6-8 January 2025

Leader: Brandon Holman

Julie, Jolan and I set off at 10:30am from Kapiti on Monday for our three-day tramp and called in at the Clareville Bakery for the mandatory lunch stop, arriving at the road end about 12:45pm.

The rain started as we made our way up ‘Gentle Annie’ to the Mountain House where we took a break. Jolan was at least twice as fast as me, so I let him loose to go choose his bunk at Powell Hut. The wind increased and Julie was feeling the cold from the southerly, so she also went ahead. I followed on, rueing the unnecessary items I had in my pack plus vowing to eat less in 2025, thinking my pack weight of 13kg was equal to another 13kg of body weight which I could do without, currently hitting the scales at 100kg. At the hut we met up with John and Pam Glover together with Quentin who were on a private trip. Everyone was soaked by the time we got to Powell Hut and there were benches of wet clothes draped around the wood burner. The hut was full and lively; a noisy card game took place by a younger group, with the volume of laughter directly related to the volume of whiskey that was consumed. Julie had the good idea to open the door on the wood burner which encouraged myself and others to stand holding wet clothes close to the heat such that clouds of steam filled the air!

Tuesday was a better day weatherwise; no rain, cloudy but brightening up slowly. We set off at 8:55am and reached the Mount Holdsworth summit soon after, with no views to be had. As we progressed towards the Mount Jumbo summit the clouds started to lift and we stopped for lunch on Jumbo about 12:00pm. I knew that the diversion to McGregor Bivvy would be a real slog and was somewhat negative about it, but Julie and Jolan were keen, so off we went at 12:30pm, leaving our packs on Mount Jumbo (but not Jolan as his water was integral to his pack). It was pleasant enough walking without packs, and when we got to the spur between Angle Knob and McGregor we could see the bivvy way down (200m height drop) below (MILES AWAY!!). We duly descended and arrived about 2:40pm, setting off back up again after a 15-minute rest stop.

We regained the Mount Jumbo summit at about 5:00pm and picked up our packs for the short 25-minute walk down to Jumbo Hut, which was populated with folk who had also been at Powell Hut. The sun streamed in and with the number of bodies present, there was no need for the wood burner. The rain was due to return on Wednesday but did not actually start until we reached Atiwhatiku Hut by the river. There followed a pleasant tramp along the river, stopping for a lunch break at Donelly Flats picnic shelter. The rain did not let up until we crossed the Haywards Hill and we were back In Kapiti by 3:00pm.

Those on the trip were:

Brandon Holman, Julie James, Jolan Berra

Currently there is no photo album for this trip.