Training Weekend 16-17/8/2025
Two bold members, Nathan and Christine, signed up for the camping trip to Holdsworth, for
a wintery overnight experience, and to be able to test equipment, try some ideas and
indeed test themselves.
We left Masterton at around 5 pm, heading off from the road end about 5.30pm towards
Donnelly’s flat. Light was already starting to fade at this time of the year.
Tent erection was first on the agenda. A short inspection of the site allowed for brief
discussion on some of the pitfalls of tent placement then both “trainees” quickly got into
the task , despite little experience of camping with tents. We very quickly had 3 tents up,
and we were able to set up matresses and sleeping bags. This was a good time to look at the
different equipment that we all had, as a comparison, and to discuss some of the
advantages and disadvantages.
Following this we each got stoves lit and water on for hot drinks or dinner. It was dark by
this time, and Nathan’s solar light was great for the cook area that we were using, to allow
us to rest our headtorches.
All Three of us had a “jetboil” type system for cooking, though again, we were able to
consider the advantages and disadvantages of other systems. Dinners were dehydrated
meals, or boil in the bag, which made for a quick meal. Nathan was good enough to have
brought dehydrated desserts for each of us, a tasty treat to finish the evening.
It was getting quite cold by this time, around 20.00, so after a last hot drink, it was time to
get to bed.
The night certainly was cold, but no frost occured, so not as bad as it might have been.
At 06.30 , the first of the mornings runners passed the camp site, in the semi – light, and
soon afterwards it was time to start getting up. Perhaps not the briskist of starts, however
once the water was on the boil and the coffee hit, the camp was packed quickly. Again,
some discussionwas had about morning routine, and decamping, with the idea of adding to
knowledge and skills.
By 08.15 we headed back to the carpark, as a number of people were arriving to start thier
day. We had a short chance to repack day sacs, and once Liz arrived to join us for the day we
had a short session at one of the shelters looking at maps and the difference between
different types , scales and paper vs Electronic. We also briefly discussed Compasses,
however these were not planned to be used much for this training. We also talked about
calculating time to complete sections of a tramp and planning cards.
The navigation training for the day was planned to be at entry level, and to focus on
matching map to ground features, while travelling over a familiar route. The main element
was observation of the route and preparing a mental picture of what was to come ahead.
We set off over the Te Whakaturakau and along the track through to the previous nights
campsite. During this section we looked at contour on the map vs the slope and height that
we could see, we also talked about pace counting, and further estimation of distances.
At the loop track junction we started along this track iuntil we reached a small track that left
the main track. We started to head up the hill, by this time all the “trainees” had an idea
that the route was known to me, but continued to try to work out where we were
comparing map to ground. They also worked out that we would likely meet the Gentle
Annie track, and had a good idea where that would happen! We stopped for a short break
half way up the hill, as we had passed the traditional mporning tea break by quite some
time by this stage!
Once we stepped onto the Gentle Annie, everyone knew where we were, and this is where
we started to head back towards the car park, however we still looked at the track with a
navigators head rather than the usual chatting without observing the terrain.
We arrived back at the car park at 13.00 hours, having had a good morning out in a familiar
looking at it in a different way.
Certainly the three of us who had been out overnight suddenly felt quite tired on the drive
home, but with the satisfaction of some time in the bush in the middle of winter and a very
successful weekend.
Trip participants;
Conrad ( “trainer” and scribe), Christine, Nathan, Liz.
