Newsletter August 2009
CONTENTS :
Welcome to new members:
Pam Satherly and Paul Richardson
To print the web version this newsletter (5 pages), Click here.
Download the printed version of the newsletter (8 pages, more photos) as a 0.6-megabyte PDF file. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader or similar program installed on your computer. Broadband connection preferable.)
With great enthusiasm I plunged into my new role as the newsletter
editor. I switched on my PC, and logged into the club website. It was
only after many long hours of wading through waist-high formatting
errors that I realised why no one else had responded so eagerly to
Hec's plea for a replacement. Hang, this job should have been rated at
least 4.5 on the scale!
All joking aside, it is a privilege and an honour to serve such a diverse group of trampers and walkers. If I can get your stories to read a bit better, and your photos to shine a bit brighter, then I will be a happy camper indeed. So ... don't hesitate to email me anything newsworthy, along with those trip reports. It might be some breaking news from DOC, your favourite tramping tip, a superb photo, or a yarn from yesteryear. We NEED your contributions.
As the new kid on the proverbial block, I hope to bring a fresh perspective to a 75-year-old club. And, as the average age of club members continues to rise relentlessly, I think it's important to, well, reproduce ourselves. Look out for new blood, prospective members, and the like. Treat visitors well, be warm and friendly to them, and ensure they thoroughly enjoy their first outing with NTC. Shout them a coffee, follow up with a phone call, etc. but don't (God forbid) leave them behind, last on the track.
We don't get a second chance to make a first impression.
Raymond John Salisbury
EDITOR
MEMBER PROFILE > Uta Purcell
- Place of birth: Germany
- Occupation: Retirement filled with many interests
- Been a member for: 19 years
- How have you benefited from being a member? Challenged to leave my comfort zone. I acquired new skills & enjoyed companionship.
- Best trip: Ball Pass, but as well many others
- Worst trip: Facing Mt Alarm when it should have been Mt Tappy!
- Funniest moment: Enjoying Grahame's stories.
- Scariest moment: Not scary, but disconcerting when the snowpoles from Gordons Pyramid to Salisbury Lodge seemed to be invisible.
- Favourite tramping hut: Cupola Basin Hut
- What wild place would you put at the top of your 'bucket list?' Trecking a high circuit in view of Kanchenjunga
Robinson River headwaters, 31 May 2009. Colour photo.
HUT PROFILE > Myttons Hut, Cobb Valley, Kahurangi National Park
Raymond Salisbury stumbles into an old cobber
A full moon climbed over Cobb Ridge, illuminating the Reservoir below. It was a windless autumn night; the darkened hillside of thick beech was now floodlit beneath a canopy of glittering stars.
Inside Myttons Hut, my wife Lynette was snuggled into her bag,
reading. The dying embers of a flickering fire had warmed the cosy
cottage. A solitary candle burned on the sill of the picture window. I
sipped a second cup of tea, happy to have found this old timer … 50
years on, still providing shelter for wayfarers between the Mt Arthur
Tablelands and Cobb Valley.
Read More
Trip Leaders Training > Coming Up!
The Committee is planning a Trip Leaders' training course. The aim is to encourage awareness of risk management, and minimise the possibility of loss or injury on our expeditions into the wilds.
NZ Wilderness Magazine, published since 1991, is purchased on behalf of members by NTC. Copies are held by Peter Wise at Wises Picture Framers in Buxton Square and are available without cost to all Club members.
Discounts > Club members receive a 10% discount from the following Nelson stores: Basecamp, Altitude and Rollo’s.
Outdoor First Aid Courses:
The Nelson branch of
the Mountain Safety Council is running an Outdoor First Aid on
19-20 September 2009. Venue: Papetai Lodge, Lee Valley, Brightwater.
Cost: $100.
Go to http://www.mountainsafety.org.nz/Training
or contact Administration Officer: Evelyn O'Neill.Tel: 547-2426.
Email: nelson@mountainsafety.org.nz
Anatoki RIver area > Possum Control
DOC Golden Bay is proposing to conduct a possum control
operation in the Anatoki and Devil River catchments of Kahurangi
National Park. It is scheduled for spring 2009. They wish to repeat
their previous 2004 operation in the area, beginning on the main ridge
between Lonely Lake, Adelaide Tarn and Boulder Lake, down into the
headwaters of the Anatoki and Devil River watersheds.
Contact the NTC editor for more information, or Steve Deverell, Golden Bay Area Office, Takaka. Phone: (03) 525 8026.
St James > Future management
The Department of Conservation is seeking feedback on the future
management of St James Conservation Area. (St James Station was
purchased by the Nature Heritage Fund in October 2008.) A discussion
paper has been put together that outlines future use options for the
area over the next twelve months to three years.
Canterbury Conservator, Mike Cuddihy said: “This is your land, this is your chance to have a say on its future.
We
have taken a cautious approach to its management in order to give the
department and the public time to get to know the area and consider
what it has to offer. Since the purchase we have received lots of
information and ideas from the public and national stakeholders. We
have considered these ideas and now present them back to the public, in
this document, for further feedback.”
Also being released
today for public comment is the ‘Draft Guidelines for Aircraft Access -
Canterbury Conservancy’. “We would like public feedback on a proposal
to put a restricted zone over the Spenser Mountains, north from Mt Una
and east from Fowlers Pass to the Clarence River,” said Mr Cuddihy.
Both the St James Discussion paper and the Aircraft Access
guidelines can be viewed and commented on by visiting the DOC website: www.doc.govt.nz/stjamesconsultation
www.doc.govt.nz/aircraftaccess
The deadline for feedback on the St James paper is Monday 14 September 2009.
Hut History Sought
I am researching my
forefather's grazing grounds, especially the musterers' huts he built,
or were built for him, from 1875-1895, around the Mt Arthur Tableland
area.
Having read a number of historical books on Kahurangi National
Park, there is a dirth of info regarding the OLD Salisbury Hut, OLD
Myttons Hut, & early Leslie Clearing Huts. If you dig something up,
email me the findings. Cheers.
Raymond Salisbury
Upcoming Clubnights:
Monday 5 October (Put it in your diary!)
Ken Ridley is speaking on his cycling tour of Vietnam and Cambodia.
Monday 7 December: Annual Photo Competition
Annual Subscription
Subscription: Adult - $28.00 Couple - $45.00.
(These all include FMC Affiliation levy of $10.00 per person.)
Subscriptions can be paid online to:
Nelson Tramping Club Inc. at Westpac Nelson
Account: 03 0703 0028827 00.
If using this option you must identify yourself by name.
Minutes of 76th AGM of the Nelson Tramping Club
Held at Nelson Intermediate School on 3rd August, 2009, at 7:30 pm
President Mark Stevens declared the meeting open and welcomed all members and visitors
Members present: 35. Visitors: 2. Apologies: Mike Drake
Minutes of the 2008 AGM were taken as read. Motion that minutes be accepted. Moved: Ruth Hesselyn, 2nd: Mark Stevens.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT > presented by Mark Stevens
Mark thanked retiring committee members, Hec, Ruth and Mike, for
their input to the smooth running of the club. He encouraged other
members of the club to consider becoming a committee member at some
stage so that the club continues to remain a healthy entity
The committee was thanked for the organisation of the 75th Anniversary Celebration.
Mark encouraged use of the club’s valuable assets, the Locator Beacons, to be used on both private and club trips.
FINANCIAL REPORT > presented by Club Treasurer, Gillian Arbuthnott.
Gillian explained the change to the auditing process. Due to the Charities Act there is no longer a need for an official auditor to check the accounts, which costs $1000.A financially competent person can now review the accounts and Lindsay did this.
Two queries about the financial statement from club members were explained: Grants, a club member’s anonymous donation of $1000, and $200 from club funds paid for the Locator Beacons purchased by the Club.
The First Aid payment was made to a club member who attended a mountain safety course and was 50% of the course cost.
Gillian advised that this would be her last year as club treasurer.
Motion to accept the Financial Report - Moved: Hec Arbuthnott, Seconded: Pat Holland
ELECTION OF OFFICERS & NEW COMMITTEE
Nominations to the club Committee as follows:
President, Gear: Mark Stevens
Vice President: Lawrie Halkett
Correspondence Secretary: Pat Holland
Treasurer: Gillian Arbuthnott
Minutes Secretary: Jo Kay
Programme Team Representative: Uta Purcell
Committee: Bob Janssen, Dion Pont, Marguerite Verheul
Motion that nominations accepted: Moved: Ruth Hesselyn/Mike Glover
Mark declared the nominees duly elected
A late nomination from Merrick Mitchell was accepted and passed.
Mark commented about the change to the position of Programme co-ordinator to a four-person sub-committee.
Raymond Salisbury was thanked for taking on the role of Newsletter Editor
Pat Holland
urged members to use the new web site for the Newsletter and trip
programme details. The web site will replace e-mail reminders for trips
The meeting closed at 7:45 pm
GUEST SPEAKERS
Martin Rodd Motueka DOC office and Michael Hawes, a technical pest control expert, showed a PowerPoint presentation on the use of 1080 by DOC for pest control.
Uta Purcell presented a colourful and entertaining talk and slide show on her trip to Manaslu in Nepal. Her observations on the local culture were very insightful and the landscape shots stunning.
Contributions and comments to the Editor, Raymond Salisbury by email.
