May 2014 Club Night
The Clubs Annual Meeting was held on the 14th May 2014.
President Bronwyn McCone summarised the past year in her report. The Club now has a new Personal Locator Beacon, taken on all trips, and available for members private use. Due to the wet season a lot of Club trips have had to be cancelled, however the skills course was well attended, and the website is working well.
Jane Green is the new President, with John Chetwin taking on the role of Vice President. Robbie Verhoef and Neville Corry retain their respective roles of Secretary and Treasurer.
10 members have volunteered to be “lost and injured” in a SAR exercise to be held in the Herbert Forest on the 17th May.
Because of the unsuitable weather the only Club trip over the last month was an overnight tramp up the South Temple, camping on the other side of the river from the hut to avoid another crossing.
Wednesday Walkers have been to the Benmore Walkway, Ashlands Road to South Peak near Hampden, a Moeraki farm walk which included an underpass under SH1 to the lagoon and beach south of the lighthouse and a climb to Station Peak from Little Roderick, a 500m climb but with great views of the Waitaki and Hakataramea valleys.
Coming Club trips, hopefully with better weather, are Chinamans Cave, a Tabletop circuit, Mt. Cook with “something for everyone”, and a round trip to Mt. Drybrough from Fishermans Bend. More details can be found in the “Whats On” page.
Club members showed photos of recent Club activities which were capped by Maurice’s ” It’s moments like these” hilarious photos of members on various trips, graphically described by “not always accurate” captions.
CLUB NIGHT APRIL 2014
A miserable night did not prevent a good turnout. General business included info on the Locator Beacon, tracks on the web page, and planning for the Herbert Forest Open Day.
Comprehensive reports were given by the leaders on last month’s trips: 3 day Arthur’s Pass trip weather great with close sightings of the elusive Blue Duck; Dromedary Hill with a falcon to entertain the 3 climbers as they rested after a long haul up; Herbert Forest Track working bee where 12 had a work out; and the A2O bike ride from Duntroon to Oamaru which pleasantly surprised all riders.
The Wed Walkers had climbed Dasher and its surrounds; walked Timaru’s coastal walks; had first walk on a new track developed by members in the Livingston/Dansey’s Pass area; joined the Pegasus group making 54 to walk at Shag point; and a climb up to the Kirkliston Range.
Some good trips are coming up if the weather co-operates, including 5 day trip at Arthurs Pass over Easter; 2 different trips over ANZAC w/e to Ahuriri and Temple areas; guided walk day in Herbert Forest, and our AGM. Information on these can be found on our excellent website: http://www.notmc.org.nz.
Club member Ross Milmine presented a visual feast on his childhood dream-that of visiting southern Africa to see its numerous animals, as well as the countryside and its colourful residents. To do this they visited 7 countries, travelled with a small group for 4,500 km in a house truck, another equal distance in a rental car, plus 12 flights. Ross’s skilful use of his camera took us over these routes and what they had to offer- often a mix of the old Africa and the new. Apart from the animals, markets, pollution from burn-offs and main fuel charcoal, and the friendliness of everyone, the following 3 aspects caught my attention. The visit to their World Vision child, doing things manually and purposefully to employ the maximum number of people, and seeing some Nelson Mandela’s life story. Thanks Ross!
Jane
Alps to Ocean Part Two
Following on from a weekend riding the lake sections of the A2O Trail late last year, section 8, Duntroon to Oamaru was the mission for Sun 13th April.
Most of us only wanted to ride one way, but Uwe set off at 7am for Duntroon arriving just as we were unloading the bikes from the trailer, nice timing. Bron was already there doing warm up laps up and down Duntroon’s main street.
The team of seven left Duntroon at 9am in overcast conditions, stopping to visit the Maori rock drawings and other information panels on route. Bill who had intended to ride so far with us then return to bring the car back to Oamaru, got a work call, and so returned earlier than expected.
As we pedalled past the limestone cliffs of Island Cliff I gained a new appreciation for this very scenic natural feature, followed by panoramic views of North Otago as we rode the high section of Peaks Road. A nice long downhill bought us to Windsor township where lunch was had on the step in front of the old Windsor store.
With riders refuelled we were on our way to complete the last section of our journey which included a bumpy ride on the trail next to the Weston Ngapara Highway and a short section of the old railway line ending the journey for most riders at Grasmuecks for coffee and hot-cross buns. Jane and I made the last dash down the railway and the new trail to Oamaru via the picturesque Oamaru Public Gardens to the waiting vehicles.
Thanks to, Bron, Silvia, Phyllis, Bill, Uwe, Jane, – Maurice.
Herbert Forest Working Bee:
April 6th 2014
There were two main concerns for this day – firstly would be have sufficiently good weather and secondly, how many people would turn up. The day started fine and 12 people turned up, so all was well. We were also fortunate that we could have an extra hour in bed!
Meeting at the Swallows car park, we divided into 4 teams that spread themselves around the tracks. Our team worked hard up until 1.00 , in fact so hard that it wasn’t until we went into a clearing for lunch that we discovered it was lightly drizzling. We also realised at this stage that we should have spread our efforts over a larger section of the track. I understand the other groups were more successful in doing this.
The weather did not encourage a picnic atmosphere when we all met up, so there was a reasonably quick debrief that included some suggestions for the ‘open day’, then we smartly left for home.
A BIG thanks to all those who turned up – and especially to Bron ,Tim and Jo who travelled some distance to help. Also to Bess, Neville, Jac, Roz, Noel, Robbie, Colin and John. Trust your backs and hands are not in agony like mine.
Too busy for photos!
Jane
Arthurs Pass. Lake Mavis via Goat Pass & Edwards Valley
22nd – 24th March 2014
The enjoyment of tramping is not only while out there doing it, but the build-up with the wonder of what new country we will see, catching up with fellow club members and will the weather be kind.
The journey began with a long distance drive to Arthurs Pass to our accommodation for Friday night at the Christchurch Tramping Club’s hut, then down to the Wobbley Kea Cafe for a giant sized pizza for dinner. This was for half of our party as the other three had to leave Oamaru later. Our team of six spent a very comfortable night at the hut with storytelling and the usual taking the mickey out of things, before lights out.
At 7am Robbie was first up to have breakfast and prepare for the day ahead. After parking the cars at Greyneys, packs shouldered, we were on our way across the Bealey River to Goat Pass Hut via the Mingha Valley which is the route used in the Coast to Coast Run.
Fog blocked the views to the tops, but that soon improved. River crossings appeared more numerous than previous visits from what I could remember. Finally the crossings ceased and the hill work began ending on Dudley’s Knob where photos were taken with the element of a “Liedecker View”.
An early lunch was enjoyed in the sunshine at the Mingha Biv. The clever graphics on the inside walls of the biv were photographed and we were off on the last lap to Goat Pass Hut, arriving five hours after our start – a gentle way to break into the tramp. With the hut to ourselves, brew in hand and sitting in the sun life was as good as it gets. Later after a short walk across snow grass from the hut and up to a high point we were rewarded with great views up and down the Deception River and across to the tops above Temple Basin. We could also see our intended route up to Lake Mavis for the next day. As the day wore on more people started to arrive and by the evening there were at least thirty looking for a bed in the twenty bunk hut. It was interesting to note that a good number of these people did not have any form of bed mat. Lessons to be learned here.
Little sleep was had by some of us so it was pleasing to see daylight on Sunday morning and get breakfast over early so we could get on our way in clear skies with no fog. One hour uphill and Lake Mavis began to show. Several people had camped up there for the night and were making their way down. After shedding our packs we had time to explore around the outlet while waiting for the sun to appear over the ridge to paint a new picture of the lake.
The next stage to the crossing point on the ridge one km north of Mt Oates consisted of a rocky sidle then a climb ending with another grand view across the Edwards Valley to Tarn Col, Falling Mountain and the large tarn, our lunch spot 150mtrs of steep scree below.
The route to the valley floor began with more rock hopping followed by tussock to the steep gut which with care released us to freedom. Edwards Hut appeared with some attractive board-walked tarns in the foreground after nearly two hours of valley walking. With only our party in the hut for the night it made for a more peaceful place than the previous one. Uwe was first up at 6am Monday and lit all the cookers . Not sure what that was all about but it made for a leisurely breakfast while awaiting daylight for travel in the bush. A short distance from the hut we were rewarded after Robbie’s announcement “Blue Ducks” whereby a pair came floating downstream right past us while another pair flew overhead. It was good spotting as some of the party had not seen Blue Duck in the wild before. The ducks can be hard to see as they blend in with the water well.
The track down to the river flats demands your attention as it is quite rough with steep steps in places. Once out on the flats with easier going we stopped to chat with a camping party, the two girls about to bathe in the stream nearby obviously not expecting company. “Nothing we haven’t already seen before!”
After negotiating a steep rock wall with the help of a series of chains, the highway traffic could soon be seen and the last river crossing took us back to the cars, journey over.
Thanks for making a good trip that much better.
Bron, Jane, Phyllis, Uwe, Robbie
Maurice.
