February 1967 Some of Us Have Itartd 021
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I - ' 7 February 1967 Some of us have itartd 021' the year with new enthusiasm - one young lady at least having spent three January weekends out in the wilds. Others, I fear, started off no less enthusiastic- ally but have since been cured of all such madness. And finally there is the remainder, including.a few of.the,.so-called hard party on a recent wrekend, who have yet to cone to grips with their bushwalking instinct - or was it some other reason that led then to join the club? NEUS FROM NEAR AND FAR Gddff 1.iátt6ñ iédtS that the Wrights are in fine form in Phnon Penh, but are finding the local variety of scrub rather, insupportable. Geoff himself is back in town after an adventuresome trip in South-east Asia. From all accounts Margot Cox is. enjoying her travels abroad. When last heard from she was in England. Congratulations to Deab and Elizabeth lIaddad on the birth of their daughter. Fran Eccles is back hone in Canberra to prepare for her wedding on the 25th of this month. She hasn't changed except for her hair style. Caroline Pattison writes from Brisbane that "life is swinging along up here, though there are no bushwallcs, camp-fires or LtA songs". Gaby Fritschi has gone to Europe for some months to visit family and friends - including Bob de Viana in Geneva. Dorothy Brown and Lin Chaffer have returned after motoring many thousands of miles to Mossnian and back (it seems this is not a suburb of Sydney). Where is Iliep? That is the question. Vie were all shocked to hear of Nyra Grech's car accident on January 4th and hope she will soOn be alright. fl2flt TIE EDITOR - Déa±AI±dé, Thank you for the suggestion that I write something for tIti on our climbing trip to New Zealand. - So as not to conflict with any other accounts you may haVe or are yet to receive from more accomplished writers and story tellers I feel I should remain silent. The occurence of discrepancies would cast quite unwarranted doubt on the facts presented. Or, perhaps I should say, we have not yet all got together to determine what the facts should be so I thini: it best to leave it for my companions to reconstruct (or create) then as they see fit. Roy GOING TO NEIl ZEAlAND? If d, 1iiéà6 ddñthct Geoff Liarston who may tell you something to your advantage. PATAGONIA, CIiItISTMM 1967 Sill tãblé ThI éáIthy tddws, philanthropists, people changing jobs, etc. Contact Geoff i-iarston. WANTED - 1 LADY'S BICYCLE. S. Brierley 46095. -2- TEE_JANUARY LONG WEEIND I. II and III Never has a trip stirred the imagination of our members to such lengths. I sighed when I saw Roger's article but groaned at John's - but only, you understand, because of their bulk. I assure you they are most readable and I have made no attempt to butcher them. If you are puzzled at the end as to where anyone in particular was at any precise time or now they got there, let me tell you that that was part of the charm of the trip; people just kept appearing or disappearing - to such an extent that I would hardly have been surprised if ltd suddenly found I wasn't there either but somewhere else instead. [Ed.] - I. EASY TRIP Th dftiestl party of the Galloways and Dorothy Brown set off at a civilized 8 a.rn. on Saturday, with Dorothyts VU loaded with creature comforts. - Our first objective was a track to Waterfall Creel: gauging ótätión betwenTooma and fliancoban, from the end of which we hoped to explore in the general direction of the Dargals. The car tackled the first three major drainage ditches with the tenacity of the breed, but as the ditches became deeper and the road even steeper we walked on ahead to find the edge of the road collapsed in an uninviting scree. We retreated and continued on towards Geehi, investigating on the way one of those fascinating deep-V valleys near iQaancoban. We next followed the road to Bella Vista, stopping at Olsen's Lookout, commendably well-kept and surprisingly free of litter, - largely, we suspect, because the signpost to the Lookout points the wrong way. The mountain spurs were beautifully lit by the late afternoon sun, making the most of the best views in the mountains. Two lyre-birds and a black wallaby added to the pleasure of the day. Beyond Bella Vista and just before the site of the Geehi Dan we turned left up a steep 3recently ploughed track leading towards Grey Mare. "Awkward in wet weather", we thought, and pressed on. We camped in an old road, the only reasonably level patch available, intending to walk on through the bush next day. The storms raged to and fro, the level ground proved to be a depression, we retreated to the car, swinging out our bedding. Dorothy decided shetd rather be iet and horizontal, so about 3 á.n. she returned to her.. tent. The rain continued. -- --Luckily some flat-dwellers keep their - snow- chains - in-'th-e- car all summer - we needed them. With no hope of drying out either ourselves or our bedding, we headed for hone, adniring the play of clouds and mist on the mountain mass across the way. In clearing up the mess I proved the wisdom of storing clothes in plastic bags inside a pack; my swimming costume was perfectly dry. Norma Galloway -. II. DEAD HORSES AI'D FLIES C A tháiij thdñ-hd tthout promise. Sleepy tousled heads appearing around doors. Anxious enquiries like "Will you wait?" It was as though Tyburn Hill awaited them, d and not the fair upland meadows. H - -3- "Itwee bee ann that way - ICumna that way". So spalce £1 Greco perched on a stonewall in answer to my own anxious enquiries concerning the passage of the rest of the migratory birds. We arrived. We surveyed. We emerged victorious. 110w it all came about was thus:- Leaving our bath chairs at Dead Horse Gap we set out to rendezvous with Herr Ober Leutnant Kassnann. It may be an opportune moment to slip in the "flogging a dead horse" gem at this point. However, the weather was, bright, the flies were troublesome, the air was cool and the tops looked inviting. 1-Ye were ten in number and, being free from any dissenting and otherwise dissentient factions, we soon left the lovely snowg-ums below us. The path is well marked through the trees; the grade is easy and the Alpine mint was in flower just for our pleasure. We dined soon after leaving the treea and began to notice the flies 1 A warm black blanket on the leeward side was bearable but if only the little chaps wouldn't run about so. tie lost the track soon after lunch and a slight divergence of nrricational interpretation split the party asunder. The reunion cane shortly after regaining the track wider the crags of North Ramshead. I really think that the charm of the main range lies in the diversity of the scenery. Between North Ranshead and the Ranshead rocks lies a winding vale of snowgrass, granite boulders, alpine flowers and a rocky, clear, deep, alpine stream - enclosed like a massive amphitheatre by high ridges of piled boulders. From my eyrie I gazed down upon the little covey of quail - now moving on - now stopping to peck and rest and call to one another until they reached the skyline where the scene changed so dramatically to the sombre shades of the Cootapatamba cirque. There before us stood the Patriot trying to look dignified under his heavy load of tourists. Under his despoiled majesty lay the "drinking place of the eagles", blue, wind-ruffled and quite lady-like. Across the valley and on to the far distance, the Victorian tinberclad ranges were framed by the outer bastions of the alps. Within the valley masses of snow daisies spread out in patches which were so orderly and yet so random. - Into this wonderland tramped a mob of hob-nailed Phillistines who could think of no greater pleasure than sucking March flies into plastic tubing and plunging then into the cool waters from which others must quenchtheir thirst. Anxiety again reared its head when the passage of time suggested that the disgrace of reaching our meeting place - SECOI-D1 - night' be thrust upon us. A rapid sweep to the left of Kossy was made and it was not long before we looked down with relief upon the uninhabited Vale of Wilkinson. We had no way of knowing that no dark figures would suddenly appear, silhouetted on the farthernost skyline of the - Abbot Range. Nor could we know of the conflict which raged 5,000 feet below our feet (or heads - depending on sleeping arrangements). We could but shade our eyes against thegorgeous sunset and wait. Roy and Jenny arrived with a massive butane tank; Bob produced a corrosive chemical called O.P. (old Plinsolls); Alice muttered strange rain-making incantations over a bubbling yellow liquid; a little voice announced the discovery of the raspberry jam; and the gathering gloaming rang with the sound of tent pegs being hammered into bare rock. Such was the peace and -. tranquility of the scene. - / The last head (or foot) had disappeared within the canvas depths when a pattering upon the tent walls - f- fijIz\ - announced that Alice had been "at it again" and had indeed succeeded beyond her wildest expectations. A storm - the like of which I never wish to encounter again - suddenly broke among our scattered dwellings.