As I write this in front of the fire on a Sunday morning (late again!), I’m thinking of Allen and Sue’s crew off in the Orongorongos. A cold night in Karori would have been even colder in the hills. But two weeks ago at North Ohau Hut, we were far from cold despite the ice outside. An energetic day, hot meal and decent fire meant the top bunks took on sauna like qualities, with those on the floor perhaps getting a better deal.
For me it was great to knock off another unvisited Tararua hut but also to venture into untracked territory and find some relatively well-marked unofficial routes. An afternoon of bush bashing became one of track detection, which I find more satisfying! We are keen to include some interesting new routes in the Spring Schedule, and now is your chance to send through ideas. I need suggestions of road ends (eg, Ohau (Tararuas), or eastern Richmond Ranges, or Lewis Pass, etc) by next Saturday 7 July. We will then match these ideas to dates. The planning night on Wednesday 11 July (5.45pm, clubrooms, pizza inc) is your chance to devise trips for the predetermined road ends. So start thinking and email me ().
Last month we held our course for aspiring trip leaders, and it was really cheering to get 13 people along when we cancelled last year due to lack of numbers. The revised one-day format worked well, with talk about trip planning, organisation and leading in the morning and some practical navigation work in the afternoon. Thanks to Alistair Young for the latter, Richard for managing logistics and everyone who came for being willing to share their experiences and thoughts. At the end, everyone nominated the one thing that stood out to them most from the course. We had 13 different answers, which just shows how differently we process information based on our own experience, personality and learning style. Probably the value of planning and preparation came through most strongly, but others included: watching others’ wellbeing, the importance of communication, being aware how little newbies might know, knowing escape routes, using common sense and “easy/easy mediums are hard!”. Watch out for our new leaders in the next schedule and give them your support.