting out on Sunday and the weather looks awesome...

On top of the pile of exploration trips and un-hiked tracks is Block XVI track, not too far away from the Kaitoke Roadend. At the bottom of this track is the sunny old site of Allaway-Dickson Hut (50s to 70s), I'd love to locate and have lunch time there!

Rough plan: meet at 9AM and get to Kaitoke (N of Upper Hutt), get there (2.5h) and back (depending on time/mood take another way back). Will be a medium easy to medium trip.

air plane crashs in the Tararuas

achim — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 20:08:31 GMT

Hi there!

On bush-craft I was asked how many aircraft wrecks were in the Tararuas...

Quoting the Tararua footprints:

A number of plane crashes have occurred in the Tararua Ranges, generally in the frequent poor visibility. Indeed pioneer aviators, Hood and Moncrieff were thought by some to have crashed in the Tararuas. During World War II and since, several aircraft on training or navigation exercises were lost, some re-discovered in quite recent years, and others yet to be found.

Anderson-Memorial Hut is named after a pilot: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~fiski/nzhuts/nzhuts1.html#anderson-memorial

I know of three crash sites:

At Angle Knob (the most famous one), the aluminium structure is visible from many places in the southern Tararuas.
Have a look at Pia's trip report at http://vuwtc.org.nz/cs/forums/thread/6280.aspx
After a short period of absence, it it is there again... http://www.windy.gen.nz/index.php/archives/313
It is also a geo-cache
At the east slope of Maungahuka a tigermoth plane crashed in the 1940s. I've seen location details floating around in Maungahuka Hut, but wasn't there. For a picture see http://www.nzdeercullers.org.nz/Details1.aspx?PartNumber=8304953
And finally I've spotted a wreck on the Tararua Recreation Map (003 438) close to Mick (off from Otaki), 200W of 698
see Tararua Footprints 15.1 http://www.ttc.org.nz/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TararuaFootprints/WaitohuValley

A Forest&Bird Group Newsletter counts 12 sites, see page 3 of http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/files/publication_attachments/July_2010_2.pdf

There are plenty of reasons for going into the mountains - let's go!

a wikipedia article on VUWTC?

achim — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 15:51:00 GMT

Hi there!

I wonder why there is no wikipedia article about the VUWTC. Let's write one!

All recent members: What would you like to know/being said about the club?

All old members: Do you have some piece of 92 years (?) club history worth writing up?
Do you have publications/sources we can quote?

What about the huts once built/maintained? Were there disasters in the past? Are there famous former members (apart from our presidents)? Are there other long standing institions related to the club (FMC)?

How to start? If you are a good article writer, do the first sketch!

If you are just keen, but no good except for writing a post (like me), reply here or send your contribution to me (email: Achim dot Gaedke at gmail dot com). I will get the infos into the growing article, just after coming back from the mid-winter trip.

Abort Mission

AGlover — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 05:32:44 GMT

Abort Mission! Mid-Trimester Break, 28 March

So this trip was intended to be an epic one, very ambitious indeed. My original plan was to head from Poads Road, up to Te Matawai via South Ohau, up to Arete, then along to Tarn Rodge, on day one, before swinging round to Nichols on day two, before coming back to Te Matawai or Waipoehu on day three, for a nice walk out the day after. Needless to say it didn’t go as planned.

Day one was pretty cruisy, a late 11am start putting my ambitious dreams to rest in the end. A pleasant walk up the Ohau River at low flow to South Ohau Hut for lunch kept the first three hours interesting. After that the slog up to Te Matawai tired us all out for the last gasp up to Pukematawai, and then Arete, had most of us (except Dom, typically) completely knackered. At this point it was getting on 7pm, and the cloud was making visibility pretty ***, so we diverted to Arete Hut, which, at two person capacity, would normally prove a bit of a squeeze for a party of seven. Nonetheless, we made it work, and everyone other than myself, thanks to a cold coming on, had a pretty decent night all told.

The weather wasn’t much better the next day, strong winds and cloud made us reconsider our original plan, so instead we figured to head to Nichols via Dracophyllum Hut. After we got off Arete, it wasn’t a bad walk. The wind died down a bit, and the cloud lifted, affording us a slight reprieve. At Dracophyllum, we noticed another group heading to Nichols, so through the goodness of our own hearts, and a fair share of laziness, we decided we would cram ourselves into Dracophyllum, another two bunker, for the night instead of ruining someone else’s night at Nichols, and giving us even further to walk for no real reason.

Day three, which would prove to be our final day, wasn’t too interesting. A solid day’s walking from Dracophyllum to Poads Road, with a truly decent spell of rain giving Dom a great deal of enjoyment (it was the first significant rain for months, and Dom was bored with it). We got back to the car just as the sun was going down, and had the pleasure of meeting up with Anita and co, who were just getting back from a day trip to Waiopehu. We’d probably only missed them by a matter of minutes on the track!

All up, a good tramp, even if it didn’t go as planned

Taranaki Trip 2013 by Kaitlin Maddever

DominicOberhumer — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 23:15:51 GMT

Trip report for Taranaki Trip, 31 May- 3 June

So. It was nearly 5pm and no one else had arrived yet. Serves me right for arriving early.
Dom and Paul (our emergency contact) arrived at five and as per tramping club time, the others trickled in over the next hour or so. We split up into our teams, divvied up group gear and divided into our last minute transport- a van and a car. With four people per group (mostly) it was roughly split with Rosy and Dom's teams in the van, and Josh's team in the car.
The ride there was a bit of a race with various food stops and a few mistakes along the way (the car stopped in "fake Levin" and the van took a detour) but we all got to North Egmont road eventually, around one in the morning. Yaaay.
There was white stuff on the ground and it was pretty bloody chilly. We all packed our packs, took photos of the moonbow and the mountain, and then set off.
SNOW!!!
We walked up the Puffer, then entered the "depuff zone" for a breather, and then continued up the concrete/snow path which was not so fun. We reached the Tahurangi Lodge (thanks Josh) at about 2am, I believe. Might have been 3. I don't know, but it was late and so we sneaked in, and got to sleep in a room set aside for us that was really, really hot.
In the morning we had breakfast and hung about in the main room for a bit, microwaves and all, and then eventually we decided it would be a good idea to head to Holly Hut.
Josh's team took a different path to the other groups, going and hanging out at a skifield for a bit with a reconstructed couch which has more history than any piece of furniture I've ever met, and then returned to the Lodge for a nap, apparently.
The other two teams went straight to the hut, tramping through the snow (which was AWESOME) and later the rain (which was not) and discussing our challenges and for Dom's team at least, telling lots and lots of riddles. Go Team Go Team Go!
The challenges were a set of activities we could complete for points, including riddles and photographic challenges. These would be compared on the final night and the winners decided.
We arrived at Holly Hut for lunch, which was a lovely short day, and hung up all our clothes and a few damp sleeping bags. The MFRE News Team (Rosy's group- don't ask me what that stands for!) recorded a brief report of weather conditions and other news items.
Josh's team hadn't arrived by sunset so we decided they'd stayed at the Lodge another night. We made dinner (Holly Hut has solar lighting!), played cards, chatted with the other trampers when lo and behold, the sodden BAMFGOATs arrive! The drying line was quickly rearranged and so the entire group was reunited.
The next day, most of our intrepid group decided to go see the waterfall, which was reportedly small but apparently in actual fact quite large (and cold). However some of us lazier trampers decided to stay dry and warm at the hut instead.
After another lunch at Holly Hut, we all backtracked a little to head to a hut that I cannot remember the name of but was quite long and I think started with a T. Our team made pauses along the way to complete the challenges (which we hadn't really started by this point) and entered the Sphagnum Swamp, nature's kidney, and avoided harming the kidney by walking on the boardwalk. I think the teams mostly condensed at this point, as we arrived at The Stairs of Doom.
There were lots of stairs, and stair related jokes, and personal development advice such as "start doing squats and stop shaving" which apparently works for both guys and gals.
So it was getting quite misty by the time we got to the hut, which was full of kids. Sam of the BAMFGOATs taught the kids a card trick, and the little pyros played with the candles endlessly, filling them with bits of tissue paper and stuff. Another couple who had been there had gone onto another hut, which was fairly understandable.
After dinner and after the other trampers had gone to bed, it was time to find the winner of the challenges!
I don't really have the points breakdown, but as I recall the MFRE News Team won. Drinks all around! The news team had another report to make, calling upon all the multinational representatives in our group from Sweden, Samoa, America and a brief shot of Canada I think.
Eventually we all got to sleep (with a couple of bedtime stories from the top bunk) and woke up before sunrise the next morning for our longest walk of the trip.
It was very misty and quite cold, and we had some MORE STAIRS before we reached a peak from which "on a good day" you could apparently see all of creation, but as it was all we could see was a blank white canvas. Which was somewhat cool, but also disappointing.
There was much walking, a little map reading and bridge confusion, and an awesome sign of death left by the quick group who were going to pick up the transport and drive down so we didn't all have to walk up the road. The slower groups had lunch at 9.30am (yep) at a shelter and walked down to the roadend, where there were bets over how long the cars would take to arrive. I'm not sure who won that. But we were out in plenty of time given the time we woke up, and the drive back to Wellington was punctuated by foodstops, coffee breaks, and more importantly a view of Mount Taranaki, which we hadn't had since the night we arrived.

Cheers,
Kaitlin

1st aid course still places available!

achim — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:04:39 GMT

One place is still available!

30NZD for student VUWTC members and 80NZD for non-student VUWTC members.

The course runs from 9:30 to 5:30 this Saturday and will give you a workplace first aid certificate.

If you are interested, please get in touch with me, Achim <dot> Gaedke <at> gmail <dot> com .