This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
walls Whare to Kaitoke - 8-10 August or: DAPHNE GOES TRAMPING I'll bet it isn’t every day that a Taiwanese yellow plastic inflatable duck like me, gets invited to gO" tramping. with the Wellington Tounge and Meat Company (!). But there I was, tied by the neck to the back of some bloks's Macpac Torre. It was Friday night, the weather report forecast 200 mm of: rain. (oh goody) , and gale force winds (not so: hot - they ruffle the feathers). Our red bearded leacer, Jack McConchie, informed the troops that there were to be only nine of them, instead of the original 16. He also said that the other club trips set down for the weekend, had been cancelled, but that medium trampers: were made of sterner stuff, {like bricks instead cf brains !). I quickly became the centre of attention, as people turned me upside down and lcoked under my tail _~ feathers, to see whether they should call me Daffy, or Daphne. Silly humans, don't they know that plastic ducks don't. have name tags. Anne decided that she neeged female company, so Daphne I became. . 2): We arrived at Walls Whare, having walked from the bus through very, very, light drizzle and no wind. The three great white hunters we found at Walls were well provisioned with a dozen cans of beer each, and a * “) wonderful am-fm-zm-pm 100 watt stereo radio, which: Jack suggested would sound better with an axe burried between its woofers. At 5 am, the effects of the beer having worn off, one G.W.H. decided that his el-cheapo sleeping bag didn't guite have what it takes, and he lit out for home, taking with him the am-fm-zm-pm 100 watt stereo radio. ‘Morning arrived for the second time at 8 am and the . decision was made to ao up over Reeves. Unfortunately I was only able to enjoy part of the climb, as after an hour or so i had my throat ripped out by an overhanging branch. As you can imagine, that really took the wind out of me, and so I spent the rest of the . day's journey in the top pocket of the pack.
*~ ae
On the top of Reeves it was amusing to hear Jack Gescribe what the view would have been like, had they not all been standing on the inside of a cloud. At Tutuwai the flys were pitched and the gaping hole in my throat was repaired with tape. Tt was suggested that dinner start with SOUP, and so Jack openec four packets of Maggi, donated by various trip members. We all heard a sigh of relief as he realised that no two soups were the same flavour, - "phew, that was close", he said. The resultant, surprisingly pleasant tasting broth was foilowed by a main course of, believe it or not, sweet and sour, (POrK, (and not. the packet variety,: either). This excellent meal was to be topped off with cheesecake, not just a cheesecake but three cheesecakes (remember, Jack had been catering for sixteen !). Before’ they got into tne cheesecakes, however, Phillip and Liam were gept to the river to clean the billies, and return with water for a’ brew. ‘My heart wént out to them as I saw them returning with billies that had been cleaned and polished to a shine, inside and out. All this good work counted for nought as the red-bearded one, with ar evil smile’on his face, callously placed the gleaming billies over the fire, whence they immediately lost their shine. To make up for this, he announced that after the cheesecake they would all be treated to fresh popcorn. The grin that then appeared on Phillkp's face was something to behold. Some time during the night a shower of light rain fell, the only one during the whole weekend. Next morning, we had:a pleasant stroll down the river to Smith Creek, where we had lunch in the sun. The first.-wind of -the weekend. was felt during the walk over _ the hill to Kaitoke. ; To all those who cpted out of the weekend’s tramping, I will only say that you missed 2a goed one. The company I Had was the hest a duck could hope for. Ever the lack of rain didn't get me down. (down - -get it ? down - Cuck, (ch, forget it !).. My human tramping companions wouic sav, “You have to be. quackers to plan your weekend around a weather forecast". Honorary: ducks: Anne Greenvood Bruce Pool : _ Robert Fox Liam: Taylor “Murray Hughes Phillip Booth Rex Benbrook John Critchley . Trip Leader: Jack “Le Feet" McConchie Scribe: _ Daphne de Duck