This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
A: we left a typical, dreary, wet Wellington we headed off into the great outdoors. At least that’s what we thought A comfort stop was deemed necessary in Featherston and our driver made those with Woolworths bladders get into training with a trek down to the public conveniences. But alas, on arrival we found that they were locked.
Some amongst us, who shall remain nameless but leads trips quite well, were not fazed. After all, when you gotta go, you gotta go. A local park came in very handy.
On arrival at the roadend we decided a game of sardines was in order. What is the record for the number of bodies laid out in the Duchess? We were 14 and "got to know one another intimately. Howard entertained us _with Cedric bedtime stories. . After a sleepless night, Dave tried to escape from the Easy trip by head-diving out of the truck while still cocooned in his sleeping bag. Handy Tip #1 - get out of your sleeping bag before trying to exit the Duchess.
12 - 14 JULY 1996 It had poured down all night but as we headed off into the great unknown, it cleared. Despite stories of doom and gloom from Wendy about the steepness of the Gentle Annie, we reached the top still smiling. At Mountain House, to our dismay, our leader told us that the easy bit _Was over - she wasn’t joking. Say no more! The size of the rat droppings at Mountain House also added to our enthusiasm to get out of there.
It was worth it as we climbed above the snowline, the cloudline, and the bushline to reach Powell Hut. We never did get to see the view - but they say it’s awesome. Everyone spent the afternoon catching up on missed sleep, although a few hardy souls played 500. As always, dinner was a gourmet affair. Handy Tip #2 - diabetics should be warned, marshmallow ~and_chocolate-overdeses-guar- + anteed on an Easy trip. To the alarm of the other hut inhabitants, we described ourselves as ‘Easies’. Fortunately, Dave was there to protect our honour and explain that we were referring to our tramping skills (or lack of?), rather than our morals.
Thanks Roger, for the tip in the logbook about the special characteristics of the toilets. Handy Tip #3 - always visit the toilet in pairs. For the uninitiated, the far toilet does not like to let its victims go. What we’d all like to know is, would the cold or the smell finish you off first? The next morning was clear - although we were still denied our view by low-lying cloud. Some headed off to the summit of Mt Holdsworth.
Much to Allison’s horror - we had to take photos of her in her SHORTS in the SNOW!!! to send home. It was worth the effort as we saw out to Kapiti |sland and the other ranges. We heard a lot about this technique of kicking one’s heels into the snow. Butas true Easys, we took the easy option to descend in a horizontal position (what was that about our morals?). The trip down was considerably faster than our epic journey up as we were spurred on by the promise of an ice cream stop in Featherston on the way home. We had a great weekend; thanks go to Lisa for her organisation and patience.
WT&MC August 1996 -