| Leader | Mentor | Tail Ender | |
| Whole group | Chris S and Selwyn | Warren | Margaret |
Some people might have used the word ‘crazy’ to describe us Bishopdale Trampers as we piled onto the bus at Bishopdale. We may just quietly have been calling ourselves that too. Why else would we be heading out tramping when we knew that the weather forecast was for more rain, with snow lowering to 100 or 200 metres and morning temperatures of less than 7°C? However, no one booked on today’s tramp had cancelled at the last minute and we came rugged up with mid-winter gear of jackets, beanies, gloves and/or neck warmers and overpants.
Another word you could use to describe us is ‘smart’. After we had picked up the rest of the group at PMH Dave B was heard to announce that “there are lumps on the windscreen”. He wasn’t talking about bird poo. So, when we got out of the bus at the Halswell Quarry carpark, a clever alternative plan was soon worked out by Selwyn, Chris and Alan, to avoid us having to hike up the exposed track up to the sign of the Bellbird. We had a very early, totally undeserved morning tea in the stone hut before setting off as one group for an easy walk around the top of the quarry and through the park. A thank you to Chris S for guiding us around to the lovely Adelaide and Korean gardens.
Before long we were back at the bus and driving past what may have been the transport vehicles for our entire land-based defence force (here’s hoping the soldiers weren’t out searching for 29 half-frozen-to-death trampers). Soon we were ready for some more walking, starting at the Coronation Hill carpark above the Sign of the Kiwi. We had heard from one of today’s weather team (conspicuously absent) that he had encountered snow up at the gondola, so we weren’t surprised to see a very fresh dusting on Mt Herbert.
It was rather cold as we put the rest of our excellent Plan B into action, starting with a brisk walk down past the Kiwi. Then it was through the Sugarloaf reserve and down to Victoria Park for a bit of L&L (lunch and loos). We made it down to the Sign of the Takahe just after 1pm (it’s easy to walk briskly when it’s awfully cold and you’ve got to keep moving to avoid frostbite and hypothermia).
Our driver Grant was waiting at the Sign of the Takahe, and eight of the group elected to take the bus down to PMH. But for the rest of us it was quite a pleasant walk and the temperature was almost 8°C by the time we got down to PMH (we won’t mention the windchill).
I may possibly have been exaggerating about the frostbite and hypothermia, but it was rather nice to shed some of our layers and be chauffeured back to Bishopdale in our nice warm bus. So, thanks weather team, for encouraging us to be a little more resilient than we thought we were.
Text by Shirls
