With the introduction of the new club website, Campbell Elliot has retired from role as Webmaster and the Committee would like to thank Campbell for the significant contribution that he has made.  Campbell took on the role of Webmaster in 2003 and did it so successfully that the original site had 21,000 hits during it's life and it became the largest source of new members for the club. 

Garry Brooks had kindly agreed to take on the role of Webmaster for the new site.  You can contact Garry through the Contact Us page at ww.nstc.org.nz.

The North Shore Tramping Club website has had a makeover and you will find everything that's in the monthly newsletter and more including:

• News about the club and the ability to download past monthly newsletters
• What's On covering upcoming trips
• Trip Reports including higher resolution photographs of the great places we visit
• Membership information especially for anyone interested in joining the club on How to Join
• A one stop place for Useful Information
• An open Forum where you can give and seek advice
• Information about the club and its history on About Us
• Club contact information including the ability to send messages through the site on Contact Us:
• Trip Bookings to Elizabeth Kinnell
  
• Membership Enquiries to Lynda Langridge
  
• General Enquiries to the Committee

We appreciate your feedback so please tell us what you think of the new site by contacting a committee member, or via the site here.

The Committee,  North Shore Tramping Club

(Special thanks to John for all the hard work he put in over the Christmas break to do this much needed update of our web page. It will be the best possible advert for the club and point of contact for people interested in coming out with us. Blane Cameron, who developed the old site, really likes the new web page – and he sends his very best wishes to all his tramping friends in NSTC  - Trish)

A recent article in the Herald “Boosting Brain Health a Walk in the Park”, said the following:

Healthy people who walk at least 10km a week have bigger brains, better memories and improved mental function compared with couch potatoes.

Walking wards off heart disease and maintains mental fitness

You need to walk at least 10 km a week to sustain your brain volume and reduce the risk of mental decline

See the trips list …..and see you on the tracks!!!

Macpac opened a store in Queen Street again – just in Vulcan Lane near the Queen Street end.  They also have an online outlet shop  www.macpac-outlet.co.nz

Bivouac – A new branch has opened in Albany www.bivouac.co.nz/

Don’t forget that the club has these for sale at social evenings. Waitakere and Hunua maps are $7 each and pack liners $3 and $3.50 depending on size.

Come along to our first social evening of the New Year, January 26th which has a Scottish theme. Roger will be showing photos and talking about his conquest of a number of the Munroes. Then you will be treated to a viewing of Bill Macfarlane's DVD on the West Highland Way.  It promises to be compelling viewing even if you may not relate to the Scottish mists at the height of the southern summer!  Linger a while afterwards to enjoy the company of your fellow trampers over a nice cup of tea and a tasty supper - sorry no haggis this time.

As requested by you we are increasing the number of social meetings – bi monthly for 2011.  The dates for the rest of 2011 will be  -  30 March, 25 May (AGM), 27 July, 28 Sept, and 30 November.

Pam, Gill and Elizabeth.

Remember that the next one after this one will be 30th March – now bi- monthly for 2011.

Roger Parsons of Parsons Bookshop has donated the book Days Walks in New Zealand to the club library.  The book will be available is available to borrow at club social nights.

Day Walks in New Zealand is the latest tramping guide in the innovative, new Bird's Eye Guide series. Written by Shaun Barnett, the best-selling author and photographer of Bird's Eye Guide Tramping in New Zealand Day Walks in New Zealand also uses latest generation 'bird's eye' computer-generated maps, showing a tramping route in three dimensions something unable to be achieved with a conventional topographical map.

Each walk is supported by relevant route information and there are full-colour photographs throughout from Shaun's own photo-library. Walks are selected from the entire country and include day walks suitable for first-timers and families, as well as options for those with a higher level of fitness and experience. The combination of maps, photography and writing from the country's leading tramping writer arguably makes this the best New Zealand day walk book available. Bird's Eye Guides continue to set a new standard in tramping and tourist publications. 

Roger Parsons of Parsons Bookshop has donated the book Classic Tramping in New Zealand to the club library.  The book will be available to borrow at club social nights.

Craig Potton Publishing produced the book and describe it as "a beautifully photographed and sensitively written tribute to fourteen of New Zealand's finest tramping trips. This revised and updated edition now includes superb Bird's Eye maps that show each route in three dimensions and two new tramps: the Frew Saddle-Toaroha Saddle and the Northwest Ruahine Range. The featured tracks are: Tararua Peaks, Hollyford (Fiordland), Nelson Lakes to Lewis Pass, Pouakai Range (Egmont), Kaweka & Kaimanawa, Cascade Saddle (Mt. Aspiring), Dragon's Teeth (Kaharangi), Three Passes (Arthurs Pass), Dusky Track (Fiordland), Makarora to East Matukituki (Mt. Aspiring), Five Passes (Mt. Aspiring), Copland Pass (Aoraki/Mt. Cook and Westland/Tai Poutini), Frew Saddle-Toaroha Saddle and the northwest Ruahine Range. Trips range from moderate three-day hikes to more challenging multi-day adventures for experienced trampers. Sister volume to Classic Walks of New Zealand."

Roger Parsons of Parsons Bookshop has donated the book Huts, Untold Stories from the NZ Back-Country by Mark Pickering.  The book will be available to borrow at club social nights.

This from a recent review…….

For those who don't know Mark and his work (why not?)he is the trampers tramper, hut aficionado and author of many guide and tramping books.

The new book takes about 15 huts from around the backcountry and he weaves a social history around each. Fascinating stories of musterers, rabbiters, boundary keepers and water race men etc and how and why the huts are where they are.( Do you know how long the longest water race in NZ is? You will be surprised.)

As he says these are the stories of solitary men who seldom wrote anything down and the huts are perhaps the only evidence left of their passing. Lord Bledisloe did graffiti a hut in the Ahuriri to mark his passing.

If you have ever lain in a hut at night listening to the rain beating on the roof and wondered who has shared this hut over the years, this book is for you