This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
15 - 17 APRIL 1994 By Robert Cruickshank This all starts with a ferry ride, followed by a tan trip toa place called Anakiwa. Fromhere the Easy group travelled past glow-worm encrusted streams to a camping ground, to fall asleep to gentle possum lullabies (suuure >:-7).
The next day! The local wildlife includes a very fearless bluebird, one weka, and AAACK wasps! Once underway though, you soon began to realise just what a beautiful place the Sounds really is... (Good thing took along 2 rolls of film :-D) At lunch, two more specimens of wildlife; one goat, and one peculiar sounding thing (sounded like a sorta gentle bubbling with occasional farting) that seems, now, to be worthy of being called a Garply. (No, I didn’t actually see the thing, I just heard it)
The track proceeded to cut into more domesticated looking lands; this “groomed” look lasted the rest of the trip and bugged the hell outa me. Hmmm... no wonder the glossy pamphlet sez to start the track at Ship’s Cove!
[DIGRESS ON: The track we walked was part of the Queen Charlotte Track, which by my calcs could probably be walked end-to-end in along weekend. DIGRESS OFF]
By the time the blister on my foot was getting nice and sore, we hit the Te Mahia saddle. Here we could possibly go down to Mistletoe Bay, and lose most of the evening sun, or pay for a night at Te Mahia and enjoy it.
Hedonism and sun worship prevailed. --)
[DIGRESS ON: Te Mahia is operated by the Hood family; Trevor Hood may be remembered as one of the caretakers at Mana Island A night there is about 9850. DIGRESS OFF]
Te Mahia has: Great Swimming * A Kitchen * A Rec Room (with not-quite-functional radio, TV’, table soccer) * Ice Crear, Fizzy Drinx, & Other Hedonistic Foodstuffs * A Family of Wels * Great Aspect!!! If I remember righily, the sandwichy things that were nearly snarfed by «ine weka were Fiona’s. And there were two chicks.
Dinner was nacho-~:id; chilli beans with sour cream and - com chips, followe! by fruit salad with custard - and
ASSORTED SINFUL HEDONISTIC ICE CREAM SUN- DAES! All that and a tv2litre bottle of Coke... Dear Gopod... :-9
[DIGRESS ON: What's really needed is a sort of trampy confessional where people can get their guilt about this sorta thing off their chests. Tramper: — Bless me Father, for I have slummed {goes on to describe a loathsomely hedonistic trip, full of junk food, urban landscapes, and tramping well below his/her ability.} Priest: A sorry story indeed. For penance, I bid you to do a Penn Creek.
Tramper: — {Exits gushing thanks}
[DIGRESS OFF]
The next day involved hopping from Te Mahia saddle to Portage saddle. The bush still had that... urbanised look about it. Whilst] and some others trudged along the track, afew people ditched packs and dashed up to the lookout nearby - causing some quite long waits. (I got as far as a grassy part of the hillside with tremendous views, all the way up to Kenepuru Head, and when the stragglers finally did reach me, I gestured at the panorama and said “Alll right, shutterbugs - take that!”)
Apart from sighting a microwave station en route and an incoming liner during lunch, the rest of the trip was uneventful. A First World War memorial greeted us at the Portage saddle, where some of us rested, watching the wind blowing wasps about, while the hedonists trotted down to the Portage dairy. Then? A cat’ ride to Picton, dinner at Stokers and a ferry ride back. (And for me, a change of gear and Night Packing, then sleep on until lunch)
(EXPL ON = Annoyed -D = Well allll right! (big toothy grin) = Heh heh heh -9= Yum yum (smiley licking lips) <foo> = italics [DIGRESS ON .. DIGRESS OFF] = EXPL OFF} digression