This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
welve intrepid gluttons left Wellington with packs overflowing with food. So much so that on the Saturday moming, the pavlova had to be individually carried in.a plastic bag to Mitre Flats. In spite of some packs chocker with food, we reached the comfortable Mitre Flats Hut by lunchtime. After lunch we played heaps of games. Some people described the card game, 500 as ‘adventurous’ or ‘boring’ depending on who was winning!
Dinner was a gourmet affair - chips, celery, carrots, and various salsas were just the hors d’oeuvres. The chilli con carne took up two big billies, but we only managed to polish one off. However, three other exhausted trampers tumed up later and gratefully partook of some. The pavlova was only one of two desserts. The marshmallow instant pudding was also unable to be wholly consumed.
By Andrew Devlin
Sunday morning dawned with clear blue skies and the crisp winter's morning feeling, Seven of us decided to go as far as time would permit up Mitre whilst the others remained in the hut and played more games.
At about 500m we came upon the first of the snow. The snow-laden ferns and undergrowth looked truly magnificent - reminiscent of what I imagine a northern hemisphere Christmas would be like. It was so spectacular - feeling the crispness of the air, seeing the clear blue sky, and seeing the fresh snow majestically covering everything it could touch. After a couple of snowball exchanges just above the bushline we headed back down to the hut.
Not only did we have chilli con carne for dinner, but some also had it for breakfast and there was still enough for some to have it for lunch too! This was the case with the dessert too, so we did eat very well.
Bernie showed us a technique of catching those buzzing annoying blow-flies, You swot them with your hand. “Plop” went the blow-fly, * stunned, right into his cup of Milo. Surely we had enough food, Bernie, without needing to try blow-flies?
In the afternoon we ambled out appreciating the warmth of the sun especially after our adventurous crotch-dunking in the cold river crossing which was all in the name of avoiding a hill climb.
The 12 gluttons were: Lisa (chief glutton), Natasha, John, Bernie, Stephen, Heather, Chris, lan, lanB, James, Rod and Andrew (scribe).