This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
ter solstice party so we decided to tempt fate and hold the Christmas party at the Club Lodge. The mountain behaved itself in terms of no volcanic activity, but the weather...
. ic mountain had other plans for the mid-win-
The breakfast wake-up call was at 6.30 am. We were greeted with an overcast day and rain. Breakfast was noisy with 42 people milling around talking about plans for the day. Everyone eventually sorted themselves out and by 9.00 am the Orient Express had departed with a load of punters to Taupo for the day, stopping at Steve’s parent's place for a cup of tea. Another group went for a walk around Silica Rapids then headed for the hot pools, while others explored the area around Taranaki Falls.
Preparations for dinner started in the mid afternoon and it wasn’t long before the smell of baked potatoes and chicken was wafting through the air. The Christmas tree was decorated and other decorations hung around the room. Everyone changed for dinner — the theme was “Beach Party” — which re-
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Sue Walsh vealed an interesting variety of costumes. Dinner was served soon after which included an extra small gift for each person. Santa Claus followed on from dessert and brought the roof down with his famous “Ho Ho Ho’s”. Amidst a lot of laughter and shrieks Santa and his assistant handed out the presents. Interestingly enough, water guns proved to be very popular, ending with a shoot-out in the O.K. Ski Room afterwards. And the night just carried on from there ... Sunday was very quiet with people surfacing at different times. The weather was still overcast, but there was one group of staunch people who braved the weather and went out for a bike ride while everyone else blobbed. After lunch the massive tidy up began and by mid-afternoon every one had departed.
Due to the extra numbers we had the use of Serac’s lodge. Special thanks to Barrie Noyce for helping to arrange the extra accommodation, and for the extra help provided over the weekend.