This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
By Shane Connolly
"I hope you packed your snorkel Shane!" These were not the words I wanted to hear from my boss as I left work on the Friday night. However, due to an attractive offer of chocolate fish, I had already committed myself to. being one of the two “token Males” on this trip.
Much to my surprise, Friday night saw the Mediums sleeping in the Duchess. A treat that in the past I had thought only the reserve of Fit and FE trips. Conversation on Friday night ranged from Wayne's Excursions Overseas (Wayne's World?) to Sue using T-shirts to dry dishes (From the sublime to the ridiculous?) Anything to avoid thinking about the weather.
Saturday morning saw breakfast eaten under threatening skies. After about half an hour of travel the drizzle rolled in and it became obvious that Saturday would not offer us scenic vistas across the northern Tararuas. After skipping through the slush for a further hour, a unanimous decision was made to call it a day at the Easy trip’s destination - Waiopehu. The two turnoffs to the Ohau shelter that we passed (one of which was unmarked on the map) did not cause us any concern. We knew our relative position by checking our trip time (Just like Uncle Geoff taught us in Bushcraft 1.02).
‘A 10 minute rest stop along the way to Waiopehu revealed that Sue was missing. A short stroll back along the track and we found Sue looking cold and miserable and tired (Yes - even trip leaders can have “off” days!). After regrouping, it was only a further 20 minutes before reaching the shelter of Waiopehu Hut. Not the most salubrious of huts but still very comfortable given the weather. Despite the wet wood we managed to get a fire started (Just like Uncle Lindsay taught us in Bushcraft 1.01) and by the time the Easy trip arrived the hut was cosy and after drying out, preparations for dinner began. Dinner turned out to be a competition between the two groups with fine fare being consumed by both groups.
After a hearty meal, most retired to the comfort of their pits and the odd massage of sore shoulders was undertaken. With most in a languid state, the after dinner conversation was a struggle. However, I did manage to find out why it was that Debbie always tripped in those school sports day sprints!! (All will be revealed later!) Sunday turned out drizzly and the trip out proved unadventurous. But before leaving Waiopehu Hut I was told to close the door. ! must have done this very well as it took the Fits 15 minutes to get it open again.
Back at the Duchess we met up with Tod who had abandoned the Fit trip and spent the night at Te Matawai Hut with D's and V's hoping that the Mediums would arrive! All in all a great weekend for company and food but a shame about all of the liquid stuff. And much relief to still have eyebrows after christening my new primus.
The punters were: Sue, Debbie, Penny, Wayne and Shane (scribe).
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