Windy Tops

Tag: navigation

  • Trip: Cone, Alpha, Quoin, Eastern Hutt

    Going tramping on a trip organised by Sam is quite a lot of fun. Generally you end up setting something on fire.

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    Sam collecting water
    on Bull Mound

    This weekend we went for a trip into one of Wellington’s two main water catchment areas. For some confusing reason, the Tararuas were in the middle of experiencing several very fine days in a row, which perhaps makes the trip quite rare.

    Dates: 16th-18th November, 2007
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Walls Whare Road-End.
    People: Sam, Marie, Eddie, Lee (a friend of Sam’s visiting from the Otago Uni Tramping Club), and me.
    Huts visited: Cone Hut (0 nights), Alpha Hut (1 night), Eastern Hutt Hut (0 nights).
    Intended route: Begin at Walls Whare, walk via Cone Hut up to Alpha, continue along Quoin Ridge down the spur, and out via Pakuratahi Forks.
    Actual route: Similar until Quoin Ridge, at which point we split up. Marie and Lee continued down the ridge and ended up drowning (accidentally) in the Western Hutt River. The rest of us followed a spur to the Eastern Hutt River.
    [Photos]

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Trip: Purity, Pourangaki, Kelly Knight

    I’d seen some weather maps during the Friday afternoon before we left on this trip, suggesting that a massive splodge of rain was heading for the approximate area of the central North Island. This was to be my first attempt at a club trip rated as medium-fit, and I had completely forgotten to bring my umbrella. How embarrassing. I wasn’t the worst off, though. Alistair forgot to bring his shorts.

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    Dates: 5th – 7th October, 2007
    Location: Ruahine Forest Park, Purity Road-End.
    People: Captain (and gourmet chef) Alistair, Dirk, Paul and meeeee.
    Huts visited: Purity Hut (0 nights), Pourangaki Hut (1 night), Kelly Knight Hut (0 nights).
    Intended route: Camp at the Purity road-end on Friday night, then walk up past Purity Hut, Wooden Peg and Iron Peg. Turn South-East and carry on to Ohuinga, then head North down Broken Ridge, ending at Waterfall Hut for Saturday night. On Sunday, head up to Mangaweka via Trig Creek, back past Iron Peg and Wooden Peg, Purity Hut, and then out.
    Actual route: Similar initially, but due to some weather issues we picked up the track down a spur about half way between Iron Peg and Ohuinga, to Pourangaki Hut. On Sunday, we continued along the track up over Pourangaki, and down to Kelly Knight Hut for lunch, then back to the Purity road-end.
    Electric shocks: One.
    [Photos]

    There was no rain at all as it turned out, but the wind was a huge factor.

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Trip: Te Matawai Hut via Deception Spur

    The muddiest part of this trip might have been the first 10 minutes scrambling through the Moo paddock in the dark, as we made our way to the Tararuas entrance from Poads Road. Given that it was lined with an un-advertised electric fence, Enrique even managed to get shocked several times as he tripped and grabbed the fence, before he realised what was happening.

    Dates: 7th – 9th September, 2007
    Location: Tararua Forest Park, Ohau Region.
    People: Alistair, Dirk, Enrique, and me.
    Huts visited: Te Matawai Hut (1 night).
    Intended route: Poads Road to Ohau River via Ohau Gorge, up Deception Spur to 865 metres, down to Girdlestone Saddle, then along the track to Te Matawai Hut, along Yeates Track to South Ohau river, back to the base of Deception Spur (via river), then out to Poads Road via river and track.
    Electric shocks: 3.
    [Photos]

    This was a medium-rated navigation trip with the Wellington Tramping & Mountaineering Club, and it was my first time back in the Tararuas since returning from overseas.

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Expensive compasses

    I went shopping for a compass at lunch time today, as I can’t find my old one since arriving back. It turns out that not much has changed: the cheapest basic base-plate compass in a tramping shop is $30, and the ones worth getting are at least $45. Fortunately I managed to get a Coleman compass identical to my old one from Rebel Sport, which as far as I can tell is just as good, except it’s not a fancy Suunto or Silva branded compass with shiny lights and mirrors all over it.

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  • Trip: Blue Range, Mitre Flats, Bruce Hill

    Well since the last post, my knee has completely healed and I’ve completed six weekend trips. My boots have been damaged twice (I think it’s a design flaw), and I’ve had one serious fall that ended in a 10 to 15 metre slide, and was quite lucky to avoid serious injury. I thought it’d be worth writing down some details about trips, just so there’s a record. I might expand on some of the other things later if I have time. Meanwhile I’m leaving for Chile in a couple of weeks, so I won’t have any more (New Zealand) trips for at least a few months.

    Dates: 20th – 22nd April, 2007
    Location: Tararua Forest Park
    Huts visited: Blue Range Hut (0 nights), Mitre Flats Hut (1 night)
    [Photos]

    This weekend’s trip was in the Tararuas.

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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  • Trip: Paua Hut, Turere Stream

    Dates: 23rd – 25th March, 2007
    Location: Rimutaka Forest Park
    Huts visited: Paua Hut (2 nights), Baine Iti Hut (0 nights), and a whole lot of private batches that don’t count.
    [Photos]

    This was a weekend Easy-Medium club trip into the Rimutakas, roughly east of Wellington. After driving to the Catchpool Valley road-end in a couple of cars, we walked for a couple of hours in the dark towards Paua Hut, with some interesting crossings around the braided (and very shallow) Orongorongo River towards the end. Having reached the hut, we sat around for a little while, and went to bed.

    This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category.

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