Trip intentions

VUWTC heads out every few months to Opau Bay (near Mākara) for an awesome day walk and beach cleanup event! 

We partner with Sustainable Coastlines to clear rubbish from the beach. We then count it up to help scientists and policymakers deal with pollution. Along the way there'll be plenty of yarns and laughs. You'll get gloves and pink fluoro vests (to stay safe and stylish)! This is also the fourth and final beach cleanup of the year, however, we struggled to get cars to signup in October, so it has been postponed to November. If there is a lack of cars I will postpone it to January for a summer edition!

Cost: $3-5 for petrol.

Plan:

1. Meet at Kelburn campus at 9:30am

At the Hunter carpark, we'll sort out car groups and split up survey gear.

2. Drive 30min to Mākara Beach carpark (arrive about 10:15am)

DRIVERS! We need people to get us there, with no Mākara bus. Drivers will be reimbursed for fuel costs.

3. Walking time! (10:30am to 12:30pm)

Trek up Mākara hill and down to Opau Bay (2hr with breaks). This is a medium walk, with a STEEP bit at the beginning, a flat bit in the middle, and then a meander downhill to the beach. We'll pass old military bunkers, windmills, sheep, cows, and great views. If we get a clear day, the South Island will be visible!

4. We pick up rubbish!! (about 1pm)

After lunch, we'll set up a 100m x 20m area and collect all the rubbish inside. Equipment provided: gloves, funky pink fluoro, bags, mallet! There'll be a health and safety briefing, then we'll search for one hour.

5. We walk back to the cars via the coast! (about 2-3pm)

We'll return to Mākara by walking across the rocky beach. This is an easy walk, just long!

6. Return to uni! (about 3-4pm)

We might stop at Mākara's nice coastal cafe (open on public holidays)!

7. Sort and weigh rubbish at uni (4-6pm)

We'll count up the amount and weight of rubbish we found. This info goes into an online database to help map Aotearoa's plastic pollution. This might sound boring, but it's actually super fun. We should be done by 6pm. If you need to leave once we get back to uni, no problem! :)

What to bring:

• Lunch and snacks

• A full 1-2L drink bottle

• Warm and windproof layers, PLEASE have long sleeves and pants to reduce the chance of injury

• IMPORTANT: Sturdy closed toe footwear, as we'll walk over pebbles and driftwood (PLEASE NO crocs/sandals/jandals etc.)

• Sun smart gear (sunscreen/hat/sunglasses)

• Hand sanitiser

More info on Sustainable Coastlines

Mākara walk info: https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/wellington-kapiti/places/makara-beach-area/things-to-do/makara-walkway/

Data from our last survey in Jul: https://litterintelligence.org/data/survey?id=3604

Otaki Forks Road is closed (again) due to a slip so we have a new route - Ruapae summit! Another car/driver wanted!

Location: Tararua Ranges, via Putara Road

Difficulty: Easy. 6 hours Saturday, 2-3 hours Sunday. Non-technical.

Max People: Herepai Hut sleeps 10. No bookings. We're looking for another driver!

Costs: Hut $10 + around $5-10 for a group dinner, and probs the same for fuel.

Gear: The typical stuff for an overnight tramp.

Itinerary

Saturday - Depart early in the morning at 9am. It's a 2 hour drive Putara Rd carpark. From there, it's about 3 hours as a casual pace to Herepai, where we'll stop for lunch and to drop off our gear. From there we'll trek up to Herepai summit, where the official DOC track ends, but the trail continues. We'll assess the trail conditions and continue onto Ruapae for some stunning views! Then we're back down to Herepai Hut for card games, yapping, and dinner.

Sunday - We can have a chill start, depending on when people want to get back to civilisation. It's a breezy 3 hour downhill and flat walk back to carpark, then another 2 hour drive. We can be back by midday or early afternoon.

Weather forecast update 25/10/2025: Pouakai crossing (Taranaki) 26th-27th, rest day 28th, Tongariro circuit 29th - 31st

UPDATE 29/10/2025: Tongariro circuit 2nd - 4th November

Kia Ora! We are super excited to post this trip on the calendar, and at the moment, we’ve got four people confirmed and two cars available. We're aiming for a group of around eight, since it gets a bit harder to manage things with more people, especially when it comes to space at campsites and in the hut. If there’s a lot of interest, we could potentially split into two smaller groups, which would make things easier but still let us all meet up during the trip (depends on hut availability and experience:)). If you’re only keen on joining for part of it, just let us know, and we’ll see what’s possible with the car situation. If you’re interested, sign up and please also send us an email letting us know your availability, snowcraft experience, and whether you’ve got a car or seats to offer.

 

 

We're combining pub nights with the lovely folks from the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club! They might be a little older and a little balder than us, but I promise they're great fun and have lots of stories to tell. Plus I'll probably shout some fries. 

Join us from 6pm at the Fork and Brewer :)

Clear out your cupboards, gear up for new adventures!

The Welly Clubs Dream Team is back in action to bring you our inaugural inter-club Great Welly Gear Trade. Join us at 4 Moncrieff Street (Tararua Tramping Club) on Thursday 6th November for a fun evening of bargains, swapping, buying and selling.

Sellers, bring along your second-hand outdoor gear between 6pm and 6:30pm, and enjoy some pizza while we get set up. The main event will kick off at 6:30pm - we encourage you to bring cash to make sales easier. Donations welcome, all proceeds from donations will go towards hut cleaning supplies.

If you’ve got gear to sell or give away, please RSVP via this Google Form for your chance to win a spot prize!!

Don’t miss this great opportunity to spring clean, refresh your kit, and connect with other outdoorsy folk!

I wanna do this. I also plan to continue past Leon Kinvig to Happy Daze and hitch hike out the other side, but Jack is just returning to the car and driving back so you can go with him. 

We will probably do individual dinner and cost will just be fuel for the 3 hour drive (probably $30-$40)

River trips are the secret gem of the Tararua, and it's forecast to be hot and low flow for the first time since last summer, so it's time. 

Confirmed plan: over Holdsworth to mid Waiohine hut in the afternoon on Friday, then next day down the gorge to Totara flats and out. It's grade 4 whitewater which we would be avoiding, and stunningly beautiful gorge scenery. There's no easy exits so a "strong level of commitment" is required. We will be walking and packfloating rather than tubing. 

Required gear: Wetsuit, drybags, decent shoes with good grip on rock(e.g. approach shoes), thermals, loads of snacks to ward off the cold. And all the usual overnight gear. 

https://www.ttc.org.nz/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TararuaFootprints/GorgeTrips

https://wtmc.org.nz/trip-report/waiohine-gorge-mid-waiohine-to-totara-flats/