25-26 July 2026

Leader: Rodney Hopkirk

I cast mine eyes unto the hills, and saw that it was bleak. The rain raineth and the wind bloweth, and even the snow fluttereth.

My mind says, stay at home, spend the weekend in bed, relax, read, save yourself from the elements, and that's probably what I would have done, had the other eight tenacious and hardy Parawais not decided it was the perfect weekend to do the Tutuwai circuit.

We set off for middle earth (well, middle Continental Shelf of NZ) at 12.00 noon. It was quite miserable. Quite strong winds, some rain, and near the top of Mt Reeves, there was a mix of sleet and snow, but nothing settling on the ground. We all stopped briefly at the centre of NZ's Continental Shelf and took a photo. No one lingered too long, as we were all keen to get to the hut.

The track was fairly easy to follow and in reasonable condition and despite the weather we made it to the hut in about 4 hours. Someone managed to get a fire going in the hut, which took the chill off. We also played some card games after tea, which warmed the atmosphere as well, but we still had a reasonably cold wet night.

It was a better day on Sunday, but still quite cold. We set off for Cone at about nine, and came out via Cone Saddle. Some made it out fairly quickly, but waited patiently at the road end for everyone to arrive over the Waiohine swing bridge. Going into the tramp we were a little concerned about Coal Stream being impassable, but it was not up at all and neither was the Tauwharenikau. I would summarise the tramp as a good winter leg stretch.

Those on the trip were:

Gordon Balfour, Julie James, Kate Livingston, Matt Freeland, Peter Davis, Petr Kure, Rob Dey, Robyn Wilson, Rodney Hopkirk

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.