Last weekend I went on a Wellington Tramping Club trip to Mt Ruapehu. As with my last tramping trip to Mt Taranaki, the aim was to climb to the top of the volcano, take a few photos, and then head off back to Wellington.
On Friday after work I traveled with my fellow trampers in the club bus up to the ski resort of Whakapapa (1600m), where we stayed the night at the club’s lodge.
The lodge was just great and deserves a special mention as, to someone who primarily stays in bush huts, it contained many wonders, such as flush toilets, electricity, heating and even showers.
The plan was to set off early the next day, in order to give us plenty of time to get up too the summit (2797m).
Unfortunately, Saturday morning dawned misty, wet and miserable, and as the upper half of the route to the summit is not marked it was decided to do a low level walk instead.
This was entirely the correct decision, as with a large group safety must always come first. It was all the same, a bit of a blow, particularly as the weather was forecast to improve later on in the day. It was doubly frustrating as under other circumstances I would have just gone for it anyway; if things looked to dicey further up then I would just have turned back. One of the things I have always disliked about clubs or large groups is that while one has the undoubted benefit of the company and camaraderie of like minded individuals, the shear numbers can constrain what can be achieved (i.e. I cant get my own way!).
It turned out that our day walk to Whakapapaiti Hut was very pleasant indeed, particularly once the rain had stopped, and the sun came out.
The weather on Sunday was warm and sunny making for perfect tramping weather. Unfortunately the group could only do a half-day walk, as we had to rendezvous with some other club members in Wanganui later on in the day. The decision taken was to walk half way up the mountain to a place called the Pinnacle Ridge. I have been to this area before, so in a display of true group spirit and solidarity, decided to do my own thing.
I had had my eye on the very jagged ridge situated opposite the hut, so this is where I headed. This turned out to be a good move, as scrambling up the volcanic rock was great fun and also afforded some splendid views of the surrounding area. The weather up on the mountain was perfect, but looking down onto the lower-lying land revealed that a sea of cloud surrounded the area. After firing off a few photographs I walked back to the Whakapapa ski resort, had a latte, and read my book in the sun until the rest of the group tuned up from their tramp.
From what I was told the walk they did was pretty hard, so I was doubly glad that I didn’t go, as quite frankly I wasn’t really in the mood for it, even though I guess it must have made me look a bit of a miserable bugger.
Anway, hope you enjoy the pics.
Taken on the walk to Whakapapaiti Hut
Whakapapaiti Hut
This was taken towards the end of the walk on the way back to Whakapapa.
So was this one.
The jagged ridge.
Looking down from the ridge.
Looking over towards Mt Ngauruhoe.
The view from the club hut, with Mt Taranaki visible in the distance.
Eat your heart out Scooby owners - presenting the awesome Toyota Corona 2.0GL. Capable of 0 – 60 in under a minute, and with a 3 speed fan, the car is a veritable powerhouse. 
My previous car was this rather lovely Mitsubishi FTO. Almost as sexy as the Corona and is included here for sentimental reasons.
Much though I like cars, motorbikes are my real passion. This is my current bike, a Suzuki SV1000S. I have pimped it up a little with some Two Brothers exhausts, a pack rack and an iridium screen. The exhausts give the bike that lovely V-twin sound, and are also very good at setting off car alarms.
