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Reports......Waitawheta
Hut
Date: 2-3/5/09
Leader: Rona Rennie
Day 2
After a long night, dawn had finally arrived. The rustling of
restless legs and muffled whispers was the signal to unzip the
sleeping bag, and venture out into the melee of bodies of those less
fortunate who had spent the night camped out on the floor in the
hut’s dining area.
Five of those bodies stretched out on the floor still in their
sleeping bags, were the boys from Mt Maunganui along with there
teacher and her friend/supporter the Cadet Master. He was
responsible for supplying the group with packs, raincoats and
cooking equipment. The boys had done very well in staying quiet, but
you could feel the enthusiasm and excitement that 9 year old boys
have trouble holding in, and no sooner had they been given the nod
to get up and put away their bedding, the jostling and wrestling and
running began!
Careful of the clothes airer, precariously balanced from the night
before, (lumbered with the job of drying 20 pairs of soaking wet
socks), the boys scooted and dived around the numerous adults who
were trying to prepare breakfast.
The sky outside looked like it was going to be an improvement on the
day before, and as individual groups staying at the hut, prepared to
leave, the sun finally burst through and showered those waiting on
the outside deck in warm, watery sunshine.
I had been delaying the unavoidable chore of putting on cold, sodden
boots, soaked from the several river crossings of the day before. I
lowered my dry stockinged feet gingerly into each boot. It took a
good 5 seconds but I started to feel an icy cold wetness seeping
through my socks, making the souls of my feet cringe to be cold and
wet again. Aagh! I really did have to harden up.
Just as everyone readied themselves to start walking, there was a
mad scurry to take group photos by several different photographers!
So we backed up, huddled closer and posed for the camera, including
‘pajama girl’ who was one of three teenage girls who had arrived
late the day before. She rushed out wearing her all-in-one
flannelette pajama suit, and ran barefooted out to an elevated spot
to take a photo of us all, before scuttling back to bed.
After the photo shoot, we set off on the track leading to Daly’s
Hut, which would hook us up with the day trampers who had left from
Papakura that morning. The river crossings went without any major
mishaps, unlike the day before, when Graham went to take his final
step onto dry land, only to lose it, and plunge hands first, up to
his elbows into the river. The camera bag around his neck took a
dip, but thankfully there was no damage done. Graham on the other
hand, had to walk the rest of the way with wet pants, which was not
so good for him but great for the rest of us as he was especially
keen to get a good fire going!
The day had turned out to be a real stunner, not a cloud in the sky,
and thanks to the excellent leadership by Rona, we met up with the
day-walkers right on lunchtime. We all spread out in the sunshine,
along with some persistent wasps, and enjoyed a break before setting
off on the final leg of the walk.
After walking through bush and native ferns, we came out onto a
grassy paddock that led back to the road and to where our cars were
parked. Whether it was the sunshine or the company or perhaps just a
good day out, Barry decided to gambol about like a spring lamb, and
set off passing every one to get to the next stile ahead of us all!
Go Barry!
It was with relief that we untied wet boots, discarding them into
waiting plastic bags. We drove off with the sun’s warmth radiating
down through the windscreen all the way to Ngatea, where Bevan
suggested we stop for an icecream at the Copper Kettle. Everyone
else had the same idea! I ordered a well deserved, double-scoop, and
sat outside enjoying the last of the sun, licking my icecream
thinking - what better way to end a great weekend’s tramping!
Lorraine Foster
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