| Group | Leader | Mentor | Understudy | Tailender |
| Stds | Chris S | Steve Brw | Peter | Janne |
| Alternates | Jan Brw | Gavin | Margaret S | Ali |
Stats: distance 14kms, duration 4.30
Ah, Dracophyllum Flat today, a glorious walk through knee-deep snow … but no, a tramp in the mountains was too hazardous, so instead we were off on the less spectacular walk from Charteris Bay to Purau and then back to Diamond Harbour/Charteris Bay via a coastal track. Never mind.
But maybe things weren’t so bad; this was our first tramp in 3 weeks, the weather forecast was for a pleasant warm day, and there was the bonus of lots of toilets along the way!
Having shouldered our packs (or in Glenys’s case, someone else’s pack), we set off from Charteris Bay. Nineteen keen Standards headed off along the usual roadway route, and Jan Brw lead the 22 Alternates along a delightful, picturesque coastal track via Black Point. A helicopter across the bay zapping backwards and forwards dropping off loads provided entertainment while we were enjoying our morning tea. The vegetation along our way was varied, including granddaddy old pines, succulents, rogue garden flowers, new plantings of natives, and those distinctive plants with purple flowers, Echiums, also known as Paterson’s Curse or Salvation Jane. Another feature along the way were the barrels with empty milk bottles bobbing on top of the startlingly green water (on offer as a treat for the native plantings, not for thirsty trampers!) We weren’t the only intrepid trampers along the way; we encountered a large, cheerful posse of ‘Westies’ who we assume hailed from West Melton, the alternative of West Auckland being a tad distant.
Lunch was a civilized affair for us Alternates, sitting at nice picnic tables with a stupendous view down to Diamond Harbour. However, the going soon got dramatically difficult when most of the Alternates continued on our way to Purau. In fact, we were confronted with massive slips, and mud so deep that our trusty leader was heard to jokingly call out, “Oh, did anyone happen to see a ‘Track Closed’ sign?!” Er, yes, we all had seen an unofficial looking sign nailed to a tree but were so overawed by her local knowledge and confidence we had, like sheep, walked on past it! Our Esteemed Leader had actually not seen the sign at all, and her enquiry was genuine! As we hauled our mud-encased boots over the precarious slips we couldn’t help but wonder what our Standards buddies had done when they had encountered the matching sign coming from the other direction.
Actually, exactly the same: Standard Leader Chris S too had blithely continued on unaware, and his hapless troupe followed, bemused at his supposed daring leadership. Then there was Pip, who apparently took the word ‘slip’ as an instruction, and gracefully obliged.
After all that trudging in mud, the Alternatives didn’t quite make it to Purau, and took a shortcut back to the bus at Diamond Harbour in time to make it to our rendezvous with the weary Standards at Charteris Bay soon after.
So this may not have been the scheduled foray to the fabulous Dracopyllum Flat, but it actually turned out to be a pleasant day, with a little bit of adventure thrown in for good measure. Txt by Shirley
