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LABOUR WEEKEND DIARY (october 19- 22) _ Kawekas_ ‘Médium Trip
- Karen O'Byrne
Friday - Dear Diary, It's very late at night so I won't write much. We spent the evening driving north-to the Kaweka State Forest where we are going tramping “Over Labour Weekend. It's a long way from Wellington and just to make ‘Sure that none of us got bored on the way our drivers took us on a ‘mystery tour of Hawkes Bay. (Just privately I suspect they were also taking themselves on a mystery tour). Dear Diary, , Saturday - _ Today we came to Ballard Hut via Middle Hill Hut. We had to climb a couple. of thousand feet to-get here and although the track was steep in - places it was in superb condition. Ballard's Hut sleeps 4 people but as the Fit Trip beat us to the Hut we all had to sleep out. Fortunately it didn't matter that we were on an almost vertical hillside as some of the group proved to be ace excavators. Those who were good at excavating -- were lousy when it came to applying the Minimum Impact Code and sites for 3 flies and one tent were found in various locations. Alex ensured that the members of his fly slept soundly by serenading them to sleep with all 53 verses of a poem from the Penguin Book. of Erotic Verse. Sunday Dear Diary, The day began with the intriguing case of the disappearing primus. We had used Nick's primus for cooking. last night and when he went to bed he left it behind the hut. This morning the primus was gone but the access= ories remained. Despite looking in all the places the wind might have “mis blown, a primus it was not found, The day's tramping started with a climb back up to the ridge line and then a traverse across the tops to the spur which would take us down to Makino Hut. The weather was miserable and PVC's, mitts and overtrou were the order of the day for the time spent on the tops. We reached Makino Hut in time for lunch and although the sun had been shining immediately prior to our arrival it decided then that it was time to call a break. We set up camp at the Mangatainoka hot springs. The hot springs were _great and the letter which one individual. suggested we send to the Forest Service should be given official Club-endorsement: Dear Forest Service, ‘Re the Mangatainoka Hot Springs, we request that they be installed in the following locations..... , Monday — Today consisted of sidling along the Mohaka River to the roadend and then a 50 minute road walk back to the rental vans. My arrival at the roadend very fortunately coincided with the departure down the road of some other . bods in a ute” who just happened to have room to squeeze a pack in. : Soon after we started our homeward journey the weather turned super foul and we drove into a snow storm, When we stopped at Napier for petrol the front of the vans were still plastered with snow. One individual realis-~ ed the possibilities presented by melting snow and attempted to put it in onan f/2 places that it really shouldn't go. I can't hold it against poor Alex because a morals officer had not been appointed for the trip and Alex did have that book of verse with him, Those on the trip: Bruce Taylor, Bruce Murdoch, Kevin Osten, Stu Lusty, Pam & Rob Whitla, Brad Poulter, Nick Winter, Graeme Searle, Karen O'Byrne and Alex Gray.