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195706 [2016/05/01 17:20] – [The New Song Book] kennettj | 195706 [2016/05/05 19:18] (current) – [The Fed. Reune and Epilogue] kennettj | ||
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====== Seven Weeks in New Zealand Part 1V ====== | ====== Seven Weeks in New Zealand Part 1V ====== | ||
+ | Dot Butler | ||
- | Dot Butler. | + | The first light of dawn lit up the ragged patchwork quilt of snow thrown over the sleeping shoulders of the Remarkables. It awoke the sleeping waters of Lake Wakitipu to blue life. It crept down the hushed hillside, through the eucalyptus and native trees, into the pavillion of the Queenstown sports ground. Three sleeping bundles stirred to life: " |
- | The first light of dawn lit up the ragged patchwork quilt of snow thrown over the sleeping shoulders of the Remarkables. It awoke the sleeping waters of Lake Wakitipu to blue life. It crept down the hushed hillside, through the eucalyptus and native trees, into the pavillion of the Queenstown sports ground. Three sleeping bundles stirred to life: " | + | |
- | Snow's primus out on the grassy bank under the paling stars - stuff sleeping bags into packs, then off we dash to the. bus terminus down | + | Old memories followed |
- | by the lake for now we are away on the first leg of our real mountain- | + | |
- | Old memories followed | + | We got out with relief and to stretch our legs went down to the lake to have a look at the huge impressive dam construction. We had to wait for the Christchurch bus to come in with its quota of passengers for Mt. Cook, including the fourth member of our party, Whaka Newmarch, a New Zealand Alpine Club member who was obligingly devoting his annual leave to taking us Aussies in tow. At length the bus arrived and there was a great bustle of activity as passengers and luggage were off loaded. Our driver said something about moving off at 2 o' |
- | eering adventure - a fortnight at Mt. Cook. It is a long journey hence the early start. | + | |
- | 14, | + | About a mile from the Hermitage is situated the Alpine Club's Unwin hut. Here the boys got off, about sundown, while I went on to the Hermitage to check up on our fortnight' |
- | of the Mt. Cook range, its peaks a sight to catch the heart, rising | + | |
- | clear against the cold blue sky, its pure snowy beauty mirrored upside | + | For old time's sake I wandered through the Hermitage. It had changed beyond recognition. The homely interior has been streamlined and modernised and now has the atmosphere of a hospital clinic. All Duncan' |
- | down in the still waters of the lake. | + | |
- | We got out with relief and to stretch our legs went down to the | + | " |
- | lake to have a look at the huge impressive dam construction. We had to wait for the Christchurch bus to Come in with its quota of passengers for Mt. Cook, including the fourth member of our party, Whaka | + | |
- | Newmarch, a New Zealand Alpine Club member who was obligingly devoting | + | |
- | his annual leave to taking us Aussies in tow. At length the bus arrived and there was a great bustle of activity as passengers and luggage | + | |
- | were off loaded. Our driver said something about moving off at 2 ofclock, that is in half an hour's time. Whaka and Snow and I were reclining under the shade of a little bush eating ice cream and fruit when the bush driver signalled that he was ready to move off, so we got in. But Goodness!, Where is George? We called, but no answer. We sought him in all the likely places - I looked in the dining room and Whaka looked in the bathroom, and Snow was despatched to investigate the Gents to see if he had got locked in - but no sign of our missing one. We shouted "Hey George | + | |
- | sped down the road and passed a startled George in a cloud of dust and | + | |
- | scattered stones with Snow and I leaning out the window and waving him goodbye. The driver at length pulled up and George came sprinting up the road like a flushed antelope and leapt aboard muttering that he hadthought | + | |
- | About a mile from the Hermitage is situated the Alpine Club's Unwin hut. Here the boys got off, about sundown, while I went on to | + | |
- | the Hermitage to check up on our fortnight' | + | |
- | with me during the war years. Duncan is an artist too, and when I was working there every wall of the Hermitage was hung with his oil paintings of the surrounding peaks. Now frail with the weight of years, | + | |
- | his wide set dreamy eyes still light up with their sudden gentle passion when he speaks of the hills and the sea. Duncan undertook to | + | |
- | track down our food. The two boxes were found all right (Chalk up a | + | |
- | good mark to dependable Donnie), also Snow's tent which we had Jaded on to Don at Glenorchy to get rid of its weight, but he had forgotton | + | |
- | the rest of the trip. Perhaps this sentence needs some elucidating. | + | |
- | donated by Marie Byles, one of which was too narrow at the toes and let | + | |
- | the water in, and the other pair though waterproof was too short. So Donnie and I had been taking it in turns at having dry feet and bent up toes, or, conversely, wet feet and pinched toes. Mad how many times have I stressed to trampers and mountaineers that their footwear is THE MOST IMPORTANT item of their gear: There is a moral in this somewhere, | + | |
- | 15, | + | |
- | For old time's sake I wandered through the Hermitage. It had changed beyond recognition. The homely interior has been streamlined and modernised and now has the atmosphere of a hospital clinic. All Duncan' | + | |
- | the plump little back-country waitresses who would serve you in their | + | |
- | socks like as not, and the battered tattered mountaineers who now would feel self-conscious and ashamed if projected into this well dressed throng. Ah well, I wasn't staying at the Hermitage - and I went off in search of Mick Bowie, the chief guide, for information. There he is, good old Mick with his giant frame so honestly built, his little rabbity moustache, the slyly humerous | + | |
- | " | + | |
- | with an acutely sensitive instinct for the weatherts | + | |
- | is climable." | + | |
deserved. | deserved. | ||
- | An entertaining evening was spent at the Bowie' | + | |
- | Good Night good people - one must get some sleep, and leaving the | + | An entertaining evening was spent at the Bowie' |
- | small cosy lighted dining room, in one step one was out into the velvet shadows and the night. With a rush the mountains suddenly seemed to shoot up on all sides. The sumMits | + | small cosy lighted dining room, in one step one was out into the velvet shadows and the night. With a rush the mountains suddenly seemed to shoot up on all sides. The summits |
- | Next morning bright and early we all boarded the Ball but bus, | + | |
- | quite forgetting our boxes of food, but someone pointed them out to us | + | Next morning bright and early we all boarded the Ball hut bus, quite forgetting our boxes of food, but someone pointed them out to us at the last minute, so despite our subconscious desire to leave behind the dried apricots and potato powders they came after all. |
- | at the last minute, so despite our subconscious desire to leave behind the dried apricots and potato powders they came after all. | + | |
- | This is perhaps the place to tell you about our food. I think I | + | This is perhaps the place to tell you about our food. I think I can quite safely say IT WAS ALL PETE STITT' |
- | 6 can quite safely say IT WAS ALL PETE STITTtS | + | short story long, Pete had told us that dried vegetables and fruits were practically unobtainable in N.Z. so we'd better take what we needed from Australia. Accordingly I worked |
- | how brave I am when he's not around to contradict me). To make a | + | 2 multiplied by George, Snow, Donnie and myself, multiplied by 4 weeks in Don's case and 6 weeks in ours, which came to a collossal |
- | short story long, Pete had told us that dried vegetables and fruits were practically unobtainable in N.Z. so we'd better take what we | + | went down to the local grocer' |
- | needed from Australia. Accordingly I worked | + | National Service, strongly objected to their inclusion), peaches and figs. From Paddy I bought a quantity of potato powder (I forget now how much but there was plenty - ask George), and lb. of Onion powder which smelt vile, but Snow says a stew is not a stew without onion, so we made him carry it. I packed all this tucker into a beer bottle box and as it was so heavy we decided to send it from Sydney to Auckland with Snow on the Oronsay so we other three wouldn' |
- | 2 multiplied by George, Snow, Donnie and myself, multiplied by 4 weeks in Don's case and 6 weeks in ours, which came to a collossai | + | Pete swinging along in the rear with his plaster leg and his crutches and my red handbag with the green feathers clutched in his mouth like a retriever with a mouthful of macaw, muttering muffled threats against the cop, and he had no right to stop us parking on the wharf and there he is, will we have him on, the sod: The cop was rather apologetic as we staggered past him, and whatever remarks Pete made were muffled through the red cloth of the handbag, so the peace was not disturbed and I dumped the box of food in Snow's cabin and that's where we leave it till a week or so later when we unpack it at Wellington and find that the quantity of dried apples, peaches, figs and prunes is practically |
- | 16. | + | |
- | went down to the local grocer' | + | |
- | counter that's what we wanted and let us have it in equal amounts of apricots, apples, prunes (although Donnie, after several months in | + | |
- | National Service, strongly objected to their inclusion), peaches and figs. From Paddy I bought a quantity of potato powder (I forget now how much but there was plenty - ask George), and lb. of Onion powder which smelt vile, but Snow says a stew is not a stew without onion, so we made him carry it. I packed all this tucker into a beer bottle | + | |
- | box and as it was so heavy we decided to send it from Sydney to | + | |
- | Auckland with Snow on the Oronsay so we other three wouldn' | + | |
- | pay surcharge on the plane. On the day of departure Snow and Pete and | + | |
- | I drove down to the wharf with the lugpage. The cop on duty wouldn' | + | |
- | go round about half a mile and park in a back street. Then we set off in procession to the liner, Snow wearing a huge pack and carrying an overnight bag and an ice axe and a parcel of boots or some such, then myself with a 60 lb. box balanced on my head trying to pretend it was nothing and we do this every day of the week, and a rather uncomfortable | + | |
- | Pete swinging along in the rear with his plaster leg and his crutches | + | |
- | and my red handbag with the green feathers clutched in his mouth like | + | |
- | a retriever with a mouthful of macaw, muttering muffled threats against the cop, and he had no right to stop us parking on the wharf and there he is, will we have him on, the sod: The cop was rather apologetic as | + | |
- | we staggered past him, and whatever remarks Pete made were muffled through the red cloth of the handbag, so the peace was not disturbed and I dumped the box of food in Snow's cabin and that's where we leave it till a week or so later when we unpack it at Wellington and find that the quantity of dried apples, peaches, figs and prunes is pract- | + | |
- | ically | + | |
- | would make a weevil whoop with delight, and as for the potato powder, well everyone should be told now that a billyful dry is the equivalent of a bucketful wet. Whenever we would feel in our packs for some tucker and our fingers would encounter the irregular unyielding torso of an apricot-packed food bag, or a soft sandy yielding bag whose | + | |
- | contents were always and unquestionably potato powder - or even at the mere mention of these foods - George would give a hollow groan, | + | |
Donnie would be patiently philosophical, | Donnie would be patiently philosophical, | ||
+ | |||
Anyhow, there we are, together with said tucker and about 20 tourists, unloaded at Ball Hut at about 10.30 a.m. on 13th Jan. | Anyhow, there we are, together with said tucker and about 20 tourists, unloaded at Ball Hut at about 10.30 a.m. on 13th Jan. | ||
- | "The Glory of the Open Spaces. There is no life like it, this living | + | |
- | in the clear fresh air of the country. I think it was Thorean who said: ' | + | ----------------- |
+ | |||
+ | "The Glory of the Open Spaces. There is no life like it, this living in the clear fresh air of the country. I think it was Thorean who said: ' | ||
- From " | - From " | ||
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====== | ====== | ||
- | (Hitchint | + | (Hitchin' |
- | I t14nk this. was the friendliest and easiest of all Fed. Reunes hard to say exactly why - it had that light feeling in the air te sometimes get. | + | |
+ | I think this was the friendliest and easiest of all Fed. Reunes hard to say exactly why - it had that light feeling in the air we sometimes get. | ||
The absence of so many elders turned it into a Carnival of Youth and this was emphasised by the all-night chain of song, laughter and shout - and be dammed to the drugged old fogies!, | The absence of so many elders turned it into a Carnival of Youth and this was emphasised by the all-night chain of song, laughter and shout - and be dammed to the drugged old fogies!, | ||
- | The campfire was worthy of one William Henley Esq. of Croydon Park and the still night made it a cert. Paddy overcame his shyness and managed to compere with great skill even though there was a difference of easily 50 between his front and back sides. The whole show ran well | + | The campfire was worthy of one William Henley Esq. of Croydon Park and the still night made it a cert. Paddy overcame his shyness and managed to compere with great skill even though there was a difference of easily 50 between his front and back sides. The whole show ran well oiled without the sign of an oilcan - it was more like a close family reunion than an interclub affair. I missed the chatter of the babes and the whiskers of the aged - but this was a Carnival of Youth and how we all missed Yvonne at sing sing time |
- | oiled without the sign of an oilcan - it was more like a close family reunion than an interclub affair. I missed the chatter of the babes and the whiskers of the aged - but this was a Carnival of Youth and how we all missed Yvonne at singysing | + | |
+ | But the law of compensation is in action and we have a new songbird in the Club, a dove from the far Mediterranean flown. She sang - in a soft true expressive voice - some strange wistful songs of her homeland; her name - Georgia. What a surprise! Even the tongues of flame eased their prattling to complete the deep stillness as she sang. How fortunate, above all, are we bushwalkers, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Always for me, at Euroka, the highlight is the early Sunday walk down the creek to the big water; and with a chosen few it was done a lovely sight was the big waters a water colour fantasy delicately rippled. The look down rock at the track' | ||
+ | |||
+ | So back to camp went we bushwalkers, | ||
+ | |||
+ | And then something happened: A sizeable utility going west slowed down, turned and stopped | ||
+ | alongside us. Frank seemed to think it did this for us (brave Frankie) and bold as brass piled on. I shyly asked if it included me - "of course" | ||
- | Always for me, at Euroka, the highlight is the early Sunday walk down the creek to the big water; and with a chosen few it was done a lovely sight was the big waters a water colour fantasy delicately rippled. The look-down rock at the track's end is a good spot for awakening sleep echoes. I had the flute and tried four notes of a chord, and lo! Amazingly/ out of the silence it floated back to MB like the song of a stroked harp. In a lifetime of fluting I heard it for the first time in its richest form. | + | We still don't know where the magic came in - it could not have been any glamour act by Jean - her 74 inches |
- | So back to camp went we bushwalkers, | + | |
- | There seems a tremendous amount | + | |
- | And then something happened: | + | |
- | A sizeable utility going west slowed down, turned | + | |
- | alongside us. Frank seemed to think it did this for us (brave Frankie) | + | |
- | and bold as brass piled on. I shyly asked if it inlcuded me - "of course" | + | AND they were New Aussies: Old Aussies have a lot to learn when it comes to catering for hitchers. |
- | Pommies how to allow people to be affable). So back he came and thrust the bag at them and soon-it vanished. P.gain, not much later, he stopped and said would we like some chips. Again the liars roared, " | + | |
- | We still don't know where the magic came in - it could not have been any glamour act by Tean - her 74 inches of brake material would see to that: They dropped MB at Parramatta with the warmth usually reserved for rich uncles; a fine cove, lovely wife, and child - | + | |
- | AND | + | |
- | they were New Aussies: | + | |
- | Old Aussies have a lot to learn when it comes to catering for hitchers: | + | |
(As one of the 180 odd Reuners, I echo your sentiments entirely, Taro. It was a friendly and easy Fed, Reune, no doubt about it. The story of your hitching episode runs something like Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother - any chance of a loan of the magic wand sometime? - Ed.) | (As one of the 180 odd Reuners, I echo your sentiments entirely, Taro. It was a friendly and easy Fed, Reune, no doubt about it. The story of your hitching episode runs something like Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother - any chance of a loan of the magic wand sometime? - Ed.) | ||
- | 111 | ||
====== This Months Puzzle ====== | ====== This Months Puzzle ====== | ||
195706.1462087214.txt.gz · Last modified: 2016/05/01 17:20 by kennettj