This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
I t was with some trepidation that I received the news that Allen Higgins would be leading the Medium trip into the Tararuas and I realised this may not be the gentle doddle up the Atiwhakatu I had envisaged. “Don’t worry,” Sue tried to reassure me, “I’m going too, so it won’t be a fast trip.” When the rest of the list filled up with punters far more capable and experienced than me I really did start to worry. I! needn’t have. It turned out to be a brilliant Medium trip and less gruelling than many I have faced in the past. Friday evening saw us camping at a crisp, frosty Donnellys Flat. It was a calm clear evening, however, and the forecast hinted we might have a fine weekend. Saturday started in a most leisurely fashion with two brews (an early morning kick-start by Allen and then a more serious breakfast brew). I began to think I could handle this after all. I almost changed my mind when we immediately had to cross a very cold Atiwhakatu River before climbing up through the bush on to Pinnacle Ridge. We eventually picked up an old marked track and worked our way along the ridge. The day was fine but cold and we were quite happy to keep moving steadily. Much of the track was overgrown and we made frequent “ reference to our maps and Eric’s _ compass to check our progress. We enjoyed lunch at a high spot in the bush before dropping off the end of the ridge and on to the Barton Track shortly after the exit from Jumbo. We headed on towards Mitre Flats eventually reaching the hut with plenty of time before dark to clean out the
27 - 29 June 1997 fireplace, gather wood, and prepare our evening meal. It was a relaxed jovial group who attacked a delicious three course meal. We enjoyed having the hut to ourselves and managed to fill it with only six people. Some serious debate took place over the intended Sunday route. Since the coach driver was in our party we had to somehow get him back to Holdsworth roadend before the 3:00 pm meeting time. The options varied from sending him out to hitch back to Holdsworth via Masterton (bribed on by copious quantities of chocolate), which would have meant a long wait at the roadend (and an extra $3.00 on the trip fare plus chocolate) or having him tramp back over Winzenburg Hill or the whole group taking that route. After considering the fact that we may not have enough chocolate to bribe the said driver, and he may not return for us anyway we decided to try the hill en masse. Most of the morning was spent enduring the permanently tedious Barra track. Since the trip was aimed at enhancing navigation skills we made frequent reference to our maps and generally enjoyed the views and improving weather. It may be a horrible, root strewn, eroded, windfall littered, muddy, nasty stretch of track, but it is highly scenic and has good vantage points for navigation practice. After chatting with some locals at The Pines roadend we selected the most likely route and set out. We were now a little concerned about time as we set out at 1:00 pm to cover an unknown area. We followed a steep farm track for half
an hour or so until entering the bush where we sidled according to Eric’s compass bearing. When we ran out of sidle we dropped down and followed a creek for some distance. Here the smaller members of the party found the going easier, being better able to pick through tight growth, under and over fallen logs and flood debris. twas a beautiful place to be, rich with an amazing diversity of ferns, beech towering far above, and unspoilt native bush crowding the banks of the stream. Eventually the stream bed opened out slightly and blackberry growing on the banks signalled a valuable lesson in map reading and following one’s senses. I love bushbashing! It is a great leveller as height and strength are not necessarily an advantage when dangling off saplings and scrambling over slippery rocks or under windfall. As I am usually one of the slower trampers it is a pleasant change to be able to keep up with the group. A big thank you to Allen Higgins who led the group so capably and managed to impart some of his vast knowledge of bushcraft to us in an enjoyable fashion. It was a reminder too that trips do not need to be over the same old routes — there are still lots of seldom visited bits of the countryside to explore, and with the ap- ..propriate mix_of skills and-well__—— equipped party a lot of fun can be had away from the regular tracks. The punters were: Eric Blumhardt (compass bearer), Sue Higgins (pace controller and Camp Mum), Steve (bribeable coach driver), Craig Lucino (new chum, but keen to return), Marilyn Duffy (scribe), and of course Allen Higgins. cS Page8&