I have completed the Bus Stop circuit on Mt Somers many times before, it's a thoroughly enjoyable day out over varied terrain and scenery, encompassing loose rock, open tussock hills and waterfalls.

With the weekend weather forecast clear, dry but some wind our group headed to North Canterbury to complete the Tarn Hut and Youngman Stream

I have lived in Mid Canterbury for 14 years now, and in all that time I have never made the trip to Peak Hill. All that changed for me in September 2022, I originally had this trip planned for the first weekend in September but unfortunately the weather was unkind and the wind too strong for a pleasant outing.

We had planned to do the full circuit around Mt Somers in a day, knowing full well it was going to be 26km and take us anywhere between 10 and 12 hours. Well we got half of it done, and it was more a case of the weather beating us down than our inability to complete the task.

Have you ever driven through Springfield heading towards Arthur’s Pass, looked at the skyline ridge of Castle Hill Peak, seen a gap that looks like a missing tooth and wondered what it was? Well that my friends is The Torlesse Gap.

An early December 2021 tramping club trip was rescheduled due to weather, it went from plan A to plan D in the space of about a week, I wasn't too worried as I was eager to get out and it didn't really bother me where we were going.

Potts Hut, located in Hakatere Conservation Park, exudes history from every metal panel and nail. Once upon a time, this hut was part of Hakatere Station and used by the annual musterers. Scan the walls for long enough and you begin to feel the history come alive, the earliest names date back to 1906.

I've lived in Mid Canterbury now for 14 years, in that time I have been a member of the Methven and Districts Tramping Club for all but one year. Rabbit Hill and Trig M has appeared on the trip scheduled at least once every year, and so far either I have not been available to do the trip or it has been cancelled due to weather or lack of numbers.

Kakahu Bush is 15 kilometres from Geraldine, on the way to Fairlie. It's somewhere I have heard of but never been to before, and was glad to have the opportunity to check it out.

The initial part of this track follows a marked walking/mountain biking track that takes you to Lake Emma, but to get to Mt Harper you divert off this track and aim for the clearest spur going up. There is no marked path and the initial climb is significantly steep, but the views are worth the effort.