This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
BY ANDREW MCCOLGAN I
The start of the tramp had an ominous beginning; with driving rain, it really did not look good. I have to confess that I did ring Anita and ask whether or not the trip was still on. I was politely told that the tramp was going ahead regardless of the weather conditions. After making myself appear rather whimpish in front of the trip leaders, for even mentioning the word cancellation, I trundied off to the usual pick up spot at the railway station. The two and a half hour trip was followed by a pleasant night under a fly. I was surprised at the attitude of ail the wouldbe trampers who opted to sleep in the truck rather than under the fly; oh I forgot to mention that the rain had stopped by the time we had reached the road end. in fact, the rain kept away for much of the tramp and only appeared in the form of a few brief showers. The tramp to Roaring Stag Lodge began with an easy first leg which ended at the second swing bridge. From there it . Was a bit of a grunt uphill for an hour or so, followed by a gentle downhill section which just seemed to go on forever. I think this was due mainly to the large amount of mud on the track. In fact, the mud in places reached mid-shin deep, thank goodness for decent boots and gaiters. The track itself along the way to the lodge, did not have a vast array of “Scenic views, except at the beginning ef the tramp, the three swing bridges and at the lodge itself. We did eventually reach the lodge, where we had a bite to eat. We were then joined by the Mediums and at this stage most people in our group were looking forward to the stay in the lodge, but due to the large number of trampers wanting to use the hut, ie. 10 Kaumatua's, and a little gentle persuasion by the two leaders, it was decided to camp under flies at a rather nice campsite across the river. The evening meal consisted of no less than three courses cooked around a rather large bonfire and was just what the doctor ordered to combat the rather coid and somewhat wet open air conditions. My compliments to the chefs and the fire starter. I was a keen starter for sleaping under the flies as it gave me the opportunity to use my new bivyy bag. At the midway point on the tramp back to the roadend most people had given up on trying to skirt around the mud pools and just ploughed on through the middle of them. It was also at the end of the trip that the sun decided to make an appearance, typical isn't it? I can only speak for myself and say that I did enjoy the trip. I wish to thank Kirsty Woods and Anita Catchpole on behalf of the others, for their patience and leadership of this trip.