This sport, known to the general public as 'Outward Bounding', has on various occasions listed the energetic above those with the 'heads down attitude' and has proved a very welcome relaxation from part-of-ship. No major expeditions have been attempted and all our efforts have been directed at those peaks outside the usual scope of a ship of the Far East Fleet. St Brides Bay is however scratched proudly upon the peak of Sham Sham, a volcanic pile rising above Aden and in the Southern Hemisphere on the densely 'bush' covered slopes of Mount Furneaux, 2,697 feet up. (At the time of climbing it was thought to be only 1,700 - no wonder it took so long!)
Sham Sham was a good morning's entertainment, starting with a ride in RNO's Landrover to the foot of the crater outcrop. It seems that there is no rough or smooth road capacity of a Landrover as this one lifted a remarkable number of 'bodies' in fine style over the most terrible tracks. The climb itself was up a well-worn path and gave no difficulty, except to those who had decided to enjoy themselves in the canteen the night before. The view from the peak, which is an old lookout position against frontier raiders, was excellent. St Brides could be seen far below in the harbour but otherwise there was little shipping about. The return journey was made into Crater City; and thence back to the ship by Army Transport.
While operating from Auckland we spent some time at Port Fitzroy, Great Barrier Island, and here many took their courage into both hands and went for 'walks' up the various mounts and hills, although nobody managed the highest of the lot, Mount Hobson. Others took rifles ashore to try for pig or goat but even those came back empty handed, although the presence of many animals was detected.
The offer of two cans of beer for the first to the top of Mount Furneaux had quite a number of takers. After being landed at Ship Cove, where Captain Cook careened his ships during his 'tour' of New Zealand, the party divided up, some following a tortuous stream to keep out of the bush and others tackling the slopes from the very base. Either way was hard work due to the very thick undergrowth and an extremely uneven and steep surface. Long stringy creepers had a marvellous knack of always being in the way and most of the handholds which looked nice and secure came away at the moment of need. Going up was certainly hot work but the thought of that beer kept people going. The first to the top, REM Cooper and AB Jones, unfortunately found nothing there, but to their delight it arrived about five minutes later - a close finish as the whole climb took over 3 hours. Future enthusiasts who climb to the top will find a smart cairn, covering the aforementioned beer tins, with a complete list of those who managed to get to the top. The descent was almost worse than the ascent; several slopes were covered in the sitting position but no lasting damage was caused. Three members managed to go down the wrong side and were brought back to the ship by kind and hospitable New Zealanders later the same evening, exhausted but happy.