Paradise

Here’s what you need to know:

Gear

At a minimum you need to bring:

Waterproof Jacket
Warm clothing
Sleeping Bag
Sleeping Mat
2Litre Water Bottle
Boots with ankle support
Toilet Roll
Sunhat + Lotion
Lunch for Saturday and Sunday
Money for food on Friday and Sunday evening (Takeaways)
Head torch
Daypack for Saturday
Eating utensils

Optional Stuff:

Swimming gear for Sunday morning
Inflatable rafts etc for Sunday morning
Alcohol for Saturday night
An exciting and original drinking vessel

Safety & not being an Idiot

If you need to go to the loo, don’t just sneak off from your group into the bush and hope they notice.  Wait till you have a rest stop – or ask the leader for a rest stop if you can’t, then announce your intentions and head off into the bush.  That way the group is less likely to leave you behind.  Of course if you have spent all morning being a jackass don’t be too offended if they do.  I’ll leave the decision of what amusing euphemism you use when making this announcement up to you.  Avoid any situation where you say “I’ll catch you up”.

Stick together with your group, there will be a lot of groups going up the Routeburn so keep together with your one.  You can’t change groups on the day, we have maximum numbers of people for certain trips and I don’t want those limits being exceeded.

Resist the temptation to swim in the river once you are drunk.

I can’t believe I actually have to say this: Don’t smoke weed, get high and wander off on your own private trip.  The same goes for mushrooms.

Logistics

We will leave from Clubs and Societies around 6pm on Friday evening, you should aim to be there between 5 and 5:30 as it takes quite a while to get everyone organized onto buses.  Dinner on Friday night will be at a Takeaway shop, most likely in Alexandra, so if you will get hungry before 8pm then you may want to get a snack before you leave.  Bring some money for Dinner (Friday and Sunday).

On Saturday morning we will shuttle you out to the beginning of your trips.  When you get back to the camp-site help your leader preapre dinner before you start drinking.  In past years people have got confused about which order to do things in, it is rarely a good idea to rehydrate using beer.  R&R Sport will be providing us with some prizes for the cooking competition, which should be good enough motivation to not do baked beans.  If you are going up Xenicus or Ocean Peak I will be impressed if you manage to prepare a muesli bar at the end of the day.

Sunday morning we get lazy round the camp-site, have breakfast, do a bit of packing, play in the Lake etc.  There is nothing really planned, we just chill out till the bus picks us up, and its a nice spot to chill out.

We will get back to Dunedin late on Sunday evening, don’t plan on doing anything except showering and going to sleep when you return.

Leaders

Make sure you have your trip forms (the white ones) with you on Friday night.  Please check that everyone getting on a bus has paid and is on your trip.  Leave the white forms in the gear room.  You have $15 per person for a shopping budget, keep your recipts and I will write you a check at the Tuesday meeting next week.  Please keep your groups together on the day, and make sure you do a regular headcount, I will not be happy if we lose someone.  If your group is moving too slowly to make your objective, then change your plan, it would be better to have a fun afternoon and be back for the food competition than to stay out till 8pm and arrive back exhausted, your call however.

I really hope that answers most questions, have a great weekend and make sure you take loads of pictures, we will have a slideshow evening in a couple of weeks where you can show them all off!

Paradise Pre-Meet

Tuesday Meeting

Announcements will be at 5:30pm in the Otago room, and then we will head off to….

Happy Hour

At the Cook, cheap food, beer etc awaits.  This is a good opportunity to meet the people you will be tramping with this weekend, so come along and share a beer with us before…

Paradise Pre-Meet

R&R Gear Buy

Welcome Back

Welcome back to the new Semester.  Hopefully you are all looking forward to a Semester filled with Tramping!  The first OUTC meeting of the year is Friday 26th February in the Evison Lounge at Clubs and Societies, come along to hear about what we have planned over the next few weeks.  You can also sign up for membership for the low price of $30.  Regular meetings are now back on:

• Monday, Friday 12:30 to 1:30 in the Otago Room, Clubs and Societies
• Tuesday 5pm in the Otago Room, Clubs and Societies
• We have Happy Hour at the Captain Cook Tavern from 6pm Onwards on Tuesdays.

This Sunday (29th Feb) we have Bethunes – our annual FREE BBQ in Bethunes valley, meet outside Clubs and Societies at 10:30am and we will take you up to Mt Cargill and then feed you in the afternoon.  Bring walking shoes and a Rain Jacket.