2010 is almost upon us, we had our last club night of the year yesterday (a unique and thought provoking talk on reconnecting with nature!), and Christmas is just a couple of weeks away now. I think 2009 has been another great year for our club. The material highlights are buying a 2nd club van and personal locator beacons, but I am most satisfied simply to see lots of punters heading out into the hills on club trips, or turning up on Wed nights to watch another great slideshow. The trip sheets seem to have been filling up faster than ever, and I hope it continues next year.
The Summer trip schedule will reach you with this newsletter, as usual there are some really great trips on offer, so I hope you are able to get out and enjoy the great NZ outdoors with WT&MC.
Thanks to all the people who have volunteered to lead trips, especially those who are leading trips for the first time. There are a few trips listed as Leader Required, if you would like to see these trips run, all volunteers to lead these trips (or any extra trips!) are gratefully accepted, Paul or Melissa would love to hear from you.
Also arriving with this newsletter will be the clubs annual journal, this is the result of a lot of hard work by Jackie Foster and Tony Gazley, especially in the last month or so. Your efforts are much appreciated! Thanks also to those who contributed.
Tony was also one of the winners in our annual photo competition, held just a few weeks ago. As usual, there was a great turnout at club night to see the photos and find out who had won. Thanks to Donna and Sally for organising this, and to our judge Athol McCredie from Te Papa.
Finally, a retirement of sorts…our club ferry bookings have been looked after for a number of years now by Ailsa Chisholm, but she is now passing the baton onto our Transport Officer Gareth Morton. I want to recognise the important (and no doubt at times challenging!) job that Ailsa has done in this role over the years. There are many people like Ailsa who continue to give up their time to help out the club even though they are no longer active trampers, and we would not be able to operate without all of them. Thanks!
Well, that’s all I have to say for this year, I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year break. If you are tramping, stay safe, and take some photos to show us in 2010!
Darren Hammond