21 December 2015

On the longest day in the shortest time, with strangers and friends, mountain madness reigned. From dawn to dusk they laboured and drove, ‘til the fine peaks of Mt. Pirongia, Mt. Maungatautari, and Mt. Te Aroha yielded to their steady determination.  Pirongia in 4.5hours and all feeling fine. Maungatautari in 2.5 hours. Got it done, still having fun. Te Aroha in 3.5hours to complete the triple feast of Peaks.

Pirongia was first to be conquered.  It started fast, but developed into the long steady pace required to finish. Winston and Sue however, had another pace and we kept meeting them coming down each mountain, further and further ahead of us.

We got lost driving from Pirongia to Mt. Maungatautari. Maybe Sir Eds’ advice, “Follow me Tenzing”, would have helped as we rolled on to our second challenge, Maungatautari.

Third up was Te Aroha, and it was straight up. Here the strain was beginning to show. Some did it well, and some did it ….well longer (2 hours 10 min). As the clouds rolled back for a perfect vista, and we waited for the full team to ascend, fatigued bodies lay around the trig by the giant masted top.  Then we rolled down together to a much needed dinner (takeaways) at Te Aroha.

In W.T.C. tradition, all completed the challenge supporting one another, so all could happily say,” we knocked the 3 of ‘em  off”.

Trampers: Winston and Sue, the 2 Steves, Pui Yinn, Doug, Ella, Jack, John (Leader), Allan, Ashley, Lindsay (Scribe)