#83 of 100 trips - Pineapple Point Workparty / Sign Installation 30 September 2023

As trip #83 snowcaving had been cancelled, a replacement trip was planned as a work party for the installation of the Pineapple Point signs ready for the Centenary in three weeks time.  Club work parties date back to 1927, when the OTC held a working bee on the Ferguson’s Creek Track. Since then, over 220 ‘official’ work days have been held, along with many informal days spent by members working on various tracks and huts. The variety of club work parties is quite varied, ranging from Flagstaff and the Silver Peaks right through to Treble Cone, Routeburn, Fiordland and Esquilant Bivvy.  This work party involved carrying the Pineapple Point posts and sign up the Pineapple Track and install them onsite.  Earlier in the week the four of us had already made a couple of trips up the Pineapple Track, carrying the posts and sign up to make it easier on the day. 

The day dawned cold with snow on the hills and rain on the roof but four hardy souls had made the commitment to be there and they were not to be deterred, arriving at Booth Road at 8am in light rain.  The tools and remaining sign were divided up amongst the group with Antony and Jade taking all the tools and heading straight up the Pineapple Track so that they could begin work assembling the large Pineapple Point sign and digging the holes for the posts.  This left Debbie and Dylan to carry the remaining post, which was also the heaviest of all the posts, up the hill.  The heavy post with signs attached was too heavy for one person to carry so a rope was tied around the post with a hand hold for two people meaning that Dylan and Debbie had to walk in tandem, carrying the post between them 300m up the hill to Pineapple Point.  Needless to say there were a number of stops to rest and change sides for the post carriers but they eventually arrived onsite to find that Antony and Jade had made great progress in assembling the sign.

Despite the falling snow, it wasn't cold and the effort of carrying things up to Pineapple Point had warmed everyone up and once the sign had been fully assembled it was time to dig the post holes.  Surprisingly there were very few rocks and the digging went fast with the large sign being installed relatively quickly despite the falling snow. 

Once the large sign had been put in place, our attention turned to the post with the small signs attached.  A suitable site was chosen and the hole dug, only to discover a large rock that was impossible to move so a new position for the sign was chosen and digging commenced again.  This time there were only a few smaller rocks to excavate for the post to be at the right height. 

During the digging of the post holes for the smaller sign, a cold wind picked up and those not digging kept warm by cutting some of the broom back from the track up to the point.  By the time the the post had been put in place, it was surprising to see most of the snow had melted meaning but the wind was very cold and we wasted no time in picking up all the tools and heading down the track to the cars and home for a warm shower.