Tramping Club Orientation Weekend

This past weekend I went on my first tramping trip. (Tramping = hiking for those who might think otherwise!) Maura (the roomie) convinced me to join the university Tramping Club and this weekend about 80 trampers went to the Waitakere Ranges to hike and spend the night. I bought some hiking boots (and was so grateful I did!) and borrowed a backpack just like a real tramper and Maura even taught me how to pack it (Food, rain jacket, sleeping bag, everything!). We left on the bus at 9am Saturday and spent the day hiking up to the club's cabin in the woods. It was definitely the muddiest adventure of my life. There were times where we were literally ankle-deep in mud and other times where there was so much uphill with that heavy backpack that I thought this would certainly be my first and last tramp ever.

We reached the hut around 2 and then a few of us went down to the stream. As frolick-y as that may sound the trek down to the stream was a thirty minute slide down a very steep slope of mud and trees and we reached the stream completely encased in mud...it was seriously awesome! You'd think that everyone would be exhausted that night but there was such a party that night. People brought all sorts of alcohol and music and stayed up until partying until 3am (personally I didn't make it past 11:30).The next day we cleaned up the cabin and packed the tents and hiked another 3 hours down to Piha beach where we finally dried out our muddy boots/feet and cleaned some of our stench off in the ocean. From there we took a bus back to the city and made it back just in time for another Whitaker Place BBQ. Now I'm back at the apartment rubbing potions on my burns and bug bites and plastering bandaids on my blisters and cuts. I can't wait to do it again.

Crazy hut games.
Piha Beach.