Parawai Tramping Club

In the case of a club emergency or when a person on a trip is overdue, please contact one of these people.

Please call in the order listed.
Select the person below to obtain their phone number:

1. Peter Davis
2. Owen Cox
3. Steve Hudson

Trips are held most weekends. If you want to participate in a club trip then you should try to come to the preceeding club night. If you cannot make club night, then ring the trip leader listed on the trip list.

Trip leaders have the absolute discretion as to who can go on the trip. If you are unknown to the the trip leader he/she may want to talk with you beforehand; to satisfy him/herself that you are capable of undertaking the trip.

Select below for the Current Trip List:

Costs

The expected travel cost is listed with each trip. When cars are shared, you will be expected to make a donation to the driver at the rates the club has established. People must have their own DOC hut passes or tickets, when required.

Once a trip has been completed a report can be compiled.

You can access trip reports for the last six months or earlier from the appropriate link below.

We run trips in the following categories:

Ensuring the health and safety of people undertaking club activities is of the utmost importance to Parawai.

The club has well established protocols for trips, covering such matters as the carrying of first aid and emergency signalling equipment, and the notification of trip details to search contact people.

Ensuring health and safety also requires everyone taking some personal actions. The club encourages people to be vaccinated against Covid.

Please

• Make sure that the trip you are considering is within your capability. Discuss the trip and any special features (such as snow and ice conditions or long river travel) with the trip leader or Chief Guide.
• Before the trip tell the trip leader about any medical conditions that might affect your ability on the trip.
• Stay home if you become unwell with Covid or any other infectious condition. Do not come to club nights or on trips.

Gear falls into two categories; Party and Personal.

Party Gear

The Trip Leader will determine whether any communal gear is to be taken. You may be asked to share in the carrying of this.

First Aid Kit

A club first aid kit is taken on all club trips. However, this is not intended for minor personal first aid needs. You should take your own personal first aid kit which should contain a few strips of elastoplast, sun cream, headache pills, blister plasters (if needed). A small pair of scissors and needle & thread are also a useful personal item.

Maps / Compass / GPS

The Trip Leader will ensure these are carried and you may be asked to assist. Sometimes, trip members carry their own personal GPS.

PLBs

The Trip Leader will ensure a club PLB is taken on each trip. However you can bring your own if you wish.

The first and most important point to remember, is that you have to carry and cook all your food.

Avoid carrying food items containing water, such as canned goods. Take powdered milk (not fresh milk), dehydrated meals rather than fresh meat & vegetables, dried fruit rather fresh fruit etc. Don't take whole packets - in many cases you can weigh out just enough for the trip plus a little extra for delays or emergency.

Avoid carrying tins of anything. Tins usually have quite a lot of liquid and you will have to carry a tin opener plus carry the empty tin back out.

Gas:

Don't rely on the hut having gas cookers or that there will be a good wood stove or fireplace. Take you own small gas cooker with enough gas for the trip.

Snacks:

Trampers usually stop every hour or so and snack on something like nuts, dried fruit or chocolate so bring a supply for yourself. Lunch food should be able to be eaten on the track. You might be able to boil the billy but don't rely on it.

Water:

These days most people carry water. Unless you are on the tops where little water is available from tarns and you know it will be hot, then carrying one litre is enough. You can refill your water container at streams as you go along.

Always pack a little bit of extra food. You should be able to survive on the food in your pack for a day longer than the length of the trip.

Evening Meal

For one or two night tramps, people work as individuals or in pairs. On a longer tramp or a “gourmet” tramp, the Trip Leader may organise menus and ask trip members to bring specific items.

When cooking in a hut, you need to think about meals that can be prepared using a single pot on a single gas burner – both of which you will be carrying.

Pots & Pans:

A two litre aluminium billy should suffice. Don’t bring a stainless steel kitchen pot complete with handle. If your choice of food requires frying then a small fry pan will be needed; don’t forget you might also need a little bit of oil or butter for the pan.

Ideas for Evening Meals:

Dehydrated meals

The range available today is wide and they are now very common on club trips. The ultimate is to have your own dehydrator and make your own meals.

Pasta

Weigh out the amount you need. Small shapes are better than fettuccine or spaghetti as you won’t have large pots to cook in. Don’t forget the salt.

Salami / Tuna

These can be mixed with pasta and a packet sauce. Experiment at home first.

Desert

Small containers of ready-to-eat stewed fruit can provide an ideal finish to a meal.

Drinks

Your choice (Tea/Coffee/Chocolate/Soup). Don’t forget to allow for milk & sugar if needed. An extra sachet of soup is always good for emergency food.

Other Food

It's your choice whether you bring some crackers and cheese and/or hummus etc. If you like an aperitif you will need to carry it. A packet of your favourite biscuits will go down well with a cup of tea/coffee/soup.

Breakfast

Cereal / Muesli

At home weigh what you eat in 1 serving and bring just that weight.

Milk Powder; full or skim milk

Measure the amount needed at home.

Tip: Mix it the night before and it tastes nicer.

Toast

A simple gauze toaster works well, but you will also need bread and spreads.

Full Monty

Your choice, but remember you have to carry and cook it.

Track Food

You will need something to eat between breakfast and tea. You may not be in a hut for lunch and it might not be possible to even boil a billy. Track food needs to be at the top of your pack, easy to eat and nourishing.

Scroggin:

Hard to beat your own mixture of nuts and or dried fruit, chocolate and sweets. Carry a bit more for emergency food. Some people mix it all together; others keep it separate.

Snacks:

Cheese, salami and/or crackers. Bring your favourite, but weigh out what you need. It is unwise to bring a kilo block of cheese, when you will only eat 150 g over 2 days. Don’t forget a knife that can cut your snacks.

Fresh Fruit:

Nice but can be heavy. Remember 90% of fruit is water. Bring dried fruit and consume the water around you.

Food Recipes

Club members have compiled a small list of menus for others to use. There are recipies for Dinners, Lunches and Snacks.

Select below to view and or dowload this PDF Document:

If in doubt about any of the above please check with your Trip Leader.

When you go on a club trip you should complete a copy of the club Trip Intentions and Contact Form and leave it at home in case you are delayed.

Select below to download this:

The trip leader’s/trip organiser’s main job is to ensure that, at the conclusion of the trip, everyone has enjoyed themselves.

Rather than do all the tasks that need to be done, a good leader will delegate some jobs to less experienced party members and make use of the skills of more experienced members of the party.

Good judgement is usually the result of experience and experience is frequently the result of bad judgement. Never pretend to know something that you don’t.

Before the trip

• When a trip is added to the trip list, check the details on the webpage. You can get the Chief Guides (Peter Davis and Yingjun Shelton) to add details (such as time and place to meet, any bookings for huts or transport that party members must make for themselves or special gear requirements).
• The lists of who is going are now done through the webpage. You will be supplied with access to the list well before the trip. For weekend and multiday trips, please add in an itinerary for each day of the trip (planned route and location for the night). Check who is on the list. As leader you can turn down people that you think aren’t suited to the trip. Contact the Chief Guides if you want to talk about any uncertainties. They are there to help.
• The Chief Guide and Club Emergency Contacts will have the list of participants and the trip plans from the trip list. Leaders must text or email the Emergency Contacts (Peter Davis, Owen Cox, and Steve Hudson) confirming participants and any changes. Also indicate any route changes from the trip list route and an estimated deadline for coming out of the hills.
• If you are making bookings for the group, make sure you get paid before you make the booking. Talk to the Treasurer if you think you need to use the club bank accounts.
• If using private cars, make sure you have enough cars and carpool as far as practical to reduce the costs and the number of cars at the road end.
• Trip Leaders are expected to take a club first aid kit on all club trips and a club personal locator beacon (PLB) on trips in the hills. These are held by the Chief Guides, so talk to them about getting what you need. They can be picked up at a club meeting.
• The Trip Leader will distribute communal gear such as tent-flies, first aid kit and PLB evenly amongst the stronger members of the party. The club has some gear and ice axes; these are held by the Gear Steward (Rodney Hopkirk).

During the trip

• At the start of the trip, each morning and at critical points along the way, explain the planned route - the terrain, highlights, any challenges or difficulties likely to be encountered and backup plans.
• Use a map to familiarise each member of the party with the route and surrounding area. Set expectations for the conduct of the trip, including when it's appropriate for faster participants to travel ahead and when it's not. Remind participants not to get too far ahead and to wait at appropriate landmarks.
• Set approximate time frames for lunch and breaks so people know where to wait and when. Remind participants of their obligations to help others through obstacles such as wind fall or across rivers.
• If the party does decide to break up into faster and slower groups, agree on a 'tail-end Charlie' to look after slower or less experienced trampers – this may well be the trip leader. Trip participants have a responsibility to stay together and assist other participants.

Emergencies

• Injury - The most experienced person should take decisive command: act promptly, deliberately and calmly. Always ensure that the group’s safety is paramount. The leader should delegate tasks to other capable members in order to keep abreast of the overall situation and allow time to clearly plan the next steps. Get help if needed.
• Losing another party member - Confusion reigns if party members charge into the bush looking for a lost member without plans to regroup. Sending an experienced party member ahead, perhaps without a pack, to catch someone going ahead the wrong way and another member back to the last location where the party was together, are sound strategies. Always have someone stay with packs as these can be nearly impossible to find off-track.
• Getting help – Club trips have PLBs. These are for emergency use only. Don’t use them just because you are late. If you activate a PLB, keep it with the injured person and leave it on until rescued. In many places you have cell phone coverage. If the location is clear, dial 111 and ask for help. You need to give details, location and your phone number. Contact the Club Emergency Contacts by cell phone if you can, after you have alerted emergency services.

Remember in an emergency the whole party should help and work together. The leader doesn’t need to do it all.

After the trip

• Report back to the Club Emergency Contacts by text or email as soon as possible to advise the group is safely out from the trip.
• Get someone to write a report for the trip, preferably including a few photographs, for the club website. This can be entered onto the website using the ‘Create Trip Report’ in the Members area of the website.
• Encourage someone on the trip to gather photos for the club album and trip report, passing them to the club Photo Album Creators group.
• Make sure the club first aid kit and PLB are forwarded on to the Trip Leader for the following weekend’s trip, or handed back to one of the Chief Guides.

The club runs trips to Kapiti Island as volunteer working parties for DOC (Department of Conservation).

Generally DOC will provide accommodation which has full kitchen facilties and bunks. DOC will also subsidise the food so the evening meal is usually organised on a group basis. You only need to take a sleeping bag, pillow slip, towel, food for breakfasts and lunch, in addition to your own personal items.