Tramping Club Celebrates 99th Year with Bushball

The thundering low-end of the bass guitar echoes around the mountains enclosing the remote Matukituki Valley. Covering the hit track by The Who, musicians of the new generation sing the lyrics of the old. Snow melt fills the drink bottles of the frothing party goers, which they are fast converting into dance floor perspiration. The urge to dance is unstoppable — it could be the trancing music, or perhaps the need to stay warm. For one night only, 89 students from the University of Otago have carried the spirit of Ōtepoti’s music scene into the heart of Mount Aspiring National Park. They’ll be gone the following morning, without leaving any more than the trace of their footprints. The Otago University Tramping Club (OUTC) has been bussing adventurers beyond Wānaka and into the Matukituki Valley for a secluded party since the 1970s. This year’s Bushball was hosted over the weekend of July 25-26, entertainment provided by student rock band Liquid Lucy. [Missing Credit]Liquid Lucy entertaining partygoers under the night sky of the Mount Aspiring National Park. Photo: Ava Thomas Spaces on the trip were highly sought after. The Tuesday prior, trip leaders organised a gathering in Castle 1 Lecture Theatre to run a ballot, to determine which of the 133 students who signed up secured one of the 65 available spaces. A further 24 spots were reserved for band members, set-up crew and members of the club’s executive. Trekking from the Raspberry Flat car park, an hour and 15-minute drive from Wānaka, the punters make their way out to Aspiring Hut. The three-hour hike west provides views of Rob Roy Glacier, Mt Bath, Mt Bevan, Glacier Dome and Shark’s Tooth Peak. The set-up crew rolled through the valley earlier that morning. Equipped with a Suzuki Jimny, they transported the necessary equipment as close to the hut as they could get. PAs, bass amps, guitars, and the ingredients for a lentil curry large enough to feed 89 grumbling tums, contributed to the load. [Missing Credit]Members of the Otago University Tramping Club carry a subwoofer near Aspiring Hut. Photo: Jessica Fastier While a rough farm track gets them most of the way, a kilometre still separates the hut from the furthest point the car can go. After that, the set-up crew travel back and forth on foot, each time feeling the weight of the gear a little more keenly. A wheelbarrow tyre popping doesn’t make their job any easier. And, in fact, though the attendees knew nothing of it, the trip teetered on the verge of cancellation. At one point, the Jimny slipped, leaving it stuck in a ford. Recent rainfall had damaged part of the farm track, putting Bushball in jeopardy. It took two hours of shifting rocks in the freezing river to free the four-wheel drive. That was down to the “absolute backbones” on the set-up crew, OUTC president Imogen Worlock says. The club was a little bit too ambitious with the size of the car, she reflects. Aspiring Hut has been home to Bushball since the event’s inception. It is the only hut big enough to hold such a gathering and the club is very grateful to the Department of Conservation for giving them access for so many years, Worlock says. The hut was built in 1949 and an early visitor was the Kiwi poet James K. Baxer, who wrote about his experience in Poem in the Matukituki Valley, in 1950. Escaping what he called “the lawful city” of Dunedin to “endure the hermit’s peace”. A feeling surely shared by this year’s batch of visiting students. [Missing Credit]Ice covering the land around the Aspiring Hut the morning after Bushball's festivities. Photo: Owen Hoover Hosting Bushball in the middle of winter provides some particular challenges. The pipes to the water tank had frozen on arrival, meaning the organisers would lug cooking pots filled with glacial-melt from the Matukituki River back up to the hut — ensuring partygoers had fresh water to dilute their hangovers. Temperatures dipped as low as -9°C outside the hut, making it the coldest Bushball in some years, Worlock says. A damp layer of dew quickly freezes into ice as the sun falls behind the surrounding mountain peaks, leaving all still and quiet. But inside, powered by a generator, the hut is electrified. Psychedelic flares of rock music fill the cabin as Liquid Lucy’s concert begins. Outside’s cold is no threat, as the living room is warmed by the roaring flames of the fireplace and the sweating bodies of boogieing trampers. The show rages for more than an hour before disaster strikes. The PAs, which amplify the vocals and keyboard, cease to operate, putting a halt to the music. Undeterred, Liquid Lucy’s musicians switch to an instrumental-only performance, until it is time to hand the party over to the Aux. A UE Boom, on the last electrons of its charge, saves the day. Playing sing-alongs, the music of Justin Bieber, One Direction and Abba re-charges the room. Turns out, it’s pretty damn hard to get a live band to play in the middle of the back country. Even when the speaker runs out of juice, the singing does not stop, as the room erupts into a cappella, chanting the tunes of Tūtira mai ngā iwi, New Zealand’s national anthem and Th’ Dudes track Bliss. The tireless students continue until they run out of songs to sing. [Missing Credit]Liquid Lucy playing Bushball in the Aspiring Hut. Photo: Ava Thomas While some choose to brave the conditions and tent outside, the rest take shelter inside. Those who miss out on one of 32 bunk spaces gather around the hut’s fireplace on the living room floor to get some rest. Talking about these logistical challenges, Worlock says that “technical difficulties are the best kind you can have”. Far better than issues regarding safety, behaviour or welfare — none of which presented during this year’s edition of Bushball. Following the festivities, hungover partygoers wake to the challenge of the trek out of the valley. Before doing so, a huge clean of the hut and surrounding area is undertaken. “We usually leave the hut cleaner than we found it,” Worlock says. So, what motivates the club to put a band in the back of beyond? Simply, it makes for a very special and electric experience for everyone involved, she says. “Most [university] clubs hold a ball, and I think it’s important to have a trip where everybody can get together.” Worlock knows next year’s centennial anniversary will be a big one — the club was founded in 1927. “I can’t give too many spoilers because it’s still a year away, but we definitely want to do something special.”