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Tee En Peeing - Queens Birthday weekend

- Nigel Fitzpatrick

The Queen's Birthday Easy Trip did not start gloriously for your humble narrator. I was waiting at the station under a big red nine painted on white tin. This was of course the wrong place. Vans are caught just outside on Thorndon Quay. Fortunately Mike and Chris saw me whilst looking for stragglers - our van left at about 7 after being push-started.

At about 11.30 we stopped at the roadend and began tramping to Waiahohonu Hut, arriving at midnight. Breakfast consisted of hot bacon and toast (and some muesli) which is generally indicative of the high standard of eating maintained on this trip. Our leisurely breakfast was disturbed,however,by the medium trip putting Catherine and pit outside.. We set off for Whakapapa,reaching it at about2,and spent a couple of hours in the local cafe braving complaints about our lack of purchasing. Then the pub.

We drove off to Mangatepopo Hut but as there were about 50 people in it we decided to sleep in the van at the Ketetahi roadend instead. Unfortunately there was not enough room for all of us so Andrew generously volunteered to sleep under the fly. He claims to have been warm (and I'm sure the ice that formed on his hat that night was good insulation). In the van it was warm but noisy. Chris de Joux was inadvertantly struck by a flying boot and your humble narrator had to frequently turn on the light to enforce some sort of decorum (yes Concerned Mother,some of us do care!). I would now like to break from my narrative to make a plea for the provision of bunks in all vans that the club hires in future. This would not only ensure comfortable nights for the easy trips but would offer some protection from flying boots.

The next day we tramped up to Ketetahi Hut whistling as we went (and bloody good itwas too). Mary,however,complained,so we fell silent. After claiming our bunks we spied the medium trip arriving,so we went off to the hot-pools,cracked a couple of tubes and stared back at the passing tourists.Some person with a red afro and a goatee beard took photos. On Monday it rained as we walked back to the van. I slipped over twice,Gena slipped three times,and Vingol attempted the splits (this he assured me doesn't count as a slip). David was observed attempting to blow up the van's flat tyre with his bare breath - your humble narrator has a photo of this.

From the Ketetahi roadend we drove off to the Tokaanu hotpools,thence to Waiouru where a select few took the two vans and set off back to pick up the fit trip at Tukino. Three or four hours later we began to wonder where they were. Chris and David arrived without the vans and said that they had got them stuck in thick mud on the Tukino road. Belinda introduced them to somebody with a 4-wheel drive,and they set off to pull the vans out. Meanwhile we settled back in the warmth and hospitality of the pub (they even invited us into the colour TV room). On the return of the vans we set off for home,one van returning to Whakapapa to disturb the fit page 17trip,who had by that time retired for the night. We reached Lower Hutt at about 1.40 am.

I would like to close this biassed account of the trip with an unbiassed thanks to the people who organised the trips and ensured that everybody went on a tramp they could and did enjoy.