This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
The Cookie Monster (leader) recently munched his way through cookies and licorice’ allsorts and cake on the classic Ruahines Triangle-Heritage route. /o, Mark, Simon®, lan and Austen (not Powers) were the punters that went with him The trip began with an enjoyable 2-hour stroll along the re-routed track to Rangi Hut on Friday night. Everlasting daises were everywhere, but this trip was about more than daises. Simon* was thinking (and talking) of what might have been in Courtney Place (C Place) after seeing scantily clad young persons on their way to the sevens before he caught the bus. Mark (a punter) told him to get over it but he never did and C Place would dominate the weekend's conversation.
Saturday dawned and breakfast conservation included further failed attempts to get Simon” to stop thinking (and talking) about C Place. The tops travel under blue skies was great. We stopped and had a short cookie break on the tops before descending to Triangle Hut. The Cookie Monster said that the best part of the trip was now behind us but we punters (mainly Mark and Simon) hadn't finished talking about C Place yet so how could this be! On the pre lunch decent to Triangle Hut things started to get a little silly. Simon* innocently wondered (aloud) if the triangle track marker was of the isoloes or scalene kind. We had found a conversation to replace C Place at last — yippee.
Bui this didn’t last long. To give the leader and other punters a rest from C Place talk Simon* had a nap at lunchtime. He must have still been half asleep when he fell face first into the Orua river (renamed by Simon* as the river that sucks). We traveled along this river for an hour or so before climbing a saddle out of the river and then descending to Iron Gate Hut.
Can't recall what we had for dinner but the Cookie Monster had organised a cake for desert which one of the punters (can’t remember which one) had managed to keep in tact during the day. The highlight of the walk out was lunch and a game of 500 at Heritage Lodge. Jo & Simon” won this game under the Duckworth Lewis system. This was no misery march; this was a five star weekend. lan and Austen (not Powers) were both quite new to the club so might need reassuring that not all club trips are like this. Simon* and Mark enjoyed themselves. Jo maintained a dignified silence throughout. And the Cookie Monster — well he spent the weekend eating cookies. The party: the Cookie Monster (leader), Joanna Gould (punter), Mark Lillica (punter), Simon Ward (punter), lan Harrison (punter) and Austen (not Powers) — alfo a punter.