This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
It was Friday the 13th (September).and a group.of carefree mountaineers spec. off into the sunset towards Tongariro National. Park, once presented to the »eople of New Zealand by Te Heu Heu,Tukino, chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa people. The aim of this expedition. was to. climb Mount: Ruapehu and spend one night campea on top. A pe Ay Pull of anticipation, these adventurous types finally drew to a halt in front of a public toilet block at the foot of the mountain - a fine place to brood upon the next day's ascent. After the usual brew and a bawdy tale, we bedded €own and dozed to the sweet sound of running water - occasional flushings Guring the ‘night. The next day dawned with Gubious weathér prospects. But “after reaching Turoa, it was-élear that Rangi the sky- father would smile’ upon us as the clouds Gisappeareas ig ai gee BY LE aes abl acs conditions ‘were fairly icy from the.start, so-with great enthusiasm, those of us* who were fresh.from.AIC III.strappec on our, crampons extra tight, eager to show off“our néwly.,acquireé.mountaineering skills. Onevhour later and 10 metres further on..cur. leader, the. intrepi¢ Humm, indicatedthat a lesson in Gistinguishing tight. from left would be appropriate; particularly as it applies ,to fitting .crampons. : ; I ake Sr 2: Our leader was ‘rearing to. go by this stage and ‘tock out his’ frustrations on a poor-unsuspecting- skier who looked suspiciously like our own Dale Parsons. Maybewshe is*ACG but there's no need to take it out on every Dale Parsons look @like, is there? Murray MacRae and Andrew Denley decided to break away at this point and climb Girdlestone, leaving the rest of us to take a more direct route to the crater an@ lunch! By the way; I would not recommenda pumpernickel sandwiches with spinach and mushroom pate to any of you mountaineers. » The dary unpleasant little-things will only be left to form ice blocks in your packs. After lunch, we climbed Paretetaitonga - for some of us the first ascent of a mountain peak. : ; Saturday evening clouded’ over ana we pitched camp on the plateau below Dome Shelter. There was some speculation as to what had happened to our Murray anc Andrew who had made off with.a few essential items of gear (including half a K2 tent) - but by that*time there was little to be done. We just had to try and block out those images of broken bones ‘and freezing bodieS..cccccee Never mind. After a hefty meal of "3 Minute Mac", which took an hour to cook, we turned our thoughts*to "sleeping out"! ‘Our courageous® leader and a rather game Claire’ now hac the’ chance to check out the new K2/2 fully convertible _ air conditioned Lightweight tent minus matching poles end fly. After spending a nightsdn this product, this iced-up pair were keen to recommend its design to Fridgidaire. vs The trials of the night fadea as the sun rose to reveal a wonderful panorama of snow and sky - Rangi and Papa at their best. To top it off, the figures of Murray and Andrew coula be seen on the horizon. These blokes had just spent the night in comfort in the Club hut, filling themselves with roast Ginner,. coffee, etc. They listenea with great disappointment to what they'd misse@ out on the night before - and a few of our party listened with great Gisappointment to their account of Auckland winning the shield. Agro. was high at, that, moment. ; Oh well .... after a bite of frozen: bacon and egg pie we took a wander up Te: Heu Heu's namesake to be rewarded with beautiful views of Taranaki and —Ngauruhoe.- ~ oa at A munch on some .chocolate and a display of muscular prowess from Humm spurred us on to dizzier heights - the peak Ruapehu, which was reached after much ‘kicking, cursing and swearing. The powers of the Anglo Saxon langUage should
not r be underestimated in these situations. oe n > . The inal ascent achieved, we stormed down the mountain towards the van, upsetting as many whooping skiers as possible en route. After a pleasant trip back to Wellington (accompanied among other things by the sensitive Humm, tears for fears combination) we were deposited on our doorsteps with a heap of good feelings resulting from an excellent weekend. Many thanks Te Heu Heu! "Whetu" O Ngoti Hauiti The mountaineers were: David Humm (leader), Murray MacRae, Andrew Denley, Murray Middleton, Harry Smith, Claire Silcock, Kirsty Woods (scribe), Paul McKay, Peter Jackson, Alastair Booth.