This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
This must have been the cushiest, most laid back, Easy trip some of the members of our group have ever experienced. We watched black clouds thickening as we travelled north towards the Ruahine Ranges through Kimbolton. We knew that anyone tramping in the Tararua Ranges would probably wear it ... we figured that with Struan’s presence we would probably wear it as well. Friday night - The FEs and Mediums headed off towards the hut, about 20 minutes away. It was raining. Lyndsay had turned the Duchess around to face into the wind. Good move, except that during the night the wind shifted 90 degrees to the bus. And it rained! By morning the road beside us was a small pond. We set off during the first break in the rain and were quite surprised when we came across the hut. Some Hut! Running water, a flushing loo and a shower. We were true to tramping form ... no showers.
The rain cleared by mid-afternoon so we took a leisurely walk towards iron Gate. Saturday night was spent playing cards, reading and drinking heaps of Murray’s tea. Sunday morning, we decided that we had better do some work before returning home, and headed for the tops on the ...??... Range. As a result of this little jaunt I have a new word ...trundling (a form of tramping, but at a very leisurely pace). There were nine in our group ... most just there for the walk, but one doing double duty as bird caller and sniffer.
Thanks to our leader Murray for the wonderful drinks of tea. People on this trip: Murray Worsop (Leader), Sharyn Long, Raewyn Pollock, Liz Kahn, Tania Loveard, Mark Addison, Tony Alexander (sniffing) and Kara Lipski (bringing up the rear ... as always).