September 23, 1923, was the date of the first OTC encounter with Ben Rudd ‘the old hermit whose property was long afterwards purchased by the club’. Scott Gilkison compiled an overview of early club history and remembered ‘the feelings of alarm as they encountered the stocky, bearded little man with the shotgun’ during the Sept 23 club trip to Whare Flat. The tension was removed with the arrival of President Oscar Balk, who knew Ben Rudd prior to the formation of the club.

The club subsequently engaged Ben Rudd to build a track from Flagstaff towards Whare Flat that allowed trampers to traverse the area without interference to Ben – the club paid Mr. Rudd £5, and the 1924 Annual Report reported that Ben had done a ‘good job’. This track remained in place until destroyed by one of the Flagstaff fires (in the 1930s?)

Ben Rudd died in March 1930, and in the 1946 the club took ownership of the property, which the OTMC still own.

Following ideas of a ski field, and public park the club used the property to plant exotic trees as a fundraising venture. In time, the club’s conservation values changed, meaning that exotic forestry didn’t sit well with members. In 1989 most of the trees were harvested, and in 1998 the Ben Rudd’s Management Trust was put in place to manage the land in line with the OTMC’s ideals.

The current Pineapple Track dates from the 1970s, so this trip will use the original bush track to Pineapple Point, and then head over to Ben Rudd’s via the normal tracks.