Hi All
Sad news this week with the passing of Alan Goodfellow(95), one of our life members. Alan was an early runner with the club from back in the 1970’s till the 2000’s – he never lost his strong Scottish accent as anyone who ran with him will attest to when trying to listen and keep up with him. He was a true Scotsman – he would appear in shorts with his toes sticking out of his running shoes – “there’s still a few years wear left in them”, he was heard to say… Alan was quite a competitive runner in his early years and spent a few years in each pack finishing in the D pack some 20-odd years ago. Our thoughts and condolences go to Alan’s family.
This Saturday we have a local outing at Conroys Dam – carpooling – leaving Alexandra at 1pm.
Duty pack – A-L
As we headed up the hill to Bendigo last Saturday, we were wondering what the walk would be like with the big black threatening clouds looming above our destination! Luckily it didn’t come to much but there was a very chilly breeze later on.
Everyone was away walking from Welshtown by 1pm with the 15 W1s taking off fast up the road to follow the Aurora track, walking through the creek to start with and exploring old huts and rocks along the way. From the Aurora track they headed for a leg or two of the Kanuka and Matilda Battery tracks before returning early for afternoon tea.
The W2s split into two groups – 5 W2A walkers followed the W1s along the Aurora track. Some didn’t manage to keep dry feet crossing the creek at the start! This may explain why the 8 W2B group took the shortcut up the road, bypassing said creek. The 3 groups caught up and passed each other a few times along the way before heading in different directions when they reached the road at the bottom. The W2As walked up the Ridge Dray Track to Welshtown then back down and up the Matilda Battery loop track while the W2Bs walked up the Matilda Battery track.
The W3s went along a four wheel drive which Jojo told them was flat. The track they followed bore no resemblance to the track that Jojo saw on her map… No hills she said!! As well as that it was hard work staying upright as the track was so uneven from all the tyre ruts.
Everyone arrived back in good time for afternoon tea huddling in the shelter of the trailer as it was freezing!
There are not many outings left for the year with no walk on Blossom Festival Saturday. Closing day will be at Earnscleugh Castle on the 17th October – only 4 walks before then. Lunch will be a potluck picnic in the grounds after a local walk.
There’s strong interest in the Matariki 2027 trip to Stewart Island – if you haven’t indicated that you are interested to Mike yet, please do so asap. We are currently getting costings and will email out more information as we have it.
Hope to see you on Saturday!!
Gary