Tillie the Toiler

Machine-read text (unproofread)

Read from the scans by software, so it contains mistakes. Typing it up properly would help blind readers: use Suggest an edit.

TILBY TUG BBODBORO 7th, February. Dear Dairy, Somebuddy once made a luvly blue Trip Skedule and on it they put Pennister-Totara Flats "E", and then down at the bottom they put "E"means Up to three hours daily, but they did not menshun if anything went wrong and the trip was all up of a heaval that "F" could also mean 7 hours in wun day and that you would have to go without your - lunch, Moral is, don't go on any trips marked "E" and if there are enny trips marked "FE" and the leader is Nuts, I wouldn't go on them either because you very often have to climb over 3000 ft. our of your way and have your lunch at six pip emma - We all arrived at Bannister Hut soon after ten on Friday night, which was good, I mean nice and early, because the truck driver was a speed merchant and did'nt seem to kare if the whole of us left our stummicks on the summit of the Rimutakas. When we arrived at Bannister we found "Frank" had came up from Totara Flats or summat and lit a roarin' fire, hot enuf to bur your britches, but all those going on the "FE" Nuts trip dashed off into the dead of night for Moun ntain House and there they died until 9 ack emma Satterday. All those marked "E" spent an meventful nite except for the roof nearly taking off, and the door banging, and the rats knawing Tilly's pack half the nite, and the nitemares waking us up. Yes : it was a piecefull nite. Everyboday knows how gentil is Gentil Anny, so we do not need to talk about that valk, and soon we came to the Totara Flats tumoff and prepared to descend rapidly and say "Wot a luvly vide track, we could do this in a jeep "", and why diôn't they tell us how pretty is is, and thank goodness we shall have eaten all our tucker when we cum back this way, tonorrow, and then we drop, drop, drop and say, 11 Well now we know why Ted Dakin says when you come out on Sunday you'll be climing right up to the ruddy sky", only he didn't say 'ruddy'. We cross the stream and it begins to rain and because we have a new girl out and her pack strap has broke 3 times 5 we are getting slower and we cross the stream again and it begins to pour, and we say we must be getting there soon, how far is it Barry : and he says another half hour dead slow, Well, we cant go much slower or we'll soon die, and after a rest, it pours and pours and we wonder what the river is like and we are still doing the dead march, About the time we should have been at the Hut, we hear Dave say, "Shouldn't we wait for Cecilia ?", "WAIT FOR CECILIA", we scream, "We thought she was with you".. the rain has reached the coming dovn in buckets stage, and Barry and Owen have disappeared and we dump our packs and think, well we never even explained the orange discs, and we never even told her wot to do first time out - please God let her sit dovn where she is and not wander around in circles, we' 're hungry and vet and the river is rising-this shure is an "E" trip :

Time marches on and Dave canes back to report,vot still no Cecilia! Who said Totara Flats vas the playground of the Tararuas, vho sed Totara Flats was wun place you must visit before you throw avay your boots- who sed you'd just love Totara Flats! Three of us left Dave to continue his search and we caught up with the leader who secmed to be leading only himself so wo passed him and made for the river which was up and coming and we sav Leon and Barry vith water way past their britches and we decided we wouldn't cross that thankyou, We screemed out that we had lost C. and they had better cum and help, and because the river was up and coming and they were crossing in the wrong place they thought they vould like to be on the same side as their packs and proceeded to wet their britches again. We returned to the scene of the parting of the ways and found that the boys had found Cecilia, and the first thing we sed was that we didn't care if we never saw Totara Flats Hut and vhoever thought up things like cages, We vere so hungry that we could hardly open our packs to get a bite , the rain was just pelting dovn and then Trev came along and dashed dovn to the river and said "Gee, I'm not crossing that", so we all vent back to liountain House and we hated every minnet of the steep pull up. and out and thought "Playground of the Tararuas,Huh!" Now we know vhy Ted Dakin sed about climing up to the ruddy sky, only he didn't say "ruddy". All of a sudden we ran slap bang into Huge Tallboy who sed "You blokes are going the vrong way". This vas adding insult to injury, beacause by now we were too far up to retreat to Sayers Hut and we certainly didn't have the G... to return to Totara Flats - . So ve plodded, staggered or merely pushed onto Hountain House according to our state of umfitness, We reached it. House at tea time to have lunch and a brew, Bill Harvey having previously told us how beautiful Totara Flats was and very likely we'd see him there, had put on a brew and we felt like it was kumming home, By now it had stopped raining, it vould, but the vind had reached gale force and we sed to ourselves won't it be luvly tomorrov, we von't have to clime out of these terrible Totara Flats, and we can stay in bed and read and drink cuppas all moming, and amble down to Bannister, and we wondered where all the FE blokes were, Oh, said Bill they have gone dovn the Ativhakatu to Mitre Flats Hut, they should he there by now.... we leamed next day they had climed and climed and climed until they reached a cross : and they roally thought they were Nuts : who wouldn't ? Mt. House was so canfortable, that sum vent to sleep stroight after their dinner at 8 and did not hear logs being throvn on the fire and the coffee perkolating by Bill and the vind screeching and howling and the trees swaying and groaning in the galo... so canfortable they did not mind the bare boards, so camfortable that ve just laughed vhen Dave sed vell that's twice I've been dovn to Totara Flats and haven't been there, and tovmorrow I'm going to Pig Flats to take a foto of how reasy it is to go rong : We gradually drop off.. one by one thinking of : Totara Flats : For us the_trip is over. "F" party: Oven Roberts, Dave Borloy, B.1,Rigg, T. Dodge, E.Carter, C.Little. (at Mt. House) Trev Walshe Bill Harvey and J.Dow, (At Totara Flats) L. Sondej, B. Kaywood and lom Meier. "I# party: # Nuts" Bolt, "Hori" Hall, T.Dakin, "Frank"NoGovan, :and two T,T,C. types of whose nanes I om not avare.