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I had 8 on my list Saturday night plus 1 more dependant on weather.  Sunday morning 7 of us were waiting across the road by the truck for by the stragglers when I noted car lights coming out of our driveway but unfortunately by the time I had run to the road Kim was disappearing down Mount Erin Road so in the end we had 7.

Three blokes in the front of the truck had difficulty navigating their way to Tamaki West Road but we eventually arrived at the carpark on a very cold but dry morning. We decided against climbing up to A Frame Hut as we would have been exposed to the weather most of the way. Instead we bravely crossed the west branch of the Tamaki Stream and climbed up the steep, but reasonably short track, to the Holmes Ridge Track.  There was a bit more wind up on the ridge but it wasn’t too bad provided we kept moving and we were soon at the far end of it heading back down through the bush to the second and last stream crossing of the morning. We skirted along the bottom of the bush on the true right and arrived at Stanfield Hut for lunch, about 2 hours after our departure from the road end.

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It was still cold, my thermometer did not read over 4°C all day, and as we left the hut for the return back a brief, sleety skiff passed over us and raincoats were donned for the first and only time of the day.  Two hours later we were all back at the truck and had time to drop into the shop at Norsewood for some to do some sock buying.  

Party: Glenda H, Peter B, Des S, Susan L, Anne D, Alan P & Christine S.