Whakaahu (or just Kaahu as the locals call it) is a sharp summit to the East of Whakamaru and Mangikino. Due to its prominence it hosts a cell site towers as well as a SCADA repeater for the local power company – of which I am an employee. So one unassuming Saturday morning I opted to scale Whakaahu without the aid of a helicopter (which … Continue reading Whakaahu ZL1/WK-084
For our second “double double” summit, we decided to try access to Opotiki. A fellow local ham put me in touch with the land owner and he granted us permission to walk accross his land to the summit. The road is quite windy – but the walk only took about 15 minutes from the road edge. The only indication that there was a trig is … Continue reading Opotiki
This summit is one that I have access to through work – so one Saturday we decided to do a site inspection – with the portable radio gear of course. Pukepoto is a drive up – if you have permission and a key as one of the gates nearer the top is locked. It does suffer a bit of QRM from the microwave / pager … Continue reading Pukepoto
This summit has been on my to do list almost from the outset. But I have feared it – on the map it shows 900 m of straight up – not a friendly walk. Well I was at 99 unique summits and had a day to myself so thought I would knock the bastard off to quote another famous climber. 4 hours of uphill climb … Continue reading Mount Te Aroha
While on a course in Wellington I had the chance to catch this summit just North of Upper Hutt. Rimutaka summit looks over the high point of the Rimutaka road and is a short sharp walk up to the trig. However the day I chose was very windy – so the shack was a little down from the true summit in some natural shelter. With … Continue reading Rimutaka ZL1/WL-054
For about a year I have been pestered by a certain youngling to do an overnight hike to a summit. Emma, having done this track when she was young herself, recommended this one as an entry level overnight hike. So on Sunday the 21st we set off to the hut with all of our overnight gear. The walk to the hut is marked as a … Continue reading The Pinnacles overnight hike
For the Summit to summit event we chose Maungatawhiri. With a long weekend we planned to stay in Pauanui so this looked to be an easy one to accommodate a descent in darkness. We grabbed fish and chips from Whitianga and ascended the summit for dinner in the bush. The track up is 4WD only – and if wet is probably quad bike only. Dont … Continue reading Maungatawhiri ZL1/WK-173
In the Hawkes Bay for more teaching, I have to look harder now for a new summit to do that will not involve an expedition to achieve. Rocky Range, on Ridgemount road was one I had been looking at for a while. A trip to the summits location to try and find a land owner to get permission from was first on the list. Although … Continue reading Rocky Range ZL1/HB-112
Earlier this year we lost Andrew ZL3CC to a sudden and unexpected heart attack. To remember him, we decided to have a day of SOTA activity on the Saturday following his birthday. This year that fell on Saturday the 15th of September. I decided it was high time to tackle Pouakai ZL1/TN-002. I was joined by Kyle ZL2KGF who had done the summit earlier in … Continue reading Pouakai – ZL3CC Memorial
I had a free day to kill so decided I would give Motere a go. While the day was sunny it was still quite cool under the canopy. That said it was still a pleasant day for a walk in the bush. Motere is East of Taumaranui. The track starts accross farmland and then turns into a quad bike track. There are a few stream … Continue reading Motere (motion) ZL1/MW-077
ZL-SOTA. Warren (ZL2AJ) and Emma 