Meetings: Held the 4th Thursday of each month (excluding December), at Leongatha Community House, 16 Bruce Street, Leongatha.

Next Meeting: 23rd April, 2009 at 8.00 pm

Editor’s Rambles:
Another two months of fun and challenging activities have been completed by SGWAAC members. I think that all of the activities have been reported on in this newsletter so, if you didn’t get to participate, you can read about what you missed. For me, the highlight was flying to Melaleuca and trekking in the Tasmanian South West Wilderness for nearly three weeks. The weather gods smiled upon us and we had only three days of wet weather. We gazed upon magnificent coastal scenery, bathed in fresh water streams and the southern ocean, camped on the summit of the South West Cape Range from where we watched the sun set and rise again, wandered and pondered among the shells and bones of an aboriginal midden on the wild west coast, absorbed the stillness of Horseshoe Inlet as darkness fell, wandered through the homestead garden of the late Deny King, very much appreciating the walkers’ huts he had built, saw two orange-bellied parrots in the wild and another at the bird hide, climbed the Ironbound Range on a clear day spellbound by the breathtaking views, watched the full moon rising, and gained a very intimate understanding of Tasmanian mud. All this, and much, much more was done in wonderful company and with no real mishap. On returning, I re-read the book about Deny King with much greater appreciation. For those of you planning to visit Melaleuca and the SW Wilderness, ‘King of the Wilderness’ by Cristobel Mattingly, is essential reading.
The April committee meeting was held last week but, due to a number of people being away or having other commitments, only four people were at the meeting. This made it a little difficult to organise the program so there may be additions or changes. If this is the case, I shall email a new program at a later date.
Paula

President’s Report:
Ed: Val is away in Tasmania.

Treasurer’s Report
Just to let all our members know, membership forms for 2009/2010 will be in April & June Newsletters and fees must be paid by the 30.06.09. It can also be downloaded from the club website - see Downloads above.
For people who used to pay me in July at our AGM, please don’t do that any longer as our Insurance premium falls due in early July and I need your money definitely by 30.06.09.
Now the good news. It has finally dawned on me that we are in the 21st Century and payment doesn’t have to be by snail mail any longer. You have three ways to pay your SGWAAC Fees:

• By Cheque and snail mail to our Post Office box.
• At your nearest Bendigo Branch.
• At home on your Computer using Internet Banking.

Walk Reports

Walkerville Bike Ride Sat/Sun March 28/29
David, Kerry, Lily, Peter, Paula, Steve, Julie, Cam, Sue, & Ros. Lindsay & Robert did the car option.
We left Koonwarra 10am. Weather was perfect as we rode to Tarwin Lower. 1st stop: the general store, for refuelling. Next stop: Walkerville North Caravan Park , with just a ‘wee hill’ to negotiate on the way. Robert drove with the camping gear on board and Sue & Lindsay had the food. After nibbles Sue cooked tea for us all.
Sunday another perfect day again Sue had breakfast for everyone, even bacon & eggs. Then it was back on the bikes to tackle the big hill out, and on to Tarwin Lower for just another coffee & eats. Next stop, Koonwarra. Approx. 50 km each way. Sue’s catering was fantastic & Cam did a great job with his bike fully loaded with panniers & all his camping gear, while the rest of us took the easy option of putting it in the ute.
Thanks heaps to our support crew & Sue for the catering & a big thanks to all who came along to enjoy a great weekend.
Sue S.

Diamond Creek Bike Ride..April 5th
On Sunday 5 April, an intrepid band of nine eventually caught a train from Flinders Street to Diamond Creek, There would have been more but a major event ‘Walk for the Kids’ made getting to the CBD very difficult. After about an hours train ride we fired up our two wheelers and headed for Southbank. The bike paths were in good condition and it was basically downhill all the way. Just the way we like it! The weather was threatening and, just ask Jenny, very changeable. We had lunch/coffee at the Heidi Gallery and as the clouds darkened we continued south. Mother nature soon showed us who was boss and gave us a wet bum as we neared our destination. Many thanks to our patient organizer, Kerry and to Jenny the leader of the pack.
Allan Kuhne

Random Rhymes From Our Tassie Trip

SW Tassie....Things I’ve Learned on this Trip

• John Chapman’s notes need interpretation - when he mentions ‘button grass plains’ he means mud.
• Wine bottles don’t like being dropped out of planes
• ‘Rocky Plains’ means mud.
• Soggy boots smell.
• ‘Ironbound Range’ means mud.
• Native fish love dead march flies.
• ‘Steep descent’ means mud.
• John Chapman walks faster than we do!
• ‘Descend through a saddle’ means mud.
• Just because 3 different groups are following the same track doesn’t mean it’s the correct one.
• One can live through mud - it’s not life-threatening!
• Tasmanians can dive for abalone and not freeze.
• Tides in Tassie follow different patterns to Victoria - especially when Steve is reading the tide tables ‘fracktabunt’.
• We LOVE Tassie walking, there’s nowhere like it!

Steve, Paula & Josie boarding the flight to Melaleuca	Josie, Annie & Paul at Window Pane Bay
Annie enjoying Tasmanian mud	Where are we?
Paul swimming Horseshoe Creek with his pack	Paul climbing Mt Karamu

Charlies Weekend at the Prom

Bald Hills Wetlands
On Sunday March 22nd 6 of us gathered at Sue and Lindsay Marriott’s property in preparation for a walk. I say 6 although initially there were only 5 of us. Eventually the phone call came and Charlie was re-directed to join us. In this era of political correctness, when the use of certain four-letter words is considered demeaning and/or hurtful, I shall refer to this adventure as the ‘Somewhat-less-than-hirsute Hills’ walk.
Apart from Charlie, Kerry and myself we had Marg, John and, new member, Judy. Marriott’s property abuts the S.L.T.H.Hills wetlands and that is where we started our walk. We arrived at the bird hide but were extremely disappointed at the total lack of birds hiding within. In fact there were very few birds hiding without, although Charlie, with his innate bush skills, managed to spot a fox taking a dump on a now exposed section of the lake bed. Tiring of watching the same group of swamp hens trundling around we trundled off along what used to be a lake but is now sadly deficient in water. Joining up with a track which would lead us back into Marriot’s property I spotted our only snake for the day; dark, reasonably large, of questionable parentage and sunning itself on our track. With quick, and selfless, thinking I grabbed Marg and threw her at it thus saving the entire party. The snake didn’t stand a chance but we reloaded Marg just in case.
(It was about here that Marg decided to regale us with a story…)
Finally we approached the farm boundary fence and managed to slide under and commence our walk across the paddocks before scaling the heights of S.L.T.H. hill. During this part of the walk I found a large rear claw from a long extinct velociraptor but Sue, rather boringly, suggested that it was a sheep bone.
(Marg W. ‘…it was under the water and had pointy things with eyes….’)
Making it to the top we found Lindsay awaiting us astride Dobbin, his long-suffering but always faithful motorbike. (Actually, that bit was poetic licence. I don’t know the name of Lindsay’s motorbike - we were not introduced.) We discussed the arrival of the wind farm and the names of various properties that could be seen.
(Marg W. ‘…I poked it with a stick and it turned the water purple….’)
Fortunately I had brought a catapult with me and was able to dispatch a couple of really annoying orange-bellied parrots. Lindsay headed home to prepare the BBQ. and we headed off around the rest of the property.
(Marg W. ‘…and if you didn’t keep interrupting me….’
We all made it back although Charlie and Marg did go missing in the machinery shed for a while. Sue and Lindsay presented us with a terrific lunch which we all enjoyed immensely. Thank you very much.
David Baggallay
(PS. During lunch Marg went back onto her medication and the underwater thingy went away so I guess we’ll never know what it was)

SCUBA Diving with Rusthunter Dive Charters, San Remo 18th April
Participants: Peter, Sheree, Leigh, Janet, Kaye, Robert and Ros.
This day had been rescheduled from early April, due to bad weather. Well, still cold, but ok any way, ‘just do it’!! We started at San Remo beach in shallow water, sitting /kneeling, just trying to manage the SCUBA gear, mask, breathing & big flippers. Oh dear, what a challenge! Some managed quite ok. For me all that gear just made me ‘out of control’. By the way, did I mention it was cold?
We all then loaded onto the boat to proceed to Granite rock area (Woolami direction). Divided into two groups, some snorkelled first while others dived, the water was a bit cloudy and snorkelling near the rocks was a bit like being in a lemonade bottle, but fantastic for me anyway. Robert jumped into the SCUBA diving like a duck to water, so grabbed the chance to dive a second time. For me, totally scared stiff and frozen too, holding an instructors hand in a vice like grip, SCUBA diving was a must. Fish, surging water, moving seaweed to a depth of about 5 metres, it was truly unbelievable…just fantastic.
Janet & I crawled back on to the boat totally exhausted but thoroughly excited at having had such an opportunity, and with very patient instructors.
Big thankyou to Kaye for all her organizing and many phone calls, our instructors Pete & Rob, and two very capable ‘deckies’.

Korumburra and Cook’s Hill, April 18
We all met at the Korumburra Railway Station car park at 8:45 on Saturday morning. There were 13 of us, Tim, Marg, Jenny, Glen, Judy, Marg W, Josie x 2 , Nadia, Christina, Joanna and Heather, and we headed down Bridge Street to meet Tina. We enjoyed the bushy environment as we walked through the Korumburra Caravan Park and realised the wonderful facilities available…including the toilets! Our climb up to Cook’s hill began and the views from the top were rewarding. After our descent we said goodbye to Heather and ambled towards the football oval where a game had already begun. We would have liked to walk around the oval (Judy was armed and ready to use her walking pole to enter the arena if necessary!) however due to the game in progress, we were not allowed to enter. We arrived shortly after at Coleman Park where tea, coffee and other yummies presented themselves from every direction. After much chatter and chuckling it was time to depart and begin the slow climb up Guys road. Crossing the highway we headed towards Korumburra’s other footy ground. Tina suggested we take a more scenic route, much to Joanna’s dismay. The end was near as we headed toward IGA and down the main street but not without the walking tradition of calling into the bakery for lunch. Jenny and Glen had plans for more walking that day so they said their early goodbyes.
After the raid of Kelly’s bakery it was time to say goodbye and go our separate ways. It was a great day with good walking weather. I hope everyone enjoyed each others company as much as I did, and I hope to walk again with you all soon.
Cheers (Little) Josie

Upcoming Events
Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand 2010
Julie Johnston is planning to do a 71km walk in the Marlborough Sound area of NZ in March or April next year. She is keen to hear expressions of interest from other club members who would like to join her and Phillip. Julie is planning to book with a group that offers motel style accommodation, a packed lunch each day, transfer of luggage each day so that you carry only a day-pack, and water transport to and from track at each end. You would buy your own evening meal each night and either buy brekkie or take your own. The cost is as follows:

• 4 day freedom walk - $585 (plus airfares)
• 5 day freedom walk - $675 (this one includes a rest day)

If Julie can make up a group of 10 or more, she has been promised a discount of 10%.
If you are interested, contact Julie A.S.A.P. on 5664 7458

McLaughlan’s Beach July 25th/26th
Just letting you know that with my walk at McLaughlin’s Beach, I have decided to camp at the Woodside Beach Caravan Park on the Saturday night 25th July. They have powered and unpowered sites starting at $20 per night. I thought I would give them a call and let them know that there may be a few of us and anybody ringing to book a site mention that they are with the South Gippy walking group so they can hopefully put us near each other. Their phone number is 0351871214.
The walk will be on the Sunday. Anybody staying Saturday night could take themselves on a walk along the 90 mile beach or go Surf Fishing. From memory, as it has been a few years since I have been to Woodside, the pub is about 10kms from the Caravan park. The Pub may run a courtesy bus (I will look into that) if some want to go there for tea on the Saturday night.
The drive to McLaughlin’s Beach should only take about half an hour.
Polly Riddell

Intro. To Rogaining at Lysterfield
The VRA permanent course at Kinglake has been burnt and so too has the northern end of the Lysterfield course. So for this event we will be using the southern part of the Lysterfield course. We will try to further the skills of those who attended the last session by letting them rogaine alone, and we will also have beginners groups for those who have never tried it before.
To register and get further instructions, ring Paula or Steve 5674 2980
Steve & Paula Horton, Paul & Annie Chisholm, Rob James and Melinda Martin are all involved in organising a 6hr/12hr Rogaine near Yarram on Sept. 5th. If you are interested in seeing what happens at a Rogaine but don’t feel ready to take your compass into the bush to compete, you may like to volunteer to help out at this event. Rogaines are run by volunteers - they are needed to cook and serve food to the competitors, to assist in admin, to set up the site, to stoke the fires, to take water to the waterpoints, etc, etc. If you think you’d like to try this, speak to Paula for further details.
Paula Horton

Wilson’s Prom Lighthouse, May 14th/15th
Charlie needs definite numbers for this trip immediately to be able to book the Lighthouse accommodation.
Give Charlie a ring on 0409023799

Hiker’s Meals
Getting ready for the Tassie trip meant lots of research into dehydrated meals. I was on a mission to find meals that were nutritious, light, but still tasty. Here&srquo;s two of our favourites:
Lentil Curry

1 cup red lentils	6 dried apple rings
2 dessertsp dried onion rings	2 tbsp raisins and 1 bay leaf
Enough dried tomato to be equiv to 2 tomatoes	1 tbsp curry powder (or more if liked)

Package all dried foods together with apples and raisins in their own little bag. Combine all ingredients and soak before cooking. Add approx 3 times the volume of water, bring to the boil and cook until lentils are soft, adding more water if necessary during cooking. Remove bay leaf before eating.

Lunches were often a bit boring, but twice during the 18 days we had Tabouleh for a change
Tabouleh
1/2 cup bourghul plus whatever quantities you want of the dried ingredients below:

Lots of dried parsley	Dried mint (about half quantity of the parsley)
Dried tomatoe	Dried cucumber
Dried capsicum, salt and pepper	Dried celery

If cucumber, celery and capsicum are soaked in lemon juice before drying, it imparts the lovely lemon flavour needed for tabouleh.
Package all of the above together, and then at breakfast put into a screw top container and add water. If you have added the right amount of water, then at lunchtime you will have a moist fluffy salad. Quantity serves 2.
Dried pink salmon (rehydrated as above) is another yummy lunchtime food. Don’t let it leak in your pack though.

One night as we finished our rehydrated meals a most tantalizing smell drifted by. Following this smell to its source, we discovered that another group of hikers were cooking pizzas! If you’d like to give it a try, here’s their recipe. I’ve trialled it at home and, yes, I did cook on a Trangia in my own kitchen.
Hiker’s Pizzas
Naan bread or Tortillas (Trangia pan sized) (50g each) Tasty cheese (45g per pizza)
Leggos Pizza Sauce (with garlic, onion and sauce) 4 sachets 200g

Spread Pizza Sauce (1/2 sachet per pizza) over Tortilla. Sprinkle grated (or sliced) cheese on top. ‘Bake’ in Trangia pan covered with aluminium foil for 5 - 7 mins. Use simmer ring 1/2 to 3/4 open to reduce flame, otherwise pizza will burn on bottom before it is cooked on top. Lightly oil Trangia pan if you have some oil.
Two pizzas per person should be enough if soup and dessert are eaten at the same meal. Each pizza is approx 125g in weight and a considerable amount of metho is used up during the baking process, so they cannot be considered to be a lightweight meal. However, they are a bit of a taste sensation compared with other hiking food, and their smell certainly makes other hikers drool. So they are probably worthy of inclusion in the menu for shorter hikes when you are not so concerned with weight.

Walks Program

For the web version of Footprints, the walks program is located on a separate page and is kept up-to-date with changes as they come in.