Trip intentions

Two types of scholarships are available:

• Youth Expedition Scholarships – for applicants under the age of 30
• Simon Bell Memorial Scholarship – no age restrictions

VUWTC members are eligible because VUWTC is a member of FMC. Further eligibility criteria and application forms are available online at https://www.fmc.org.nz/scholarship/ Please note you have to provide a written endorsement from the club, so please ask us in advance so we have time to write it!

Applications close 15 September.

Previous VUWTC recipients include:

• 2023: Isla and Louise, for a traverse of the main ranges of the Tararuas.
• 2022: Nicholas Jones and Xanthe Smith, for a journey from Kaikōura to Little Wanganui on the West Coast.
• 2020: Emma Strack, for a five week journey along the Southern Alps from Mount Cook to Homer Hut.

A fun working bee at Trelissick Park that lets you look after a cool Wellington reserve. In collab with Old Man's Beard Free Wellington and Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne.

"Tēnā koutou, 

First off, thanks so much for giving me a chance to gab at your meeting on Tuesday. I now officially have all the health and safety papers signed off, so we’re ready to go for our working bee. Here are the details:

When: Sunday 15 September, 12:00pm - 3:30pm 

Where: The site is located along Kaiwharawhara Road. We will meet here at 12:00pm. There’s some important health and safety details about parking which I’ll get to below. 

Tasks: This site is choked with weeds and in desperate need of releasing and some native infill planting. The weeds are mostly tradescantia (easy to remove), blackberry (harder to remove), and patches of old man’s beard (very hard to remove). Nigel Charman from Old Man's Beard Free Wellington will demonstrate how to identify and remove old man’s beard and will also provide us some natives to plant. I’ll bring us all gloves to use. If you’ve got any gardening tools though, please do bring them! There may also be some rubbish to pick up and I can bring us bags too. 

The site:

The site is a weird one. It’s divided in three by Trelissick Park Group, Wellington City Council road reserve, and private property owners. All three have given their approval and support for us doing this work, especially because they can’t do it themselves. The site is just too difficult for them to access. Additionally, the Kaiwharawhara Stream runs right through the middle. You can access both sides by walking around the footpath, but you can also cross the stream itself if you’re willing to get a bit wet. It’s just above gumboot height so, if you decide to cross it, wet feet and pants are guaranteed! I recommend bringing a change of shoes and clothes for after. 

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Health and Safety Hazards: This is important so eyes glued e hoa mā. This site is just one big hazard which is why it’s been neglected for so long. 

Parking — Kaiwharawhara Road is scary! Cars go hooning down the hill and on top of that there aren't enough safe parks. The first spot to try is entrance five of Trelissick Park located here, the second spot to try is the actual private car park which Seen Safety said we could use located here. They only have four parks available though, so get in quick. Most people park along Kaiwharawhara Road here but just note that here aren’t any crosswalks and again cars are hooning down this hill. Be smart. Be visible.

Water — I can’t believe I’m about to say this but the health and safety gods are making me, the stream has water in it! We can’t breathe water (last I checked), so be very careful. The rocks in the stream can be slippery, our little feet can be slippery, it can just be a slippery day, be careful. Also, it’s a bummer but there are a lot of ickies and yuckies in the stream. I would suggest avoiding it if you’ve got any cuts or scratches on you. Wash your dang hands regularly as well. I’ll bring us hand sanitiser.

Slips and scratches — The site is steep as on both sides of the stream and beneath the weeds are a lot of sneaky blackberry vines that you can trip on. This is all to say that the health and safety gods have mandated that sturdy shoes, pants covering your legs, and a shirt covering your arms are required.

Everything else too — but I can address the smaller things when we meet. 

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I really hope that you’re all able to come. If you could get in touch with me (nate.rigler@visitzealandia.com) or Justin (conservation@vuwtc.org.nz) to RSVP that would be mean. Thanks so much! See you Sunday 15 September."

Come explore some little-known walking trails in Kelburn's Kumutoto forest!

We're working with VUW's Society for Conservation Biology. This event is targeted at everyone in the community, with support from DOC and VUW's School of Biological Sciences. We'll make a meaningful difference to the health of the forest.

Freebies possible. Connections with nature and wildlife even more possible (I saw a very friendly pīwakawaka there at SCB's last working bee!). Meeting others passionate about the environment even even more possible. But guaranteed: a lot of hard work and fun ;)

Meet at Kelburn campus at 10am, and will work through to 2pm (with a lunch break!). Though feel free to drop in and out as it suits you!

"Kia ora koutou,

Join us for a weeding and forest cleanup event!

Who: VUW Society for Conservation Biology & VUW Tramping Club

What: Weeding and forest cleanup in Kumutoto Forest

When: Saturday, 14th September 2024, 10am - 2pm

Where: Kumutoto Forest near Kelburn Campus. Meet outside the bubble in the student union building before walking down to the forest together.

What to bring: 

- warm/wet weather clothes

- sturdy footwear. Gumboots are encouraged!

- water

- snacks

- Gloves and tools will be provided, but do bring some along if you have them.

Sign up to the event using this link here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDJz2bvEeYw3h2peC6tDaaihsE1tBDnkRQzB_xh5K1PExSQA/viewform?usp=sf_link"

The Kawekas deserve a visit before the end of the year!

There's so many interesting huts and tracks in this area, so I'm proposing a weekend of mucking around in the general area and seeing how far we can get. Currently, we're going to run a medium-hard difficulty group, as well as a medium difficulty trip. If we can get another leader then we could also run an easy trip!

We will all leave Wellington at 5pm on Firday evening, and arrive quite late at the roadend, followed by a walk in the dark (getting to the hut around 11pm).
Depending on people's availability on Friday, we might be able to leave earlier!

The medium trip plan is:

Friday - do the long 5hr drive up to the Kawekas (Lakes rd end, currently closed for logging which adds an extra 500m road walk) we would walk to Mackintosh Hut in the evening, 2.5hrs total.

Saturday - Full day across the Kaweka tops (up to Kaweka J - 3.5hrs) then down to Black Ridge hut, a 5-6hrs total. This may require snowcraft experience, but it's unlikely.

Sunday - Walk back via a slightly different route, with a slightly longer distance, but mostly downhill, 6hrs total.

The medium-hard trip plan is:

Friday - the same walk in to Mackintosh Hut in the evening, 2.5hrs total.

Saturday - Big day across the Kaweka tops (up to Kaweka J - 3.5hrs) the down to Kiwi Mouth hut, a 10 - 11hr day total.

Sunday - Walk back to the roadend via Kuripapango, 6hrs total.

If someone else is keen to lead it, another easier option would be to all stay in Mackintosh Hut on Friday night, then do the much shorter walk to Makahu Saddle hut and explore the nearby area (like Domine Biv)

Some of the possible spots to visit:

Dominie Hut

Black Ridge biv

Mackintosh hut

Kaweka main range

The original plan for this trip was to get up into the snow, but this winter says otherwise!
At this rate it looks like we won't get a significant snowfall this winter for the Tararuas, so this trip will instead be a classic weekend of tramping, no snowcraft expereince required! 

Reguardless, lets take this opportunity to spend some time in out local mountain range! So I propose a weekend event where we visit all of the peaks actually known as "mountains" in the whole Tararua range.

It's way less than you think, this actually only includes:

• Mt Holdsworth
• Mt Crawford
• Mt Hector
• Mt Dundas
• Mitre peak (bonus, not actually a "Mt", but it's the tallest peak in the park and great trip)

And all of these can be accessed within a typical weekend (including Friday evening).

Some of these trips are much easier than others. We will run 4 separate trips all on the same weekend, and when you sign up you will be able to choose which mountain suits your skill level best.

The 5 different "mountains" on offer are:

Mt Holdsworlth (easy/medium) Saturday-Sunday

This is the easiest option, with only 1-2 hours spent out in the exposed tops. This is great option if you want a shorter overnighter.
You'll need to stay at Powell hut on Saturday night which requires bookings, so numbers on this trip might be a bit limmited.

Mt Hector (medium) Friday afternoon/Saturday/Sunday

This is the second easiest option, but it requires more time spent out in the open and spending a night at Kime hut, which is entirely above the bushline and in an alpine environment.
On friday evening you will walk in to Field hut, then on Saturday walking up to Mt Hector and returning back to Kime, then walking out to the roadend again from Kime on Sunday. 
Depending on time availability on Friday, this group will either walk to Field hut in the dark, or head in earlier. 

Mt Crawford (medium-hard) All-day firday/Saturday/Sunday

This requires a longer walk in to get to Waetewaewae hut on Friday night, but the actual summit of Mt Crawford isn't too hard. It does require a few steeper sections though and feels much more exposed than the other options on offer! As a bonus this trip might also include a night at the lovely and remote Anderson Memorial hut. If people in this group are also available on Monday then this opens up the option for doing a 4 day loop including some more exciting stuff! 

Mt Dundas (hard) Friday afternoon/Saturday/Sunday

This is the hardest option, and requires a good amount of tops travel and challenging terrain. Lots of ups and downs during a day crossing an entire ridgeline!

Bonus: Mitre peak (Medium) Friday?/Saturday/Sunday

If we get enough leaders, then there's also an option to visit Mitre peak (tallest peak in the Tararuas). This one isn't a "mountain" but i'm sure someone's called it "Mt Mitre" in some old maps and books so that counts! This may run as an alternative to Mt Holdsworth if bookings at the hut are full.
This trip is best done in 3 days (walk to Mitre flats, go up the mountain, walk home the last day) but it can also be done as just 2, by walking to Mitre flats, then doing the return trip to Mitre peak and walking out in the same day, this would depend on group fitness. 

The FMC (Federated Mountain Clubs) Photo Competetition is an annual photography competition run by FMC, inviting member clubs to submit the best photos taken during the previous year. We'll hold our competition deciding which photos to submit to FMC at our Tuesday meeting on the 10th of September in AM101. The competition is a fab oppurtunity for you to show off your photography skills, win cool prizes, and see some more of what everyone has been up to over the year! 

Entries close 11.59pm Sunday 8th September. Entries will be judged by popular vote of VUWTC members at the Tuesday weekly meeting on the 10th. Prizes will be given to the winner of each category of the VUWTC competition. The top two in each category will be submitted to FMC. Please email submissions to vuwtcpublicity@gmail.com. 

The catogories are: 

• Above bushline no human element (ABN).
• Above bushline with human element (ABW).
• Below bushline no human element (BBN).
• Below bushline with human element (BBW).
• Historic (old photographs, not photos of old things) (HIS).
• Native flora and fauna (NFF).
• Long exposure (LE).
• VUWTC Club Spirit (this is an internal competition and the winning photo won't be submitted to FMC).

A couple of other important things:

• You can enter two photos per category 
• Photos must be from Aotearoa
• Photos must be yours 
• Photos must have been taken in the past year (except historic)
• Photo must be named according to this convention: Category code, club name, photographer, and caption, in that order. For example: ABN, VUWTC, Your name, 'Ruapehu at Sunset'. This rule doesn't apply to the club spirit catogory. 

More rules at: https://fmc.org.nz/photo-competition/

Here's a couple of the winning entries from last year! 

https://wellingtonzoo.com/visit/plan-your-day/things-to-do/student-day/

On Friday 6th Sep the Wellington Zoo is having free entry for VUW students. Just flash your ID and you can explore the zoo for FREE! Offer only open to VUW students, sadly not other educational instituitions or non-students. It's $20 entry for concession, $24 entry for adults otherwise.

We'll meet outside the Zoo at 2:30pm, giving us 2 and a half hours to explore.

Walkies will march in and take full advantage! Bonus points if you dress up as animal 😉

Welcome to Wednesday Climbing Nights!

Every week, there will be an opportunity to climb at one of three climbing gyms!

We bounce between Hangdog Adventures in Lower Hutt and Faultline Climbing on Willst St!

There are grades for everyone: people who prefer to test out the basic climbs to those who love a good challenge, so come along! No matter how much climbing experience you've had, you are welcome. 

Entry costs $17! This covers entry and shoes!

This is not paid for through the club—there is no piking fee if you pull out. Let me know if you cannot make it on the night.

To get the VUWTC entry price, you have to be with the group or let me know if you are arriving late. Our discounted price is only from 6 pm onwards on Wednesdays. We will have a second weekend climbing night for those who can't climb on Wednesdays—stay tuned.

Schedule:

• Sign up! ( So I have time to sort out transport).

This week, we will travel to Faultline Climbing from the University to the climbing gym. We will be walking down. 

• Please meet at the Hunter Carpark at 5:45 p.m. We will head down on the dot (6 p.m.).
• Travel to the Climbing Gym by foot. 
• CLIMB!
• You can leave whenever you like, we usually finish up around 8:30 p.m., returning to your flats and halls by bus or walk from the gym.