This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
25 - 27 FEBRUARY 1994 By Sue Walsh It was one of those brilliantly fine, chilly, balmy February nights when we arrived at the roadend. Lots of noise was made by the Hardy Mediums as they set off fora moonlit walk up the river; less noise by the Fits who settled themselves under some trees (beware those who went in the obvious direction for the outside loo, voices could waft up saying, “I can see you...“”). Even less noise was made by the Easys who were trying to figure out. what they’d let themselves in for, and no noise from the little grey tent, pitched some distance from us.
A bright and blue, sunny moming peeked around the side of the Duchess as the Fits disappeared into the moming haze. The sun had to peek a second time before the Meanders finally roused themselves and set about having breakfast and getting ready to leave. Wayne and Jeanine departed on their circuit to meet up with us that evening at Sunrise Hut. There were a few new punters on this trip and after checking on gear, consulting maps and each other, we finally headed off to Sunrise Hut, The punters were keen to put their new-found Bushcraft skills into practise so we had frequent stops tolook at the map and surrounding country, andidentifying features. Lyndsay had come along on this trip to photograph the wildlife and flora; we would often round a corner to find him hovering over his camera.
As we wandered up the hill the sky clouded over and drops of rain started falling - the promised sunrise for Sunday suddenly looked very unlikely. Sunrise Hut was reached for lunch, and after a meander around, people disappeared for a walk around the ridge to a local high point. Two dots were spotted on the horizon and they slowly tumed into Wayne and Jeanine. After a chat, the Strollers continued on their way and Wayne and Jeanine carried on to the hut to set up camp and dry off. The Strollers returned and set about preparing dinner and chatting with the other occupants of the hut. South America was a favourite topic as quite a few of the people had travelled there. A pleasant evening was topped off with coffee and After Dinner Mints before everyone escaped to their pits in anticipation of the sunrise in the morning.
I guess I could say the sunrise was fantastic, but as I missed it that would be lying. We all finally surfaced, after the sunrise, and pattered into another day. Mist had filled the valleys and only the rugged tops were showing. We had another walk along the ridge before heading back to pack up and head back down. Just as we were departing, the Fits appeared in a cloud of sweat, telling tales about marked tracks on the map which were actually nonexistent. We left them to it and followed our marked trail towards the river until we spotted three doubtful-looking characters posing as Tongue & Meats. They were trying to play a trick on the Fits, but the Fits got to Sunrise before them and that put paid to their efforts.
Wayne and Lyndsay turned off at the Staircase and Jeanine carried on with us until we turned off to the river. We met up yet again with the Hardy Mediums where Tod showed us the latest fashion in tramping shorts before donning a new pair. A slightly hurried meander took us downstream and back to the Duchess, the swapping of stories, and a chance to reflect on an enjoyable weekend.