2022
4, 11, 18 January
Clubrooms closed
25 January Summer barbeque
This year’s barbecue will be hosted by TTC President, Simon Davis. From 5:30-9 p.m. in Petone
Please bring your own meat for the barbecue, and food and drink to share.
01 February New members’ evening (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Joining our club is a great way to meet like-minded people, make new friends and enjoy the wide range of outdoor activities the TTC offers its members.
Registration closes tonight for the TTC Bushcraft instruction course 2022.
08 February Adventures in the Caucasus and Tian Shan mountains, salt mines and civil war (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Gareth Penhale went on a mountaineering adventure to Europe's highest mountain, Mt Elbrus in Russia, and, with the Russian Mountaineering Federation, on an expedition in Kyrgyzstan to explore the Tian Shan mountain range.
15 February How to pronounce te reo Māori place names in just 45 minutes (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Joan Costello shares six fun, accessible tips for pronouncing te reo Māori place names we commonly use and looks at the layers of meaning they convey.
22 February A circumnavigation of Hoka Kura (Lake Sumner) (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
A tale by Simon Davis of short days, cruisy tramping, great tramping weather, only a few sandflies, visits to Lake Marion, Loch Katrine and Lake Taylor, and bagging of seven huts.
01 March Fastpacking a Kaimanawa / Kaweka traverse (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Accompanied by three friends, Andy Carruthers embarked on his first two-night fastpacking trip. He documented the journey by video and through GPX navigation.
See Andy’s adventures at Mountain Adventures - Fast Packing and Running
08 March Leatham/Saxton Loop (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Peggy Munn and five other club members traversed mountain tops and tussocky valleys along the Leatham/Saxton loop route through the Leatham Conservation Area and into the magnificent Molesworth Recreation Reserve,
15 March A most exciting journey at a ‘Do Not Travel’ Advisory Level (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Bob and Alison Maysmor travelled from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea through war-torn Abkhazia, then explored the remote villages and mountains of once-inaccessible republics of the Russian Federation. It was ‘one of the most exciting journeys’ the intrepid couple have undertaken.
22 March East Harbour Regional Park (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
An update by park rangers Jo Greenman and Zane Gillgren on what’s going on in East Harbour Regional Park, with its special biodiversity, pest challenges and infrastructure developments.
29 March The Larapinta Trail (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Jonty Crane walked from Mt Sonder to Alice Springs along the West MacDonnell Range. The Larapinta Trail is a true outback experience through a remote, harsh, and often spectacular landscape.
05 April Pelorus - Richmond section of Te Araroa (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Leonore Hoke joined Barbara Stet on the Pelorus - Richmond section of her Te Araroa adventure. It was not ‘a walk in the park’, and there were lots of surprises.
12 April Tour du Mont Blanc (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Jonty Crane spent eight days walking one of the most famous (and popular) multiday walks in the world ~ 160 km around Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest mountain, passing through France, Italy and Switzerland.
19 April A Tasmanian Adventure (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Back in 2013, Liz Martin and Alan Graham explored Tasmania. Highlights included the Overland Track, the Walls of Jerusalem, Freycinet National Park, and Port Arthur.
26 April The Secret Life of a Hut Bagger (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Brian Dobbie has not very secretly been bagging huts for over 25 years. His name appears in hut books from Cape Brett to Doughboy Bay. What motivates him to seek out and relentlessly bag huts in the most unlikely of places?
03 May Solo hiking in the California desert - a cautionary tale (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Claire Nelson set off on a day trip in Joshua Tree National Park. After a near-fatal hiking accident, she survived four days alone in the blistering heat of the California desert.
Copies of Claire's book about her 2018 ordeal, Things I Learned from Falling, will be on sale on club night at a price of $22.00, cash only. It is available online from Unity Books, Paper Plus, Book Depository and other booksellers and as both an e-book and audiobook.
Things I Learned from Falling is 'an incredible story of courage, determination and survival against the odds.
'Utterly gripping and profoundly moving ... '
'An astonishing feat of physical and emotional endurance' - Mail on Sunday YOU Magazine.
Listen to Kathryn Ryan's interview with Claire on Nine to Noon Claire Nelson interview.
10 May Monarchs of the backyard (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Aileen Logie raises more than 200 monarch butterflies every season. A rare opportunity to learn about these amazing and beautiful creatures – their life cycle, needs, enemies – and how to help raise them in your own backyard.
17 May Exploring Fiordland National Park (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
For Alby Frampton, Fiordland National Park is an untracked, wild place with opportunities to explore where no one has gone before.
Alby has written a book about some of his trips and he will bring along copies to sell. Although they normally retail at $40.00, he is willing to sell them to us for $30.00.
24 May Cycling cape to cape (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Jude Willis cycled solo across the North Island via the 1,060 km Kōpiko route from East Cape to Cape Egmont to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis New Zealand.
31 May Winter sports evening (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Enjoy some great skiing, ski touring, snowboarding, mountaineering and tramping trips this winter. Stay at the club’s cozy alpine lodge on Mt Ruapehu, Tararua Lodge. TTC runs an Alpine Instruction course each year.
Gluhwein and nibbles will be served from 7.00 - 7.25 p.m. (koha appreciated).
7th June Firearms regulations and new pest control methods (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Hera Cook discusses recent changes to firearms regulations, submissions on a bill before Parliament to extend restrictions on semi-automatic firearms, and the development of new methods of pest control.
14 June It’s Quiz Time! (Clubrooms only meeting)
Get a team together or join one on the night and enjoy a challenging but fun evening competing against the brilliant minds and vast knowledge of other quizzers to answer fiendishly difficult questions and win extravagant prizes.
21 June Stravaiging the hills and weighing the planet (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
For 60 years Stuart Hudson has been wandering over hills and mountains around the world and telling stories. Like the one about the Astronomer Royal's experiment in Scotland to measure Earth's density.
28 June Walking New England in the Fall (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
As well as enjoying the stunning landscapes, autumn colours and views of New England, Diana Barnes discovered much about its interesting history and customs
05 July Puketahā ecosanctuary proposal (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Jim Lynch’s plan for a fenced ecosanctuary could become a national blueprint for saving our forest birds from extinction. Zealandia's founder has carried out a feasibility study on his proposal to set up 3000-hectare ecosanctuary in Wainuiomata. The project would see 29km of predator fencing around native bush which would then be restocked with kākāpō and other endangered birds. It could cost about $42 million over a decade - to get consents, build the fence and other infrastructure, and eradicate pests. Greater Wellington Regional Council owns the land, but the government would pay the setup cost.
There have been concerns raised about the need to clear about 10 hectares of forest to build the fence. But a GWRC proponent has said the payoff for felling a small number of trees to establish thousands of hectares of predator free bush is worth it; that it would not be necessary to cut down large, old podocarps; and the sanctuary would not restrict any of the walking tracks in the area.
12 July Plan to manage risk on trips in alpine environments (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
Tom Harris (Mountain Safety Council) highlights the importance of forward planning of strategies for managing risk on alpine trips, and aspects of MSC’s New Zealand Avalanche Advisory http://avalanche.net.nz/(approve sites) and new Plan My Walk app/website http://planmywalk.nz/(approve sites).
19 July We Don’t Usually Have Ice Creams (Clubrooms meeting)
Paul McCredie presents his award-winning film (the Spirit of Adventure Award at the 2022 New Zealand Mountain Film & Book Festival) about our Wednesday trampers.
The film's advertisement reads: 'This isn’t your average pensioner walking group. They don’t believe in tracks or bridges. They scale untracked ridges, ford or swim rivers, scramble up waterfalls, abseil over bluffs and seldom get home before dark. These men are tough, but the women are tougher'.
26 July 'Traversing the Night' (Clubrooms and Online meeting)
An online presentation by Maddy Whittaker of her award-winning film Traversing the Night" of an epic alpine traverse of the Southern Alps.
Andy Carruthers of the New Zealand Alpine Club will be hosting the evening, and Alpine Club members will be joining us.
After the film, Maddy will be with us live from down south to talk about the film and the trip and to answer questions.
Please note that Maddy has requested a contribution of $10 / $5 from each member of the audience to help cover the costs of making the film and to raise money for the Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust in Dunedin.
Andy has set up a website page to make it easy for anyone without cash and those in the online audience to contribute.
In November 2020, Maddy, her partner Conor and two friends set off from Arthur’s Pass to follow their dream of traversing the spine of the Southern Alps. Maddy and Conor’s two-month traverse took them from Arthur’s Pass to the West Coast via the Bracken Snowfield, Garden of Eden Ice Plateau, a new route up Mt. Acland, the Murchison, Tasman, Fox and Franz Glaciers, the Lower Balfour, a new route over Belmont, the upper La Perouse, the shoulder of Mt. Hicks, Empress, the Hooker Glacier, Baker Saddle, the Strauchon and the Copland Valley.
Publicity for the film says ‘Amongst the beauty of the mountains, Maddy faces another, more personal and confronting, journey' through a difficult period of her life, ultimately prioritising her mental health over finishing the route the four set out to do.
02 August Exploring Egmont National Park / Te Papakura o Taranaki
Jonty Crane walked the Pouakai Crossing and Around the Mountain Circuit, went to the summit of Taranaki Maunga and spent a memorable night in Syme Hut.
Syme Hut sits on top of Fanthams Peak and is the highest DoC hut in the North Island. It gets its name from Rod Syme, an amazing New Zealand mountaineer who, among his many achievements, summited Taranaki 227 times and helped lug up all the gear to build the first hut in 1930.
The 1962 m peak, Panitahi in te reo, is named after Frances (Fanny) Fantham, the first woman to climb it, in 1887, at only 19 years of age. She left Manaia on horseback on an expedition to Mt Egmont as a member of a party of about 14 men and women. Camp was pitched at Dawson Falls. Early next morning the party set off up the Kapuni Gorge. Fanny, wearing a shortened dress and lace-up boots, climbed steadily with a group of four men ahead of the main bunch. They reached the top of the peak well before the others. The small group immediately toasted and named the peak without waiting for the remainder of the party. Fanny joined her four companions as they continued towards the summit. However, after some distance, she reluctantly decided to turn back, apparently deterred by the prospect of adverse comments being made about the impropriety of a young woman climbing only with men as companions.
09 August Adventuring alone in the backcountry
Journalist Hazel Phillips tramped alone in the backcountry for three years while working remotely at a full-time job. Her book Solo relates her adventures, stories from our backcountry history and challenges faced by women climbers.
Copies of her book can be purchased on the night for $40 - payment by cash or bank account transfer.
For more, including two radio interviews, go to Hazel Phillips | Massey University Press.
16 August 2022 Annual General Meeting
What could TTC be doing better or differently?
Have your say at this year’s Annual General Meeting on the running of your club.
Some issues to think about, discuss and vote on:
- There are vacancies on the General Committee to be filled, including the key positions of Treasurer and Secretary. Should someone who has been a member of the General Committee for six or more years during the preceding eight years be eligible to stand for election or be appointed to it?
- What changes to the club's website should be made following the recent Website Review?
- Should the role of the Adventure Coordinator revert to that of the former Chief Guide position?
- Should the Tararua Annual be made available to club members on a 'post / no post' basis, like the Tramper?
- How can best use be made of money from bequests?
Photo: Alan Knowles
23 August 2022 TTC Photo Competition
Be wowed and inspired by the best work of the club’s photographers and pick up some tips.
The judge this year is James Gilberd.
See the 2022-Photo Competition
30 August The Alarmist: Warning the world about climate change
Dave Lowe is Adjunct Professor at the Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, and director of a small company focussed on science education and sustainability.
During his fifty-year international career as an atmospheric scientist, Dave has personally witnessed a more than 30 percent increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide driving the current climate emergency. His precise measurements of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and of methane and other atmospheric trace gases at Baring Head have contributed to the global scientific evidence base over a significant period of time, helping to underpin current international knowledge of the effects of industrial and agricultural impacts on the properties of the atmosphere.
In March 2021 Dave received the Wellingtonian of Year Environment Award for his decades-long service promoting public awareness of the dangers of continuing carbon emissions. His book The Alarmist: Fifty Years Measuring Climate Change ‘is courageous in casting light on the systemic bias and political pragmatism that has ultimately contributed to the world’s climate emergency’. It won the EH McCormick nonfiction prize at the 2022 New Zealand book awards.
06 September Two presentations
Motatapu Track - Pip Newton and Dorothy Sole traversed stunning tussock country between Wanaka and Arrowtown, up and down along the Motatapu Track
A Tararua hut-bagging mission - Alan Graham and Sandra Beckett set out to bag four huts in the Tararua Range.
13 September Remembering Peter Barber
An evening of shared memories, music, stories and tributes in honour of Peter, our late hard-working and popular club member and gifted musician.
20 September Zero carbon dreams - the future of outdoor recreation
Jamie Stewart leads Federated Mountain Clubs’ Recreation Transition campaign to promote a shift to low-carbon outdoor recreation, helping future generations to live rich and fulfilling outdoor lives.
Jamie is involved with local projects in Lower Hutt with the Pareraho Forest Trust and Friends of Belmont Regional Park(approve sites).
He will be happy to field any general or topical questions about Federated Mountain Clubs.
27 September Adventures of an overstayer in Siberia:
or How to cross the Eurasian Steppe from Tuva to Mongolia
In 1999 Les Molloy went on a ‘dodgy but exciting’ World Heritage mission to Uvs Nuur Basin in the Republic of Tuva and western Mongolia. There Les had some extraordinary adventures and experiences: listening to throat-singers, seeing shamanistic trances and a snow leopard, visiting Scythian kurgans (ancient monumental burial mounds) and standing stones, meeting argali (wild mountain sheep) researchers, arguing with obstructive Russian immigration bureaucrats, being incarcerated by nasty Mongolian border soldiers and voyaging on land-locked Mongolia's only navy vessel - all within the unbounded horizons of the Eurasian Steppe and Taiga and the remote Sayan and Altai Mountains.
04 October Hiking and climbing on three continents
Jonty Crane takes us along the Inca Quarry Trail near Machu Picchu in Peru, to the summit of Borneo’s 4,095m high Mt Kinabalu and on walks near Interlaken in the Swiss Alps.
11 October Down the Clutha and over the Paparoa Range
Peter Smith and Trish Gardiner-Smith cycled the Dunstan, Roxburgh and Clutha gold trails from Cromwell to Lawrence, then walked the Paparoa Track.
18 October Crossing the Greenland ice cap on skis
Jocelyn Turnbull went on a classic polar adventure, following in the footsteps of the great polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen.
25 October Schormann to Kaitoke (S-K) traverses of the Tararua Range
For sixty years the S-K Main Range route has provided a stern physical challenge for a certain breed of trampers who compete to set epic speed and endurance records.
For those who prefer more leisurely travel, the three S-K routes offer much beauty and great adventures, says Andy Carruthers.
01 November Great Barrier Island / Aotea
During their ten-day stay, Chris and Peggy Munn did the three-day Aotea Track and several interesting day trips. They learnt a lot about the history of the island and the lifestyles of the inhabitants.
Please note: The annual social event for life and 50-year members will be held in the hall this evening, prior to the club meeting.
08 November Pilgrimage for Parkinson’s
Jennifer Andrewes has early-onset Parkinson’s disease. She walked 800 km across France on the Via Podiensis to raise money for Parkinson’s New Zealand.
Jennifer will bring copies of her book Parallel Lives: Four Seasons in the French Pyrenees. The cost is $20.00, with $5.00 going to Parkinsons NZ. Bring cash or Jennifer can provide bank account details on the night.
15 November Special General Meeting
1. Tenure of General Committee membership
2. Ruapehu Alpine Lifts: implications of voluntary administration
22 November Poetry of the bush
Mike Deavin, a keen and experienced tramper, has been writing poetry for over 40 years and has given many poetry readings to tramping clubs. He writes traditional four-line stanzas and couplets.
29 November Learning to live with nature
Aotearoa was the last large land mass on the planet to be settled, barely 30 generations ago. Māori modified its ecosystems but recent generations have deeply exploited and degraded our environment. Paul Bruce shares some thoughts on learning to live with nature.
Library book sale
Tuesday 29 November from 7 p.m.
Prices from: $2, $5, $10.
Cash only, no IOUs.
Great for bookshelves or Christmas presents.
The books are duplicate copies or old books cleared to make room for new editions/books.
06 December The Great Kererū Count - getting the numbers right
Modifications to scientific methodology made possible the engagement of ‘citizen scientists’ in the Great Kererū Count (2014-21) but resulted in data that was difficult to Interpret. Sam Rammell (VUW) is using a novel statistical data integration method to make an accurate assessment of the national kererū population.
13 December 'Christmas Finale' - a great way to end our year
Get together with other club members and enjoy time with good friends, some wine, Christmas cake and mince pies, and discuss plans for trips over summer. The TTC band will play a selection of Christmas carols and tramping songs.
20 December Ngā mihi o te wā
Clubrooms closed
27 December Ngā mihi o te tau hou
Photo: AJK
Photo: Simon
Clubrooms closed
Hāere kaha i ngā puke.
Go hard in the hills