Winter `61 had been so dry - did camp site water flow?
Should it be Christmas in the mountains for this time? Scarce water at Mt Shillinglaw, Mt Skene and Saddle Low,
Mt Macdonald, too, was such a long dry climb.
New Year's Eve among The Nobs was really rather queer
As we toasted using moss juice so hard gained.
We were worried, dehydrated, as we headed for Mt Clear,
Joy, a good supply of water still remained.
 
Not daunted by that awful dry - or was it just wrong head?
I joined Safari Bill for the 'Barries dry'
To have the coldest, wettest Easter for many years 'twas said,
The constant mist was enough to make one cry.
The party split, we bivouacked, conditions were quite bad
When Sam collapsed, he could no longer slog,
His pack was shared, his legs had locked, a forlorn sight so sad
With his `bird seed' clutched tight, hobbling through the fog.
 
There was business in the Club room, much the same as is today
Is the in-come less than out-go? What to do?
Then we talked of Wilky's purchase, how to care and how to pay,
And what of Walk, should it come out anew?
What about the eager beavers, who gallop on so fast?
That's now been solved by offering several grades.
What tracks to clear, where logging now, who led the Fed. walk last?
`Go skiing ?!! That's not walking!' so we sayed.
 
Now the memories come flooding in - in Walk we did record `m:
From Stirling, Buller's bulk by Easter moon;
Ten hours for four miles following Whitelaws Creek near Jordan;
Mysterious Tali Karng; thick frost in June.
Why did we do these crazy things? For me I can't divide
My love for distant mountains, the distant view
From the friends who shared this love, who shared the tracks, walked by my side,
And helped me find the answer - forty-two! *

(Acknowledgements and apologies to Banjo Paterson)

 
* Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams. The great question of Life, the Universe and Everything was given to the supercomputer (Deep Thought) to solve. It came up with the answer - forty-two.