This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
by Jo McKenzie So, its Christmas hols and anybody who’s anybody has split the Wellington/working picture ... well, that’s what they thought anyway! All except three exceptional ladies, that is of course, Ilse seliiey Kim Austin (a Vic tramper) and myself!! Fourth of January was D-day for this 2 day event. It’s my job to round ‘em all up at 8 am and herd ‘em off to the start of the Jumbo/Holdsworth Highway ... the course progresses along the river, up a spur to Jumbo Hut, along the tops to Mt Holdsworth, down to Powell
Hut and out the race track to the finishing line ... of course, being the hols this is to be done at a relaxing pace!!! (Sunday stroll). Camp is pitched in Jumbo Hut, then its time for reading about the mating habits of the Kakapo, which are quite hilarious and sad at the same time - the male makes a booming sound which is meant to attract the female, unfortunately it is quite hard to identify the direction from which the booming sounds are coming and you get the following - Male: "Come and get me" Female: "Where are you?" Male: "Come and get me" Female: "Where are you?" - Male: "Come and get me" Female: "Look!! Where the hell are you?" Male: “Come and get me" Female: "Oh, go to hell!!!"
So, no wonder the poor wee chaps are a little bit short on the old stock count!
Then it was time to dine on the "better than you would normally get at home" sort of meals and play cards. Sunday included some amazing views, great weather, more readings, excellent company and of course, the necessary ice creams to finish off such a good weekend!
Cheers, Jo Editor’s Note: If anyone wants to read more about the Kakapo (or the Komodo dragon or the Mountain Gorillas or ...), read "Last Chance to See" by Douglas Adams (author of Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy series amongst other things) and Mark Carwardine. Its very entertaining, as well as informative, reading.