This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
by Sue Walsh
The excitement started on the Wednesday night. A hecti day combined with some last minute punters and transport difficulties for completing the scheduled trip were enough to make me wonder what the weekend would end up being like. Inspiration suddenly dawned on me to change the planned weekend to basing ourselves at the Lodge and doing along day walk or two. Pertect
Friday night seemed to be a repeat of Wednesday night with punters all over the place - one doing a marathon run around the Railway Station looking for a late punter. The Fits were a bit confused with their numbers as their leader had abandoned them for his car in view of going on holiday. We eventually got settled and the Duchess set off forthe mountain._We_reached_the Lodge_in
The track 1s great and ! really recommend it. In fine weather you would get superb views of Ngauruhoe and Tongariro, as well as the smaller peaks of Pukeonake and Pukekaikiore, and if youlooked behind you, of Ruapehu. Unfortunately, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro were covered inrain cloud that drifted across to us every now and then. As mentioned above, the track is good with all sorts ot little ups and downs, streams and creeks, and a wide variety of flora. We reached Mangatepopo Hut in time for lunch. After lunch I sent the group off to the Springs while I dozed in the sun (a very hard week at work was catching up with me) and talked to the other trampers there. A couple of them were a bit put out with the track conditions on the way to Mangatepopo (from the Chateau) - they’d had to walk through mud on a few occasions and get their footwear dirty! reasonable time (Tony was driving) and everyone was soon tucked up in their sleeping bags dreaming.
Morning came around too soon, but we slowly got underway. The Fits disappeared in a fanfare for the summit (covered in cloud) and we headed down to the Duchess and the start of the track. We were heading across from the Chateau to Mangatépopo Hut, then meandering up to Soda Springs and back again.
We regrouped at the hut and watched Andrew perform surgery on his boot - the sole had virtually come off - with the help of some twine to make the repairs. We set off with the rain cloud behind us but that soon disappeared and the sun came back out in full force. We were pleased to stop at some of the streams and throw water everywhere - it was just a shame we couldn't drink that water. The Duchess was a welcome sight at the roadend and we were soon back at the Lodge where an unexpected sight greeted us. The Fits had returned. Seems the lure of the Lodge and our company was too much for them!
Sunday dawned beautifully dear. Mt Egmont stood out on the horizon and a sea of cloud looked like an ocean between us. People had a choice of what they wanted to do and after breakfast people went their own way. One group headed for the top cafe then went bum sliding on a patch of snow on the way down; another group headed towards a distant-ridge then down the mountain to meet up with the Round the Mountain track before walking back to the Lodge. I was meandering around Tennents Gully and the top of the first chair lift. It’s amazing what you see when snow isn’t around to cover everything up! Lunch was had in the sun back at the Lodge, then after the usual tidying up and cleaning, it was down to the Duchess and home.
The punters were excellent value, but too numerous to mention.