Party in the Bush!

Every year the Otago University Tramping Club puts on event known as "Bushball" during which club members backpack to Mount Aspiring Hut and once there have a formal dinner (this year a masquerade) and dance party. Around forty of us packed into vans on a Friday evening and drove to a carpark in the Matukituki Valley.



I was too cheap to rent a tent so I slept with seven others under a fly erected between two vans which subsequently blew down causing us to sleep under a picnic shelter. In the morning, we tramped between amazing snow-covered peaks, picking our way around cow poo, crossing streamlets to reach the hut. Upon arrival (it was raining by this point), we set up our beds, then traded our soggy socks and thermals to put on tuxes and dresses. We ate a three course meal complete with gourmet cheese and wine, turned up the music, and danced (and drank) until late. Some of us wandered outside to admire the moonlight on the mountains and the incredible stars. Hiking boots, wool socks, and fleece combined with formal attire is super stylish. The next morning it snowed (it is winter I suppose…) followed by rain, making for a very, very cold, slippery, muddy hike back. During the ride back I had a great conversation with a nontraditional (in his 30s) geology student who told us about the history and recent politics of the towns we were traveling through and ranted about the problems with the American health care system. Can’t wait to go back to the Southern Alps!