What is the BushBall??? 

Why a grand ball-of-a-time in the bush of course!

As the name suggests, this will be a party in the bush, with some amazing decor, fabulous costumes and really cool people! BYOD.

BushBall is a themed party, so YOU MUST DRESS UP! (Otherwise you will be sad). Especially as there are PRIZES for best dressed!

This year's theme: Fairytales!

From the Brothers Grimm, to modern Disney adaptations, or whatever fairytales you grew up with, we want to see these stories brought to LIFE!

COST TO BE CONFIRMED!!

What will happen:

We will meet at the Hunter Carpark at 12pm on Saturday the 13th of June.

Then we will bus/or get into cars and drive to the YMCA camp in Kaitoke (43min drive). 

We will walk to Smiths Creek Shelter (an easy walk, about 6kms) 2 hours, maybe 3 if you’re slow. 

Then: we will set up our tents and flies (we will provide these) and then the party will unfold! 

What you need to bring:

• Your Fabulous Costume!

• Your dinner, breakfast, lunch and plenty of snacks!

• Pack + Pack liner/drybags

• Raincoat

• Headtorch + spare batteries

• Boots + socks

• Shorts + teeshirt not cotton

• Fleece/wool jumper not cotton

• Thermal top and bottom

• Warm hat, gloves and neck gaiter

• Sunhat + sunscreen

• 1L+ water bottle

• Personal first aid kit + personal medication

• Toilet paper + hand sanitizer

• Sleeping bag

•  Sleeping mat

• Toothbrush + toiletries

•  Bowl, mug and cutlery

It's the start of winter now, so make sure you bring PLENTY of warm clothing.

THIS TRIP IS LIMTED TO 18+ years of age

Cost: TBD

Cost will cover transport, and some highly important party supplies.

I'd like to pencil in a trip, say on Sunday because that's when the weather clears, to investigate the waterfall rock crag at Mt Kaukau for development. The trip would be open to anyone tramping at at least a medium-ish grade along the rough access track, but the rock climbing part would only be for people who have done rockcraft as it's not a good place to learn. It's an undeveloped crag so there will be some rigging top ropes and abseils off trad gear and trees, as well as wherever Beatrice's bolts are, I'm pretty confident at that. Maybe everyone wears a helmet for additional health and safety points. 

Are people keen to help out with something like that? It's a really beautiful spot, it would be really nice to develop it to run summer evening climbing trips. 

Message me if you're interested and I can sort out some climbing gear. Should we say meet at Simla Crescent station at 9:46am when the train gets in. 

Classic main range loop. I'm mainly doing this so I can visit the steel ladder, but am also generally just keen to check out the Hector-Maungahuka traverse.

None of the days should be particularly long or arduous. We'll get lots of tops though, so this is very weather dependent. Dates are subject to change based on arbitrary metrics determined by me.

You need to be a competent tramper, etc.

Cost = petrol + very basic breakfast and dinner. Feel free to bring more interesting stuff to add!

Rough plan:

Walk into Kime in the afternoon of day 1.

Wake up early and pop up to the top of Hector for the sunrise, then back to Kime & spend the day crossing to Maungahuka.  Hopefully we'll have plenty of time left in the day, and can continue through to Aokaparangi.

Day 3 zoom past Anderson memorial (maybe a cheaky side mish to Jac's Biv?), and sleep at Waitewaiwai.

Day 4 easy walk out along the valley.

This year we've decided to put together a team to take part in Relay for Life on the 30th/31st of May at HNRY Stadium 

For those who don't know. Relay For Life is a yearly event run by the Cancer Society across the country to raise money for those in our community suffering from cancer and also for the Cancer Society’s support services, health promotion programs, and cancer research. It's a great way to help give back and remember all our loved ones who have been affected by cancer.

Pricing: Tickets are priced at $25. Late sign-ups are $30, so sign up quickly! - MAKE SURE TO SIGN UP ON THE RELAY FOR LIFE WEBSITE!! 

To Fundraise: Reach out to your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and anyone else to sponsor you and support our team!! You could even promise to do a number of laps for however much you raise. 

The event runs all night and your team members take turns holding a baton while they run, walk, dance, or jog around the field competing for the most laps (or not!). HOWEVER, if you don't feel like pulling an all-nighter you can stay for a couple hours or come back to join us in the morning! 

Join our team at - https://wellington.relayforlife.org.nz/t/victoria-university-tramping-club

Please check out Relay for lifes FAQs here: https://relayforlife.org.nz/faqs

If you have any other questions or want to help, feel free to email me at hazelamurray@icloud.com

We're staying the night at Atiwhakatu Hut in the Tararua forest park! Situated in the Wairarapa Dark Sky Reserve, we're almost guaranteed incredible views of the night sky. We'll have a late celebration of International Dark Sky Week by carrying in a heavy telescope and collecting data for scientists!

We'll also deliver a 5kg #orangebucket full of hut maintenance supplies. This supports GWBN's "Caring for our Huts" initiative, which encourages all hut users to do their bit to prolong the lives of the Wellington region's (and Aotearoa's) precious backcountry network! More details here: https://gwbn.org.nz/caring-for-our-huts-2/

Route:

I've reserved 4 bunks at Atiwhakatu Hut (it's a standard hut, but it must be booked). Trip is capped to 4 people, as only a few spaces were left when I booked. This trip is easy-medium. The walk is 2-3hr (7.2km) each day, with lots of steep but short ascents/descents.

Day 1 (Sun 31 May) - We'll meet at Kelburn campus at 9:30am and leave shortly after. We'll drive 1hr 45min to Mt Holdsworth carpark (near Masterton). We'll walk to Atiwhakatu Hut along the Atiwhakatu Track, which is 2-3hr. The track is steep at times to ascend/descend several bluffs, but overall it's mostly flat. There are lots of streams and narrow swingbridges to cross. There is an active slip we'll have to navigate carefully by crossing the adjacent river. We should arrive at the hut by 2-3pm, where we'll stay the night.

Day 2 (Mon 1 Jun) - We'll leave the hut by 10-11am latest and return to the carpark via the Atiwhakatu Track. We'll get to the carpark about 1-2pm. It's the same 1hr 45min drive back home. Potentially stop in Masterton or Greytown for coffee and shopping?! We should arrive in Wellington by 4-6pm.

Atiwhakatu Hut info

Atiwhakatu Track info

Gear:

Please bring overnight tramping gear. Key things are a tramping pack, warm clothing, a windproof raincoat, tramping boots or trail runners, a sleeping bag, a bowl/cutlery, a headtorch, a big water bottle, and a first aid kit/personal medication. Bring a pot/cooker if you have them. I also recommend a towel/togs, as there are nice swimming spots at the hut and carpark.

You can borrow club gear (eg packs, sleeping bags), but please ask in advance :)

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

Food:

Please bring 1 breakfast, 2 lunches, 1 dinner, snacks, drinks (NO glass please!), and some emergency food in case we get delayed. Have breakfast on Tuesday before arriving at Kelburn.

Cost:

- Roughly $20 fuel per person

- $10 for your reserved bunk

For the long weekend we will be heading up to Kawakawa Bay on lake Taupo. It's a 5 hour drive then a 2 hour ish walk to the campsite.

We'll climb sat/sun/Monday morning and then drive home in the arvo to be back Monday night. We will be camping on the lake  

Only sign up if you know how to lead belay/climb safely. 

Costs will be determined later depending on how many people want to come and how many cars we take. Currently we have one full car but if someone else signs up with a car we can make it bigger.

we will send an email closer to the time to figure out a more accurate plan. Also email me if you have a question. 
 

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. 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! 

This week: Faultline

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.