Then we found ourselves arriving on the top at 3pm, at the same time as a group of ex-kiwi Australians. They had been at the lodge for a number of days and were exploring former stamping grounds from their youth—good to see. Descending the spur that leads to the lodge, we could see the Sunday traffic on the Porters road was stationary. However, by the time we got back to the lodge at 4.10pm and then drove out, the traffic was flowing slowly past the burnt-out shell of a camper-van. Since then, October tramping for me has been even slimmer. Glenroy Tops on 3-4 Oct didn’t happen and there were strong nor-westers anyway.