From the vault: A Visit to the Kaimanawa Ranges back in the late 1980's

 ...looking back through time...

Here is the first of a new series of posts I will be writing about previous tramping trips I have undertaken. I have decided to call this From the Vault and I will be showcasing historic tramps I have previously covered in the blog. To start with lets take a look at a trip I did way back in 1987 when I first started my career in the New Zealand Army.

Mt Ruapehu from inside the Waiouru Training Area

A bit of background...I served in the New Zealand Army from 1987 to 1991 as a member of the Corp of Signals. I was posted to Waiouru ATG, Addington Barracks and Burnham Military Camp over that time. Waiouru used to be the main training camp for all new enlisted and commissioned soldiers as it has extensive areas of open tussock-land, mountains, volcanic desert, forest and rolling hills ideal for training. 

The Waiouru Army Training Area...tussock and hills!!!

While I was doing my basic soldier training we went for an exercise to the far back blocks of the Army Training Area along the border with the Kaimanawa Mountains. It is wild and seldom visited country up along the northern edge of the Training Area and few soldiers let alone civilians ever get to visit it.

 We criss-crossed between Kaimanawa Forest Park and the Waiouru ATA as we walked out to the Desert Road between Waiouru and Taupo.

The Desert Road near the northern edge of Waiouru Training Area

Anyway...here is a link to the article about one of the more remote places in New Zealand I have visited...the Kaimanawa Mountains.