This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
BY PENNY HARRISON
The big question to be asked about this weekend was - Who really were the Easy's and who were the Fit's? Out of the four groups the Easy's were the only ones to successfully complete their planned trip. At ieast the Medium's and Easy's didn't require an overnight stop at Mountain House on our way to Powell Hut as was the case with the Fit group. We do know the FE's ventured further afield but as a result of the paradise weather conditions, decided to return early to bask in the sun. Friday night heated up in more ways than one with both the Easy and Medium trios sharing the truck. It soon felt like a Sauna once we were all in our pits, after farewelling the Fit's and FE's. A few hairs stood on end when Steve stuck his head around the door of the truck, saying that Mark, the DOC guy wanted $4 from each of us. So a quick decision was made to move the truck to the very edge of the boundary making our point clear. Saturday morning we awoke to a drizzly overcast day. So after a slow start and much coaxing to get out of bed we set off on our first part of the journey to Mountain House. A stop here provided shelter for lunch. By this tinie we had become aware of a serious wind problem with one of our team members (who shall remain nameless). Maybe this was the cause of the bad weather?!? Hence everyone was keen to be the one to set off first to keep upwind of the problem. Group consensus decided it was unnecessary to evacuate for medical assistance at this point. Finally at our destination of Powell Hut, we were disappointed to see very little of the snow we were promised. What was there was washed away overnight by the rain. We arrived to find most of the Medium's already in their pits. (Approx. 2.30pm). What a great idea - so we joined them. Which proved to be a wise move as the hut quickly became overcrowded with the arrival of a Scout group and a DOC team along with a few unknown stragglers. Meal time was entertaining - all these people trying to find a space to prepare food. We experienced problems with some Tongue & Meats sneaking bits of our chicken. We opted for a liquid dessert as patience was wearing thin waiting for it to set. On that note I must mention the toilet facilities. After a few scary moments battling the weather on the journey between the hut and the long-drop, you would arrive to find the smell overpowering and the contents overflowing. Saturday proved to be a bad night for catching up on beauty sleep as a result of stormy weather and various human noises. Sunday morning saw a mass exodus from the hut after a lazy lie in. Lack of sleep was starting to show with some of us. Our Trip Leader was caught searching for her breakfast in the bottom of her sleeping bag! Dare we ask what she was looking for? Can we put our trust in this person ensuring we return safely?
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The return trip was short as everyone raced to the bottom to get out of the weather. After changing out of wet clothes and a cuppa tea and finishing off the food (not located in Sue's sleeping bag) we headed back to civilisation.
Easy Trip Team: Sue Walsh (Leader) Mathew Craig Bruce Pool Phillip Simon Jill Hutson Penny Harrison