2020
7, 14, 21 January
Photo: Simon
Photo: Marg Pearce
Clubrooms closed
28 January Summer Barber-cue
5.30 - 9.00 pm. BBQ at Peter Barber’s and Mary Kane's.
04 February Hiking in France
Diana Barnes did two self-guided walks in France titled Classic Provence and Hilltop Villages of the Dordogne.
11 February An evening for prospective members
Photo: Alan Knowles
Photo: Simon
Joining our club is a great way to meet new people and to enjoy the wide range of outdoor adventures the TTC offers its members.
18 February The incredible skills of honeybees
Dr Elodie Urlacher looks at the amazing skills that individual honeybees learn, including navigation, pattern recognition, and maths!
25 February A trip to Marks Flat
Simon Davis and five others did a trip to Marks Flat in South Westland, a wide, boulder-strewn glacial flat beneath Mt Hooker, from the Paringa where his party sheltered in the Paringa Rock bivvy, and out down the Ōtoko.
03 March Transmission Gully - from concept to construction
NZTA’s Principal Project Manager, Craig Nicholson, discusses the major challenges of constructing the Transmission Gully motorway route, and construction progress to date.
10 March When things go wrong in the backcountry
Careful planning, situational awareness, and good decision-making can mean the difference between catastrophe and survival when things go wrong during tramping trips. The Hillbilly Brain Backcountry Decision-Making Checklist written by tramper and paramedic tutor Ken MacIver provides vital advice on how to avoid tragedy and stay safe in the outdoors.
Photo taken by Dan Clearwater.
17 March Cycling the Great Divide Route
Janie and Graeme Cook spent 11 weeks cycling the 4,500km Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Banff in Canada to the US/Mexico border.
24 March, 31 March
Postponed due to COVID19 lockdown.
07 April Huts and Hut bagging (Online meeting)
The esoteric tramping sport of "Hut Bagging" is outlined and a selection of huts from short and small trips is shown by Simon Davis
14 April Climate-safe travel (Online meeting)
Chris Watson, the editor of Beyond Flying, discusses travel practices used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
Tom Bennion points out the legal imperative for low and zero-carbon travel; and
Melanie Vautier explains how her pursuit of low-carbon adventures resulted in a 1,000km walk home.
21 April Travels in Ethiopia (Online meeting)
Peter Smith and Trish Gardiner-Smith went on an FMC trip around Ethiopia, a fascinating country with a rich history, stunning landscapes, diverse wildlife, and people of many cultures and ethnicities.
28 April Boat, bike and battle: travels in eastern Germany (Online meeting)
Paddy Gresham did a canal boat charter, then a bike tour from Berlin to Dresden through the area where one of deadliest battles of WWII took place.
05 May Zipping around sustainably in electric cars (Online meeting)
Sigurd Magnusson leads the charge to boost the adoption of electric cars in New Zealand. He owns a fully-electric car, compiles regular updates of the New Zealand Electric Car Guide, and provides advice to a number of organisations.
12 May West Coast: Lathrop Saddle/Zit Saddle Loop (Online meeting)
Never a dull moment as Peggy Munn’s party traversed some wonderful country, with the weather joker playing his handful of aces throughout the trip.
19 May Yellow boats and orange lighthouses (Online meeting)
Geoff Marshall drove around the Ring Road and the West Fjords of Iceland, photographing colourful boats, houses and lighthouses, long-haired horses, waterfalls, fjords and, of course, ice.
26 May Life as a cartoonist (Online meeting)
Alan Benge gives us an illustrated talk on his life as a cartoonist – from his early beginnings on the Evening Post Kids’ Page to the present day.
02 June Cycling and tramping in Croatia and Slovenia (Online meeting)
Bill Gebbie went on an FMC trip to Slovenia and Croatia, then did some more excursions in the Balkans from his base in Dubrovnik.
09 June Conservation of native lizards in New Zealand cities (Online meeting)
Many of New Zealand’s 104 species of native skinks and geckos are under threat. Chris Woolley surveyed backyards and public reserves to find out what species survive in our urban habitats.
Chris W is a recipient of a Michael Taylor conservation award to help towards costs of his PhD project.
16 June A human-powered adventure (Online meeting)
Joane Elleouet and Arran Whiteford ditched their car and cycled from Picton to Molesworth Station, then spent two weeks cycling the valleys on gear-laden bikes and running peaks and ridges along the way in lightweight mode - a mix that they found made an 'incredibly good combination'.
23 June Stewart Island/Rakiura Southern Circuit (Online meeting)
Thirteen years after doing Stewart Island/Rakiura's Northern Circuit, Simon Davis and friends thought it was high time they did the Southern Circuit. In November last year, they headed south to one of the most beautiful places in the country and did a five-day tramp from the beaches and sandhills to the mud and peaks of the famous Southern Circuit.
30 June Biking the Maungatapu Track and A Southern Crossing using public transport (Online meeting)
Peter Barber and Mary Kane biked the Maungatapu Track between the Pelorus River and Nelson, and did a Southern Crossing using train services to journey from and back to Wellington.
07 July New Zealand's tenth and newest Great Walk (Online meeting)
Cathy Wylie and Hera Cook walked from Blackball to Punakaiki along the 55km Paparoa Track, a track that ‘traverses the West Coast in more than one way.’
14 July DoC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme: The life and work of a volunteer chef (Online meeting)
Katja Riedel worked as a volunteer chef on Codfish Island/Whenua Hou, predator-free home of the biggest breeding population of Kākāpō.
Links from the presentation:
- The unnatural history of the Kākāpō by Scott Mouat
- Kaitiaki for Kākāpō, Auckland Zoo, more
- Shagged by a rare parrot
Radio NZ podcasts:
21 July Walking and writing about Te Araroa (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Michelle Campbell walked Te Araroa with her partner Jack Faulkner, and afterwards wrote a non-fiction memoir of their experiences.
28 July Tramping in the Kawekas (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Janette Roberts did a circuit of some high ridges and deep valleys in the Kawekas, in some 'exciting' weather.
04 August TTC 2020 photo competition (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
An annual opportunity to view the best work of the club’s photographers and pick up tips on how to capture and edit those special shots. The judge this year is Geoff Marshall.
11 August Walking in Patagonia (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
John Dement and Jenny Mason travelled along Chile’s Southern Highway, walked over a pass into Argentina’s Los Glaciares National Park, and did the W Trek in Torres del Paine National Park.
18 August 101st Annual General Meeting (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Photo: Adrian
Come along and have your say on the way the Club is being run.
Clubrooms open at 7 for refreshments, with the meeting starting at 7:30pm.
The Annual Report is available now.
25 August Genetic diversity of New Zealand's forests (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Colan Balkwill, a PhD student and recent arrival in New Zealand, is on a mission to contribute to research on the genetic capital of New Zealand's forests, a critically important element of their capacity to adapt to a changing climate and to withstand diseases.
01 September Slow travel in Spain (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Helen Gray walked a section of the Via de la Plata, a camino route through the west of Spain, and went cycling with Richard in Andalucía, riding from village to village on forest paths, rail trails, and rural roads.
08 September Quiz evening (Clubrooms only)
Get your team together or join one on the night - it's Quiz Time! Come along at 7 p.m. for a fun evening with fiendish questions, prizes, drinks, nibbles, and company!
15 September Federated Mountain Clubs (FMC) (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Federated Mountain Clubs was established by our own Fred Vosseler in 1931. Executive member David Barnes explains how FMC operates, and updates us on what it has been working on recently.
22 September Counting tuatara on Matiu/Somes Island (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
With the support of a Michael Taylor Conservation Award, Victoria University PhD student Linlin Liu participated in a tuatara population survey on Matiu/Somes Island during the nesting and mating seasons.
29 September The Trelissick Park Odyssey (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Occupying the valley between Ngaio/Crofton Downs and Wadestown, the park is part of the ecological corridor between the harbour and outer green belt. Peter Reimann unravels a long history of interferences in the valley, and talks about restoration work carried out by the Trelissick Park Group(approve sites), with TTC’s assistance. The new track from Oban Street and footbridge are welcome additions.
06 October Cycling in the Loire Valley (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
In May '18 Pete Smith and Trish hired bikes and cycled along the Loire River from Blois to Saumur, admiring the many chateaux and small villages, and enjoying the local food.
13 October Along Papua New Guinea's Kokoda Track (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Jonty Crane followed in the footsteps of Australian and Japanese soldiers through tropical rainforest on the historic 96km Kokoda Track, exploring remote villages and relics from WW2.
20 October Crossing the Kaimanawas via Makorako (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Six trampers led by Peggy Munn perspired across the Kaimanawa tops in hot weather, climbing the highest peak on the way. Great country for a wilderness trip.
27 October The latest in tramping gear (Clubrooms only meeting)
Want to get the best out of your tramping gear and make it last longer? Or upgrade to modern, lightweight gear in the latest materials and designs? Daniel Thomas, manager of Bivouac Outdoor Wellington, shows us a selection of the latest gear available.
03 November Yoga for trampers (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Megan Sety teaches yoga to help others prevent and recover from injuries. Come along and learn what yoga is, what you do in a yoga class, and some simple exercises you can do at home or on the track to help your balance, flexibility, strength and recovery.
10 November Climbing the highest peak in each of America’s 50 states (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
From 6pm we are holding our annual special evening for life and 50-year members. All club members, guests, and visitors are welcome to attend the presentation as usual
Four years ago, Emeritus Professor Nigel Roberts achieved his long-held ambition to climb the highest point in each of the fifty states of the USA. Some climbs (such as Alaska’s highest mountain, Denali) were tough; others were, well let’s just say ... less arduous.
17 November Zealandia: the valley that changed a nation (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
In 1992, Jim Lynch came up with a visionary proposal for a fully-fenced ecosanctuary, located in a valley close to the Wellington CBD and populated with endangered species of native wildlife. The groundbreaking establishment of Zealandia as the world's first predator-protected urban ecosanctuary inspired dynamic growth of community-driven conservation schemes and fenced ecosanctuaries across New Zealand.
Copies of Jim’s book will be available for sale at a price of $49.95.
24 November A Fiordland fantasy - Dusky Track in the dry (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Defying predictions of rain, thigh-high water and sandflies everywhere on the tracks, Lynne White and six other TTC stalwarts completed the Dusky Track in dry conditions, with no sandflies except at the huts!
01 December Cycling the hard way from Land's End to John O’Groats (Part One of Two) (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Mike and Zita Wespel-Rose chose a long, slow and hard but quiet and beautiful route for their 25-day bike ride from Land's End to John O'Groats(approve sites).
08 December Not a Silent Night (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
In the Tararua Ranges, tonight will be a Silent Night but not in our hall when All ye Faithful members Come together for some festive cheer and bring Joy to the World by singing Christmas carols and tramping songs. Christmas cake, wine, juice and hot drinks provided.
15, 22 December Seasons greetings
Photo: Simon
Photo: Jane
Clubrooms closed
29 December Happy New Year
Clubrooms closed