Club Night November 2014
A goodly number attended our November meeting in spite of twenty-four walkers being away on the four-night, Banks Peninsula Track.
Wednesday Walkers kept up their varied programme with walks to Anderson’s Lagoon near Palmerston and along the coast to the Shag River mouth; a new walk around the Livingston diggings; from the Leith Saddle towards Mt Cargill and through bush and logged-over forest to Sullivan’s Dam; Black Cap across to Scout Hill and Scout Hut. These Wednesday walks are a great way to explore what’s on our very own doorstep.
NOTMC held a successful “Getting Out There” day in October to give prospective members a taste of day tramping. A walk from Tulliemet Rd to Devil’s Elbow, back down to Round Knob and back was a good introduction to Otago’s accessible high country.
Labour Weekend saw an intrepid group of seven, travel down to Borland Lodge near Lake Monowai then the following day, venture by kayak and powerboat, to Rodger Inlet on the lake.
Speakers at our November meeting were members Phyllis, Maurice and Bronwyn who earlier this year tramped the Northern Circuit on Stewart Island. This walk is not for the faint-hearted. It’s an eight day slog with no room in packs for unnecessary treats – and rain and mud are practically guaranteed. The group walked in a clockwise direction – from Freshwater Creek out to Mason’s Bay then up around the coast and back to Oban – though it tends to be tackled anticlockwise. The circuit included numerous interestingly named places such as Chocolate Swamp, Hellfire Pass, Long Harry Bay, Christmas Village Hut. Coastal vistas were stunning even through misty rain and it was hard not to feel lured to this vast, largely untouched part of Stewart Island.