Beginner's Bushcraft: Your Tramping Basics Intro!

Come along to Beginner's Bushcraft! This is suitable for anyone, no matter your experience: but will be aimed at absolute beginners. If you've never been tramping or camping or before, come along and we'll show you the ropes.

Before we go, we'll talk about some skills a Tuesday meeting like:

• What gear and food you'll need
• How to pack your bag
• How to pick the right track for you

Then we'll spend a weekend at the Orongorongo river (easy 2ish hour walk) sleeping under a fly & learning some basic bushcraft things such as:

• How to use a map
• How to cross a river
• How to light fires
• Some basic first aid
• Whatever else we want to learn

We need plenty of drivers! The more we get, the more people we can fit on the trip. 

Gear list:

Clothing

❏     A tramping backpack that fits all your gear in it

❏     Tramping boots or trail runners. No converse/air force 1s/jandals.

❏     2 pairs of socks, preferably wool/merino to keep your feet warm and dry

❏     Shorts + tee-shirt for walking in (not cotton or denim)

❏     Fleece/wool jumper (not cotton)

❏     Clothes for camp and sleeping, including a thermal top and bottom (polypro or merino)

❏     Warm hat

❏     Sunhat 

❏     Raincoat

Other:

❏     A warm sleeping bag

❏     Comfortable sleeping mat

❏     Toothbrush + toiletries

❏     Bowl and cutlery

❏     Headtorch + spare batteries

❏     Sunscreen

❏     1L+ water bottle

❏     Toilet paper + hand sanitizer

❏     Some basic first aid eg plasters

❏     Any personal medication you might need

Food:

❏     1x breakfast

❏     2x lunches 

❏     Snacks 

 A little poem written by me (Jack)

Why were you lost in the bush

Was it your compass broke

Or abandoned by your hope

Mayhaps the light of the morn will guide your way

Through glistening ferns - they won’t lead you astray

Across rivers, like arteries that feed the sea

Oh, how forlorn the great forests feel

But if only you knew some tricks

Perhaps you'd be joyous and free

At home in the forest amongst the trees

Want a fun overnight hike packed with swimming holes, swingbridges, classic Tararua Range huts, and some bonus hut maintenance work? Well, this is the trip for you!

We'll visit two huts (Cone and Tutuwai), enjoy socialising in Aotearoa's beautiful outdoors, and clean up the huts as part of FMC's "Love Our Huts and Tracks" volunteer initiative.

Route:

This trip is easy-medium difficulty. It is an 8km walk each way with mud and tree roots to navigate. We can take breaks and go at a chill pace.

Saturday - We'll meet at Kelburn campus at 9:30am. We'll carpool to Waiohine Gorge campsite (a 1.5hr drive), this is the same place from Freshers. A 2.5-3hr walk will take us to Cone Hut, we'll stop along the way for lunch. This involves a steep climb of 500m, then flat terrain for a while, and a steep 350m descent to the hut. We'll take a break and spend an hour doing basic hut maintenance.

A 1-1.5hr mostly flat walk along the Tauwharenīkau river will take us to Tutuwai Hut, our stay for the night. This will involve lots of easy stream crossings. At the hut we'll have a fun night socialising.

Sunday - We'll pack up and do an hour's worth of hut maintenance at Tutuwai. Ideally we'll leave by 10:30am. We'll then return the same way via Cone Hut to Waiohine Gorge (4-5hr total). We'll arrive in Welly between 5 and 6:30pm.

Cone Hut info

Tutuwai Hut info

Waiohine Gorge campsite info

Gear:

You need basic overnight tramping gear. Please bring reasonable outdoor footwear (eg tramping boots or trail runners, NOT jandals!), and an overnight tramping pack. I recommend a towel and swimwear. Bring a pot/cooker if you have them. You can borrow club gear (eg packs, sleeping bags), but please let us know in advance. If you have any questions about gear, send a message to the club insta and we'll get you sorted.

https://www.vuwtc.org.nz/resources/gear-list

Food:

Have breakfast on Saturday before arriving at Kelburn. Please bring 1 breakfast, 2 lunches, food for a shared potluck dinner, snacks and drinks, and some emergency food in case we get delayed in the valley. Re drinks, cans and plastic only please, no glass!

Cost:

- $15-20 fuel per person

- Hut payment ($10 for a blue DOC hut ticket, you can buy at outdoor stores eg Bivouac, Macpac) - also can use DOC hut pass, or camp for free if you bring a tent

Rockcraft: An all-abilities outdoor climbing trip!

THIS TRIP'S DATE HAS CHANGED FROM SATURDAY 14th TO SUNDAY 15th MARCH. 

We will be heading to our local crag (Pukerua Bay) where we can practice your belay and climbing skills outdoors! We will teach you how to stay safe while climbing outside, how to safely belay someone else, and have plenty of leaders around to give you climbing tips if you’re looking to grow your on-the-wall skills. If you've never climbed before this is the perfect introductory trip! There are also harder routes for those who have climbed before or are looking for more of a challenge. 

We're going to get there by carpooling so bring your cars please! (I'll be sending out emails closer to the time with information about groups and transport.)

We will be running two Hangdog sessions the Wednesday before the trip (4:30 and 6:00pm on 11/03/25) on our weekly climbing night for you all to have an opportunity to belay in a controlled environment. If you have never belayed before or need a refresher - Please sign up and come along. This will make rockcraft more fun as we’ll all get to spend more time on the wall! If you’ve got previous belaying/climbing experience, this is also the perfect night to get to know some other keen climbers!

The Saturday Plan:

• Meet at Hunter Carpark at 9:00 am, leaving by 9:30. Allowing time for everyone to arrive, pick up gear and find their driver. 

• Arrive at the bay and walk to the crag. Enjoy a day filled with climbing and fun!

• Returning to Wellington CBD // Hunter Carpark around 4-5 pm ish (Or earlier if discussed with your driver).

What you'll need to bring:

• Water

• Lunch + Snacks

• Sneakers: Active shoes will do the job nicely, The gear shed has limited climbing shoes so they will disappear fast (Will be distributed on the day).

• Activewear: Clothing you can comfortably move around/climb in.

• Extra layers in case it’s cold out there (we’ll be on the coast so wind = likely.

• OPTIONAL: Your own climbing gear (if you have it): Shoes/harness/chalk/helmet.

The $5 cost goes towards the driver's petrol, so if you have a car and can be a driver on rockcraft you will be reimbursed for petrol. 

 If you have any questions, send them to me at brooke.carpenternz@gmail.com, or chat with me after the Tuesday club meeting x 

This week some of Wellington’s smartest quiz peeps will be battling it out at the Karori Tap House!

The Rotary Club of Wellington North – Karori to Khandallah is proud to support our friends at Karori Kaitiaki - Kākā for the Tracking Birdwood Presentation & Quiz Night

Come along for a great evening of trivia, community and conservation while helping raise funds for their exciting environmental project at Birdwood Reserve.

Sunday 15 March | 6:00–8:30pm

Karori Tap House, 162 Karori Road

$15 for tramping club members/students | Tables of 6 ($150)

Food and drinks available from the bar.

Enter by emailing: karori.kaitiaki@gmail.com

(Use Quiz Night in the subject line)

Flying solo? No worries - we’ll make up teams on the night!

Bring your brainiest mates and support local conservation

Welcome to Wednesday Climbing Nights!

Want to try indoor climbing for the first time, or meet some like-minded climbers? Come along to our weekly climb nights! We climb at Hangdog (Bouldering & Top roping) in Lower Hutt, and Faultline (Bouldering) on Willis St. 

This week, we'll be climbing at Faultline, which is a bouldering gym. This = no ropes/harnesses & no belaying. There are grades for every level of experience, so no matter how much climbing experience you have you’ll have plenty to get stuck into! 

IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME CLIMBING AT FAULTLINE, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE (https://www.wellingtonclimbing.co.nz/first_visit_fl/) AND SIGN THE ONLINE WAIVER BEFORE WE LEAVE FOR THE GYM! 

This week: Faultline 

Schedule:

• Sign up! (FL need to know numbers).

• Meet outside Faultline at 5:20 p.m.

• CLIMB!

• You can leave whenever you like (We usually finish up around 7:30-8:00 p.m), return to your flats and halls by bus or walk from the gym.

Entry costs: $15 + $3 for shoes 

This is not paid for through the club—there is no piking fee if you pull out. Pay at FL when we arrive.

To get the VUWTC entry price, just let the front desk know you are with VUWTC. Our discounted price is only from 5:30 pm onwards on Wednesdays.