This Saturday is the big day out. For those wanting a big walk 22km ,meet corner Walton & Thompson streets at 9:30am with lunch ,water and warm clothing, for a walk from Alexandra to Roxburgh. A good level of fitness will be required for this walk. Hopefully we have someone to lead this group. We will try to save a seat on the bus for the ride home.
Everyone else meet at 12:30pm ,to catch a bus ride down to Knobby Range road near the Roxburgh dam , where we will walk from and hopefully find those walking from Alex. M-Zs duty pack this week.( I am basing time and distance from 2019 email sent out. )
It was a warm start to the walk at Ida Valley station on Saturday with a bus and 2 cars of walkers keen to explore the Ida Valley. 55 or so walkers
There was a slight delay as Allen’s carload went to where we went last year, up Poolburn Dam road. This is land farmed by Ida Valley Station but not owned by them. Eventually we tracked them down and sent them back down to Smalls Road to the bus on Ida Valley Station.
With 50 plus impatient walkers they set off up the farm track , so Allen’s crew had to stretch out to catch them. So numbers in The W1s ,W2As and W2Bs varied anywhere from about 10-to 20 until they finally settled into their different groups about 3km further on.
The W3s wandered up the track and then returned the same way.
Joe’s maps were of some help to the other groups as they turned off the track at various places , although none seemed to go exactly where the map suggested. Many groups went off piste ,exploring new ground and found waterways that were hard to find whilst others came in to the bus from different directions from that expected.
All made it back for a cuppa ok ,however the wind did pick up cooling everyone down again.
Raffle time and Barrie draws the first number. That’s mine calls Barb. Then Allen calls out ,i have the ticket. Then he admits to having found the ticket when catching up the walkers earlier on.
By the time the harriers got back to Alex, the wind had died away and temperatures were warm again . So it was a big crowd in the mid 20s that descended on the Finery ,once again rearranging the furniture in the Whisky room.
This Saturday we head for the Knobby Range on Roxburgh East . For those walking from Alex , it will be a half marathon distance with a 50% chance of a rain shower , so bring a jacket if you don’t like the odds.. Hope to see you there. If there are any changes i will email out later in the week. Not sure if Joe has maps for this week or not. Should be back to Monteiths all going well.
Gary