This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
he weather forecast for the last weekend in September _was typical gloom and doom and on Friday night showed every sign of being accurate.
Wellington Railway Station must be one of the most bleak, miserable places in the rain and _ wind, and on Friday evening I suspect more than one punter wished he/she were staying home instead of setting out for Walls Whare and Totara Flats. Not a problem, however within minutes of arrival at the roadend there were two cosy "dry tents up and a billy steaming in the shelter. A chat around the billy helped the getting-to- '. know-each-other bit, and what an interesting group we turned out to be: - a Scot, an Aussie, a Chilean, a North Islander, and a South Islander meant English was spoken in five different accents. Two dads and three lads who were also heading to Totara Flats had already set up camp and turned in (Brett cheerfully informing us it had only just started to rain again as we atrived!).
We woke to light rain and were pleased to be able to use the shelter to cook, eat, and repack, but by the time we were ready to walk the rain had stopped.| The track was areal mudwallow, but not impossible. We found the detour around the slip and crossed the side streams without incident. We took our time tramping and enjoyed the absolute beauty of the area - I every view could have been a postcard. I
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By Marilyn Duffy We reached Totara Flats Hut early in the afternoon and met up with the dads and lads from Tawa. After a brew and a chat with the warden, we all set off to explore the site of the old Totara Flats Hut, and explore the fishing possibilities. Thunder and dark clouds delivered their promise and we were soon drenched, but our friendly warden had the fire going in the hut and wet clothes soon dried. We all tucked into a traditional T&M banquet of chicken by Marilyn, dehy potatoes by Brett, cheesecake by Kelvin, and fruit salad by Carlos. Kelvin’s treat of After Dinner Mints were a nice finishing touch for those who had room!
The unusually mild, calm evening saw most of us sitting outside watching the light fading and the mist drifting around the hills opposite. When we eventually moved in we were treated to one of those special evenings which can make hut visits such a joy. By now we were all old friends and _as the warden joined us to chat by the fire, he revealed hidden talents. Mike the warden proved to be a gifted story-teller and poet, and shared some of
It was a tired, happy bunch who crawled into pits that night, dreaming of ghosts and trampers past.
Sunday dawned calm, warm, and almost clear (and an hour earlier thanks to daylight saving). After a leisurely breakfast and clean-up we reluctantly donned our wet boots and set off for home. Tales of Sayers Hut and its charms ~ beckoned us, so we dropped our packs and went for an explore. Itis a fascinating place with a character all of its own, well-worth getting wet feet to visit. Kelvin even found a daffodil to present to Kirrily.
It was a weekend of firsts - for all of us the first time into Totara Flats from Walls Whare. Kelvin’s first time leading a Club tramp; and for Carlos, Keith, and Kirrily, their first (hopefully first of many) tramp Tongue & Meats style.
PS. Wewere all feeling quite content when we stopped at Featherston for an ice cream. When we saw the queue at the telephone box, we asked what was going on, to be told a tanker had overturned on the hill and the road would be closed for at ) least two hours. The fish and chip shop in Featherston was the place to be for the next 3 hours. his work with us. He wrote about people and places we knew and understood in a refreshingly simple and enjoyable style. We were all spellbound for nearly an hour as he told us stories and read his poems of the mountains. I Magic!
To pass the time we tried to phone the dads and lads on the hill, and considered ourselves fortunate not to be in a crowded car full of wet, smelly, dirty gear. Six hours from Featherston to ‘Tawa was a bit much, but still couldn’t take the edge offa very enjoyable weekend.