This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
PELORUS RIVER FIT TRIP (January 18-21) - Murray McRae Friday, night saw us all fit and medium trips alike, standing around bemoaning the couple of slow pokes that had not yet arrived. On the ferry .we made a bee-line for the bar where we settled down to.a beer and a chat. Picton was soon’ sEeened and, sustained by the ubiquitous pie (WOT no. chicken curry left?!) we all piled into a Delux Motors bus for a fast trip. to-Nelson. In Nelson we took a scenic tour along the narrow paths of Nelson! s sky- .cLline, before the medium trip: disembarked on what was surely, Nelson! 8 ‘answer-.to the: lover's retreat on Mt Victoria! It wasn't much later that) ‘we were ‘also tossed off the bus and our road walk began. At. 2.00am: we put up flies’ and dived into: our pits. .At 6.30am we were up again and soon on the hour and a half walk to the Roding: Valley picnic area where a walk-bridge looked a little worse for wear after the recent floods. A jump off the bridge for Ian and" contraband apples: for the rest of us, and we were off to Browning I ‘Hut. By-passing Hackett Hut we were soon reposing at Browning, sweating” "and : smiling. After a quick snack we started over the: saddle. This speil saw yours truly looking like a prime candidate for a blown fuse,.still I made it to the lunch stop on the Pelorus side. Here Jamie was almost forgotten when “we left (well, he was so quiet, asleep down there!) A long hot sidle was encountered that afternoon, ending in a blissful swim at Roebuck Hut. As tea was cooked lots:of frantic work went into readying tubes for the MOLT OW. ry, Up and at it, wet suits ‘@onnedl we soon hit the cold water... And Ghalatee ‘ hit a sharp rock just after. Many patches later we are off in earnest, : .2-/3
one hour later casualty number two as Jamie and Paul ko'ed their raft on something sharp. Those two "Buck Rats" were seen a little later heading for the sidle track. Graeme on a big tube purloined from the ill-fated raft, was then elected leader of the pack due to his desire to test the white foamy bits. Lunch was had that day in the sun on the beach at Midey Hut with the mecium trip plus "Buck Rats". That afternoon brought with it plenty of spills, and bruised shins and bottoms (and did someone say heads?) were dished out to all. That night we met again with the medium trip. We also encountered two cowboys in leather hats, toting rifles and 200 rounds of 303, 4 litre tins of kero, 101b hags of rice, ete. They were off to see the moose in Fiordland! These boys had some good stories to share. Good luck you félla's, you have a long way ta go. Monday brought with it the promise of rain and vet more river to tube, The day to lunch was spent paddling lena quiet pools 4nd shooting white foaming bits. nt lunch- time the rain set in, nersuadine three of us to walk the lant houy slong the road rwuch to the amusement of _ these local farmers that saw us in our tight rubber rainweeri “At the pickeup noint we founc the Outward Bound school's truck which providec shelter for a charge inte more natural attire. On the trip were: - Jamie Clelland 2.5., Paul Driscoll ("Incredible Hulk"), Murray MacRae, Sharon Praser, Bruce smith, Peter Jackson, Fiona Helson, Tan Hadfield ©.S., and Graeme Hawthorne (leader). PLS. You all missed a pearler of a trip.
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