This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
An intéresting equation to describe this year's:Quéens Birthday jaunt into the majestic South Island (Home of Everything Good) and more specifically the inland’ ~~ ..¢ Kaikoura rangé. The objective was Tapuaenuku, at. acs . 2885 m one of the highest peaks outside the Mt Cook. National Park. ; <a Friday night involved the standard hysteria and panie-- ‘involved. with catching ‘the interisland ferry. Once I : safely incarcerated in the bar (climbing trips are so ' civilised!) this part of the trip proceeded smoothly.. The regt of the night was spent in securing the rental van and blasting down the highway stopping only to change drivers and bring nausea aflicted short people to the front of the van to avoid extensive redecoration of the interior (not to mention people and packs). ” Piteh= ing the tents after deciding the hay barn was just too. full (6" between the bales and roof is. just. not enough: Tan) and stacking Z's, brought Friday into Saturday. --. Setting off on Saturday morning was remarkably restrain-— ed, perhaps the prospect of a 6 hour slog up the Awatere River and Hodder tributary wasn't too appealing! A low. » river and sunshine attempting to sneak around clouds. «. made thé situation a lot more amiable and the rest of. the day drifted by in a haze of concentration, boulder ‘hopping, and river crossing (in excess of 50 times), the >x only "light" relief involved loading a certain Aussie's . pack with at least a kg of rocks as he attended to essential body functions just before a particularly ~strenuous climb out of the river béd. Lance (the a Masterton connection) and I were in hysterics comment" ing on the apparent increase in wéight of our packs with height and when the poor Aussie joined in in agreement ,«+ ‘well the result wasn't.easy to contain. The Hodder Hut (at about 1400 M) was reached. at about 3 o'clock (minus rocks). I Sunday, June 2nd dawned overcast (very high) and cool and a "true" alpine start was initiated. Away in the darkness at 6,30am, a row of twinkling headlamps and torches snaked down scree slopes upstream from the hut and headed for' the top. A successful crossing of the Hodder tributary was completed first then a short snow Slope: before entering a large basin below a saddle‘ 'to the southmost, connecting Tapuaenuku and Mt Alam. A democratic system was elected for snow plugging and despite'a 'tiny' navigation error and the ACG forming yes
j 2. a splinter group dedicated to the self glorification of body punishment, €he approach to the summit was straight forward. Once onto the ridge Splendid views of both the inland and seaward Kaikoura ranges greeted the team, with the North Island swarthed in cloud (what's new!). The final approach to the summit was reserved for the birthday boy (guess who) and when the final peak revealed itself, a more perfect birthday present would be hard to find. My 23xd birthday was spent kissing the ACG (slides to prove it), eating birthday cake and reading cards, soak-. ing up the sun's energy and bathing in the pleasure: of <= above it all on a perfect day with friends. Brilliant! On the way down a 600 M glissade proved to be.the fastest exit methed. As we wizzed past, another group grunting up the snow: slope, various ~Queen’s' waves (how appropriace) and convivial greetings were issued which must have been especially dem ;oralizing as the final ridge now ‘lookéd like a tribe of elephants had picniced up there. Back to the hut at a reasonabie hour for a big feed and a dirty: joke session, completed a perfect day.. is Monday was spent doing Saturday in reverse all the way down the river. Uneventful except for observing Lance engaging in self-destruction by filling his own pack with rocks. (They look good varnished on the book shelf he Zichons). Driving back .up the Awatere Valley afforded us with brilliant views of “eur. new peak. Tapuaenuku looked magnificent and» we all wished we could stay to: bowl Mt’ Alam or Mitre. Never mina! After blitzing the locals in ‘Blenheim with a display of pool even Eddie -Chariton' would be proud of, a very tired group crashed in the bar once again. fan proved that no matter AW tired: a Tongue & Meat is, charm can, win hearts. Good one. Team’ Members: Marcus (head straight to the saddle) Neeson, Mike (Rocky) Harmen, Lance (the Masterton Connection) Hayes, Dale (AGC or what) Parson, Janine (I'll do what I want to do) Tooley, David (where did he get that hat) Clelland, Peter (who was that man) May, Andrew (You didn't say anything about crampens) Brown, Tan (Never too tired) Wightwick, and David (Birthday boy and scribe). Emm.