This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
We hinted to Lyndsay at the Railway Station that we wanted to sleep in the Duchess but no dice. We tried again at the roadend, especially after our arrival coincided with the lightning. No way. Lyndsay intended to spend the nightin his own bed. (Well that’s what hesaid) “There's a great campsite further upstream’. I had heard that “the bridge was out” and having only been this way once before, and not having used a bridge, couldn't figure out which one was gone. So Sarah and I whizzed upstream and checked out the swing bridge. Yep, everything in place, so it was off into the wet night for our group of 10. (It would have been TI but Dave McDowall had a lifting injury).
We found some terraces and checked where the water level tended to rise to. Seemed okay, so we set up camp —a-bit further -up.-No-sooner-had-we-all-crawled-into-our dying batteries to turn the thing off when they went for 7 pits, when it started to deluge. Chris found himself lying ina runoff channel - and very wet. A large billy and some diversionary technology (a large plastic bag) alleviated the problem somewhat, but the damage was done.
Probably just as well Chris couldn’t sleep ‘cos round about 2 am I got a rather urgent “wake up, the river’s coming up”. It was over the sandy bit and coming at us, so we did an urgent pack up and shifted temporarily to the narrow track. The Goodwins got the closest to the water - one of the anchors of their tent was IN the water. With nowhere else dry enough (or flat enough) to camp, we all headed back to the roadend, waking up the dogs and pigs in the process. I think it was about 4 am when the last of us finally crawled back into our pits for a few hours kip. The intention was to drag Lyndsay back if the rain persisted.
But at 9 am the water had stopped (falling and rising) so we packed up and headed for Roaring Stag. A short diversion to Herepai Hut for lunch (and for two race horses, a brisk climb up Herepai helped get us in the mood for a full weekend of tramping. The weather improved as the day went on and we arrived at Roaring Stag to find two gentlemen already ensconced - with a RADIO!! going. (We used the excuse of saving their a walk). Brian's knowledge of the area helped when it came to choosing a campsite. (I noticed that the Goodwins pitched their tent well away from the river’s edge). A good meal and leisurely chat around the fire was a great end to the day.
Everyone was up early and Sunday promised to be hot. So it was off down the river (with some taking a chance for a chilly swim while they waited for those of us bringing up the rear). We rejoined the track at Cleft Creek and had a pleasant lunch at no-name creek. Some of the group had a straightforward journey out through the farmland. They had quite a wait for their leader who was struggling with the effects of a sprained ankle, and getting into strife with some large heifers (and an electric fence), and having trouble near the roadend finding a route through the farmland. But that’s another story.
Punters: Brian,Jan, Lynley and Mark Goodwin, Sarah Westen, Mark Ogilvie, Chris Wearing, Andrew Devlin, Duncan Craig, and Kara Lipski (Leader and Scribe).