This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Struan leader ILL Christina Keith by Keith Strode-Penny All quotes from "Zen and the Art of Enlightenment". ",.. when you lift up a net, all the holes are raised". The all inclusive vegetarian alternative trip to Club Rotoroa. This particular dream was hatched during a particularly wet AIC in some bleak hut. A gentle guitar strumming the Mommas and the Poppas, Morris dancing, a communal quilt, patchwork tent and .... lentils! Wow!
And so it was.
A beautiful sunset ferry crossing. The more senior and mature party members amused themselves with the InterIslander Games Book using bushcraft skills -and the odd beer to show the captain a short cut to Picton. It would have been good to have a conversation with him but his jaw dropped to the floor when we walked onto the bridge ‘til probably long after we walked out. "... ignorance is not knowing the root source of oneself and not knowing where myriad things are borne". When 2 am in the morning rolled round we didn’t feel very enlightened. Though, seeing a boat being towed down at 5 am in the morning looked pretty surreal. So was the thought of travelling on our leader’s revised (i.e. made easier) FE/ME schedule. The first sign of grief over unavailable moro bars occurs as morning tea rolls by. Dried fruit suddenly doesn’t look quite so good or as energetic. By 4 pm we feel distinctly lethargic under the late afternoon sun. We take a vote and Kristina is outvoted. We are going to follow the fit trip’s route. Except being vegetarian, we will be taking twice as much food for half as much energy. And so this trip still qualifies as FE.
After a delicious meal and dessert ~ seameal custard and yoghurtcovered ginger and other culinary pearls, we feel at one with nature.
Kristina didn’t feel at one with her muesili the next morning and we didn’t feel at one with nature plugging steps ( er ... grovelling) up Moss Pass either.
"Therefore everything is fundamentally uncreated - mountains are not mountains, rivers are not rivers"
After delicately stepping through an icy mountain stream (in flood), a brief sojourn at Lake Constance and marvelling at the ability of avalanches to reshape hillsides we arrive at Francis Junction. Along the way Struan bumped into an old friend of his - Huey. After (wisely) going for the high level campsite, Struan announced that tonight’s tea is going to be lentil curry flavoured with dried bananas, figs and dates - sounds great! For dessert Kristina rebelled against healthy alternative cooking and hauled out her 5 minute Chocolate Steam pudding. That was great. The next morning I awake to a rained on pit and lentil curry for breakfast. It is raining hard! "You should know that this is Buddha raising his eyebrows and blinking his eyes" Kristina sets a cracking pace using "lentil power". Struan and I follow behind gasping. Kristina did stop once to look at the scenery - we stop to have morning tea and discuss Movenpick Ice-Creams and the fat content of potato crisps. By lunchtime we reach the lake, our destination and sunspot. To complete our weekend of alternative entertainment, Kristina started her Macbeth homework (again), Struan went diving or should I say skinny dipping, before playing cards and I was driven to despair by the sandflies.
Now I would like to say thanks to Struan for a great trip, fine weather and leave it there but that would not be a complete trip report ... mumble, mumble, mumble , lentils ... mumble, mumble, mumble. "Keith is a walking advert for lentils"