OBITUARY

It was with sadness that we learnt of the death on 26 August of Treasurer, Ossie Deysel after a long battle with illness. Ossie presented his final set of financials at the Club AGM on 18 August, as always meticulous in every detail. Your Club has lost a friend and dedicated, hard-working member.

To Libby and family go our sincere sympathy,

R I P

IN THIS ISSUE:

From The Chair – Annual General Meeting 2009; Annual Subscriptions; Christmas Party; Logos for T-Shirts and Day Packs / Backpacks; Mokala National Park

Fifty+ members enjoyed an interesting Annual General Meeting chaired by Vice Chair, Allison standing in for Chairman Dave who was on an overseas trip. At the meeting we said farewell to Secretary Keith who after many years has decided to stand down for a while, and also to PRO Margaret. Keith and Margaret plan to be traveling in the coming year, so will not be home as much as would be required for these posts. Thank you both. Libby has been elected Secretary for the 2009/10 year with Roseanne Dix as PRO. Our thanks go to Veronica and family for providing the excellent eats enjoyed by all at the meeting.

Welcome home to chairman Dave after his travels in the United Kingdom, while we understand it was rather damp we are sure he enjoyed himself. It is now once again nose to the grindstone Dave.

FROM THE CHAIR Dave Sclanders

Annual genEral meeting : 2009 Allison Gunning

I would like to thank Allison for standing in for me this evening and running the procedures. I am sure it will be the best run AGM that you have ever been to. I tender my apologies for not being here this evening as while you are sitting at this meeting, I am somewhere in Scotland with my backpack on my back. Have a great evening.

Welcome to you all to your MHC 2009 AGM.

Another year has flown past, so much to do, and so little time to do it in. The more one does, the faster the time goes, and diaries fill up for the future until one wonders whether one is booking one’s life away faster than one should. It seems to me that unless one makes a point of diarising a “thing to do” not just putting it on a “to do list”, it will never be done.

Membership:

Our membership numbers have reached 157 members again. We lose members at the end of each year through membership not being renewed, and some people moving on, but somehow our numbers build up and this must be thanks to those who encourage new members to join.

As mentioned last year, our yearly costs are fixed, up to a point.

i There is the cost of our venue here at the Church

ii The website costs, and

iii The Newsletter costs

iv The occasional sponsorship from the Club for some events where the supper and drinks (as for tonight for example) are sponsored to a point.

v There are other small costs which do come in from time to time.

The more members we have, the easier it is to keep our yearly club subscriptions at a reasonable level. I think all would agree that our subs are really low indeed. Very good value for what the Club offers.

New members may bring in new leaders and we desperately need new leaders, new hikers , and new ideas of how to get members to participate in the club activities.

MHC Website:

www.gohiking.co.za – the best hiking club website on the web.

We seem to have had a record number of people looking at the website, and a lot of enquiries about joining the or other hiking related questions which Rod passes on to Keith or me if he cannot help them himself. We have also had a number of enquires from other sources as to how we get people to visit a site, and who our webmaster is, and whether he would do their site? Well;, to would be “webmaster borrowers”, I have the following message for you – OUR webmaster is NOT AVAILABLE, too busy. Sorry.

Once again, I would like to extend my thanks and those of all the members of the Club to Rod Hart and Sam, for the incredible club website that they run for us. Over the year Rod has again changed the site, added new innovations and still kept the site very user friendly. That is probably one of the keys to success of any website. But what makes a website work – keeping it up-dated, keeping it fresh, keeping it interesting, and who keeps it updated?? Contributions from the hikers – no one else, so please keep the news flowing to Rod.

Thanks Rod and Sam for your great contribution to our Club.

Past Year’s Activities:

Again this year, thanks go to our very hard working and dedicated leaders. Our club hikers have had a good number of hiking activities from which to choose. We have had the usual day hikes, week-end hikes, and a number of more comfortable berg cottage and beach escapades.

Probably the more popular outings have been beach escapes to more relaxed and comfortable beach cottages. We must thank Bushy and Pat for their hard work in organising and sorting out these trips. Here I must say that anyone can organise a week-end or longer away at one of these many venues along our coast. If you have or know of a beach, game reserve or other venue that could be suitable, please come forward and offer the venue and your services to the club. No one should know the area better than you do, so don’t hold back

The usual berg cottages have been well utilised and we thank Keith, Margaret, Mary and Mark for their cottages.

Longer and Harder Trips:

Our club was not involved with the Grand Traverse this year, and there were no re-supply volunteers from the Club. Remember, the Mountain Backpackers lead this hike every year, and it is only through this club that hikers have the opportunity of participating in this huge event, a really once in a lifetime epic journey for the hardened hiker. Next year’s traverse is already being planned, so if anyone has an interest now is the time to start to get fit. Talk to Keith, Allison or me about it.

Again, good and poor attendances have been experienced on these week-end mountain hikes. Our pool of hikers for these hikes seems to be dwindling and we really hope that a number of the new members who have joined this year will start to do the mountain trips.

Day hikes have also been both well and poorly attended. It is only in the last few weeks that we have had good turnouts for the day walks. I again would encourage all members to try to do at least three day hikes a year.

The BIG 5 CHALLENGE that your club tried to get going earlier in the year appeared to have turned out to b a damp squib. We hoped that more people would have taken up the challenge of doing five club activities in the year. Sadly this did not appear to have happened. Rod Hart, our very busy webmaster, took up the challenge and did his planning and diarising, and I am sure he has found a lot of hidden value in the club’s outdoor activities. Well done Rod.

Social Venue – Monthly Tuesday Evening Club Nights:

The poor attendances left your committee wondering what was going on. No matter what the topic of the evening was, turnouts were poor. You would have picked this up from the Newsletters. The meetings cost the club money, whether there was one person there or 100. Our committee held that we were needlessly spending club funds on poorly attended meetings. With this in mind, we have decided to cut back on monthly meetings, and hopefully we will get a better response to fewer. This will have already been discussed at the meeting earlier in the evening.

Christmas Party:

This went off very well, with a great venue which was easily accessible. Good fun was had by all. The 2009 Christmas Party will be at the same venue so watch the Newsletter for details.

Club Subscriptions:

We will be discussing this shortly.

Mountain Backpackers Club:

The club has and will continue with its close co-operation with Mountain Backpackers where we share dual hikes. With the rising cost of fuel, it makes sense to get more involved with Mountain Backpackers to try to increase the number of people on a hike, so reduce the number of vehicles travelling to a hike area. Hopefully this will help reduce the cost of petrol to the hikers taking part.

General:

To all the leaders who offer their time and decide on a trip to lead, plan and organise, and take the responsibility of leading that trip, a big thank you. We need new leaders to join us, or to start to lead short hikes and get to learn the paths and routes. Your “Old Leaders” are getting older, new replacements are eagerly sought.

My special thanks go to Keith Ashton. No one has any idea of the hours that Keith has put into this club. His ability to organise a trip or week-end getaway is incredible. His patience with getting the venue sorted out, getting people sorted out into the right accommodation, or to the right place and then getting the money to the venue is amazing. His focus on our club leaders’ meetings, on keeping the membership data base up to date and generally keeping everything in order and letting our members know what is happening, is legendary.

Keith, all we can say is “thank you”.

On your behalf I would like to thank your committee, and your hike leaders, for all the work they have done for us this year. As hikers and members of the Midlands Hiking Club, you have been offered a great variety of things to do and join in. For those who took the opportunity, I am sure you enjoyed the experiences, for those who could not, I am sure your year was a lot poorer for missing the invitation.

I would like to thank Veronica and family for the snacks that you are about to enjoy for the remainder of the evening.

All that remains is to thank you all for coming to share and contribute to this AGM this evening. The club looks forward to your continued participation in the new club year, whether it be hiking, club socials, introducing new members or whatever your contribution is important to the continued social role of the MHC. May our new hiking year be happy and fulfilling for all of us. Enjoy the evening.

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

Members are reminded that Annual Subscriptions are due 1 August 2009, single R65, family R100, no increase over last year. To those of our members who paid their subscriptions at the Annual General Meeting, thank you. For those who have not yet paid these can be deposited into the Club Account as follows:

ACCOUNT NAME - MIDLANDS HIKING CLUB

BANK - NEDBANK

BRANCH - HILTON - BRANCH CODE 151925

ACCOUNT NO. - 1519007299

Please fax a copy of the deposit slip to Keith, for attention of Libby, on 086 550 6979 . With the high cost of postage these days it will be financially beneficial to your Club and therefore directly, you. Thank you for your co-operation.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

As advised in the July Newsletter the venue for last year’s Annual Christmas Party proved to be such a beautiful and in every way suitable site, it has been agreed that the Christmas Party 2009 will take place on Sunday, 6 December 2009 at the same venue, at a cost of R10,00 per person. Time of arrival is from 11h00. For the more energetic a hike through the Conservancy has been arranged. Members not in the mood for walking can relax in the shade of the magnificent trees in the company of like-minded friends. Braai fires will be ready by 12h00 to commence preparing lunch. Members please bring meat, salads, rolls and drinks or whatever is your fancy, for lunch. Tables, chairs, cutlery, plates, glasses, cups, saucers and spoons are available at the venue, but a few extra braai’s would be appreciated. A hall with a verandah is on site in the event of rain as well as toilet facilities and a kitchen. Further particulars of what is planned for the day will appear in the November issue of your Newsletter, but in the meantime, mark your calendars. Prizes for the annual competitions will be awarded - best Article published in the Newsletter, the Photographic competition and the person who introduced the most new members to the Club.

Directions: St Matthews is situated in Hesketh Drive, No 115 on the left-hand side and is well signposted Please advise your attendance to Irene on e-mail Irene@pid.co.za, telephone: 082 575 4978. We look forward to seeing you there.

MOKALA NATIONAL PARK Noël Harper

This is a relatively new National Park having only been officially opened in 2007. From Kimberley take the N12 south for 57 km before turning right on to a good gravel road leading to Hayfield. Some 21 km along this road we reached on the right the electronically operated gates into the Park. Fortunately for a couple who had been to the Park before arrived just before us and advised on the procedure to gain access, so we did not have to read through the instructions.

Having given our details to the reception over the inter-com, the gates opened (please wait until the gate closes behind you before proceeding further), and we followed a gravel/sandy road in good condition for some 6 km to the Reception office where we were efficiently greeted and directed on our way, a further 9 km to the Camp site.

Under trees there are only five camp sites each with its own braai stand and taps for water. The ablutions are adequate but not up to Parks Board standard, each side (Ladies and Gents) consisting of one toilet, no door, one shower, no door, and a wash-hand basin tucked into the corner. Over-head in the Ladies was a minute neon light which burned faintly like a dying glow worm breathing its last. The Gents was brighter.

To one side is a cottage consisting of two bedrooms, a living area, kitchen and bathroom and although we did not go into the building, we were told by fellow campers who arrived late the previous day and had spent the night in the cottage that it was more than comfortable, and had electricity. For R600 a night it is all yours which for four people is very reasonable.

Visible from the camp sites and the main bedroom of the cottage is a water hole which attracts animals during the day and probably the night but as there is no electricity on the camp sites, apart from the faint light in the ablutions and the cottage, the water-hole is not lit up.

A stately Gemsbok eyed us as we negotiated several of the circular drives which wend their way through the Park. While a magnificent sighting of two white rhino wandering through the trees and open grassland was rewarding. Further along were two Tsessebe, a male standing and the female lying in the grass next to him. As they both have horns and look alike to the amateur there is no apparent difference, Among the many Park animals is a lone Impala which is not native to that part of the country. It seems that in the days when the land was a privately owned game farm the owner had brought in Impala and this particular one got left behind. Poor thing must feel rather out of place without its own species.

Our last night became a bit of a nightmare as it poured torrents non-stop and by morning everything was wet. Quite sure the Kimberley area had its entire annual rainfall in one night! The gazebo and tent kept the contents dry but as soon as we ventured out, it was water, water everywhere. Packing up was a real schlep and traversing what had been sandy red roads with their speed humps which held back the water like a lake, a bit torturous. One slide in the red mud was expertly handled by both driver and CRV and no damage was done - only our nerves.

This is a small and thoroughly enjoyable Park which attracts many people considering its newness and size.