This time six years ago the club tramped the Whakapapa to the Ohakune end of the Round the Mountain track on Mt Ruapehu; now the club would carry on with this, starting from the Ohakune Mountain Road and going through to the Tukino ski field access road.  Twenty-three people turned up to give this trip a go.   Friday Most of us left The Bracken soon after 6:15pm travelling in a large Metropolitan Rentals minibus and a couple of cars, headed for Taupo where we would stay overnight at the Baptist Church. We stopped for munchies at the top of the Bombay hills before carrying on via State Highway 27 to Taupo.   Saturday Although there was a red bush shirt in our group, those who wanted a cup of tea had to get it themselves when breakfast was being served. We were away by 8:30am for a leisurely drive to Ohakune, travelling via the Desert Road and Waiouru. From the Desert Road we could look out across the Rangipo Desert to Mt Ruapehu as we would be experiencing it - the summit hidden in rain and snow clouds. There was time at Ohakune for us to buy lunch and any other last minute needs before we had to be ready to get on our way up the mountain. We had to be back at our vehicles by 11:30am to drive the short distance to the Ohakune Holiday Park; there the vehicles would be looked after under the care of our support team Cherry and Egon while we were doing our tramping.   We boarded our chartered bus to go up the Ohakune Mountain Road to the start of our tramp, the weather looking quite miserable and cold with a strong wind and light rain. On went the tramping boots and on went the parkas, then on went the packs The track began as a climb through bush to Rotokawa Tarns on a small tussocky plateau.   We then dropped down to the Waitonga Falls, these were quite a sight being fuelled by the rain.   We were to have paused to think about God at this point, but instead we had to find a more sheltered location in the bush a little bit further on. Our leader Phillip was in charge of the devotions, and for each of the three devotional times we would have on our tramp he would hand out a sheet with the material on it. One of us would read out a selection of scripture relating to our theme for the day, then another would read out the main meditation. Someone else would read out the prayer, then we would sing a traditional hymn based on the theme. The devotion would then be concluded with a benediction being read out.   The first of these devotions was centred on mountains. We need to take time out from the routine of our daily lives, climbing a “mountain” and take a long view of our lifestyle and our priorities. We are called to follow the steps of Jesus up whatever mountain He as chosen for us, and as we climb we make paths for others to follow, leading them tohigher peaks. We need to be empowered by the spirit of unconditional love. Our hymn was Christ of the upward way - unfortunately Phillip sang it solo as it was not a well known song. From the falls to the Mangaehuehu Hut we crossed about three swing bridges and travelled through bush and open tussock along an undulating track.   John’s boots gave up the ghost, the sole coming completely off the right boot. This shows the importance of having to carry a spare pair of strong shoes on a pack-carrying tramp of this type.   About three hours from the start of the tramp the Mangaehuehu Hut suddenly appeared just as we were about there. It was a comfortable hut with views looking down the mountain towards Ohakune, Tangiwai and Waiouru.   Grant braved the bitter cold and chose to sleep the night in his small pup tent. Nelson had obtained permission from the Club executive to use his tiny portable telly in the hut to watch the NPC final, a very important rugby match. But when he got it out ready to watch the game, the telly refused to work. So instead we made up our own rugby game in the hut, using some rubbish rolled up in a plastic bag as a ball! Sunday Starry skies seen through the windows of the hut as we were in bed the night before were no indication of the weather we would be experiencing as we carried on with our tramp. We were up and away by 8am with full amount of storm gear - parkas, longjohns, waterproof proof trousers, woollen hats, boots and gaiters ready to brave the cold fierce winds and intermittent light rain we would be experiencing throughout the day. Lorraine had to pull out as she had problems with her asthma, and Rima and Ruth, both registered nurses, and Christine decided to accompany her as she tramped back out to the Ohakune Mountain Road to spend the night in Ohakune and suss out the town’s retail therapy capabilities. The three ladies who accompanied Lorraine out missed out on the rest of the tramping, but their sacrifice would be rewarded in other ways tenfold! Matthew 25:31-40 tells of heavenly rewards for Christian people who help others in need. The track from the hut started out through beach forest with a few patchy clearings but soon opened out into the rocky and sandy desert we would have for the rest of the day, being the upper reaches of the Rangipo Desert. The track carried on an undulating course before eventually dropping down into a valley. There was then a steady climb up the other side of the valley before we would drop down into the Wahianoa gorge for our lunch spot just across the swing bridge at the bottom. That was at this spot exactly 19 years ago, Labour weekend 1983, that Robyn Foster was swept away to heaven while attempting to cross the same stream that had been swollen by rain on a Club trip that was heading in the opposite direction. That was the only fatal accident the Club has ever had in its 23-year history. Phillip, who was on that trip, read the well-known Psalm 23, which refers to going through the valley in the shadow of death with a comfort and presence of God, then we bowed our heads for a moment silence to remember Robyn and to pray for those who were on that tramp. We were to have had our devotions there as well, but the wind and the cold forced us to carry on rather than stay put for any length of time.   At that time the Club set up a memorial fund for Robyn, to be used to build a bridge at this point, but the money was used instead to bridge a stream on the Round-the-Mountain Track near Whakapapa, which has a plaque to indicate it was the Robyn Foster Memorial Bridge. The present swing bridge was built in more recent years It was a steep climb out of the gorge, then the track continued on an undulating course before climbing very gradually up another thousand meters altitude in open barren terrain.   The track continued on a more level course, crossing three streams, and as we approached a rocky outcrop we could sense the smell of wood burning. Then the Rangipo Hut suddenly came into view. It was good to get inside the hut and sit around the cosy fire.   We turned to the theme of valleys as we warmed up inside the hut. Phillip told us that there were “valleys” in our lives where there is gloom and no appearance of light, and the “only way is up”. We tend to give up, overwhelmed by the towering peaks around us, instead of turning to God who will help us thorough. It is always right to “have a go” even when we feel least like it - this mobilises our God-given resources and frees Him to work in new ways in and for us. We never need to feel helpless. The King of love my shepherd is was far more familiar, and we filled the hut with a lovely a cappella rendition of this traditional hymn. Soon afterwards at the hut a lone tramper from France named David arrived. He was travelling in the other direction, having come across from Waihohonu Hut. David joined us for dinner as we had plenty of food on us. David N came in with a bowl of snow he had gathered from a little patch about 5 minutes walk from the hut. He flavoured the snow with some powdered orange drink and offered that as part of the dessert, but there were no takers. After dinner we had a game to see who could stay the longest balanced on a piece of firewood. Most of us had a try, some of us could last only a few seconds, but we ended up with heats and a final, with Barry v. David - or China v. France. The French tramper David won the competition, balancing on the wood for over 5 minutes. Next day, this sacred piece of firewood would be brought out in Garry’s pack and home to Auckland! Monday We woke up after a rather cold night to see a thick blanket of snow around the hut that was not there the day before. The weather was still cold and windy, and snow was falling on and off.   We were up at the crack of dawn, and after having Goldilocks breakfast, packing up, and putting back on all the warm clothing we wore the previous day, Phillip led us in the final of the three devotions is completing our spiritual theme for the trip, saying that life is not all peaks and valleys, there is a lot of trudging and sweating on the tracks in between, and frequent slipping-back on the scree slopes of mundane life. God often breaks into our slippery territory with His gift of patience, endurance, perseverance and steadfastness. Again the a cappella voices of the  Rangipo Heel ‘n’ Toe Choir filled the hut, this time with the strains of Guide me O Thou great Jehovah. By 8am we were on our way slushing through the snow on the last two hour stretch of the track. Overall it was downhill, but the track was undulating as there were several streams to cross.   The largest of the streams was the Whangaehu River, over which there was a swing bridge. This gorge has been notorious for the activity of lahars, or volcanic mud flows. On Christmas Eve 1953 a very violent mud flow roared through this valley and down across the Rangipo Desert to wash away the railway bridge at Tangiwai, just as the overnight express train full of passengers was crossing it. There was great loss of life in this disaster. The present swing bridge was the fourth bridge to be built across the river at this point; bridges were washed away by lahars in 1975, 1995 and 1999 respectively.   As we lost altitude, so the cover of snow thinned out and clumps of tussock grass appeared.   Eventually we could see the Tukino access road ahead of us, with the base of Tongariro and Ngauruhoe covered in cloud beyond. We were out by about 10:30am and Cherry arrived soon after in her van to pick up the drivers and take them back to Ohakune to collect their vehicles and bring them back. For the rest of us the tramping was by no means finished. We had a roadbash of several kilometres down to the base of the mountain to help fill in our waiting time.   As we set out to we could see the spread of Rangipo Desert and the Desert Road, with the our snow capped Kaimanawa Ranges and the Waiouru military camp reserve in the distance.   As we continued downhill we could see the clouds of a snowstorm coming towards us from the south.   Soon it began to snow, and what was bare ground was transformed into a lovely snowscape in a matter of minutes.   Once upon the flat land of the base of the mountain we stopped for our lunch in the middle of the Rangipo Desert, New Zealand’s only true patch of desert. Although the sun came out there was still a strong chilly wind and we kept our raincoats and overtrousers on.   We had a wait of over an hour after we started our lunch for the mini bus to arrive, with Grant at the wheel. We loaded and got on to the bus, and when we reached the Desert Road, Cherry was waiting in her van with the four ladies who had pulled out the day before. There was a bit of swapping around as Cherry would be travelling straight back to Auckland while the mini bus would be going on to Tokaanu hot springs. It was great relaxing in the Tokaanu Hot Springs, even though the water was ordinary fresh water heated by the mineral waters, and showers of rain and hail passed over. Alasdair and David joined us for our swim. By 2:30pm we were back on the minibus for our journey back to Auckland. We travelled the West Taupo highway, passing where the Club had started a walk to the Waihaha Hut back in January this year.   We stopped at Tirau for munchies about 4:45pm. We were able to see another favourite place for Club tramps, the Kaimai Ranges with such places as the Wairere Falls and Mt Te Aroha, as we continued along State Highway 27.   The mini bus turned into a little dance floor as we carried on through Mangatawhiri when Grant turned the car radio onto a station that was playing disco music from the 1970s.

Once over the Bombay Hills we had to leave the motorway at Ramarama and get back on at Takanini to avoid a blockage that had been caused by an accident. We dropped Rima and Barry off at Papatoetoe and did not get back to the Bracken until about 7:30pm. And this brought to an end of a very enjoyable weekend with excellent teamwork despite the miserable weather. As the Psalmist says, as we heard at Wahianoa, even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death (in this case extreme weather conditions causing potentially fatal hypothermia) God is always with us. COST: $110