Welcome to the
Alexandra Harrier and Walkers Club Weekly Run Reports
2005 Season
Summerfruit
Siesta Closing Run - Summerfruit Orchard, Earnscleugh - Saturday 15
October By Tortoise RunnerThirty-eight keen harriers turned up at Summerfruit Orchard for the
final Saturday afternoon outing for the 2005 season. The run was to be
followed by a barbecue so we didn't head out of town till 2pm.
With instructions for all to be back by 4:30, the groups gradually left
the packing shed for slightly cooler and cloudy conditions outside.
Allen led the six A pack runners up the hill, over the ridge and
explored the area behind the orchard, returning at 4:15.
Pam led three-woman C-D pack for a good two hour run/walk, starting off
by following the perimeters of the property. Seeing the track they
followed in previous years required jumping over an electric fence,
they decided to keep following the road they were on till is looked
like it wanted to go to Omeo Gully rather than around the orchard. A
bit of cross country running up the hill, saw them eventually get to
the track they missed at the bottom and a decision was made to keep
going up since it had only been an hour. Eventually the track petered
out again and they headed cross country down the hill, following sheep
tracks and finding plenty of wild plants. Pam found some pine trees she
had seen years ago and had never found since. Good navigating and sheep
tracks returned the group to the orchard in time for the end of
afternoon tea and the bbq.
Barbara and Max led the hill walkers around the orchard and up the
hill, while Dot led the flat walkers around the orchard and out onto
the roads of Earnscleugh.
Last years trophy winners had the privilege of selecting this years
trophy winners for the finest headgear... Some fine hats had been
created or found so the judges had a hard decision to make. The walkers
trophy was awarded to Linda Laycock and runners tropjy to Merv Bird.
With afternoon tea and prizegiving over, the bbq was cranked up and
Allen put in charge of charring the sausages and patties. Thanks to
Carrie for organising all the food - the bbq was enjoyed by all.
After that it was back on the bus again for bus driver Dave's final
drive home. Dave is retiring from driving the harrier buses for us and
after many years of tirelessly giving up every third Saturday afternoon
for us (as well as organising the bus drivers roster every season), he
will concentrate on his golf. Thanks Dave. We really appreciate all you
have done.
A few hardy souls then decided it was too early to go home and
adjourned to Grumpy's to sit in the sun and enjoy dessert and/or
coffee.
2005 Election Day, Hawkburn Hump
Cairnmuir Hill Walk - Clyde Hill to Cornish Point, Bannockburn
- Saturday 17 September Not by Helen ClarkForty three people elected to swing on their backpacks and walk, run or
cycle the Cairnmuir Track. We were joined by a group of trampers from
Gore, and 4 runners from Invercargill. Fifteen more Harriers left
Alexandra at 1pm on the bus, and they walked from Cornish Point Road to
the slip overlooking Lake Dunstan, and back.
Staggered starts, in the hope of each group descending the hill to the
bus at the same time didn't quite go according to plan. Arrival times
stretched over more than 1 1/2 hours, with the 2 poor cyclists being
bundled onto a bus full of waiting people seconds after pedalling onto
the scene!
Several true athletes began their days efforts from the bottom of the
hill at Clyde, adding a serious climb of around 3 km to their total.
The rest took the transport option and started the hike from the track
sign at the end of the road.
Undeterred by threats of rain from the weatherforecaster, we watched
rain and snow to the south and west, and were happy it stayed away. A
bitingly cold wind caused some digging into the winter wardrobe for
hats coats and gloves.
A short side trip to the trig at 1130m rewarded us with 360 degree
views, before starting the long and winding road down to Bannockburn.
Two dead possoms in the musterers hut dissuaded much lingering inside,
but bodies were strewn around outside feeding their faces yet again.
The option of following the water race was too much of a temptation for
some at this point, but only for historical interest of course.
On the bus home everyone was given the opportunity to record their
comments on the day, and positive comments were universal. There was
one comment, though, which needs further explanation - 'Allen Hansen
cheated!'
Auroral Running in the Sun
Aurora Creek - Logantown, Bendigo - Saturday 10 September
by Ginger Spice29 walkers and runners turned up for a fantastic scenic and historic
walk and run around the gold diggings at Bendigo. As the hill was too
steep to take a bus up, we decided to take our private transport up to
the start of our adventure.
Six set off with Max, and Max was pleased to report that they all
stayed as one group. They managed to take in the views as well as the
mine shafts, some of which were quite impressive in their depth.
Barbara had 14 in her group for a "leisurely historic walk" around the
gold diggings. She managed to tire out two of her walkers so they had
to make a detour back to camp, and like all short cuts it turned out to
be a bigger workout than they anticipated.
Allen led the 5 AB's with Mike trying to get some photos on his digital
camera that he had received for Fathers Day. He also managed to get
plenty of photos of the 2 C runners so who were the fastest, or were
the AB's just going so slow? Both packs tried to lose each other by
scrambling up a hill face into bracken, but hey, once up there, the
views were magic.
Gary led him and Jill on a run - well he said a run in his report - but
hey, we saw more walking than running. They had to slow down due to
them catching up to the A pack - no that was Mike getting us ready for
a photo shoot! They also came across a couple of Billy goats - one Red
head & one Blondie going across a gully - they were probably
looking for the AB pack that tried to lose them! (Editors comment-they
actually heard them a looooonnnngggg time before they saw them!!!!)
All in all every body agreed that it was a fantastic day with the most
spectacular views over Lowburn, well worth a trip there.
Trekking to Tinkers (Matakanui)
Matakanui Mooch, Naylors to Old Matakanui Township - Saturday
3 September By M.M There was a staggered start for the runners; the A & B packs
got off the bus at Ross Naylor's gateway on White Road and ran up
through the farm to the foothills of the Dunstan Range. The C pack also
got off here, but ran along the road instead.
The 5 A pack runners without a leader ran up on to a track leading
along the hillside toward the old Matakanui Township. As the runners
get older the hills get steeper! The B pack, with Marie as leader, did
not go so far up the hillside. Janice got thistled when she jumped over
a fence and landed in a patch of prickles. Pam and 2 others formed the
C pack which had a long run down Devonshire Road before following a
similar route along the foothills as the walkers... After being
serenaded by the herd of heifers, they moved up the hill and got bushed
in the gorse and scrub and were late back to the bus for afternoon tea.
The bus continued to the bottom of the hill on Devonshire Road where
the remaining D pack runners and 24 walkers started their journey to
Tinkers. Gary's D pack followed the track along the foothills with only
a few ups and downs. They wanted it noted that they found the right way
down after racing the young cows along the fence line, and then
continuing along the fenceline before dropping down a grassy slope and
traversing
a paddock of very large cattle and arrived at Matakanui via Sugar Pot
Road.
For the mathematical, these three running packs each had 3 people in
them.
The group of 24 walkers followed the D running pack for a while. They
were held up when the front group found a cast sheep which could not
stand up without assistance. When the 3 good men at the back arrived
they carried the sheep down on to level ground and managed to get the
sheep standing by itself. By this time the rest of the group were
heading over the ridge towards the heifer's paddock. Of the 3 good men
the one at the rear end of the sheep was awarded the Turkey of the Week
for looking like a sheep shagger by the rest of the group - an unjust
reward for doing a good deed for the farmer.
When the deer paddock was reached and the bus was in view, the pack
split into two. The eleven negotiating the deer fence
found a track leading into the old gold mining area, which has a lot of
gorse growing there now. This was successfully traversed out on to the
road leading into the old mining township of Tinkers.
The other 13 walkers came out of the deer paddock on to the road.
The Bus driver Dave's pack of 4 included a 5 month old baby who was
carried by her mother.
The walkers hosted the usual delicious spread for afternoon tea but due
to a malfunction of the gas burnrer no hot water was availible to make
the hot drinks.
A couple of cups were awarded from last weeks 10km Road Race. Janice
was awarded the trophy for first woman Runner home and Glenda
Ruddenklau the trophy for first club walker home. In a surprise move,
there were nominations for "Turkey of the Week" which required a vote
to be taken....
EAGLE'S CLIFF DUATHALON
Smalls Trophy Relay, Earnscleugh - Saturday 14 August
By Ole Yellahat
Saturday 13 August, unlucky for some? The Harriers were off to
Earnscleugh hall for a new club event, a duathalon around Earnscleugh
competing for Small's Goulburn Trophy.
A group of non competitive walkers of several went off for a wander
around the Earnscleugh area.
Meanwhile, the runners and walkers had organised themselves into teams
of 2, all setting off together. Each team had one bike between them.
The person on the bike took off down the road and a few minutes later
dropped their bike on the roadside, they then started running or
walking. Eventually their team- mate who was running or walking got to
the bike, then hopped on and started cycling. They then went past their
team- mate and a couple of minutes later dropped the bike and then
started running or walking again. And so they alternated until
eventually both crossed the finish line at the Earnscleugh Hall
together.
The walkers teams went down Earnscleugh road, left into Laing road,
left into Strode road onto Hawley road, down Blackmans road and back to
the hall. Merv Bird and Russ Mills were first back, followed by Jill
Scott and Dave Weatherall and 3rd were Carrie Smith and Barb Hall.
The C/D runners went down Earnscleugh road, right onto Boulton road,
down to the river track, along to the Fraser river, then up Marshall
road and back to the hall along Earnscleugh road. First in this group
was Sue and John Watson, followed by Pam Chapman and Debbie Schorer.
The A/B runners went down Earnscleugh road to the Clyde bridge, back
along the river track to the Fraser river and then up Marshall road and
back to the hall. First back were Leith Huffadine and Mike Kotkamp,
followed by Colin McGillivray and Alan Henderson.
Overall winners of the Goulburn Shield were Sue and John Watson with
second place going to Russ Mills and Merv Bird.
General comments came back that everyone enjoyed this event.
Back to that unlucky 13th August. Several members put themselves
forward for the turkey of the week award. To the black and white
minstrels, were they still half asleep when they dressed, wearing their
underwear on the outside. Or was it a cunning plan to distract the
other runners. To Colin who threw the coffee on the ground, or was he
trying to reduce members caffine intake. To Tinkerbell who tried to
throw the raffle tickets away before the number had been drawn. However
by popular vote, the turkey award went to S and C, a great team who
managed to lose each other on the course.
Later that night 49 members and partners travelled to the Shingle Creek
hotel for the harriers mid winter dinner. Unusually, everyone appeared
to behave themselves there, so we may just have to make up some gossip.
What did JillP get up to in the back seat of the bus with those boys ?
Not much with Tinkerbell keeping an eye on things.
There was plenty of country fare on offer to fill even the largest
stomach and I'm sure some would have been out for a run or walk Sunday
morning to work it off.
Finally it would appear we have no one suitable for N.Z. Idol, judging
by the poor effort to sing happy birthday to ginger spice. Janice is
how old ?
We don't have enough fingers so we might need a few members to take
their shoes and socks off so we can count that high.
The Outlet in the Sun!
Wanaka Whistlestop, Albertown - Saturday 30 July
By Map Nampahc
We had 12 walkers with Linda, 11 walkers with Barbara, 3 D's with Gary,
2 C's, 5 B's and 2 A's with Mike - 35 of us all up.
It was another glorious day. Everyone started out together down the
walk track from Albertown to the Clutha River outlet at Lake Wanaka. It
was truly picturesque - you could easily
have been in Canada. Pine trees, clear blue water, mist arising off the
still water and even the odd fish or two were spotted. A scene of utter
tranquility.
The A and B packs made it all the way to Wanaka and then conquered Mt
Iron on the return trip. The rest of us took various routes back to
Albertown with some taking a shortcut though new subdivisions.
As a matter of interest, we discovered that to purchase less that half
a hectare on Mt Iron heights, you would only have to pay around
$695,000! Everyone arrived back pretty much together to be greeted by a
lavish spread put on by the walkers again. A brilliant days outing.
A huge thank you to the dozen or so members who gave up their Sunday to
shovel shit. Well done. 150 bags was a great effort. Most have been
sold already with $400 made so far. The money will come in very handy
for prizes for the 10km road race.
Liz and Pratty are home! Five weeks after the accident to the day, they
both arrived home at O'Neill Crescent. Visitors are welcome except
between 12noon and 3pm as this is rest time.
There has been an excellent response to help for the 10km Road Race.
Thanks. If you are available and haven't added your name to the list,
please email or ring Jill. We are still looking for sponsorship
and spot prizes too - see Pam if you can help us out.
Entry forms for the 10km are available - see Jill or download one from
the webpage.
A big thank you to those who gave up another Sunday to help with the
Quadrathon yesterday. The two harrier teams competed in great spirits -
fairy good results! We need more teams in next year as the entries were
a little on the light side!
Map's Joke of the Week
One very hot summers day, one of our harrier blokes was out jogging for
a veerrrry long time in the summers sun and got an extremely bad case
of sunburn, so he went to see our local harrier doctor for a bit of
help. The doc prescribed him with some viagra.
"I didn't realise that viagra was a treatment for sunburn", said our
sore harrier.
"It isn't", replied the doc. "But at least it will stop the bed sheets
hurting your legs tonight!"
PS
The solution to last weeks puzzle was
WHEATHER = a bad spell of weather!
Lake Dunstan in the Sun!
Dunstan Detour, Weatherall Creek - Saturday 23 July
By CJ and Me
It was a dark and stormy morning.... But a beautiful spring-like
afternoon when a total of 37 headed off at Weatherall Creek. All packs
went off in the same direction- up hill, down dale, alongside the lake.
Gary's pack reported seeing a few old goats- I hope he wasn't referring
to the walkers!! In gentlemanly style, the men of his group held back
and let the women go up the hill first to see how far it was....
Phil Ferris led the A and B groups taking in a lot of steep hill
climbs. He too seemed fond of the goats, following their track near the
finish, but his group proved not to be sheep and refused to follow,
leaving Phil chasing the 'old goats' on his own!
The walkers meanwhile, continued to step it out along the lake until
pumpkin turnaround time and then headed back to the ever popular and
welcome arvo tea.
A wee puzzle to think about this week...
One of those think out of the square things - a well known phrase
WHEATHER
Mike's Magical Mystery Tour (also in the
Sun!)
Kopkamps Krazy Kapers - a mystery destination - Saturday 16
July 2005
By Map Nampahc The bus set off at 1pm sharp. It was great to see Marie and Allen back
in Alex again after a 10 month spell in Richmond. Forms were handed
around the bus with excellent responses to the mid-winter dinner,
bagging sheep manure and sponsorship and helpers for the Clyde to Alex
Road Race.
Well, the day was absolutely magical - not a breath of wind even at
Cromwell. Our mystery destination soon became apparent -- Carricktown.
The mystery then became "Where was Mike?"
To make it up to Carricktown and back again, we all had to set off
pretty smartly. One hiccup was we forgot to unload the back of the bus
with all the essential afternoon tea stuff. Thanks Pete for
remembering!
Everyone headed up the road, which seemed to keep on going up and up
and up and up and up and.... Most made it to Carricktown, an old mining
town with the remains still very obvious, which on inspection seemed to
consist of about 5 huts, 1 pub, 2 mine shafts and a poppet head (a beam
that went across the top of a mine shaft to hold a bucket on a rope
which was winched up full of quartz)... and was found about 40 minutes
walk or 20 minutes run up the hill. Some of the walkers and runners
continued a bit further up the hill till it was time to turn around.
Four fit fellas made it up to a large waterwheel twice as large as the
one outside old Alexandra Musuem, at least 1000 feet up in the snow
line and "b***y cold". They also found the remains of two more huts up
there.
Coming down the road was considerably quicker and easier and we all
arrived at the bus more or less together.
Numbers for the day were 3 flat walkers, 11 medi walkers, 14 faster
walkers, 3 D pack "runners", 2 C pack runners, 2 B pack runners and 4 A
pack runners. 39 in total and all safe and sound on the bus back to
Alex.
Joke time --- One day when one of our A pack was out training for
harriers, he came across a lost tennis ball and decided to take it home
for his dog. Lacking any pockets, he shoved it down the front of his
shorts and carried on running. He soon came across a fellow harrier who
couldn't help but see the bulge in the shorts and asked our runner
about it. "Oh, its a tennis ball" replied our runner. "Gosh, that must
be sore" replied the fellow harrier,"I had tennis elbow once and that
was bad enough!"
And we never did find Mike!!!!!!
Fraser Dees in the Sun!
Fraser D Loop - Fraser Dam Road to Fraser Domain, Earnscleugh
- Saturday 18 June 2005
By Tortoise Runner
After waking up to another freezing and frosty winter morning, the fog
lifted in Alexandra to show blue sky and sunshine, and a surprisingly
warm afternoon. The temperature above Budges showed 11 degrees as we
headed out of town!
Bus driver Bert headed up Fraser Dam road to drop off the five A/B
runners and the 3 D runners at the Cattle Stop. Barbara's walkers
decided they would get out there as well but Max's walkers decided to
get out a bit further down the road. Unfortunately Max hopped out with
Barbara so his pack took off without him!
Colin led his four runners up, and up� and up to some ridiculous
altitude on the Fraser Dam Road before blindly striking out across the
countryside to eventually stumble across the correct route. The group
kept running on, hoping that eventually they would be going downhill
and were relieved after a large number of ups and downs, to finally
keep on going down! Rumour has it that there was nothing amusing about
the run - especially not the first part!
The Three-Dee's watched the bus depart� and watched the walkers head
off down the road� and watched the A-pack sprinting up the hill� and
deliberated whether they should follow the walkers as they did the
first year, or run(?) up the hill and go cross-country as they did last
year, or take off in one of the cars that was left behind and find a
caf� for the afternoon! After five minutes enjoying the sunshine, pack
leader Gary decided to lead them on the scenic route ie UP the hill.
They headed cross-country a little (ok - a lot!) earlier than the other
runners, turning off at the beehives. The bees were buzzing but left
Jill alone. They went up the track over the hills, through a couple or
four water hazards, and fought their way through briar and thyme.
Skilled routefinding by all members of the group, led them down a gully
to Summerfruit Orchard where Barbara's walkers were just ahead of them.
Luckily Gary found a shortcut so they could get in front again! Just
before Fraser Domain, they detoured up the hill for a bit of fartlek
training between pine trees, before reaching the branch and descending
for afternoon tea.
In the meantime, Barbara had a bakers dozen of walkers who headed down
the road and then diverted up the track following the pylons through to
Fraser Domain. They carefully negotiated the tracks this year ensuring
that they were on the uphill side of Sam Neill's fences! As usual they
enjoyed the sunshine and the company and their afternoon tea at Fraser
Domain.
Max eventually caught up with his group of fourteen walkers and most of
them continued on the pylon track following the same route as Barbara's
walkers to Fraser Domain. A foursome chose to take the low road and met
up with the rest of their group at Summerfruit Orchard. This pack were
lucky enough to have an extra guide with Margaret's good local
knowledge enjoyed by all.
Bert and JillP carried on in the bus to Fraser Domain, getting the
billy on to boil and Jill taking her pack of one out for a bit of a
wander.
Afternoon tea in sun at Fraser Domain was enjoyed by all though what
some of the walkers was drinking was in question after members were
heard to spot a monkey behind bars near the toilets. Apparently they
have photographs so watch out for their evidence on a webpage near you!
The lack of club captains and president was noted as the short VP had
to stand on a rock to give the afternoon talk, forgetting all the
important items such as awarding the Turkey of the Week and asking if
anyone would like to write the weekly run notes up�. Never mind, Mike
will be back next week� And this weeks run report has been written up�
and the Turkey of the Week was belatedly awarded to the VP for
forgetting about awarding it!
WILD WINTER WUN AT WAIKOUAITI
11-12 June 2005
By Wunder Whoo
The following is an account of what may have happened at the harrier
mid winter trip to Waikouaiti. I leave it up to the reader to decide
how much is true.
28 runners and walkers slipped out of Alexandra on Saturday morning. A
brief break in the fog revealed they were in fact heading the right
way. A tip off to driver Allen, that the highway patrol were waiting
the other side of Lawrence with a set of scales, had him hand over the
driving seat to Dave. What a smooth operator, no grinding gears from
this guy, saw him cruising into sunny Dunedin.
A detour via the scenic coast road to Karitane saw the bus stop for how
many railway crossings? We arrived at Waikouaiti to the Sidey Outdoor
centre in time for lunch. After throwing a few girl guides out,
everyone managed to claim a bed for the night.
Then it was time for the run and walk. It was a perfect winters day,
sun shining, no wind and calm seas. Approximately 18 walkers set off
over the railway line and down past the gun club and golf course. Dot
stuck with the hill walkers, having learnt a lesson on last years trip
about short 4 hour walks. They all headed up to the historic buildings
of Johnny Jones the ex convict ( had to be an Aussie ). No mention of
the schoolroom but the 3 seater privy was mentioned. Then it was on
around the coast for the wildlife tour taking in the seals and a yellow
eyed penguin.
The runners split into 3 packs, all following a similar route.They were
all going too fast to spot wildlife, just sheep and cows. The A/B pack
of 4 continued past the historic buildings and over Matanaka hill and
dale. Some claimed they nearly got to Palmerston before they were able
to turn the pack leader round for home. The C pack of 2 ran through
mud, creeks and both sheep and cow shit. They didn't land in any bull
shit as there was no mention of running to Palmerston from this pack.
The D pack of 5 followed in their footsteps. They climbed a tree to
avoid one fence crossing (well 4 out of 5 did ). Some fences couldn't
be avoided and Chris had a shocker of a crossing. Now if the voltage
had come down the wire at the right time, I'm sure she would have flown
over. We found a new use for Michael as a heading dog to direct the
sheep back along the cliff top. All were back at girl guide HQ by
4.30pm.
Fish n chips for dinner and then what? Fancy dress beach and sea theme.
So of course we had our beach bums, sailors, pirates, bathing belles
and cryptic white pointer and octopussy. And King Neptune, which is
starting to ring alarm bells. It seems the power of being president
goes to their heads. Remember a couple ago we had a president dressed
as queen.
And now this year a new president dressed as a king. Seems we're stuck
with them, regardless of whether we have a monarchy or a republic.
The Baby photo contest showed up the observant among us. It seems
Dianne Hall looks carefully at us, as she came up matching 12 baby
photos to their owners.
Then it was time for the beauty contest, What can one say? Funny or
scary. Ewwwwww. Elton John sneaked in among the beach queens. Who stole
the show? I can't say but I have received information that Miss Denmark
has now been deported home to Denmark for her actions.
Sunday dawned another sunny day and time for another walk and run. Most
headed down to the estuary and along to the spit, before returning
along the beach. It seems some runners need reading lessons, as they
ran past the signs saying keep out, sewerage treatment area. Thanks to
Michael and Chris for sorting out our runs and walks.
Time for a shower and cleanup before heading to Palmerston for lunch.
On to Ranfurly where our queen congratulated Dame Edna. And then back
into the fog and low cloud of home. Another wonderful wacky wild winter
wun and we got all 27 of us back weady for next year. Where to next
year? Suggestions to camp leader.
Hey, did we get everyone
back from Waikouaiti? 
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