Text taken from the club newsletter.
At 6.30 the club truck stood ready to remove fifteen or so adventurous souls from the confines of Wellington. Ten of us were on the Easy/Medium trip led by Marshall Clark. The rest were slightly more masochistic fit trip trampers led by Anita Catchpole. Our destination was the seemingly distant Haurangi range.
I was soon to discover that this was like no ordinary bus trip as we stretched out side by side on mattresses. On a long journey this type of travel seemed the perfect way to break the ice, along with teeth, bones etc. Some of us soon felt glad we hadn't eaten much for tea (or anything at all in my case) for a few distinctly green faces began to appear as the winding road had its effect. Fortunately the long straight road past Lake Wairarapa steadied everyone's insides.
It was overcast but warm when we reached the campsite near the coast below Putangirua Pinnacles. The Easy trip soon had its two flies up. The weather looked a little threatening and we were resigned to at least some rain over the weekend.
Three first-timers: Rolf, Peter and Sally, were with us having migrated from various parts of England and Europe; Peter arriving in NZ just three days earlier. They brought along an interesting variety of camping material previously unknown in these parts. Sally had a clear waterproof plastic sheet (used for some unmentionable purpose in hospital wards) to lie on and Rolf, too, was taking no chances with waterproofing. He had brought enough black polythene to seal a reservoir, or so it seemed when he first produced the large black bundle from his pack.
Next morning we were awoken with Earl Grey tea seasoned with sprigs of Manuka (or was it the other way around), courtesy of our leader, Marshall. A very refreshing start to the day.
We soon set off through the bush to reach the pinnacles. The high columns of rock certainly looked impressive in the middle of the bush - like a little piece
of the Grand Canyon in our own backyard. They were soon the target of numerous clicking cameras.
The birdlife was plentiful. kererus, grey warblers and tuis could all be heard and sometimes seen if you knew where to look. It was interesting to tramp with people who hadn't heard the distinctive sound of our native fauna before. They were suitably impressed. Sadly most of the bush seemed to have been cleared/burnt long ago and it was all in varying stages of regeneration.
After a bit of a slog up and down the hills we reached the Makotukutuku river where we decided to camp in a semi-flat spot. Our timing was perfect as it began raining hard almost as soon as the flies had gone up. Despite the wood being damp Marshall and Peter soon had a roaring fire going. Hungrily we gathered around the fire while a small team prepared tea. The meal comprised of prodigious amounts of macaroni cheese and bacon (and lots of other things well hidden in a sea of white sauce). As usual there was an oversupply of everything.
A special feature on the menu all weekend was PEANUT BUTTER. Peter Moosbrugger's supply of the stuff was never-ending. At each stop he would coat everything in sight (cheese, biscuits, chocolate etc) with a thick layer, or just eat it with his fingers. "Crazy foreigner" we thought. However most of us were glad to try out some of his less revolting combinations.
After tea had removed thoughts of food from our minds a few of our party gathered around the campfire and kept the possums (and the fit trip camped nearby) awake with stirring renditions of various songs. These ranged from "Yellow Submarine" (unforgettable lyrics there!) to "West Virginia" etc, etc. Finally tiring of our choral efforts we crawled off to bed at about 11 pm.
The next morning we packed up and set off at a respectable time (9.30) to head out via the Makotukutuku stream. The valley was narrow and flanked with dense forest. We were soon leaping recklessly from boulder to boulder, or just wading in the stream when the alternative seemed too much effort. In the bright sunlight the bush on either side of us displayed an endless variety of shades of green. Large pungas were everywhere and, unfortunately, so were the stinging nettles. The slippery rocks that looked deceptively dry were a problem to most of us.
At lunchtime we sunbathed beside a pool and Peter Moosbrugger kept us entertained when he jumped (fell) in.
We reached Cape Palliser road at about 3pm after a final trudge through untidy semi-cleared farmland. We passed lots of sheep, thereby giving the club newcomers a quick intro to pastoral New Zealand to round off their weekend geography lesson.
At the roadside we met the club truck and then waited 45 minutes for the fit trip. Images of ice-cream and milkshakes at Featherston hovered before our eyes as we waited for the others. Finally a pile of trampers burst out of the undergrowth and came jogging toward the truck looking like they were on a commando exercise.
Thanks Marshall for a most enjoyable trip. Thanks to the newcomers as well - I'd never appreciated how versatile peanut butter is as a food flavouring agent, or how versatile food is as a peanut butter flavourer, depending on your addiction level. The Haurangis are well worth a visit and are far easier to reach from Wellington than most of us had thought.
On the trip were: Marshall Clark (leader), William Cone, Lynn Parry, Peter Moosbrugger, Ralf Luetzenkirchen, Sally Marsh, Michelle Dawes, Bruce Taylor, Peter Jackson and Bob Haig.