by tas-man » Mon 25 Jul, 2022 11:28 pm
When the LWC was producing it's 70th anniversary Langana magazine in 2016, I was responsible for chasing up some early members to get their memories of their time in the club. I'd like to share what Melva emailed to me for inclusion .
Looking Over our Shoulders
In early 1950 I became a member of the Launceston Walking Club (LWC) and had some serious and hilarious times there until June 1953. I came after teens through the war years, with the Girl Guide movement, where I had become charmed with the bush and its creatures. Back then, our LWC first transport was Matilda - pensioned off from being worker-transport for the Waverley Woollen Mills at St. Leonards. Many stories she could have told! With dedicated mechanics Jim Turner and Dave Pinkard she (they) rarely let us down. There is still a ‘thank you’ around for them all. In those early times we ranged close by Launceston – Ben Lomond, Western Tiers and Greens Beach - where, boots and all, we practiced for the square dancing competitions of the time.
Then we graduated to more distant realms: Waratah meant driving overnight Friday to the West Coast, walking coast and beach till Sunday afternoon and returning well into Sunday night . . . with devoted drivers. With bent hardwood planks and leather bindings we tried our first skiing adventures on the plateau of Cradle Mountain on wintry days; later, there were great excursions over to the West Coast – dropped off by Matilda at each start, and picked up further up the coast two or three days later at walkers’ journey’s end – from Corinna and Pieman Heads to Temma, and Marrawah to Woolnorth. One leader, the redoubtable Bill Mollison approaching a crowd of wild steers, whispered to me ‘don’t feel fear they will smell it’.
In June 1953 with another LWC member, Val Seaton (England), and HWC member Fay Peterson (Herrington) we set sail from Sydney to Auckland, just as New Zealander Ed Hillary with Tensing Norgay set their feet on the summit of Mt. Everest. We joined the Auckland Alpine Club at his homecoming, later skiing with the AAC for their ski season at Mt. Rhupehu. The following 7 months we spent circling the two NZ Islands’ back country, working and hitch hiking.
I gratefully acknowledge the LWC, which set us up for such adventurous lives. My memories are still colourful!
Melva Truchanas
"The world reveals itself to those who travel on foot."
Werner Herzog