The Stove and I

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THE STOVE and I, Feb,1.2.3. This week end I was formally introduced to THE STOVE and although the rest of the party spent practically the whole of their sojourn working on our hut, for me, the week end was THE STOVE AND I! Being a V.P. not a V.I.P I began to get sick of everyone saying "but you SHOUIDcome on a working partyrouknow - everyone else has been and after all I meantersay wots stopping you?" Hell, the spirit was willing, but alas the flesh was weak and apparently even thouch you are dreadfully cick on truck trips you get no symonthy and that is no excuse why you should not come up to bash in nails and slap on paint ( they always forret to mention where and whatou slap it on (sometimes it is Trev. Walsh). We finally cot around to decicing if we hadter go we would travel by car and having ta lked Lou into being one of the party ( because we like Lou and I Lou is a carpenter - one of those rare commodities). Vie set off at 6 pip emma on the fridey night and zoomed up to Ruapehu practically non stop, reaching our destination a few minutes after one o clock. Before falling into our bunks Lou studied the rules and reculations and when he saw I make sure THE STOVE is full at the boiler side" he immediately poured vater down the damper side - result a minature lake on the floor! Ted had been given strict instzuctions to arise at 6 a.m. and start a brew for those arriving b, truck, but, at 5.55 a.m, on the Saturday morn we thrce oceupants of Levin Waiopehu Hut were startled out of our cleep with loud bengings'and exclamtions at the sight of our three supine bodies. When Lou vas asked how he got there he mumbled that he VAIKED and when asked further when he started he was quite emphatic that he had started last year! Breakfast was rustled up in no timerand I just could not be lieve my eyes which vere still full of sleep when shortly after seven they sauntered off in tvos and ones to the hut site to commence ops. Fortunately we bad the right type of tradesmen at the right time - that is we needed carpenters at this stage rnd carpenters we had five of 'em! With tolk of "Flying Foxes" and priming and oiling and puttying and shingle the lads went off and huge piles of dishes were left to the girls, apart from Betty who had declared herself in quarentine - wise girl ( but she made up for this by sticking to her post, at least her paint brush when everyone else had lost interest.) Shortly Tarybe 1Bird, Dorcen and I found oursclves the sole occupants of the Hut with two morning teas and one lucnh and two after noon teas to cope with ( sometimes cope is a handy word). From then on I found myself attached to THE STOVE, It is a great big black dirty stove - and it is of the hungry type, it ate everything I liked to shovel in - once it got hot it cot hot with a capital H.

Well, with stoking and making two morning teas and two afters and one lunch and six lots of dishe's-and carrying boards up from the dump to the hut site because the "Flying Fox" gave a few weak splutters and decided to rest in the pure mountain air ( which at times was blue) I found at the end of the day I had one leg shorther than the other, Fortunrtely for all - rnd most of all Lloyd and Ray, the "Flying Fox" turned up trumps, but not before Les ( who had been accused of losing his sense of humour)had decided to almost kill his dear friend Bernie by knocking him into next wcek with a 6 X something or other, from then on his humour was restored, because he remerked he just couldn't help laughing. All day long we struggled manfully, midst mist, rain at times, sand- : * flies and brilliant sunshine. The weather, on the whole was cuite good as it dic not hold up the T ork and it was 22 weary bodies who knocked off at about 7.30 p.m. and it was here that the STOVE'S redeeming feature came to the fore - hot vater with vhich to vash away the grime of the day was plentiful, I do not remember much about the evening I if there was one - except that Bernie insisted on wanting his tomorrow's chop today and he had some yarn which apreared to be all about food : I nuff said. There are vague : recollections of Les too, dashing around, clad unly in his towel declaring it 1 wasn't a Persian Market - 'scuse me but I MUST have my trowers! Sunday morning dawned, as Sundays do : far too nuickly and it was out and up again and full speed ahead. A vast amount of work was accomplished : the weather was again quite ggod : - . and to me'it was' just a succession of mugs up : paint some boards mugs up again : but all things come to an end : good and bad and I am sure that as we all wended our way on our 200 odd miles journey home we felt we had achievêd some thing and as our hut grows perhaps too, more members will grow enthusiastic. See you on the next W.P. "Tilly The Tramper" - Ed.Note It is rare to receive a write up without a certain amount of kidding (or "nagging") from the. ditor but the following appeared in the letter box one day and although it is written about the same week end ve print it because - after all - ve all have different points of view, The writer has calledit