This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
FAIRLY EPIC MOONLIT SOUTHERN (SUNDAY 29 - MONDAY 30 AUGUST)
PUNTERS: Mark Galvin, Daniel Meares, Peggy Christianson, Chris Collyns (Leader), Rob Brown (Scribe), Gerard Galvin.
Friday night? ..... No, too wet. Saturday night? ..... No, too cloudy. By this time I was getting sick of being put off, and I think our leader may have been sensitive to this fact. Anyway, in slightly questionable weather, we assembled at Gerry's place at 3 in the afternoon on Sunday, 6 ice-axes ready for distribution to six very fit but timeworm F's. A quick group photograph and it was into the van driven by a long suffering close relative to be dropped off at Otaki Forks. We were hot on the trail at around 4:30 pm. Now, it is at this point I realised that there probably wasn't going to be much conversation on the move as I'm used to with lesser graded trips. But the silence was astounding. We were all very chatty up to where the first big grunt in the open starts on the way to
Field Hut. But after that, there was virtually zero talk. It got darker and darker and eventually we reached Field Hut Hut for a re-fuel and re-hydrate.
Field Hut was left in a cloud of dust and we stormed up to Kime in a time which I thought was not possible. It's amazing getting swept along with FE’s, how you can wear next to nothing except for a parka and some leggings, stop only for rocket-fuel and get to your destination thinking you haven't actually seen anything. Unbelievablell!
Kime was misty. The pasta was heavenly. Gerry's idea with fresh pasta and cheap Dolmio sauce was excellent. We had a good two hour stop at Kime to prepare for the "big push” across to Alpha. The decision was made to carry it through. There was surprisingly, no dissent, even with questionable weather conditions. Hector was reached sometime around midnight, but-in good time. It was bloody cold so we had to keep moving. There seemed to be a hell of a noreaster blowing across our faces from left to right, but that may have been a local variation of a general nor'westerly airstream, as they say. There was variable visibility, ranging from being able to see Alpha from the Beehives to just being able to see a few feet in front of you. There were a few hairy patches, one just down from Field Peak and a few razor-back ridge portions to negotiate under rather breezy conditions around the Beehives. Good thing we brought the ice axes. Looking to the left, we could see Masterton - coming and going, and to the right, the Hutt Valley and Wellington. I could even work out where Petone was and probably the very area where my flat is where Eleanor was snoozing her head off under a nice warm duvet, while I was trudging across shin deep snow having an absolute epic of a time. Well, we eventually stood triumphant, albeit briefly, on Alpha and then descended quickly to the hut. I
Relieved at reaching the hut, we did not want to think much about the 7 hour grunt along the Marchant to Kaitoke. We left Alpha Hut shortly after 4:00 am and begun the upsy downsy route via Hell's Gate and then south to Kaitoke. Comparing this to the Southern Crossing Race which I completed a couple of years back, doing it with a full pack on is definitely less enjoyable than doing it with just a day pack on. However, there's the catch that with regards to the Race, one's memory of the final stages of the Marchant track diminishes into a blur, which makes finishing the trip under full pack rather agonising, like "where's the #@#@@# road end?!" one keeps asking oneself. "Oh just around the next comer", “just over the next hill?....... etc. All punters eventually reassembled before midday on Monday at the Kaitoke road end, two of them via Kiwi Ranch, just for a diversion to meet Gerry's wife and partake of thermos coffee and scrummy muffins!! Thanks Helen, that was heavenly! Got home and slept for the afternoon, such a shame being sunny and all........