This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
30 July - 1 August
rriving on this cold and rainy Friday night at the Kiriwhakapapa roadend was a little like being on an adventure in India as we were immediately surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd of children. It became very obvious that our quiet and comfortable night sleeping under the roadend shelter would not be possible. With the usual activity of sorting out packs we scurried to find suitable shelter for the night. After initial concern to hear from the Medium trip that the bridge was no longer usable to get to our chosen campsite we explored the area and located another bridge. We pitched the flys and enjoyed a peaceful night’s rest under some large trees. We discovered next morning from the Medium party that we had made the best choice of campsite. They had experienced rather broken sleep due to the prolonged partying of 17 school-aged children away for the weekend on a youth group trip. ‘Apparently their loud fireworks into the wee small hours of the night were rather distracting from getting a decent snooze. Getting packed up in the morning was a very leisurely business. We started wandering along the track just after ten o’clock. Soon we were climbing up a reasonably steep hill. Thankfully the weather had improved from the night before. We were in no rush and took plenty of rest stops and snack breaks. At about 150 metres below the height of the top of the ridge we hit the “snowline” where the ground was covered in snow. It wasa very pleasant walk through the snowy bush to the hut, just a short distance away. We got to Blue Range Hut around one o'clock which was a perfect time for lunch. Blue Range Hut is a well-maintained old style 4bunk hut. It has heaps of character mostly due to the large number of signs in and around the hut. Many of the signs were from a mental hospital. One sign stated that the maximum number of guests per bed was 2. Outside the hut there was a variety of property “For sale” signs. The toilet had as much character as the hut itself. It was an A-frame structure, located close to the hut and without a door. It was so small that anyone “in residence” was in almost full view. But by far the most
John Hoffeins amusing feature was that the seat platform was so high off the ground that only very tall people would be able to use it successfully unless you were prepared to actually sit on the toilet. After lunch it was decided that we would collect firewood for the hut wood burner. By this stage it had clouded over and was starting to snow. Collecting firewood and then breaking it up was a very cold exercise. A couple of the punters had not had enough of the icy cold conditions and made two snow people in the clearing beside the hut. Perhaps the craft of snow-person-making would be a valuable addition to the AIC courses in future. The next exercise was to light the fire. Because there was no wind the fire was not drawing properly and we ended up getting large amounts of smoke in the hut. This was very hard on the eyes and clothes, and sleeping bags etc. ended up with a strong smoky odour. Warning — tramping can be dangerous to your health! After the fire warmed up properly the smoke problems abated. (Please note that after several washes the smoky smell has still not gone from clothing used on this trip.) During the afternoon and evening about 4 inches of snow fell. A very nice (actually enormous) evening meal was consumed after such a tough day — not! This was followed by a good night’s sleep despite some grumbles about late night snorers and the screaming rat. It cannot be confirmed whether the rat was more distressed at its feet being burnt when it ran along the stove top and up the chimney or by being discovered by a surprised Hazel. In keeping with the leisurely theme, after breakfast two of the party went for a two-hour walk north along _ the Blue Range ridge. The ridge to the north was a bit lower and so out of the snow. There was quite a lot of undergrowth that had to be walked through on the ridge. The rest of the party continued to sleep at the hut and were woken around 11am by a group from the Masterton Tramping Club (who look after this hut) out on a day trip. After a quick lunch we were away a bit later than intended. On the way out we got lovely views of Table Ridge and Cattle Ridge from a clearing on Blue Range. Apparently this was the best snow covering on the ber Bea patna oS SPM ets
Trip Reports
Tararuas for the last two years. We then wandered down the hill to the roadend at a relaxed pace. The weekend was a relaxing time away for this group of usually Medium trampers who were keen to be out tramping despite their injuries. (The unfortunately not tall enough) members of the party were John Hoffeins (leader), Ferrida Curwood, Nick Gyde, Larry Cameron and Hazel Roberts.