For some of the pictures Tony took on the tramp click here.
Four friends left Welly Railway Station Friday after work and headed off to the Tararuas. They were to meet Neill, Winchcombe and Hector on the following day—for they had made their own way and were already there.
The four bivied on the summit of Cone on Friday night with a bright full moon and chilly breeze. Next morning they set off to meet very briefly with Neill and then Winchcombe who actually both decided to stay where they were probably because it was such a nice day going anywhere else seemed rather pointless. A bit later the four met up with Hector and had a long lazy lunch with a clear blue sky above, some fluffy white fair-weather clouds below, and Taranaki and Ruapehu shining on the horizon.
After the relaxing break the four headed off but Hector chose to stay—apparently quite happy to just remain standing where he was surveying the wonderful view in all directions.
The four spent a nice quiet night in Alpha Hut before heading back to the club van on Sunday. It was somewhere here that Bernie fell down the bank. He still had all his teeth but there was some missing skin where his face had hit the ground first although he actually seemed relatively untroubled by his summersaults.
But they all agreed that it had been such a nice weekend in the Tararuas—Bernie had remodelled his looks, Shay had been happy to spend rest breaks upside-down standing on his head, and Jessie had especially enjoyed his breakfast of an enormous bowl of porridge topped with a thick layer of corned beef from the tin he had found in the hut.
