Brian Dougan Youth Programme

25/01/2026

Overnight trip to Woolshed Creek Hut -- 21, 22 January 2026

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09/01/2026

A report on a day to Packhorse Hut led by Chris McGimpsey follows, with Chris's summary first and then some photos:

"Everyone safely back in CHCH after a nice leisurely walk up to Packhorse hut with Jennifer, Joshua & Jack, plus Barney who I asked to come along at the last minute.
The trip ran from 9am till 2pm with a long lunch break at the hut during which I explained the local track network and Barney helped them setup a 3 man Spectrum tent. I spent some time explaining how the DOC hut book system works and got Jennifer to fill it in for her family. During the trip up & back Barney & I explained the process of re-wilding, pointed out ongaonga along with other native plants plus various bird and insect species. At the largest stream crossing I explained how to do an assisted river crossing and got them to actually form a family group in case they ever have to do it for real. We explained how the DOC snow poles & track markers worked and warned them of the dangers of following blue or pink triangles. They were a lovely family group extremely interested in the outdoors and keen to learn how they could do even more walking in the Port Hills".

The party consisted of Mum Jennifer, Dad Joshua and son Jack, with the aim of introducing the family and particularly Jack to walking, tramping and the outdoors.

06/12/2025

The Brian Dougan Youth Programme helped Hagley College with a day trip to Packhorse Hut. All former refugees from 10 different ethnicities and they really enjoyed the day! I was helped by Ian Wightwick, Sonja Risa and Raymond Ford.
A growing number have signed up for overnight trips in January and April! Yay!We are creating trampers!!

18/10/2025

Trip report by Greg from the CTC's Brian Dougan Youth Programme trip to Black Hill Hut, thanks Greg:

On the 27&28 of September me and my friends along side the Brian Dougan youth group to black hill hut. We were accompanied by Paul Yeoman ( Trip leader) and Belinda Hamblin (trip assistant). We met up at Hornby High School at 7:30 am on the 27 of september where we loaded our gear into a van and got underway to the starting point of the hike. It took about an hour and half to get there. Once we got to the start of the hike. ( View Hill car park) we quickly spread the group gear among ourselves and got started. We started at around 9 ish and walked till 12 ish with a few stops along the way for photos, snacks etc. At 12 we stopped and had lunch which took us around half a hour. Then we carried on down the track at 1-2 ish we were at the junction where we started the trek up the hill to black hill hut. We started going up hill and we spread out while going up. Fortunately for our two instructors we somewhat split into two different groups so that weren't alone. The first group made it up to a plateau where we thought it was the ridge and waited for the second group just to find out its not the ridge. Never the less once the second group made it up we had a break and powered on for rest of the day. After a couple hours up hill we finally made it to the hut where we were very thankful that we didnt have to do any more up hill. Unfortunately there was people in the hut so we had to pitch some tents. After that was done it was time for dinner. As we finished up with dinner we played this "Zilch" dice game where we rolled the dice and hoped for the best pretty much. Unfortunately gambling never actually works so a couple of us were in debt and fortunately for Aniita she won by a huge amount. Then we headed off to bed.
The next day we qu**ky made our way down the hill after packing up. We mostly didn't get spread out till the end where me and luke absolutely gunned it. As we regrouped we didn't stray too far from each other as we were still in ear shot. We stopped at the same place for lunch as the previous day. For the remainder of the walk me and Anita were blasting some beetles all the way to the van. On the way home were commenting on what we thought we went well. Anita said “ As a first time hike it was difficult and I will definitely remember it. It was also good social wise as i barely knew any of you guys beforehand and now i know you guys a little bit more. The views were also really good too”. Lochan said “ sleeping on the track” This is in reference to us waiting for the others when he fell asleep waiting. Dylan said “ sleeping in the tent was cool. Stella's stinky feet weren't good”. Stella said “ Everyone going at there own pace and understanding each others abilities. Also everyone just enjoying it”.Keah said “ I enjoyed that we had lots of breaks to regain our energy”. Luke said “ I enjoyed going up the hill and the hut was interesting" I think that's in reference to all the snorers in the hut. Then we have Anita saying “ It was really windy during the night and it was kinda creepy”. Paul thought it was an awesome group of people and fun to be with, which made life easy. Longer than he thought it was gonna be and he was impressed with everyone's attitude and just sticking it out. And lots of Stella's singing, talking and big mac combo round the table. Belinda said it was a great trip and great weather. Also super Impressed with everyones toughness and getting it done. Also thinks we're a amazing group.

05/10/2025

Chris McGimpsey and Joke de Rijke led a CTC Brian Dougan Youth Programme trip to Lake Daniell over 24-25 September. Thanks Chris and Joke! A little bit soggy of the way out but happy participants!