By Hannah Ellis-Ducobu, 12 September 2026
A cold snap in Wellington had left some enticing snow atop the Tararuas, and on a sunny Saturday morning, eight keen beans answered the call.
We set off from Holdsworth carpark in high spirits and arrived at Atiwhakatu hut in good time for a hearty lunch. Sour squirms fueled us along the long uphill slog to Jumbo hut, with increasing amounts of snow (!) being good motivation to keep climbing. Turns out we were speed demons, making it to the hut at around 3pm with plenty of time to enjoy the view, make several snowmen, frolic along the ridge, and get cold toes.
In the hut we met some middle-aged divas drinking hot chocolate and rum (jealous), who were excellent company and kept the vibes high all evening with their cackling. I aspire to be as cool as them. We intimidated everyone else in the hut with the vast volume of beans we cooked up in Big Bertha for dinner, then asserted our bean dominance by cleaning out the whole lot. A memorable philosophical discussion was had about what type of bean everyone would be, followed by scum and beers (cheers Josh) to round out the evening.
After watching the sun rise over the Wairarapa, we were out the door a whole half an hour ahead of schedule (unheard of?!?!) to continue our journey across the tops, in near-perfect conditions. Speed demons once again, we got to Powell before 12 for a relaxed lunch (feat. charcuterie boards and sunbathing
I think all would agree in saying that we came away from this weekend both physically and spiritually full of beans.