_______________________________________________________________________________

1

PALMERSTON NORTH TRAMPING AND MOUNTAINEERING CLUB INC.

Newsletter - March 2005

P.O. BOX 1217, PALMERSTON NORTH

CLUB NIGHTS

Club nights are on the second and last Thursday of each month at the Society of Friends Hall, 227 College Street, at 7:45pm sharp. All welcome! At the club night: Please sign the visitors book. A 50c door fee includes supper.

5-6 Mar Land SAREX 10 Mar Club Night Baffin Island Richard Havercamp Hes back by popular demand. After his fascinating accounts of rugged Fiordland tramping he has returned to enthral us with the delights of Baffin Island located on the north east Coast of Canada. 17 Mar Committee Meeting EASTER 31 Mar AGM Warren Wheeler The Annual General Meeting will start at 7.45pm and features an election Year address by the President and a fiscal and finance report by the Treasurer. Nominations for the Executive will be accepted no later than immediately prior to election on the night. Articles to Lance gray.family@actrix.co.nz or post to 37 Parata Street, Palmerston North (by 20th of the month)

TRIPS

Mar 6 Kapakapanui M Anja Scholz 356-6456 For a good work-out, the track which starts inland from Waikanae climbs steeply for about 900 metres before relinquishing (hopefully) the hold on stunning views over the Tararuas and Kapiti Island. Over the tops for lunch, and a look at Kapakapanui Hut on the way back down. As the only river crossings are right at the start, those who relish dry feet might want to bring sandals/waterproof plastic bags to cross. Okay, and my arm can be twisted for the time honoured Donut stop on the way in. Start from Countdown Carpark at 7:30 am. Mar 12-13 Duck Pond M Mick Leyland 358-3183 To be re-scheduled. Mar 13 Top Maropea Hut M Neil Campbell 359-5048 This is a walk in the Ruahines with the road access being from the Hawkes Bay side. We visit Sunrise Hut and then, weather permitting, continue on to Top Maropea Hut for lunch. The views are excellent in good weather. We depart from Countdown carpark at 7am. Mar 19-20 Arete Biv F Lance Gray 356-6454 First plan is to complete a Dundas/Bannister loop and tolerate the comfort of the Biv or tent. Could look to a Northern Crossing variation if we have transport; as long as we stop at the Biv I dont mind.

PNTMC March 2005 www.pntmc.org.nz

____________________________________________________________________________________ 2

Mar 20 Tongariro South Ridge M Please advise a trip coordinator, as soon as possible, if you will be unable to run your trip as scheduled. This is so that alternatives can be arranged, put in the newsletter, or passed on at club night.

Bruce van Brunt 328-4761 Most people climb Tongariro along the tourist track and continue on with the Tongariro crossing. On this trip we take a somewhat different route to the top along the South Ridge. The trip starts from the Mangatepopo road end, where we follow the Tongariro crossing track to the saddle. We then leave the crowds and ascend the South ridge. The ridge itself is a straightforward rock scramble that affords excellent views. From the summit we then descend down a nice scree slope and follow the gentle west ridge down to the Mangatepopo Hut. A fun trip with lots of views.

*** OVERDUE TRIPS *** Enquiries to: Mick Leyland (358 3183), Terry Crippen (356 3588), or Janet Wilson (329 4722) From the Editors Desk Did anyone spot a certain Doug

Strachan letter to the editor in the Sub-Standard the other night Thursday 10 Feb titled Lifes Ironies? To give you a taste of this gem here is the opening paragraph.

Mar 25-28 Easter Eggont M Isnt it ironic that Superman ended up in a wheelchair, and that the Marlboro Man died of lung cancer. How about that massacre carried out by American troops in Vietnam at a place called NO Gun Ri.

Warren Wheeler 356-1998 Depart 7.00am for a 2.5 hr drive to Dawson Falls carpark on the southern side of Mt Egmont/Taranaki. From there we will circuit around the mountain via Lake Dive Hut, Waiaua Gorge Hut, and Holly Hut. We will probably be camping as the huts tend to fill quickly at this time of year.

To cap it off come Monday 14 Feb the editor of the Sub-Standard tells us that Doug received letter of the week for his excellent tale of ironies and the ability to poke fun at himself. Well done Doug. Did you get anything out of it like a free subscription?

Mar 25-29 Raukumara Ranges M Terry Crippen 3563-588 or 025 643-3637 Mt Hikurangi at 1752m is the highest non-volcanic peak in the North Island and is in from Ruatoria on the East Coast. Depart PN early Friday: drive to Gisborne (400km) to meet Terry midday (he is up there working), then continue up to the Tapuareoa Valley road-end for the long climb up to the bush line, camping or using the hut. Hopefully climbing to the summit the next day. We may then use "Mac's Track" and descend into the Mangarata Stm and possibly to Oronui hut. The down valley, out to the road end. Tues, drive back to PN. If you are a definite starter please contact me BEFORE 10th March.

Congratulations to Andrew Lynch for his fine multi-media presentation on Nepal; a five-week trip he commenced in late Sep. Andrew broke his presentation into three main areas: the Big Boys and Girls (Everest etc) as he called them, his 400km trek over five passes (hes never one to take the short option) and pictures of the people of Nepal.

Andrew suggests that he had to get the Big Boys and Girls out of his system and that while he enjoyed going out to see them he was not particularly interested in climbing them. In particular he suggested that you could get better value for your $80k (US) by looking at other climbs. As you can guess he was talking about Everest. The wonderful thing about Andrew is his opinions: not one to sit on the fence and appease everyone.

Mar 31 Club Night AGM Trip participants: Contact the leader at least 3 days in advance. Trips leave from Countdown carpark. A charge for transport will be collected on the day. Leaders should be able to give an estimate in advance. For general info, or any suggestions for future tramps, please contact Terry Crippen (356-3588), Janet Wilson (329-4722) or Tony Gates (357-7439).

The 400km trek was fascinating just from a cultural perspective. I think many of us could get quite used to having five cooks and twenty-one porters! The trek took in five passes, one Maoist standoff, one serious climb over 6000 metres, 40kg

Trips Easy (E): 3-4 hrs Technical skills reqd (T) Medium (M): 5-6 hrs Instructional (I) Fit (F): about 8 hrs Fitness Essential (FE): >8 hrs Trip leaders:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________ PNTMC March 2005 www.pntmc.org.nz

____________________________________________________________________________________

3

loads, socks and jandals, and a bucketful of eye-popping images not to mention altitude headaches. Not bad for a Linton cockie.

Andrew completed his presentation with ten minutes of digital images of his travels around Nepal accompanied to local music. Very cool. He told us that he took 700 frames (slides/photos) and 250 digital images. Something tells me that Andrew has not always been a dairy farmer.

We should have dished out Dougs beer and had a rave while listening to the music. Somehow I dont think our landlords The Society of Friends would have appreciated alcohol consumption on their premises. I think Doug is priming us for the up-coming Presidential election given the amount of alcohol hes been dishing out lately.

Andy amongst His Big Boys & Girls

_______________________________________________________________________________________________ PNTMC March 2005 www.pntmc.org.nz

____________________________________________________________________________________ 4

NOTICES

Change of Address, From the Presidents PC

Change of Address: Duncan Hedderley 347b Botanical Rd, Palm Nth ph 354 6905 From the Presidents PC The February blue skies are nicely letting the sun shine through to warm up the shallow waters now running in the rivers of the region you are cordially invited to go outdoors. Hagh hagh then to those who didnt come on the Irongates Gorge trip a couple of weeks ago - the Oroua River was almost warm, definitely not as refreshingly cool as past trips. The water was clear and deeper than it looked in the gorge - the floods having scoured out the gravel - which made for some interesting false foot-downs. I was surprised that only two of us went on the tripyes, just two what a waste of a perfect day! Doug reckoned the blurb in the newsletter was a bit off-putting so perhaps I should have mentioned that even 10-year old boys can do it in 5 hours. No doubt many of you were enjoying other activities anyway, so I wont take the lack of numbers personally. In the dog-box again, I was gently reminded recently - in no uncertain terms - that I had omitted from the Annual Awards listed in the last newsletter the last minute (how ironic) on-the-night award for the Last Minute Award you may recall that Janet Wilson kindly nominated me for this award due to phoning trip leader Fiona as she was about to head out the door just 10 minutes befo