Wanganui Tramper August - October 2019
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Wanganui Tramper August - October 2019 Goodbye Possum Lodge Quarterly Journal of the Wanganui Tramping Club (Inc) Issue 262 www.wanganuitrampingclub.net The Wanganui Tramper 1 August - October 2019 From the Editor In this issue we say farewell to Possum Lodge. It has been a special place to many club members with many happy memories and fun times. See memories and photos pages 27 - 37. Also in this issue we announce a new service - from the November issue you can advertise tramping or cycling gear you would like to buy or sell. Just email me. Many will be pleased to note that Twilight walks are being re-introduced in November. See page 17. Enjoy the rest of winter! All contributions may be emailed to [email protected] No email? Handwritten contributions are perfectly OK. Our website is: www.wanganuitrampingclub.net Jeanette Prier In This Issue Armchair Tramper………………….21 Longdrop’s Pack Talk .................... 58 BOMBS ......................................... 20 New Members ................................ 5 Brian Carter ………………………...8 Outdoors News .............................. 39 Club Activities Explained ............... 7 Possum Lodge Memories…………..27 Club Activities Aug - Nov………….11 Photos from Our Trips ….….. 31 to 38 Club Nights ................................... 5 Quiz ............................................... 19 Club Merchandise…………………..65 Summer Programme………………..19 Condolences .................................. 35 Tararua TC turns 100ys…………….23 Committee Comments ................... 4 TT2 ................................................ 57 Dave’s Rave………………………...43 Trip Reports ................................... 44 From the Archives………………….23 Twilight Walks……………………..17 Goodbye Possum Lodge…………...27 Uncle Hal…………………………..20 Library Talk…………………………21 WTC Officers………………………67 Advertisers Andersons Display Associates Masterbuilt Balance Accountants Guthries Auto Care Mitre 10 Mega Aramoho Pharmacy H & A Print Parnells Café B Select Hardy Construction The Bike Shed Caltex Gt North Rd Hobday & Lorentzen Wash N Vac David Jones Hunting & Fishing Wilsons Cover: Doris and Brian—Final walk to the bridge at Possum Lodge The opinions expressed and articles published in ‘The Wanganui Tramper’ are not The Wanganui Trampernecessarily the views of the Wanganui2 Tramping Club AugustInc. - October 2019 The Wanganui Tramper Official Magazine of the Wanganui Tramping Club (Inc.) P.O. Box 7324 WANGANUI 4541 ISSUE 262 AUGUST- OCTOBER 2019 Margret, we acknowledge and thank you for your dedication to duty during your tenure as our President whilst also coping with family illness and loss. We look forward to your valued guidance and advice in the coming months. Thank you to all those people who tirelessly work behind the scenes to ensure the smooth running of this club. You beaver away without fuss or fanfare and just get on with your jobs which some of you have been doing for many years. We are very grateful and appreciate all your efforts. You are the unsung heroes of this club. Special thanks must go to our trip leaders and co-ordinators; without you arranging and leading trips this club would cease to function. To ensure the burden of responsibility doesn't rest on the shoulders of a few, please consider stepping forward to support and assist our leaders ... offer to drive the van or be Tail-end Charlie, ask if you can carry the PLB or the first aid kit. Enquire about being a co-leader or, better still, team up with a buddy and arrange and lead your own trips. Or simply pick up the broom and sweep out the van when returning from a tramp. Our trip leaders are our most valuable assets – please give them your full support. I'm sure JF Kennedy would forgive me for misquoting him, “Ask not what the Tramping Club can do for you – ask what you can do for the Tramping Club.” Happy tramping and keep safe. Cherry The Wanganui Tramper 3 August - October 2019 Committee Comments Who’s who on the new Committee? Check out inside the back page of the Tramper. Twilight tramps open to the public are to be reintroduced. See page 17 Van Usage Criteria has been clarified. See page 25 Auto Assist: See page 25 Subscription Notices: By now all subs should be paid. Members Phone List: This has been sent out with subscription receipt and FMC card. Trip Leaders, Drivers, Scribes and Members: A workshop is being planned for Tuesday 29 October 2019 as a refresher and for new members keen to help out with core functions of the club. More on this later. PLB Lists: Check page 11 Accidents of a personal nature when tramping are covered by ACC. Buy / Sell Column is to be introduced for tramping / cycling items. Email your notice to [email protected] Bike Trailer: Due to lack of storage space, BOMBs will continue to hire the 12 bike trailer and look at having the existing WTC trailer modified to allow the loading of bikes with wider tyres and mudguards. Volunteers Wanted Volunteers are required to clean the Club Rooms once a month prior to our Club Meeting (for approx. 1 - 2hrs) Step up Ladies and Gentlemen! Volunteer to go on the Roster. If we have sufficient volunteers we may have only one cleaning duty per year! Please contact Carolyn Tel: 347 7644 Email: [email protected] The Wanganui Tramper 4 August - October 2019 Club Nights Club Nights are held on the first Wednesday of each month (except January). Meetings are held in the Hunters & Deerstalkers Hall, 100 Peat Street at 7-30pm Club Night Programme For details of the Club Night programme please see “Scroggin” column in the Wanganui Midweek newspaper (generally the week before). All are welcome. Pleased to Meet You! New Members Brenton Barker, Beth Evans, Sally Gale, Alexandra Gates, Dianne Glennie, Julie Loggie, Maureen Naylor, Catie Robb, Carlos Sotet, Shari Thompson and Jenny Williamson. Our membership database needs to have the correct information so we can keep our members informed and up to date. If there are any changes to your contact details please let Barbara Gordon (membership, ph 348 9149) or Dorothy Symes (treasurer, ph 345 7039) know as soon as possible. Copy for the November 2019 Issue of the Wanganui Tramper to the Editor by October 16th 2019 (Earlier appreciated) Thank You! - Jeanette The Wanganui Tramper 5 August - October 2019 The Wanganui Tramper 6 August - October 2019 Club Activities MIDWEEK Wednesdays: A more challenging midweek day tramp is offered weekly, planned by rostered leaders. Coordinated by: Margret McKinnon 344 3899, email [email protected] Thursdays: A tramp every second Thursday. No bush bashing, generally over better tracks and a little easier. Planned and led by Earle Turner. Coordinated by: Val Cowan 345 0456, email [email protected] Coming months’ Thursday trips will be on the following dates: Aug 1, 15 & 29 Sept 12 & 26 Oct 10 & 24 Nov 7 & 21 TT2’s (the second Thursday walk): Alternate Thursday mornings. Leader Julie Kearse 345 0142 will advise the meeting place and time. Easy, ideal for the more senior member / recovering from injury / or for that extra walk with companions. Tuesday Biking (BOMBS): Depart from the I-Site 9.00am Tuesdays. Ask to be on the email list. Contact Carolyn Shingleton 347 7644 Mountain Biking: Mountain bike trips are held from time to time. Enquiries to Mark Kennedy 343 1135 or 027 757 1888 WEEKENDS Overnight/multi-day tramps are advertised in Tramper along with the leader’s contact details. Weekend DAY Tramps: Ask to be on the email list if you are interested in Saturday or Sunday day trips. Contact Dorothy Symes 345 7039 The Wanganui Tramper 7 August - October 2019 “IN THE BEGINNING ... THE BIRTH OF A MOUNTAIN HUT” Brian Carter was a member of our club from 1953-57. Now aged 92, he resides at a retirement complex in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. From his window he looks out to the Three Sisters peaks in the Canadian Rockies. Earlier this year Brian made us a generous donation of $5000 in memory of good times past, with the suggestion that a seat or seats be provided nearby to enable Mangaturuturu Hut users to relax and enjoy the views. The Tramping Club’s history puts it in context.... “An important person in the first two years of the saga of the hut was an English immigrant called Brian Carter, a quantity surveyor at the old Ministry of Works. It was Brian's suggestion to put a hut here on the terrace on the Ohakune side of the Mangaturuturu stream. After further exploration Brian decided the hut would be better sited where it now resides because of better shelter and views. Brian sowed the seeds of a hut idea, did the planning, and when the foundations were down, disappeared Three Sisters view from Brian’s unit in the direction of Canada in pursuit of a Canadian girl he met down Mt Cook way!” Brian fills in the details.....”At 7.00pm on Friday 10 December 1954, Neill Simpson and I set off for Ruapehu in my 1928 Ford Model A truck, intending a weekend ascent via the Mangaturuturu Valley. In October, during a solo trip on the mountain, I had met Arthur Saxby of the Tongariro Tramping Club in their hut. In glowing terms he told me about the Mangaturuturu Valley, but I intended an ascent that weekend. “So this trip was my introduction to the beautiful setting that had a majestic mountain, snow-covered in winter, bordered by forested slopes. The floor was a mixture of open tussock and patches of beech trees, crossed by streams that had tumbled down in rocky cascades from the heights above. Brian Carter The Wanganui Tramper 8 August - October 2019 “Written in tiny script, my diary notes have survived the years and travels and now, here in the Rocky Mountains of Canada, they are serving their purpose. It records that we camped that night two miles up the river from the road.