This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Wit at the station and all the punters are ready to go. The destination is slightly different from the original plan; we're now off to Mt Taranaki instead of Ketetahi.
Sitting in the truck someone mentions they've forgotten a few items (namely toilet paper). I'm feeling quite smug - I’ve done that before. Never mind, I feel quite relaxed, I remembered mine and also checked everything off my list - I haven't forgotten a thing. Another hour or so down the road - HORROR OF HORRORS! I just remembered the vegies for the gourmet meal are still sitting in the fridge at home. Oh, that’s just great; remembered all my lunch and breakfast items but forgot the vegies. Oh no, everyone will be so disappointed with me, the meal is going to be slightly bear. Someone assures me that there are always plenty of vegies and rice; doesn’t make me feel any better though.
The truck lurches to a stop. Well, here’s camp for the night. The Mediums go off to the shelter and the Easies stay in the truck. We can see the mountain standing there in all its glory, looks great. It even unveils-itself for us. Hope it-does tomorrow to catch a nice photo.
Next morning, up and about, breakfast done, we're ready to go. The Mediums set off before us on a different track. Destination we find out, is to be
By Leanne Naysmith
Lake Dive. Sounds interesting enough, so off we go. Track is pretty easy going, further along the bush around us looks magical - you expect to see little goblins or something - it’s like the lost forest.
What's this then - a ladder! Well I never! Some of us scuttle down them fairly confidently, others take a little more encouragement but we all master them without too much trouble.
We stop for a few photos but the mountain doesn’t seem to want to unveil itself during the hours of daylight. Through quite a lot of mud we finally see the roof of the hut.
Some of the others who tend to walk a bit faster are already there and having finished their lunch are relaxing. So] sit down and enjoy my lunch as well. A little later on the others at the back turn up and have their lunch as well. Everyone seems to have organised their beds and it’s only mid-afternoon.
We hear some calls coming from somewhere, that must be
about twenty minutes later. They seemed to have a really good trip, one chap even decided to do a spot of fishing in Lake Dive. Just about everyone asked him if there were fish in there and he replied, “! don’t know, but I'll soon find out.”
Dinner time - yum, it was great even though some vegies and rice were forgotten by a certain person, and they were right there was heaps of food, as Lyndsay found out - he finished everything that wasn’t eaten by us. Desert delicious. After Dinner Mint biscuit were a real treat. Even popcorn was cooked.
Next morning the rain was pelting down, but once we got up it stopped, so that was good. Had breakfast and cleared everything up. Some of the Easies decided to take the higher route back to the truck which would certainly give them a miss from all those ladders.
Off we set. While some of the group took off in front, a few of us others took a leisurely walk back with a few photo stops, and still the mountain wouldn’t unveil itself. Well, maybe another time, it still looked really good anyway. The Mediums came thundering past us but we just strolled on.
Well, we were the last ones back to the truck - even the others who took the high track had __the-Mediums.._They_turn_up beaten us. So we sat down, had our lunch, and then loaded the truck and set off back to Wellington. A good weekend was had by all, and I certainly know in my mind I would like to go back there and discover more of the area.
WI&MC NOVEMBER 1995
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