Club Activities
With TTC there is always somewhere to go, someone to go with. Whether you have never been into the hills before or you are a seasoned adventurer, the club has much to offer.
Our event schedule is packed with all kinds of trips and activities, all year round.
Our club meetings are held every Tuesday night at our centrally located clubrooms in Moncrieff Street, you are welcome to join us.
How do I find out about upcoming trips?
Upcoming trips are listed in the fixture card and also summarised in the club's monthly newsletter The Tararua Tramper.
We invite you to come along to Tuesday club meetings where you may hear about additional unscheduled trips. For some popular Christmas and Easter trips, sign-up sheets are also displayed on noticeboards in the clubrooms.
Non-members and all levels of experience are welcome. You don't need to be a club member to come along on club trips, but members receive certain discounts and preferential booking.
Check with the trip leader about the difficulty of the trip and any special gear or experience required. The trip leader will usually arrange transport and will let participants know about the trip's cost, food and meeting time arrangements.
To sign up for a trip, contact the trip leader. Many day and weekend trips are arranged at club night on the week of the trip.
Gear such as billies, ice axes, crampons and parkas is available for hire from our gear room.
See trip information for details about fitness grades, gear, safety considerations, etc.
Be a great tramper, follow the Minimum Impact Code
Day walks
The club runs an extensive program of day trips.
- Wednesday walks David Ogilvie -> mailto:ttc [period] wednesday [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query%20from%20TTC%20website on (04) 479 3035
- Saturday Dave Reynolds -> mailto:ttc-saturday [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query%20from%20TTC%20website on (04) 934 6120
- Sunday Michele Dickson -> mailto:ttc-sunday [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query%20from%20TTC%20website on (04) 972 2350
Tramping
The club runs hundreds of tramping trips throughout the year with a range of grades from easy day trips through to fit multi-day tramps.
There is an incredible variety of trips to choose from: Wednesday walks near Wellington, Saturday off track exploration, weekend tramps in the Tararua and Remutaka forest parks, and longer trips anywhere in New Zealand and even overseas.
Those new to tramping in New Zealand may be interested in our annual bushcraft course which teaches essential skills like map and compass navigation and river crossing, and leads on to our alpine instruction course.
Family
TTC prides itself on its family-oriented trips.
The club has a strong family group that arranges trips and activities from "bring a buggy" through to teenage tramps.
Regular family ski trips in the June and October school holidays, two camping weekends a year to Morison Bush,
long weekend lodge trips, walks, and bike trips, are all part of the rich TTC family tradition and current participation.
See the family page for more information.
Off Track Exploration
The club runs off-track exploration (OTE) trips most Saturdays. Typically medium or medium-fit grade, these day trips offer access into remote, wild, seldom-visited parts of the ranges.
Tramping off the track is invariably a team effort and offers a real sense of achievement. These trips generally seek out new or unfamiliar objectives, often involving rough country, steeper slopes and scrub. Usually involving map, compass and perhaps altimeter, off-track navigation remains an valuable skill to develop despite the advent of GPS.
Details of upcoming OTE trips are circulated via the 'Offtrack' email list to which any club member can subscribe. Note that the trip destination is often finalised during the week of the trip so an area can be chosen to minimise the impact of bad weather.
For further information contact Colin Cook -> mailto:ttc-ote [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query%20from%20TTC%20website on (04) 384 7414.
Climbing and Mountaineering
TTC has a long-standing tradition of mountaineering and offers an active yet friendly climbing scene. Club members lead summer and winter alpine climbing, summer rock cragging and alpine tramping trips.
See the main climbing and mountaineering page for details.
Skiing and snowboarding
Starting with trips to the club's Tararua Lodge in the Tongariro World Heritage Area TTC has many active members taking part in snow sports. During the ski season there are trips to the lodge every weekend and most weeks. There are family ski trips during the July and October holidays These are all listed on our Snow calendar.
See our winter activities page for much more information.
Mountain Biking and Cycling
TTC organises mountain biking and road cycling trips from one day trips around the Wellington region to weekend and multi-day trips around New Zealand. Occasionally trips are run to popular events and races around the country, such as the Martinborough Fun Ride and the Round Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge. Trips are graded from easy through to fit. Family cycling trips suitable for children and youths are also often run. Depending on the kind of trip, you will need to have your mountain or road bike and gear.
Contact for biking enquiries Julia Fraser -> mailto:ttc-biking [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query%20from%20TTC%20website on (04) 586 8466.
Kayaking, Canoeing, and Tubing
The club runs many kayaking trips ranging from one day trips around Wellington to extended multi-day trips at locations around New Zealand, such as Lake Waikeramoana, Fiordland, the Marlborough Sounds, and Abel Tasman National Park. Trips are graded from easy trips suitable for beginners through to fit trips for experienced sea-kayakers. Instruction days and family trips are also often run. Some trips are on inland, lake or harbour waters and others venture to the open sea. Arrangements can be made to hire kayaks, paddles, lifejackets & spray skirts for the duration of any trip.
Tubing trips involve floating down a river in a large tyre inner tube. You get to see the bush from a whole new perspective. They are usually day trips to rivers close to Wellington, but occasionally weekend tubing trips further afield are run. Trips are graded from easy trips suitable for beginners through to fit trips for experienced "tubers".
For further enquiries contact role disestablished -> mailto:ttc-kayaking [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query%20from%20TTC%20website.
Youth Programme - Tramping, Rock Climbing, Skiing
The club is in the process of starting a youth programme to encourage people between the ages of 14 to 24 to join the club and experience some of the sports this club has to offer: Tramping, Rock Climbing and Skiing. The programme aims to provide instruction of these sports to a basic level so the participants feel comfortable to join the clubs trips. The programme also aims to provide a social environment that is appealing.
If you are interested in being part of the pilot and want more information see TTC Youth Programme.
Instruction Courses
Our Bushcraft and Alpine Instruction courses are extremely popular and equip participants with a sound knowledge and skill base to enable them to enjoy the outdoors safely and proficiently.
We use our alpine lodge on Mt Ruapehu (Tararua Lodge) during winter for an intro to ski touring course.
From time-to-time, TTC organises special instruction in specialist topics like first aid, river crossing and trip leadership.
For upcoming notices of these events, keep a watch on the forum.
Conservation
TTC runs or joins in on a number of conservation projects, such as tree planting trips, Mana Island conservation trips, or the Tararua Weka Project. The club often makes submissions on public issues affecting conservation and back-country recreation.
Conservation trips are listed on the club's fixture card and noticeboards.
Search and Rescue
The Club is always looking for members to join the Search and Rescue (SAR) squad.
Members are required to dedicate 4 days free training a year on first aid, rope skills, tracking, navigation and helicopter protocol. Members may be required to go on searches during work hours and need to get sanction from their employers to enable them to participate when called. This needs to be done before they get called. While SAR members cannot guarantee their availability, it is expected that they are available two thirds of the time when called upon. While searches by their nature are random, members on average are called up to half a dozen times a year.
For further information, please contact Pete Smith -> mailto:ttc-sar [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query%20from%20TTC%20website on (04) 386 2304.
Social Events and the Social Committee
Our social committee runs the Tuesday club night and organises a number of club events in the club calendar
Joining the Social Committee is a great way to get to know people in the club (Contact Muriel Christianson -> mailto:ttc-social [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query%20from%20TTC%20website on (04) 479 5269).
Club calendar
- Barbecue (January)
- New members evening (early February)
- Bushcraft (early February to mid March)
- Morison Bush club camping (first weekend March)
- Winter Activities night (May/June)
- Winter Solstice Party (June)
- Quiz (late June)
- Film Festival
- Life and 50 year member's night (early November)
- Photo competition (October)
- Morison Bush club camping (last weekend November)
- Christmas finale and carol singing (last meeting in December)