Chucky's Adventures

Mt Thompson Geocache

2011-12-18T18:00:00.002+13:00

Pleasant stroll on a sunny day to a handful of caches in the Waikawa valley.

The road was in resonable condition, but the passes through two gates (with no obvious DOC or walking markers). There is a small parking area at the end of the road with a toilet and enough room to pitch a tent or two. Better, was the Waikawa recreation area, a few K's back down the sealed road, which was a free DOC camping area.

The trip up to Mt Thompson gave us plenty of views of the Kapit Coast, from Palmy to Paraparam. 1.5hrs up, 1hr down.

Tunupo-Iron Gates, Ruahine FP

2011-12-03T18:24:00.000+13:00

A sweet overnight tramp in the Ruahine's with Chris and Kelly :)

In from Iron Gates carpark, up and over Tunupo trig, then via the Ngamoko range to Iron Gates Hut. (7hrs) The weather was amazing, extremely hot, with huge thunderstorms over Dannievirke and clear air just to the west of the ridge tops.. We walked the transition zone between awesome and terrifying weather.. ;0)

Next day, a lovely stroll down the gorgeous middle reaches of the Oroua River. We saw a pair of Whio (Blue Duck), several small Trout and two MASSIVE Eels as well as some delightful pools and gorge sections.

Sweating up to Tunupo trig 1568m

Tunupo in the background

On the transition between weather systems

Dinner time at Iron Gates hut

Iron Gates hut

Wildlife, 2x Blue ducks (above) and a giant Eel (below)

A quick visit to Heritage Lodge on the way out..

Upper Tutaekuri Gorge, Kaweka FP

2011-11-19T18:12:00.000+13:00

Brigid, Chris, Pip and Chucky had a fun day cruising through the Upper Tutaekuri Gorge. This is a non technical trip; the two small marked waterfalls are easily jumped or slid, so there's no need for rope (except perhaps a throwbag). We encountered the stream in pretty low flows. A fair bit mor water would make things much more interesting. In the lower section, it was a bit rocky and hard to float, so more water would make it much more fun and a lot quicker..

Check out more info about the Upper Tutaekuri Gorge on KiwiCanyons.org

Doom Creek, Mt Richmond FP

2011-11-13T20:58:00.000+13:00

Toine, Bernat and I were joined by Bruce for todays trip, which was intended to be nice and mellow after a long day in Whiskey Falls on the first descent.

Doom Creek is a fantastic little canyon, with several jumps, beautiful narrows and very simple access. After the big drops and lack of jumps in Whiskey, the trip through Doom Creek was a welcome change in pace.

My first trip through Doom Creek was in a bit of a hurry, but now that I knew what lay ahead, we were able to spend more time searching out and scouting jumps and slides. In the end, we must have done about 3 times as many jumps as the first trip, making this trip a whole bunch of fun!

Check out Doom Creek on KiwiCanyons.org

Whiskey Falls Canyon, Nelson Lakes NP

2011-11-11T20:38:00.000+13:00

After walking all the way up to the top of Mt Robert and then turning back in moderate rain a few days ago, we were stoked when the weather turned good for us to have a second crack at this first descent.

Toine and I were joined by Bernat, a Spanish Canyoner for the day. It took us a bit over an hour to climb the 500m up and over Mt Robert and down into the headwaters of Whiskey Creek.

We put on our wetsuits and began down the first little gorgy obstacle, but afterward, the stream proved to be nothing by storm damage, slippery rocks and no canyon for several hours..

However, just as the stream reached the steep slopes indicated on the topo map, the action started, with quick fire rappels that became more and more enclosed, beautiful and challenging.

Initially, anchors were pretty straight forward to rig, from all the trees and debris in the stream way. However, it soon became a bit more tricky. At one point we had to lasso a tree about 5 meters up and out of the gorge to be our anchor. At other points, we had to resort to belayed climbing round the unstable edges to reach solid tree anchors.

Just as the canyon became more more committing, Toine descended a drop and peered curiously over the next horizon line. He was obviously impressed with the next pitch, and when asked about the length, he made a '1' sign... Followed by 'O' and 'O'...

When Bernat and I joined him, we could see that indeed it was a rather large pitch. The problem was solved by Toine however, by descending on rope for 20m on the true right, through off vertical vegetation to a solid tree that was all but overhanging the water fall. Here, he was able to rig an anchor and confirm that our 60m cord actually reached.

This drop turned out to be Whiskey falls itself, and measured about 45m from the tree, so about 65m from the lip. Most of the absiel was completely freen hanging, with incredible views out to Lake Rotoiti and over to the falls themselves.

All re-united again at the bottom of Whiskey falls, we were well pleased with our 7 hours in the stream. The stroll back around the lake to the cars was straight forward, if a little endless after the long descent. Eventually, we arrived back at the car elated but exhausted 10 hrs after leaving.

This trip would be worth repeating, but should be accessed by the spur leading south from Bushline hut, rather than from the upper section of stream, (which is little but walking and the occaisonal waterfall). A water taxi would be well worth the $$ to make the trip a little shorter.

Check out the information about Whiskey Falls on KiwiCanyons.org

Blue Creek, Kahurangi NP

2011-11-09T20:31:00.000+13:00

Toine and I decided on a more chilled out day after a long effort hunting for Canyons in Golden Bay. So we opted for the deep dry confines of Blue Creek, Mt Owen, Kahurangi National Park.

We entered at the normal spot, which is not particularly far above the resurgence. Toine was quite impressed with the Canyon, even though it was virtually dry. We enjoyed plenty of raps and downclimbs and more than a few photos. Looking back at my notes from the first trip I did here, we only rappelled from bolts in the lower canyon, so the short rappels I recorded were actually down climbable with care and a temporary belay.

Tiropahi Canyon, Paparoa Coast

2011-11-07T20:01:00.000+13:00

Thanks again to Nic Barth for his trip report and info on this Canyon.

Tiropahi/Four Mile Stream is basically a small river which has quite an impressive slot canyon, just downstream of the main road bridge. Though the actual form of the canyon itself is very straight forward, the water makes it quite a challenging Canyoning trip.

Firstly, the water is so stained with tannin, that it is pretty much like going canyoning through Coca-Cola. Even with a diving mask on, you can barely see your shoes when you peer under water. This makes it impossible to assess any pools for jumping without actually getting in them first.

Second, there is usually quite a bit of water flowing downstream. Our trip was done at 0.7m on the second (fully intact) stage gauge on the true left, about 50m downstream from the road bridge. At the end of our trip, we calculated the flow to be about 3.0 cumecs, which is quite a lot for a Canyoning trip.

In the slot, there is a lot of tree debris, which makes for quite of lot of objective hazard with regard to strainers in the significant flow. Also, there are two drops in the upper slot which need to be jumped, but you can't inspect the pool due to the opaque waters.

We solved this problem by creating some tricky temporary anchors which one of us used to absiel into the pool. That person then swam around to check the pool for depth and rock/tree obstacles before the other jumped down.

Despite having to be very wary about strainers and hydraulics, the canyon was impressively deep, narrow and beautiful!

Tiropahi running at 0.7m stage

Toine contemplates yet another nasty log jam

Toine carefully looks for strainers and hydraulics before committing to the current

This is just above the second (last) small drop in the upper slot. We were able to rig a human anchor, backed up by a temporary nut placement to rap the drop on the true left in order to scout the pool for jumping.

Toine seems happy to be out of the main slot: Celebration leap!

Once clear of the true bedrock slot section, the river turns back into boulder garden rapids, but the stream walls are still very steep and usually inescapable. The walls here on the true left are actually slightly overhanging the stream!

Carefully crossing the rapid above the 25m drop.

Inspecting the pool below the 25m drop

Chucky on Rappel. It doesn't look like much water from this angle,

so check out the angle below...

From the pool below the drop, you get an impression of how much water there is in this canyon! The waterfall was so powerful that it was creating 2 foot high waves in the pool beneath it. Definately a tricky and intimidating swim, to avoid the huge eddy that would quite like to keep you in the canyon...

Once clear of the main drop, it was just a fun boulder hop/swim down to the ocean, still keeping a careful awareness of logs and snags. Like Nic says, the return track starts on the true right, about 100m before the Ocean. it is directly opposite the very last significant (20m tall) stone bluff on the true left of the river. We found the track pretty straight forward to follow until it flattened out. We kept moving in the direction of the previous track accross the short plateau (60m) until we hit the base of a small bluff, which we followed round to the left to where the track markers begin again.

About a 4 hour round trip, though certainly NOT a trip for beginners or those without developed white water skills and awareness.

Ford Creek Canyon, Blackball

2011-11-07T19:30:00.000+13:00

Thanks to Nic Barth for the hint about where to go for this one! A really neat slot canyon, very pretty and rather curious.... A short trip in and out before Toine and I headed up to the Paparoa's to descent Tiropahi Canyon that afternoon... Check out Nic's report and photos. See Ford Creek Canyon on KiwiCanyons.org

Ruamananga Lower Gorge Float, Tararau FP

2011-10-30T21:48:00.001+13:00

Although it rained all the way from Palmy to Mt Bruce, the weather actually cooperated for a trip down the Ruamahanga Lower Gorge.

I was looking forward to seeing what it had to offer, since I'd not yet done any of the 'Classic' Gorge trips in the Tararua's yet.

Strolling into the Tararua's via access accross farmland

After an easy 2hr walk in, via a mostly flat track, we were at the main southern tributary, where we suited up. Wandering down to the main river, we were soon greeted by the first gorge.

Chris and Lara having fun and trying to keep warm

The first gorge was alternately deep greep pools bounded by bedrock, then boulder garden rapids with small gravel beaches. The flow was only 5 cumecs for our trip, which made many of the rapids a bit 'bony' but we had good fun anyway, despited bruised behinds..

We didn't take any Tyre Tubes and didn't have problems. However, next time I'll try to catch the flow a bit higher (10-15 cumecs) and take a tube... The rapids would be quite exciting then I reckon...

Amazing deep green pools in the true gorge section

After a couple of hours, the gorge walls receeded and the trip became a simple float/walk down a normal river. Still, it was a great day out and well reccomended!

Check out the CanyonTopo sheet for the Ruamahanga Lower Gorge on the KiwiCanyons.org website!!

Mathews Stream Canyon, Ruahine Forest Park

2011-10-10T21:14:00.001+13:00

First Canyon for the Season!

Located in the North Eastern Ruahine Range, the south branch of Mathews Stream was our objective for the day. During the steep but straightforward 2 hr access, we could see fresh snow sprinkled on the tops of trees on the ridgelines. Access was very simple, but the snow flakes bumped from the branches made us shiver a bit. The sky was grey and occaisonal drizzle drifted down, perfect canyoning weather!

But fortunately Neoprene and Adrenaline combined to keep us warm enough during the day. There was one marked waterfall in the south branch, which appeared to be the 2nd drop. About 80m it total, we were able to pendulum to a tree about halfway to split it into two 40m pitches.

Soon, the stream walls began to get vertical, signalling the start to the canyon proper. Unusual for greywacke, the canyon was reasonably continuous, with only brief sections in the lower 2/3 that were escapable.

There was a moderate amount of tree debris to contend with, though the debris did provide a number of convenient anchors. The water was very cold, but there was not much flow and only a couple of chest deep pools.

There was very little walking, with drop after drop after drop. 340m vertical, 17 pitches and 6hrs from entering the south branch we made it to the main forks of the river, relieved to exit from the steepest part of the trip. From study of the Topographic map, I figured the rest of the stream would be a steep boulder hop, and apart from the final drop, be non-technical. However, 200m downstream of the junction, we peered down a 60m + slabby chute of waterfalls.

The chute looked fantastic, but since it was 5.30pm and we still had 300m vertical and 1.5km horizontal to go, we made the call to escape. Easier said than done, we bashed our way up the ridge, through very steep, thick scrub and the occaisonal rock step. The terrain around was very steep, with lots of bluffs that made the climbing a little nerve wracking.

However, a little over an hour of fast and agressive bush bashing saw us 240m higher and back on the track. As the light faded, we strolled back down the track without incident, completing our 10hr round trip.

Well worth finishing, but worth doing when its warmer and there are more canyoners to carry extra ropes!

Watch the KiwiCanyons.org website page on Mathews Stream for more information very soon!

The first drop in the canyon shows good rock and promise of things to come

Things start to get narrow

Unrelenting drops, some quite pretty

A bit of tree debris here and there, but not enough to detract markedly from the canyon

European Canyoning Holiday, Switzerland and Italy

2011-08-01T18:52:00.001+12:00

For 3 weeks in August, we had an amazing canyoning holiday in Switzerland and Italy. Our Swiss friends Andy and George met a jet lagged pair of Kiwi's at Zurich, to show us round the city sights for the day. Following that, Andy organised a bunch of friends to go do a Kletterstieg (climbing path) in central Switzerland.

Diavolo Kletterstieg

The Kletterstieg was Pips first and she seemed to really enjoy the trip, despite it being a relatively tame route.

International Kletterstieg Team

NZ, France, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Czeck Republic and Switzerland.

From the Kletterstieg, we took the train south, to the Italian speaking Swiss province of Ticino. There, in a small town called Claro, our Aussie friend Joe had booked a sweet little holiday house for us to base from. Comfortably sleeping 6, our team was rounded out by Tony from Australia, Enrique and Patricia from Spain.

Cresciano Inferiore v3a3II

Cresciano was a pretty open sort of canyon, where you would turn a corner to find rock pools lined with tourists! The rock was blinding white granite, with some fantastic jumps.

Combra v4a5II

Combra had a good amount of water in it, with some neat jumps and slides. The highlight was a 'fearsome' 20m tobboggan, where just at the last moment, the smooth slide changes direction and flings you horizontally, to skip accross the landing pool. This one had my eyes wide open, setting the scene for a few weeks of testing my tobbogganning boundaries...

Iragna Integrale v4a4V

Iragna is one of the 'big' canyons in the Ticino area, so we were stoked at being able to get in with good water levels. The Canyon is broken up into upper, middle and lower sections, each with its own character. The whole trip was an 7 hour canyoning marathon, with jump after slide after rappel after jump. The highlight for me was the amazing 17m slide in the lower section (pictured above). You rap 5 meters down a small chute, to where the water is all landing, with no visibility of the rest of the slide. On faith alone, you let go, rocket through the spray and find yourself going at warp speed towards a very narrow gap that you only just fit through sideways..

No fat canyoners allowed!

Val di Gei, Inferiore v4a4III

Val di Gei was a nice short canyon to have after our long day in Iragna. There were some great slides and large jumps into huge emerald pools. In places, the walls were really suitable for matrix jumps :)

Claro v5a4III

A more alpine style canyon, with more large waterfalls than enclosed narrows. We managed to core-shot 2 of our ropes during this trip, having to make an emergency exit about 2/3 the way through.

Corippo v4a4III

Another wonderful medium sized canyon! Corippo was very beautiful, with a wonderful mix of medium rappels, narrow technical rappels, narrow bedrock downclimbs, tobbogans and jumps. The highlight was the 20m pitch that Pip decided to slide. You get air about 2/3 the way down, landing in a small pool, narrowly missing rocks on the left side. Or if you are Joe, you whack your head and shoulder on the rock...

Malvaglia superiore v3a3III

Malvaglia looked quite beautiful in the guide book, but it appears that only the very best parts were photographed. There was lots of uninspiring boulder walking, with lots of slippery brown algae to contend with. There were some nice jumps off big chockstones however, so all was not lost. This canyon was one of the few where the reality was less impressive than the book.

Trummelbach Canyon, Interlaken

So, after a week of perfect weather and lots of canyoning, a huge storm hit much of western europe, dumping massive volumes of water into the mountains. Clearly canyoning was off the agenda, so Joe, Pip and I did a day trip to Interlaken to see what was there. We had a set of reasonable views over the Susten Pass and enjoyed the drive and change of scenery. At Interlaken, we visited the tourist galleries of Trummelbach. This canyon drains the glaciers of famous peaks like the Eiger and Jungfrau. The result is huge volumes of water (20 cumecs) roaring through a steep, narrow limestone slot. The swiss have installed a lift inside the mountain, with galleries and stairs that pop out over each of the 9 lower waterfalls. Quite an amazing experience. Apparently Trummelbach is descended in winter, when temperatures are cold enough to reduce the water flow from the glacier to within survivable limits!

Lodrino

On the way home from Trummelbach, we saw thousands of new waterfalls, smashing off every cliff in Ticino. Out of curiosity, we checked out the levels in Lodrino Canyon. In the middle of the picture, is a large rock that is half underwater. Normally, you walk out to that rock and stand on it to assess the water levels up canyon..... Sadly, this storm struck Lodrino and Pontirone canyons off our list for good. It would take more than a week to return to suitable levels...

Isorno Inferiore v4a4II

After getting flooded out of Ticino, we came up with a plan to escape to the Domodossolla region of Italy where the storm hadn't really had too much impact. Without a guidebook and relying only on patchy internet beta (written in spanish and italian) finding the canyon was a little tricky, but eventually we got into Isorno. The canyon is short, but very sweet, with a 100m long section that is up to 80m deep with almost no view of the sky. Extremely beautiful and carved.

Rio Rasiga v5a5V

Rasiga was definately a highlight of the canyon tour. 7hrs of never ending jumps and slides, with very little rope work required. This canyon is also known as the 'Canyon of 80 pools' though I lost count pretty early ;0) The upper section (above the water intake) was slightly intermittent slot, but with non stop waterfall action. After the intake, the canyon dropped into a very deep, very narrow and extremely beautiful slot.

Osogna v4a4II

After a very long day in Rasiga (including 2hrs drive each way) we were glad to only aim for a 3hr canyon just up the road. "Welcome to one of the most famous and beautiful canyons in Ticino" says the book and I was not dissapointed. Mostly there were back to back rappels in a reasonably narrow slot, with gorgeous rock strata. However, the highlight was the 50m waterfall, "one of the most spectacular aquatic descents in Ticino". The start was straight through the whole flow of the canyon, then the rest of the descent was totally out of sight of the top. As last down, discovering a core shot right in the middle of the nastiest whitewater section of the drop. No option to climb above and pass this knot in that amount of flow...

Barougia v3a3III

Whilst the others had a rest day, Joe, Pip and I made a quick afternoon trip through Barougia. The canyon was quite pretty and fun, but it ended just as it was starting to get challenging.

Valle de Salto v4a4IV

Valle del Salto was perhaps my favourite canyon of the whole Euro tour. After a good honest 1.5hr walk in, the canyon began slowly with a few nice jumps. But soon, the walls closed in with extremely beautiful sections of narrows and amazing pools. There were lots of jumps, slides up to 20m and lots of swimming through long deep narrow pools. There were very few absiels and all were very short.

The scenic highlight of Valle del Salto came in the last 300m in the form of a deep, dark and fantastically formed narrows. Just an incredible canyon, which I would repeat over and over.

Val Grande Inferiore v3a4III

(T28! 'Extremely Violent')

Our final Ticino canyon was one that Pip had been itching to do for the whole trip. Mainly because she was on an extreme Tobbogganing mission and Val Grande featured in the 'scary and violent' tobbogan selection in the guide book. A 28m slide, rated as one of the scariest and most violent in Ticino, plus a 26m one for the softies... Thankfully, the canyon had lots of other beautiful and exciting sections too. In the end, there was quite a bit of water and a reality check that convinced us to rig a rope about half way and only experience half of the violence... Check the photo above!

Mengasca v5a4IV

Settled into our new home in Civo, Sondrio, northern Italy, it was time to explore again. Tony was on rest day, and Enrique had to take Patricia to the airport, so it was Pip, Joe and me again. Yet again on vauge, incomplete beta (only in italian) we managed to find the bottom of the canyon.

Getting to the start of the canyon was a real mission; getting lost on the way in, struggling to find our way into the very steep valley, having to rappel 100m down loose dirt and slabs to the canyon, getting a rope stuck and a leg hit by falling rocks....

Once actually in the canyon, Mengasca was steep, rugged and continuous. The highlight was a 40m pitch into a deep slot, from a fantastically exposed hanging rappel station (pictured above).

Cormor v4a2V

Billed as 'a must add to any canyoning itinerary', Cormor was described in the beta sheet as a very dark canyon with amazing passages through blocks and underground sections. Cormor was better described simply as a Cave through trip. Caving wasn't something we'd bargained on, so with our feeble emergency head torches, we slowly made our way through this underground canyon. Didn't really enjoy this one unfortunately...

Bodengo 3 v5a5IV

Another highlight was the day in Bodengo 3. I first heard about this canyon whilst reading a Petzl Catalogue in which it featured. Bodengo 3 is home to the 'infamous' slide and as such has a big reputation. The infamous slide is 15m long, but ends in a twisting lip and 10m freefall into the pool below. Everyone who does the slide seems to get flicked and twisted in a random way, making it nearly impossible to control your orientation on landing. The result being a large number of injuries and infamy. Pip was another casualty to add to the list, suffering two chipped teeth, 3 cracked ribs and concussion. Pip tells me it was worth the pain, "but I probably wouldn't do it again"

Other than the infamous slide, Bodengo 3 had quite high water levels and lots of jumps into huge emerald pools. The gorge was incredible, with hundreds of meters of granite slab up to the roads and ridgetops above. There was a fair amount of scrambling to be done and lots of drops, but with our experienced spanish colleauges and lots of rope, we made it through in 6 hours. An amazing finale to an amazing holiday.

Tongarirro Northern Circuit

2011-07-02T21:06:00.001+12:00

A rare perfect winter weekend! We made use of the opportunity to walk the Tongarirro Northern Circuit.

The Alpine Crossing section of the route was crawling with guided parties, but once we turned off to Oturere Valley, we saw no one else until reaching the overflowing Waihohonu Hut.

Thankfully we snatched the last two bunks in the huge refuge, having a loud but pleasant evening.

Sunday arrived with a very heavy frost, coating everything with beautiful crystals and frost heave. A short detour was made for lunch up at the Upper Tama Lakes (well worth the detour!) before finishing at Whakapapa Village.

Kapakapanui Geocaching

2011-06-12T19:19:00.003+12:00

Had a good day with Chris, doing a circuit of Kapakapanui, Southern Tararua's. As we'd both been here before, the main aim was to be the 'First to Find' a new Geocache up near the top, as well as a bunch of older caches.

The day started clear and warm, but as we climbed, standard Tararua weather (wind and cloud) set in. It didn't rain on us though till right near the end of our 6 hr trip. 5 Geocaches, including a fresh one!

Kapakapanui Trig

Standard Tararua weather

Goblin Forest

Kapakapanui Hut

Blue Lake Hut, Nelson Lakes NP

2011-05-20T21:20:00.000+12:00

Though our trip didn’t quite turn out as planned, we still had a good week away in Nelson Lakes National Park.

We began up Robert Ridge in wonderful conditions; occasional light breezes, with clouds only low in the valley. When out of the wind, the sun was lovely and warm. As we progressed further to Angelus Hut, more and more snow lay on the route, but crampons were not needed in the sunny, soft conditions.

From Angelus, we traversed icy slopes under overcast skies and freshening breezes to Mt Cedric. Lake Rotoroa lay before us, enticing us 1000m down to Sabine Hut and a (very) short swim.

By day 3, the weather was still holding, allowing us a long day of valley travel up to Blue Lake at the head of the Sabine River. 8hrs felt like a long day, but the Lake and views were worth it.

During the night, the heavens opened with a Bibilical downpour. Next morning, it took fast, careful progress down valley to avoid getting stuck between flooding side creeks. Safely at West Sabine Hut, we spent a rainy afternoon reading books and enjoying being dry.

The rain still hadn't abaited next morning, but not long after leaving, the raincoats came off. They stayed off almost all of the trip back down to the lake. We were amazed to see the lake had risen about 70 cm, putting the Sabine Jetty calf deep under water! After another (shorter) swim and getting ourselves snug and dry in the hut, the skies opened again.

All that remained was a two day trudge through the bush, via Speargrass hut. Thankfully the worst of the precipitation was during the night, so we didn't get too wet during the day.

After 4 days of enforced cold, wet, bush travel, we were quite ready for a change of scenery, good food and hot showers.

Discovering the cached can of Export Gold up at 'Relax' Shelter

Carefully traversing steep, snowy slopes

Robert Ridge

Descending to the hut, beneath Mt Angelus

Angelus Hut

Perfectly clear night skies

Another great day

Traversing to Mt Cedric

Dropping to Sabine Hut, Lake Rotoroa

Lake Rotoroa

'Holey Tree, Batman!'

Sabine Valley

Sabine Gorge

Upper Sabine Valley, beneath Moss Pass

Blue Lake

Escaping the flooded Sabine Valley

Sun's out again (but not for long)

Just to prove how much rain we had...

Settling in for a rainy afternoon at Sabine Hut

Last night at Speargrass Hut

Back at St Arnaud, just in time for the weather to clear

Feeding the local's off the (non submerged) Lake Rotoiti jetty

Richardson Stream

2011-05-14T19:59:00.000+12:00

Plan A was a climb of Mt Rolleston, but as the weather forecast developed, it was clearly not going to be suitable anywhere on the main divide. Something in the foothills was the ticket, though Toine was rather surprised when I suggested Canyoning in mid May!

We agreed to go check out Richardson Stream, on the other side of the ridge to Tui Canyon, hoping for similar geology and therefore a good canyon. After a late night and early start, we made a car shuttle into the Ashley Gorge. In the chill of the morning, we wondered if this really was a good idea and nearly bailed.

Back at Glentui Rd end, the sun peeked into the valley. With a bit of movement and hill climbing, things actually got nice and warm :) The start of the stream wasn't very exciting, with just a few sections of 'half canyon' and lots of boulder scrambles, though about half way down, some drops and pools had us putting on wetsuits.

Richardson had a number of nice canyon sections and features, but unfortunately they are all very spaced out, with lots of stream walking and boulder hopping in between. Just when we thought we were about to arrive at the Ashley river, Richardson stream cut through a nice section of canyon and even over a 15m waterfall!

Once at the Ashley, we proceeded upstream, with fords up to belly level. According to the eCan website, the Ashley was flowing at 13 cumecs and I wouldn't really want to try fording it much higher than this. Indeed, you'd need to be swimming from (large) eddy to eddy above this flow. The end of the trip was a shock, with 1.5hrs of rough bush bashing through native and introduced rough foliage. 9hrs car to car.

A reasonable amount of ok canyon, but too much walking to make it worth repeating. Though the Ashley Gorge itself looks like it would be excellent fun to tube in low flows.

Toine's in a hurry....

Lots of stream walking.

Finally, wetsuits on and small sections of 'canyon'

Nick on R2

Last little canyon bit near the end

Last drop

Finally at the Ashley River

Only 1.5hrs of slog/bushbashing to go

Ringatoto, East Ridge 1+, Tongarirro NP

2011-04-30T08:52:00.009+12:00

After a week of gale Easterlies, rain and being stuck inside, we were suitably impressed by the great weather turned on for our Saturday climbing trip to Ruapehu.

Chris and I drove up to the Tukino Mountain Road on the East side of Ruapehu after work on Friday. In the dark and gusty winds, we walked an hour and a bit into Rangipo hut, to catch a few hours shut eye before starting early the next morning.

Dawn at Rangipo Hut

Saturday morning dawned calm and clear, but as we climbed away from the sheltered area around the hut, the wind steadily increased

.
The first half of the 1000m height gain from the hut was just a stroll on a broad ridge. We had some awesome views into the Whangaehu Gorge, which is the valley that the Lahar's from Ruapehu's Eruptions normally travel. We also checked out the Tukino Ski field, which was nestled among a complex face of bluffs, gullies and ridges.

Chris peers into the Whangaehu Gorge.

Summits are Cathedral Rocks (L) and Te Heuheu (R)

Ringatoto's East Ridge, Grade 1+

From our vantage point over Tukino Ski field, we got our first views of the actual climb. From here, the crux looked to be actually gaining the ridge itself, through a small notch in a buttress.

Chris climbs the notch

The notch was interesting, with a section of loose sloping rocks to climb, that were covered in either sastrugi or soft snow.

Just above the rock step in the notch

Above the notch, we sidled Gendarmes on the north side, through sun baked snow and generally very solid rock. This section had lovely scrambling, without too much exposure.

Sidling Gendarmes on good rock

Easy but exposed rock climbing

Chris on top of the major gendarme on the ridge

We shared the route finding, scouting out ways round obstacles on either side of the ridge. At one point, Chris chose the right hand route and ended up on top of the gendarme, rather than finding a route around. Looked pretty cool, but he was understandably not that keen on descending back to the ridge down the (left hand) face.

Safely off the major Gendarme

"This is not the way..."

As the East Ridge met with the North, the ridge angled back to a mellow grade, but still with pretty good drops on either side (especially into the Whangaehu!). The wind was pretty fierce now, so we had to be quite careful on the last bit of ridge to the summit.

Summit!

I'd had sufficient adventure by the time we reached the top, so declined Chris' offer to keep heading up to the true summit of Mt Ruapehu (Tahurangi). We descended the easy, sastrugi covered slopes of the Wahiano Glacier. The upper basin was very straight forward, but through the middle section we had to weave around and route find through lots of small (and not so small) bluffs and gullies.

It was usually impossible to see from above if a line bluffed out or not, so we had to make a couple of U-turns at dead ends.

Descending the Upper Wahianoa Glacier

Once below the bluffs, it was an easy but tedious stroll down to the 'Round the Mountain Track' and the end of the route finding.

Lower Wahianoa River

We were reasonably tired by the time we reached the track, so it seem to take forever to get back to Rangipo Hut. Here we were treated to a hot brew by a family occupying the hut, which charged up the batteries enough to make the last 1.5hr amble back to the car go relatively quickly.

Snowy Friends at Rangipo Hut

Dominie Biv, Kaweka FP

2011-04-21T21:00:00.000+12:00

Plan A was a trip to Taranaki NP, but a nasty storm forecast had us looking for drier options. The Kaweka's proved just the ticket, keeping pretty good weather for easter (apart from a few drips of drizzle on Good friday.

We began from 'The Lakes' carpark at Kuripapango and climbed on to the main Kaweka range via Rouge Spur. It was pretty windy on the tops, but visibility was good until we got drizzled on at Kaweka J itself.

Dominie Biv was empty when we turned up, but soon after 2 other parties stopped by, hoping to spend the night. One team camped, whilst the other pushed on to Studholme saddle.

Saturday was a mellow stroll to McIntosh Hut, other than the dip into Donalds stream gorge. Sunday was a short walk back over the Tutaekuri river and back to the cars.

Pip on the Main Kaweka Range beneath Kairahi Peak

Adding one rock to the Kaweka J memorial cairn

Dan and Dominie Biv
(its pretty cozy.. 1 and 1/2 bunks)

Pip descends Makahu Spur

Makahu Saddle Geocache

Crossing Donalds stream

Donalds Stream Gorge

McIntosh Hut

(8 Mats on sleeping platforms)

Inspecting the start of the Tutaekuri Gorge

I think there's a canyoning trip to be done here....

Mt Richmond, Richmond FP

2011-04-02T17:27:00.000+13:00

Plan A was a canyoning descent of the drainage between Johnson Peak and Mt Richmond, but as Brendon and I approached along the road we had second thoughts.

Huge bluffs and hideous screes fed into the headwaters of the stream, just before the whole stream plunged over a 500m wall. We didn't have enough rope and had too much self preservation to try, so quickly the plan was ammended to a simple overnight tramp up to Mt Richmond.

We climbed through the forest and up to the summit of Mt Johnson. Peering down into the canyon we were quite pleased with the plan to abandon the descent.. Conditions were great for a day on the tops, light winds, clear skies and good vis.

From the top of Mt Richmond we could see Blenhiem and Abel Tasman at the same time, as well as the underrated extensive expanse of Mt Richmond Forest Park. The night was spent at Fell Hut, before returning straight back to the carpark under grey skies and biting cold winds.

The 'Canyon' stream at the track junction

Lovely track up to the Fell Tops

Off track rest spot

On the summit of Johnson, with Mt Fell behind

Enroute to Mt Richmond

Cruising down to Mt Fell Hut

Mt Fell Hut

Timms Creek

Brumms Ck, Lake Brunner

2011-03-20T18:49:00.000+13:00

After a slightly grey/cold day in Arthurs pass, we were very pleased to wake to clear skies. As we drove to the coast, the warm sun melted away all memories of the 4 degree night..

We cruised over to Brumms Creek and after a bit of a recce, we found the farmer to ask for permission to cross his land to reach the forest. He didn't seem to mind at all, or really care what we did provided we didn't bother his stock and left the gates as we found them...

We strolled accross paddocks and waded accross ditches (complete with blackberry bush and electric fences!) to meet the native bush. The final pitch was easily visible as we hiked over, showing the last bluff that seemed to run right around the forest edge. We found a tricky spot to ascend a low section of the bluff, then climbed steeply through moderately thick west coast bush,

We climbed for about an hour from the car, only making 300m of altitude gain before dropping in. I had a flight back to Palmy at 6pm, so we really couldn't afford to mess around.

More canyon lay above the spot that we entered, but we still had plenty to keep amused..

Grant on the first drop

Can be jumped to a good pool (6m)

Lots of nice short drops in the upper section

Past the middle gorge section, that had plenty of nice shortish drops, there was a 10 minute stretch of open bouldery travel before we reached the final steep drop sequence. There were 3 pitches in the low 30's, with a wee strech of escapable stream in between the final and penultimate drop.

Scrambling down to the top of the final drop sequence

Grant and Chucky on R5

The final drop had great views from the slot through to the valley floor. It was an abrupt and spectacular end to a wonderful new canyon!

R6, final drop 35m

Curtis Creek, Arthurs Pass NP

2011-03-19T21:42:00.001+13:00

Grant, Toine, David and I joined up for a day's canyoning in Arthurs Pass. The weather looked stable enough, but it wasn't all that warm (even though it was still March). We chose to do one of the smaller projects in the area; Curtis Creek.

Toine, Dave and Grant at Otira Valley Carpark

The trip began with a stroll up the Otira valley, then climbing a scree up towards Warnocks Knob. From there we crossed tussock and scrub covered hillsides to enter the canyon.

At first the stream was bouldery with steep tussock walls, but before long we got our first short secctions of true gorge.

Chucky on the first drop

Nice gorge sections

The stream continued with alternating open and gorgy sections, before a long middle section of open boulder hopping. Beneath that, the lower section of the canyon began with quick fire rappels as the stream descended more steeply and the sides became true canyon walls.

Nice and narrow now

We spotted several old anchor slings throughout the canyon, which meant it wasn't a first descent unfortunately. However it had all the challenge of a first descent, not knowning what was next and having to (re)make all your own anchors anyway

Classic bedrock drops and deep clean pools in the lower canyon

Finally we arrived at the top of the big final drop that can be seen from the Otira Viaduct. We'd only two 60m ropes, so were a little concerned that they weren't going to reach. However they were about 50cm too long for the drop... Efficient use of cordage eh?

The final big drop, 59m

As we pulled the rope from the final drop, it hung up briefly somewhere after it had pulled from the anchor. (on a flake 2/3 the way up the fall). Without hesitation, we pulled harder, trying to make sure it didn't stick totally. Unfortunately this pulled the loose flake off the wall, sending soccer ball sized boulders our way. Grant spotted the rock, and yelled a warning. The pitch and volume of his voice sent us all leaping for cover; Toine got a glancing blow on the knee, whilst Grant was smacked in the wrist with a much smaller rock.. Toines rope was the worst casualty, being sliced cleanly in two places, reducing his 60m rope into a 4om, 14m and 6m set...

After this excitement, it was an easy stroll down to the Otira river, and up to the base of the viaduct and back to the car..

Finders Keepers...

An ice axe found in the stream, perhaps from a mishap on Mt Philistine.

Sawtooth Ridge, Ruahine FP

2011-03-05T21:12:00.000+13:00

Pip and I had a fun trip through Sawtooth Ridge with Chris and Kelly from the PNTMC.

After a swift car shuttle, we began up the track to Longview Hut. The skies were clear as we drove toward the range, but as we tramped higher the clouds developed and above Longview the rain, wind and poor vis arrived.. Strange for such a nice forecast...

We strolled along the tops with compass and map, having a few brief glimpses of a view before reaching Howletts Hut mid afternoon.

Next morning, it dawned beautifully clear and we enjoyed a wonderful sunrise. However as we climbed toward Tiraha and the start of Sawtooth, the cloud came in and we sadly began to accept a viewless traverse. At first the lack of vis was handy, as the ridge was pretty thin and moderately exposed in places. But before too long the clouds dissapated again to treat us with great views and hot sunshine!

We paused briefly at Tarn Biv and in the Tukituki river before making it back to the Carpark, tired but satisfied...

Misty Times on Daphne Ridge

Howletts Hut

Dan and Pip

Hawkes Bay Sunrise

Kelly climbs to Tiraha

On Sawtooth Ridge

Getting thinner

Our friends descending Otumore

Tarn Bivvy

No. 1 Creek Canyon, Tokomaru, Tararua FP

2011-02-26T21:49:00.004+13:00

After a retreat from the canyon a few weeks earlier, I was looking forward to coming back to go all the way through.

Pip and I walked in via Te Araroa (Burttons Track) through and up to 'Scrub', then down via the Banana Track to sidle into the head of the canyon.

We quickly traversed the upper section of the canyon, soon arriving at the spot where we turned around. The first little drop was downclimbed, whilst the second provided a nice 4m jump. Another 4m rap into a slot and a couple of short pitches over more open waterfalls led to the 'big' fall that I'd been told about.

It was only about 26m tall, but was still beautiful and fun. Beneath the larger pitch there was some boulder scrambling and a long section of steep downclimbing interesting bedrock slabs to the main confluence of the upper tributaries of No 1 creek.

Below this junction, there were only a few short sections of gorge, with lots of non descript boulder hopping. We were pleased to make it to Burttons track again, but not so stoked with the long slog up hill to get back to the car.

Not too bad a trip, but at 10 hrs its a long way to walk for a mediocre canyon. Still, the adventure of the unknown was half the fun :)

Arriving in the watercourse

Pip downclimbs a log in the upper canyon

A lovely little jump in a nice canyon section

Downclimbing under a big chockstone

Tributary on the true left, mid canyon

Chucky makes a fun 4m leap

Pip raps into a slot

Same pitch from below

Nice gorge swim

The 26m pitch

One of the downclimbs

(made on the true right slab, not the boulders)

More nice gorge near the end

Refugio Jakob, PN Nahuel Huapi, Argentina

2010-12-01T10:43:00.002+13:00

Following the Lonely Planet suggestions, we embarked on 'the most popular hike in Argentina'.

Though the first day it was windy and snowing up high, we walked up the sheltered Arroyo Van Titter to Refugio Frey. We spent the afternoon watching the snow storm over the cirque from the warm of the Refugio and marvelling at all the amazing Towers with hundreds of rock routes..

Day two was spent climbing up over a couple of beautiful snow slopes to neat passes and down steep ugly scree faces to Refugio Jakob.

Day three was to go through a scramble route to the next refugio, but when we saw the route, we thought better of the idea. It was steep snow, with a short exposed section of grade 16 rock. We had no rope and not everyone was keen to solo that grade with exposure and a full pack.. So instead we tried to force a route up a snow coulior and along a ridge. Our less experienced team members found the coulior a good challenge, but above the ridge we couldn't find a suitable route for our experience and gear, so we had to retreat back to the Refugio. We had a wonderful feast of campstove pizza and a couple of beers from the refugio.

Day four was up and over Passo Schwiezer and down a long poorly marked and swampy track to a wonderful campsite on the shores of Lago Mascadiri. Our final day was a good track in lovely warm weather via the lake shores and a swim to the road back to Bariloche.

Walking up Arroyo Van Titter towards Refugio Frey

Argentine Civil Engineering

Setting off from Lago Jakob

Pip above Lago Jakob

Hiking up to the Laguna Scholl cirque, searching for a route onto the skyline ridge

Pip gets her first taste of mountaineering in a moderately steep coulior

The crew retreats after failing to find a safe route through the mountains

Amazing blues of the frozen Laguna

Pip and Dan on Paso Schwiezer

Rio Mascardiri

Dr Pip deals with Mikes sore knee

Lago Mascadiri

Dawn light on Cerro Tronador from our campsite

Lookout over Lago Mascadiri and Cerro Tronador

Almost time for a swim..

Banos de Caulle, PN Puyehue, Chile

2010-11-26T10:12:00.001+13:00

This was a varied and interesting 3 day 'out and back' tramp to some hot springs over and around Volcan Puyehue.

Though the first day began cloudy, the clouds cleared enough for an ascent of the volcano on the mostly snow free south east ridge. The second day was a long slog over soft snow through a bizzare volcanic plateau to the hotsprings, which were in a sublime setting. Day three was simply a return to the car, but had amazing weather and great views through the Chilean Andes.

Starting off under grey skies

Leguna Beech Forest

Ascending through highly eroded tephra gullies

Above the refugio, we climb toward Volcan Puyehue

Andy climbs the scoria SE ridge of Volcan Puyehue

The crater of Volcan Puyehue

Back down the SE ridge towards the clouds below

Happy campers.. So nice when it isn't raining...

Sunset over Lago Puyehue

Strolling on snow on the south flank of Puyehue

Andy gets stuck in a deep drift

Amazing terrain and great views

Traversing volcanic ash and fumeroles towards the hot pools

Testing the waters at the first hot springs

Andy and a neat snow cave over a warm river

George and Andy 'enjoy' the hotsprings.

A mix of scalding hot water, frigid snow melt and orange mud..

BYO Cervezas..

Curious cloud and no wind as we return early on day 3

Finally off the snow and enroute to a well earned beer.

Refugio Puyehue and the Volcan

Salto del Indio, PN Puyehue

2010-11-25T09:52:00.000+13:00

We went for a short wander the night before our Banos de Caulle trip to the Salto Del Indio, a fantastic waterfall. Very powerful falls and amazing rock formations..

Volcan Lonquimay Ascent, PN Mallelcahuelo, Chile

2010-11-23T09:25:00.004+13:00

After being drenched in constant rain whilst walking round Volcan Lonquimay, when the weather cleared after we'd returned, it was time to go for a drive to see the volcano we'd been walking around.

As soon the lads laid eyes on the beautiful peak, they decided it was something that they needed to climb. So we spent the afternoon trying (successfully) to hire extra crampons and ice axes.

Conditions were perfect as we began. Clear skies meant a good freeze and a full moon lit the way for our alpine start. The dawn was incredible, its just such a fantastic time to be up high in the mountains.

The climb was very straight forward, with perfect cramponing conditions until the last few hundred meters where it began to soften a little in the sun. About halfway up the mountain, we encountered very strong winds which made climbing on the ridge much more 'interesting', but the day was perfectly clear and the views sublime.

Daybreak on Volcan Lonquimay's eastern flank

Mike enjoys the sunrise

Getting high on Lonquimay

The ridge begins to narrow and steepen as the wind increases to near gale.
But at least it isn't raining...

Nearing the summit rocks

Mike and Dan on the summit of Volcan Lonquimay, 2865m

Volcan Osorno and many other major peaks can be seen from the summit

Mike descending in softening snow

Strolling back to our car, 4h30m round trip, 1000m of altitude gain.

Lonquimay Circuit, PN Mallelcahuelo, Chile

2010-11-19T09:12:00.003+13:00

We were looking forward to the first of our multiday Patagonian trips, but on the morning of our departure on the Lonquimay Circuit, a light rain seemed a little discouraging. The lady at the hostel says it was forecast to rain a bit today and tommorrow, but clear up by day three. Not to worry we thought, the 5 to 6 day trip would leave plenty of time for nice weather to arrive.

But as we crossed a high saddle to the east of the volcano in gale winds and rain, things weren't all that pleasant. Even better was that apart from an hour or so on the morning of day two, the rain didn't even pause for 3 days straight. With not much views and sodden spirits, we just elected to keep walking as much as possible and did the whole trip in 3 solid days.

Camping in those conditions was an excercise in discipline and tolerance, but was worth it for the practise if nothing else. Andy commented 'what excellent gear testing conditions!', while Steph mused 'this is the worst tramp of my life'...

Andy, George, Mike and Steph setting off in the rain and strong wind.

Mike inspects a Aracunia or 'Monkey Puzzle' Tree,

from which the region gets its name

Surely it will clear up soon...

NZ vs Switzerland...

Walking on snow in the rain is never much fun..

Well, its lunchtime now and although we are no longer exposed to the strong winds, the rain seems to be as persistent as ever...

Andy admires a waterfall over a tephra flow

Nearly at our first campsite

Day two looks just like day one. Cold, grey, windy and wet.

Still raining...

At least its a little brighter now.

Visibility is increasing to about 200m.

A good quality Chilean Bridge

Camping in the blowing rain, its the small things that count.

(Like deciding whether to pitch your soaked tent in the mud or in the snow. )

Just incase we hadn't noticed
(Zona de Nieve = Area of Snow)

Grumpy and tired, but nearly home, it finally stops raining and begins to clear

Warm, dry, clean with a plate full of food and a beer in your paw,

it all seems like it was just a bad dream..

Cerro Piene Traverse, PN Alto Rio Lircay, Chile

2010-11-17T09:49:00.007+13:00

We began out on a day hike to the 'El Endrillado' plateau, but at the highpoint about a quarter the way in, I spied a fantastic looking cirque and a ridge that just begged to be traversed. While Steph and George continued on the original trip, Mike, Andy and I had a fantastic scramble on great rock. There wasn't too much exposure and there were only a handful of tricker sections to negotiate, but overall it was a interesting and varied scramble that culminated at the summit of an unammed peak with increadible views all around.

The crew at the campground, raring to go for tommorrow's tramp

And we're off! Walking at first light after a pre dawn start

Mike climbing through the trees on our way up

Views of the Upper Rio Lircay and the Chilean Andes

Andy, George and Steph

Volcan Descabeza

(Headless Volcano)

Mike and Andy begin the rocky traverse from Cerro Piene

Andy scrambling through a tricky section

Mike concentrates..

We had to bypass a few sections of firm snow on the ridge,

as we had no crampons nor axes

Great rock, great air.

Crossing moderately firm snow to avoid a

tricky and exposed section of ridge crest.

Taking a rest on a mellow section of ridge

Mike exits the chimney climb on the final steep section to the summit

Just below the summit, the clouds start to roll in

Descending as the clouds build

Up and over a gendarme

Down moderate slabs towards easier ground

Descending towards the Laguna for a well deserved dip.

Laguna Cejar, San Pedro, Chile

2010-11-11T04:57:00.000+13:00

Another afternoon tour to some Atacama Lakes.

Cejar is unique in that it has an extremely high salt content, so that you float incredibly well. Just like the Dead Sea so they tell me.

Next we went to the Ojos de Salar (Eyes of Salt) which are two crater like pools of fresh water which make for a quick spot to rinse the salt away.

Another San Pedro sunset to finish it off..

Ojos de Salar

So strong right now..

Brazillian water walkers

Devils Canyon, San Pedro, Chile

2010-11-10T04:18:00.003+13:00

Sleuthing out the location of the Quebrada del Diablo (Devils Canyon) from a Lonely Planet one liner and a little help from the locals, I hired out a mountain bike and had a relaxing day exploring the nearby surrounds of San Pedro.

The Devils canyon is made of the same mix of volanic ash, Gypsum and salt as the rest of the badlands here, but is uniquely narrow and long. It encloses to arms width in places and is about 2km from start to finish. There´s a rideable track for the whole length, which made for an excellent peddal.

After exploring the Canyon, I followed another trail up hill to "El Tunnel" and a view point overlooking the area. Nice day´s activity...

Rio San Pedro

Quebrada del Diablo

Upper Canyon

A neat cave section

El Tunnel

Valle de La Luna, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

2010-11-09T04:14:00.002+13:00

A wonderful afternoon tour to the Valley of the Moon. In the Atacama desert, there are Salt Plains formed by entrapment and evaporation of ancient seas. With the bordering avenue of Volcanoes to the east, millenia worth of volcanic ashes have mixed with the salts to form a bizzare area of badlands.

The "rock" is extremely fragile, with landforms shaped just as much by the regions annual 3cm of rain as by the constant westerly winds.

We were taken through canyons, over sand hills past towers and left to watch the sunset over the amazing landscape with towering Volcanoes as a back drop. Very cool...

Valle de la Muerte

Almost looks like Utah...

Sunset at the Grand Dune

San Pedro sunset

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

2010-11-06T04:15:00.003+13:00

Following the Gringo Trail, Steph and I caught a bus from La Paz to Oruro, making it barely in time to catch the "Expresso del Sur" train 7 more hours to the town of Uyuni. The train ride was pretty comfortable and I could even manage to relax and enjoy the view. It was like being in the Mackenzie Basin, with perfectly flat brown plains surrounded by huge brown hills... For 7 hours...

All 6 of us crammed in the Land cruiser and held on tight as Freddy our driver and former Peruvian champing Rally driver took us on a white knuckle tour of the high Bolivian desert.

The first day wove through the outskirts of Uyuni and then onto the Salt Flat itself. Defying normal rules of depth perception, the flat stretched as far as the eye could see, with endless horizons and huge mountains that never seemed to get any closer.

Our first night was spent at a Salt hotel on the edge of the salar, at a comfy 3700m.

Day two was spent weaving through red sand deserts, volcanoes and lava flows. We must have passed upwards of 80 huge volcanoes, reaching up to 6000m at thier summits. Truely an out of this world place.

We visited Lagoons filled to the brim with Flamingoes, saw Vicunas and Foxes, froze in the wind and baked in the sun. All of the dinner budget was spent on a bottle of Peruvian Red wine, which accompanied the gluggy tasteless spagetthi.

On our 3rd day we briefly visited some wonderful hotsprings before racing to the Chilean border for a transfer. Once accross the border, An instant change was noticed. Nicely maintained roads, barriers, nice vehicles and restrained drivers.. Bienvenidos a Chile.

Busy streets in El Alto, the poor area of La Paz

Train Grave yard in Uyuni

Salar de Uyuni, with the piles of salt waiting for harvest

"I claim this Salt in the name of Nuu Zulland"

Gaint Cacti on Incahuasi (Fish) island in the middle of the Salar

Obligitory perspective photo shoot

Hexagonal crystal structures, perhaps 2 feet in diameter

Into the red desert, among lava flows and active volcanoes

Lagunas and Flamingos

Vicuna (like a small Llama)

Arboles de Piedras (Trees of Stone)

Phantom of the Altiplano

Dawn over Laguna Colorada

Tourists and Geysers (and no safety barriers)

Steph at Laguna Verde

Cordillera Real Trekking, Bolivia

2010-11-01T04:08:00.002+13:00

Plan A was to do the Choro Trek, a 2-3 day trip descending from the summit of the Cordillera Real at 4700m, down to the Jungle of the Yungas Valley at 1200m. But after enduring the Death Road experience and thinking about the 9 days we spent in the Peruvian Jungle, we opted for something different.

We spent 4 days traversing the southern slopes of the Royal Range, doing a section of the 10 trip that crosses the whole range from Illampu (6485m) to Illimani (6462m). The drive up from La Paz to the start of the trek was surprisingly tame. Already on the Altiplano at 4000m, we wove slowly up gentle foothills and past lakes to the start at about 4500m.

With our Guide Ivan, Cook Maggie and Arriero Guido, we strolled south, skirting the foothills but with reasonable views of the main range behind. During the 1st, 2nd and 4th day, the walking was very straightforward and not super interesting. Having been a bit spoiled from our Huayhuash Circuit in Peru, the views were nice, but not mind blowing. However, day 3 was one to remember.

Beginning from our lakeside camp, we headed directly toward the main range, climbing morraine to a glacial lake below Cerro Condorirri´s south face. With a backdrop of icefields and towers, we scrambled up through a rock band and trudged our way to a pass with great views of the neve at 5100m. From here, we slogged up a gully to the summit of Austria Peak at 5300m.

From the modest summit, we could see as far as the Peruvian section of Lake Titicaca, the whole cordillera, from Illampu to Illimani, and even La Paz to the south east. The Condorirri Massif was the closest and most imposing terrain and we spent quite a while enjoying the view.

Ivan spoke excellent english and was a pleasant and knowledgeable guide. He enjoyed helping me with my spanish, as well as telling us all about Bolivia.

4 days went quickly, though we did have a good wait at the road end when the transport got lost on the way to pick us up...

Kohakhota (Lake Koha)

One of the several types of Lizards we saw frequently on the trek

Dry, windswept terrain on the Real´s south flank

Chucky and Jurikhota

Local Llamas

Condorriri Base Camp

Slogging up morraine towards Condorirri

Condorriri Lake

Fun scrambling at 4900m

Dan scrambling above Condorriri Lake

Ivan and Condorirri

Looking back towards Lake Titicaca from near the summit of Austria Peak 5300m

Ivan and Steph at the top of Austria Peak

Personal altitude record..

Strolling out on day 4 beneath Condorriri (central glaciated peak)

Death Road MTB, La Paz, Bolivia

2010-10-30T04:06:00.000+13:00

Well, this was one activity I swore that I was not going to do. Anyone who knows me, knows that I´m the worlds biggest wus when it comes to sketchy roads and drivers I don´t trust.

The idea of biking down the worlds most dangerous road wasn´t too bad. I just had to take it at my own pace and try not to let my brake fingers cramp up. But having to endure the ride back up in the hands of the standard maniacal Bolivian driver was what really scared me.

The ride down began on the new road, which was generally well sealed and had guard rails. The most dangerous bit was the erratic traffic! Once we got onto the Death Road proper, the road was gravel, very narrow (only 3m at one point) and with sheer drops of more than 100m followed by very steep terrain a further 600m to the valley below.

We dropped more than 3.5km, from the summit at 4700m to the town of Corioco at 1200m. The ride back up hill was terrifying (for me) but contrary to all expectation, we arrived safely back at the hostel after an "interesting" day out.

At "La Cumbre" the summit of the North Yungas Road.

Good times on the "new road"..

Nice drop offs on the Original Death Road..
(I´m the one right at the back..)

Peering over the edge

Isla del Sol, Bolivia

2010-10-28T04:00:00.000+13:00

Fresh to Bolivia, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch in Copacobana at a wonderfully cheap price. A lazy afternoon was had and preperations for the overnight to Isla del Sol were made.

The morning ferry was definately the slow boat, perhaps 5 knots at best. On the way over we spotted a Hydrofoil zipping accross the lake. Toby and Steph gave me looks that said "Why didn´t we take that ferry?"

Isla del Sol is one of the bigger islands on Lake Titicata. The lake level sits at 3810m and is shared between Peru and Bolivia. From Isla del Sol, you could make out all the major glaciated peaks of the Royal Range to the North East, whilst back towards Peru you could barely make out the foothills surrounding the far shore.

The walk around Isla del Sol was pretty low key. There was one main tourist path, that avoided the agriculture on the island, but took you to some interesting bays, lookouts and cultural sites. All along the way there were "Boleterias" or Ticket offices that would charge you 5 to 15 Bolivianos (1 to 3 NZD) to pass through.

Near the end of our first day, I suggested that we stop at a restuarant that had nice views and served cold beers. Just as we began on our second beer, we collectively figured out that the restaurant was infact the hotel that we´d booked for the night! (at 80 Bs. it was a high end spot, but still very cheap at 16 NZD).

The slow boat to Isla Del Sol

Breakfast time

Challapampa Bay

Sunset from our hill top hotel

Heading down into Yamani for the ferry ride back to Copacabana

Manu National Park, Amazon Basin, Peru

2010-10-17T06:21:00.008+13:00

Manu National Park is regarded as one of the worlds hot spots for biodiversity. Which apparently means that if you visit the Amazon in Manu, youre probably going to see some cool stuff.

Getting to Manu is a bit of a mission. From Cusco, you wind your way up over a 4000m pass, peering intently at the single carrige dirt road and hoping for the best. Then its an urelenting descent to from the Puna (high grass lands) through the Cloud Forest to the Jungles start at about 500m above sea level. 9 hours of sheer drop offs and having to play ´biggest car wins´on the frequent sections of road not wide enough to pass on coming traffic. Essentially the little car has to reverse to the next available bit of slightly wider road, and hope that there´s enough space to pass. Paint usually gets scraped off. Its pretty close…

From the sleepy town of Atalya, you board a motorised canoe (about 15m long..) and make your way for 5 hours down the fast white water of the Rio Madre de Dios (Mother of Gods River). Along the way there are plenty of birds to spot, but the real sightings begin on the journey up the Rio Manu´s more relaxed brown meanders into the reserved zone. Takes 3 days at a moderate pace to make it up there, but once there you´re in a wild life bonanza.

Daily activities included walks through the flat terrain, trips on paddle catamarans on oxbow lakes, ascents of viewing platforms and observing birds in camoflagued hides. Often we´d take a night walk, seeing all manner of insect plus plenty of frogs.

Our guide was named Darwin (excellent name for a nature guide) and he was extremely knowledgeable, spoke good english and was the source of much amusement through the trip. His favourite saying was “ Es un Disastre!” (its a disaster) when remarking on a bad photo you took, your failed pass when playing soccer or when the engine on our boat chose to stop working..

We had a good bunch of people on our group, which was handy as there was lots of down time getting between the places on the motor canoe and the bus.

It was pretty hot during the day, mid 30´s, but the humidity was the real killer. You´d just sweat standing there, so the cold showers at the lodge got plenty of use (up to 3 times a day). The photos i managed to get really didn´t do our sightings justice. A little compact camera is no good for monkeys in a tree 30m high, so the ones shown were when we could get pretty close to the wild life, which was generally pretty un fased by our presence.

An amazing experience indeed..

High quality bridge at Atalaya

The crew on the Motor Canoe

The Motor Canoe

Aeroplane Grasshopper

Some sort of tree snake

Out gunned by the professional wildlife photographer

Engine troubles...

Dozens of pirched birds on Rio Manu

Black Caiman

Darwin leads us through the Rain Forest

This tree developed 2cm long spines to protect it from the

ancient and now extinct 6m high giant sloth

Dan and friends on Lake Salvador

Cocha Salvador

Giant River Otter

Wooley Monkey

A column of Leaf Cutter Ants

Blue Pirana

Aint called the Rain Forest for nothing...

Tarantula at our Campsite

Red and Green Macaws at a Clay Lick

Long nose Bats in our accomodation

Photographing a column of Leaf cutter Ants

Upper Rio Madre de Dios

Macchu Picchu

2010-10-14T06:20:00.000+13:00

Our overnight excursion to Macchu Picchu began at 6.30am, where we were picked up and delivered to the bus station. Our crazy driver made the 2 hour drive to Ollantaytambo in about 1.5 hours, arriving at the Train station nice and early.

Peru rail has a monopoly on transport and subsequently the prices are stiff… $40 USD for a 1.5hr train ride in a country where you can catch an 8 hour bus ride for about $10 USD.. Nether the less, the train ride was pleasant and quite spectacular.

Aguas Calientes (hot springs) town is the staging post for Macchu Picchu and is a total tourist trap, with countless restaurants, souvineer shops and hostals. The prices are twice or even three times Cusco, which is itself expensive by normal Peruvian standards..

Off the Train at Aguas Calientes

We spent our afternoon strolling the streets saying ´"No Gracias" countless times to all the restaurant touts and taking in the markets. Later on, we made a journey to the hot pools which were quite agreeable. Turns out Pisco Sours are quite tasty...

Next morning it was up at 4.40am to scoff breaky and meet our tour guide to catch one of the first busses up the hill. its an 8km 20minute ride up switchbacks to the entrance to the site. It felt a bit like Disney land, with recorded american voices telling us how to be careful and to enjoy our journey.. The crowds stalled at the entrance to the site taking photos by the dozen, but soon we found a little patch of grass to call our own and begin the tour.

Entering Macchu Picchu

No, its not photoshopped..

The tour lasted about 2 hours, and was rather interesting. Macchu Picchu is a pretty cool ruin, but the location is what really makes it. Perched precariously about 500m above the Rio Urubamba gorge, with steep Granite buttresses and pyramids in the valley and 5000m glaciated peaks behind.

The classic view of MP shows the Hill "Huaynapicchu" and we were lucky enough to get a ticket to climb to the top of the signature peak.

The track winds its way up the west face of the spire, occaisonally with exposure and often with cables in place. In one spot, you even have to crawl through a little cave! Other than the 700m or so of exposure in places, the most fascinating part is the houses, altars and terraces hanging precariously all around. This would not have been the place to go sleep walking....

Took about 35 minutes to climb the 230m to the summit, where we sat with the crowds, took photos and enjoyed the view. Flocks of butterflies wafted about the summit, making for a neat spectacle.

Crusing down after an hour or so, we stopped frequently to explore and to chill.

Through a wee cave on the climb

Resident on the Summit of Huayna Picchu

Looking back to Macchu Picchu and the Rio Urubamba

Yes, its steep, yes its exposed.. which made it all the more impressive.

Checking out one of the houses perched on the cliff

Alpaca roaming around Macchu Picchu...

Cusco

2010-10-13T06:07:00.002+13:00

Having successfully booked our Amazon tour and trip to Macchu Picchu, we had a spare day to cruise round town and see a few sights.

Cuscos steep streets

Cusco has a beautiful center, with colonial Spanish churches alongside Inca walls and cobbled strees. There are several neat plazas, but all have the pox of a zillion tourist agencies complete with annoying touts. "Massage Amigo?" "Restaurant Friend? you want a drink, nice restaurant?"

Church in Plaza de Armas

We managed to escape from the city center to visit Sacsayhuaman archeological site. The site was 3 terraces of walls that streched for more than 100m. We bowed to touting and hired a guide for S/.30 (about $15 NZD) who gave us a pretty good tour of the site, showing symbologies, reciting histories and even trying to show us a Quechua healing hand...

Dinner was had at a very odd spot. For S/10 each, We found ourselves in a sit down restaurant, with table service, classical music and a view overlooking the street. The 10 Soles included a soup, starter, main and desert... Especially odd when you can wander down the street to gringo ground zero and pay $20 for a tiny pizza...

Steph dines in style (for $5 NZD)

Sacsayhuaman Archeological Site

See if you can spot the symbol of a Deer made by blocks in the wall...

Huaraz to Cusco

2010-10-08T06:04:00.000+13:00

After our Huayhuash trek, we were pretty zonked, so spent two days in Huaraz sleeping, washing, internetting and reading.

A day was spent on a 8hour Huaraz-Lima bus and another on Lima-Cusco Flight.

Cordillera Huayhuash Circuit,Ancash, Peru

2010-09-27T04:18:00.003+13:00

Executive Summary..

12 day, Donkey Supported trek through the Peruvian Andes, crossing passes between 4500 and 5000m in the shadows of Giant peaks to 6600m..

Long winded version below…

Fair to say that I had a handful of ´must do´activities in the continent… Torres Del Paine in Patagonia, Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia and the Cordillera Huayhuash circuit in Peru.

The full circuit usually takes about 8 days of walking, but we had time on our side and wanted to be able to do some side trips, so booked ourselves a 14 day round trip from Huaraz with a trekking Agency in town.

Ute ride up valley from Llamac to our start in Matacancha

Starting at 4am from Huaraz, there is a 3 hour bus ride to Chiquian (3400m) where we grabbed a little breakfast. Our guide Thomas didn´t speak any english, so making arrangements and agreeing on what was to happen next was a strech with my limited spanish..

Despite this, we got on another smaller bus to Llamac that took about 1.5 hours via some horrendously dodgey roads with HUGE (1000m plus) drops to the valley below. A third ride in the back of a ute saw us to our start point, Matacancha by late afternoon.

We´d had discussions about the route we wanted to take through the hills, but Thomas either didn´t understand me, or wouldn´t be budged from his plan. This dissapointed us at first as the routes seemed to be the low level Donkey Trails rather than the more scenic high routes. But as we traipsed our way up steeply on Day one, I needn´t have worried about bad views.

It was just going to be Guide, donkeys, Steph and I, but a stroke of luck came in two very last minute companions. Stuart, a very friendly and chatty Scott and Antonio an equally interesting Spaniard. Fortunately for us, Stuart spoke pretty good Spanish, which really helped facilitate things (like high routes and extra food) along the way. He was also a constant source of conversation and enthusiasm. Antonio barely spoke any English, but had the enthusiasm, patience and logic to converse in simple spanish with me..

Campsite at Matacancha, our blue dining tent on the left.

Clear blue skies on the climb to Cacanampunta 4700m

We had 4 Burro´s (Donkeys) to carry all the stuff, plus an Arriero (donkey man) to push them along. Steph and my gear was squished into a big purple roll bag, which formed half of one Burro load. Thomas had a two burner gas stove, 9kg gas bottle, ´big top´ like Dining tent and what seemed like copious quantities of food.

For breakfast, we´d normally get served Pan y marmelada (bread and Jam) with two cups of hot water for tea etc. Snacks would be given for each day´s walking and lunch would usually be at the next camp, regardless of the time that we arrived. This made for some very hungry (and grumpy) trekkers early on in the circuit, so we began asking for bread on some of the longer days. Dinner would start with Sopa (Soup) usually a yummy vege mix, but sometimes having small fry Trutcha (rainbow trout) too. Main course would be some combination of rice or potatoes with vege´s and sometimes meat or fish. Generally they were pretty tasty, but there were the occaisonal failure..

Our Burro´s cross the Cacanampunta
(Punta are passes, Cocha are Lakes)

Steph and Friend at Mitucocha

After one spectacular day trip beneath the faces of Yerupaja (highest peak in the range) we came back to the tent in the rain to find that our Guide was drunk. Not just a little bit, but very drunk. Glazed eyes and swaying head were the first clues, but when he served up 2 minute noodles with a boiled Trout floating in the midst we knew it wasnt good.. The tent was sprawled with food and gear and leaked profusely. Not his best moment..

Though usually meal times were full of chatter and laughter, mostly thanks to Stuarts unbridled enthusiam and penchant for talking…

On the windward eastern side of the range there was a pretty predictable weather pattern. Each morning would dawn frosty, clear and calm. By about 9am the first scraps of cloud would swirl the high peaks and by lunch the cumulus would be towering and turning into grey thunder clouds. Anywhere from 1 to 5pm would see the start of the rain, sometimes thunder which would usually last till after dark. So the plan was to get up at dawn (about 5 am) and get the walking done by about lunchtime before the rain begain. Thus there was often time to sit about in your tent and read, listen to music or have a snooze in the afternoons.

Dan at Ninacocha, beneath Jirishanca 6094m

Guide and Arriero admire the NE face of Suila Grande 6344m

Most days we walked between 3 and 5 hours, crossing one major pass before descending down to a campsite in another valley. Essentially we were walking through high country free range farms on stock tracks from wee village to village. Campsites were often close to huge alpine lakes, with reflections of the Andean Giants above. Half way through our trek the nearest body of water was a concrete set hotsprings.. Just the ticket for making everything feel clean again!

The only drag was the constant sight of rubbish. On the trail, round the campsites, all over the place. There seemed a very lax attitude to disposal of toilet waste too, with little ´loo paper flowers´ sprouting all around. It was really sad to be honest and we made sure that we left the campsites cleaner than when we arrrived..

Yerupaja 6634m, Yerupaja Chico and Jirishanca from Carhuacocha

Laguna Siula

Sarapo Glacier

Dan, Steph and Stuart high on the Morraine by Sarapo Glacier

The highlight of the trip was the big day that Stuart, Steph and I did to Suila Grande base Camp. Famous for its role in ´Touching the Void´ Suila Grande was something of an obsession for Stuart. He hatched a plan with Steph and I for a big day up to the Base camp, whilst the others took the easy route to the next camp. Despite some protest from an upset belly, I joined the others at 4am to climb up over San Antonio Pass (5020m). We arrived at the top just on dawn and were treated to an incredible light show over the peaks of Suila Grande, Sarapo and Carcinero. After tricky routefinding on the descent, we hiked up valley and up through morraine to Joe Simpson and Simon Yates´ base camp. A pretty amazing place to be and to appreciate the story by being at the scene of the events.. 25km and 12 hours after setting off, we stumbled into the town of Huallapa to meet our team and crash into bed..

14 days had sounded great when we signed up, but with sore feet and weary bodies we hatched a plan to cut it short by two days. It was a welcome relief to arrive back at Llamac but even better to be back in Huaraz with showers, real beds and our choice of meal.

Good Morning Peru..

Cushion plants in the snow

Descending towards Huayhuash Village

Trutcha, Papa´s Hervida y un guia borracho

Antonio, Steph, Thomas, Stuart and Dan

Descending to Laguna Viconga (and the hot springs!!)

Wild Alpaca´s

Crossing Punta Cuyoc 4950m

Stuart Leaps for joy at 5km above sea level

L to R, Crossing San Antonio Pass, Yerupaha, Siula Grande and Carcinero

Walking up to Suila Grande BC, Sarapo behind

Sarapococha and Yerupaja

Camp in the soccer field at Huayllapa

Phillipe, our faithful companion on the 12hr day takes a well earned snooze

Nevado Diablo Mudo, enroute to Tapushpunta

Jahuachocha and Jirishanca

Stuart and Jirishanca

Enroute back to Llamac

Llamac! 12 days later

Laguna Sesenta y Nueve, Huascaran NP, Peru

2010-09-26T03:57:00.001+13:00

With sore feet and dizzy heads, we presented ourselves for our second acclimitisation hike at 6am in downtown Huaraz.

Lake 69 was about 3 hours drive from town, but we had the luxury of a reasonable sized group that chartered a priviate mini bus to take us.

The trip began up a nice mellow valley, before climbing up two tiers of hanging valley to the spectacular glacial lake. The colour of the water was just incredible and the backdrop surreal. The icefall from the Andean Giant hung just above the lake, threatening to send tidal waves at any moment.

Despite the snow, the temperature was very warm when the sun was out. So I set my personal high altidude swimming record (4700m)..

On the way home we had amazing views of the west face of Huascaran itself, Peru´s highest peak.

First views up the valley

Farmer´s huts.

The valleys are basically high country free range farms,

there´s stock all around and plenty of droppings to tip toe around.

Jeremy and our Guide Marco name the peaks of the Cordillera

Cool wierd plants...

Steph in the middle high alpine medow

Climbing the last set of switchbacks prior to the lake

Almost there..

Laguna Sesenta y Nueve

One of the locals keeps an eye on things

Huascaran Sur 6746m (R) and Norte

On descent back to the sactuary of low altitude (only 3090m in Huaraz)

Laguna Churrup, Huascaran NP, Peru

2010-09-25T03:38:00.000+12:00

After a week of progressing towards the Andes, we get our first taste of the Peruvian hills.

We´d organised our major trek (14 days on the Huayhuash Circuit) the previous day. The agency offered to throw in 2 acclimitisation hikes to help us settle in to the high altitude. Our main treck crosses several high passes between 4500m and 5000m and only goes once below 4000m for the whole trip. Being acclimatised is essential for both enjoyment and health..

Our first hike was up to Laguna Churrup, in Parc Nacional Huascaran. First we were introduced to travel in Collectivo´s. Essentially someones personal minivan, these beat up vehicles loiter in public spots with a tout who gets passengers to board. There´s no timetable, they just go when they are sufficiently full to make a profit.

So up we trundle, up a rough rock and dirt road, no seatbelts, no legroom, sharing our space with a little dog, today´s shopping, tommorrows vegetables....

Eventually our guide Hiesan jumped off and motioned for us to follow. This 20 year old lad didn´t speak any English, but my basic spanish was enough to provide entertainment for all.. First we hiked up through villages, then entered the park and began on a proper type track. The altitude had us gasping, but at a reasonable pace we arrived at Laguna Churrup, 4450m.

A fantastic alpine tarn at the base of a 5 thousander alpine peak. We spent about an hour taking in the scene and sucking up the O´s..

Took us about 3 hours up and 2 hours down.

Nevado Churrup, 5485m

Steph climbs the wire through the little rock band

The standard afternoon cloud build up over the Cordillera (mountain range)

Me at Laguna Churrup (breathing hard)

Heisin leads the way back down the hill toward Huaraz

Map extract, from the Cordillera Blanca area.

Lima, Peru

2010-09-23T03:27:00.000+12:00

Another straighforward journey from BA through to our Hostel in Lima. We stayed in the touristy ´Miraflores´area of town, which was modern, clean and felt pretty safe (other than for the traffic, which was mental..)

Went for a wander round town trying to find a replacement sleeping mat for the one Steph had left behind (oops). Inadvertantly found ourselves in an archeological site, a huge temple thing built by the Lima´s (a tribe around at a similar time to the Inka´s).

Got ourselves a ticket for the bus ride to Huaraz ( 8hrs, $15) up in the mountains. The ride itself was a little scary for a ´narrow road with big drop offs´ wus like me, but overall it wasn´t too bad. On the way out of time, we passed through the ´real´ Lima, with all manner of slums and muck. During the bus ride, they played Peruvian folk music rather loud, with one CD on repeat for the whole trip. Considered stabbing myself in the eyes with a fork, but couldn´t find one...

Miraflores Church

Wieners only may apply

Lima´s about to sacrifice some pottery

Liman archeological site in the middle of town

Llama Llama Llama.....

Buenos Aires

2010-09-19T03:09:00.000+12:00

After a pretty straight forward trip from Auckland to our Hostel in Buenos Aires, sleep was supposed to be the first thing on our minds, but a ´guided Futbol tour´caught my eye.

For a princely sum, Steph and I got private transport to the game, a feed and a bit of interpretation of what the heck was going on.. The game was Boca Juniors vs Colon, held at the Juniors stadium in one of the shadiest parts of BA. There were riot police everywhere and we had to be frisked at the checkpoints before being allowed in..

We got a few glasses of the local beer ´Quilmes´ and a Choripan (like a hotdog, Choritzo sausage and Bread) in a little room not far from the stadium.

The atmosphere was incredible, with amazing chants, songs, fireworks (not official ones). The home side scored 3 goals and each time the crowd went absolutely mental. Very very impressive.

Next day I rang an old school friend who happened to be living in BA. Erik took his role as tour guide very seriously and walked us all around the town till our legs nearly fell off. He explained constantly as we went, buying some local snacks for us to try along the way. That night we had a few beers and ate at a Parilla, before calling it quits a little after midnight.

Folks from BA stay up REAL late, dinner isn´t normally until 10pm or so, making adjusting to the time zone rather tricky...

Obelisk on ´Julio de 9´ the widest street in the world

Lots of neat old buildings in BA

Steph devouring an Alfajore.
Biscuits, sandwiched over caramel goo, all covered in chocolate... Mmm

La Puenta de Mujer (Bridge of the Woman)

Asado Barbeque. Very tasty

Dan and Erik at a Parilla (Grill Restaurant)

Best Steak in my life..

Steph, Romina, Erik and Dan after a fun day exploring BA

Didn´t take my camera to the Futbol.. Que Lastima!

Nina Hut, Lewis Pass

2010-08-28T20:53:00.000+12:00

This was supposed to be Otehake Hot Springs, but another NW weather system had us changing plans to a mellow walk into Nina Hut, followed by Hotsprings in Hamner on the way home.

The walk in was under light rain, keeping us cool for the 3 hour stroll. I managed to forget all the yummy vegetables that I’d bought for the curry, but it still tasted good! Pip made some mulled wine to go with the crackers, cheese and dip. All very fancy really…

Next morning dawned clear, making for a very pleasant stroll back to the car. We stopped at one of the gorge sections for lunch, where we spied three very large (8lb plus) Trout cruising around in the depths.

It just started to rain as we hopped into the car for the ride home.

Trig M, Korowai Torless TLP

2010-08-03T10:59:00.000+12:00

Steph and I both had the day off, but were both feeling pretty tired, so opted for a mellow stroll rather than a full on day.

Trig M was a neat little stroll along an old 4WD track. We started up through the clouds and as we climbed the views began to unfold. The Craigieburn range to the north, Torless to the East, Big Ben to the South, Mt Hutt range to the west and even the Port hills could be seen.

Took us an hour each way to the trig from the rd. A brilliant easy walk, not far from town with fantastic views.

Jatbula Trail, Nitmiluk National Park, NT, Australia

2010-07-19T19:40:00.000+12:00

The flight north to Darwin was uneventful, and we even managed to get our shopping done that night. The next morning, we strolled around Darwin till midday, before catching the Greyhound Bus to Katherine. The one thing that struck me (other than the heat) was just how flat and featurless the terrain was out there.

Katherine was not really a nice spot. Within about 20 minutes of getting off the bus we were watching a confrontation among the locals. I was pleased to catch our shuttle bus and get settled into the Campground at Nitmiluk National Park. The camp area was pretty full, complete with swimming pool and bar.. Jahoo!

19 Jul 10

The day before we began the trail, I’d organised Kayak hire for us to paddle up the Katherine Gorge, Nitmiluk’s main tourist attraction. The Katherine river has a series of navigable gorges, interspaced with small gravel or slick rock rapids. Tourists jump on one of the flotilla of motor vessel and tour upstream on sightseeing trips.

We jumped right in with the tourists, paddling our way upstream. The Gorges were spectacular, especially from water level and at our own pace. Apparently there were resident freshwater crocodiles present, but we didn’t see any. The saltwater crocs were actively trapped and removed from the system, but I still felt very uncomfortable swimming in the gorge. We made it up to the top of the 2^nd Gorge for lunch and a swim before cruising back to our campground.

The start of the walk involves a 2 minute ferry ride across the Katherine River to the northern rockhole. Only 10 people are allowed to start walking each day, so we introduced ourselves to the group of 40-50 year olds who’d be sharing the trail with us.

And so we began the pattern that would repeat itself, with little variation for the next 5 days. Get up early, walk across the generally uneventful plains to the campgrounds by lunchtime or early afternoon. Go swimming. Sunbathe. Read. Swim again. Have afternoon snacks, swim some more. Explore up and down river. Dinner. Sunset. Bed.

Though the walking wasn’t particularly interesting, there were still some subtle and curious variations in the foliage. However, once the sun got higher, I had to agree with the assessment of one of person in the log book. “The track itself is H.D. B (Hot, dry and boring), but the campsites and swimming holes are sublime.”

Along the way, there were several areas of Jaowyn Aboriginal Rock Art, which made for interesting diversions from the HDB walking.

The campsites and the rivers were indeed brilliant. The water was quite tepid in most of the pools and we generally spent most of the afternoon in just swimmers and sunhats. Exploring downstream revealed huge pools, waterfalls, canyons, rock formations and little fishes. There was plenty of sunbathing, swimming and reading to be done, making for a really relaxing 5 days. It was kinda like a beach holiday, where you walk to a new beach for a few hours each day.

In the evenings, we’d join the other group for fun conversations over dinner. The nights were very mild and only once on the whole trip (before dawn one morning) did I reach for a thermal layer. We took one sleeping bag to use as a duvet. It would usually get pulled up after midnight when there was bit of a drop in the temperature, but you could easily get away with just water and food on this trip.

On our final day, we had multiple swims on the way down the banks of the Edith River to Lielyn, where we’d organised a shuttle back to Katherine with Dyson’s bus company. Our pick up was a little late and turned out to be an ‘Aussie shiela in a great big Ute’. It was a bit of a squeeze in the single cab for the 3 of us, but it was only a 30 minute ride back to town. On her recommendation, we got dropped off at ‘The Katherine Club’ for a couple of beers and some Air conditioning to while away the 4 hours before our bus departed.

Back in Darwin at 9.45pm, we showered, re-sorted our gear in time for a midnight airport shuttle and 2am departure. Back in NZ, we were both stuffed, but rather satisfied after a very different two weeks away.

Larapinta Trail, Northern Territory, Australia

2010-07-11T19:38:00.000+12:00

Pip and I organised a two week, mid-winter escape to the Northern Territory. We flew into Alice Springs, via Auckland and Sydney for 6 days on the Larapinta Trail. Rather tired from little sleep and early starts, I didn’t make it to the scheduled camel races, but I did manage to try a Camel Burger in town! Alice wasn’t too inspiring, with lots of very drunk Aboriginals causing trouble at all times of the day. It really was a sad state of affairs; we were warned not to venture out at night. The Lone Dingo outdoor shop had everything we needed, as did the supermarket.

Though we brought extra water containers expecting to have to carry large amounts of water between campsites through the desert, the Red Center experienced heavy rain and flooding! Alice received more rain in the week that ended on day 3 of our trip than the whole year previously. So much for the desert...

11 Jul 10

It had been raining on and off since we arrived and this morning was no exception. Our Alice Wanderer transfer service arrived nice and early, driving us through the rain to be deposited at Ellery Creek Big hole. Sheltering from the down pours I began to wonder wether we actually had tough enough gear for the conditions we were facing. At least it was warm though and when we began walking the rain stopped though the cloud remained.

We wandered through the desert in full bloom. Wild flowers everywhere punctuated the incredibly green landscape. I’d been expecting red dirt, rocks and sand, not flowers and greenery..

The track climbed up to a small pass in the Heavitree where we surveyed the vast nothing in front. From the map, the Chewings range was 8km away, over very gently undulating nothingness. Paralell to the ranges, the GAFA continued as far as the eye could see. Very strange indeed.

Descending to the plains, we strolled through strange scrub toward Rocky Gully, our camp for the night. On the way we had lunch in a dry river bed, got rained on frequently and were buzzed by huge ‘Budgie Swarms’ that coloured the sky green and sounded like a low flying Helicopter..

Rocky Gully wasn’t a particularly inspiring campsite, but it did stop raining and we were able to enjoy the company of some fellow walkers round a wee campfire.

12 Jul 10

The morning dawned clear and our local walkers announced ‘that will be the last cloud you’ll see this trip’. But by mid morning, mid level cloud returned and looked threatening at times. There were views now, back to the Heavitree range and onward to the Chewings. The terrain undulated a little more than yesterday, with a few small climbs and knolls to traverse, but generally the land was very flat. The temperature rose considerably and we did a bit of hiding under withered trees to try and beat the heat. There was even the chance for a skinny dip in one of the new (normally dry) rivers!

At Hugh Gorge campsite, we found a nice patch of sand on the river flat and did some sunbathing. However, just as we began making our desert, the first drips of rain fell. The rain came and the winds began to stir as we called it a night.

13 Jul 10

My poor little Tarp Tent struggled through the night. Rain fell in sometimes very heavy showers, with associated strong gusty winds. The single skin sil-nylon kept most of the water out, but the leaks did get my sleeping bag reasonably sodden. Our spirits were also pretty dampened, with little sleep due to wondering wether the poles would snap, getting splashed with drips and thinking how the Hugh Gorge must be flooding by now…

Eventually it was light enough to get up and start the day. Sodden gear was stuffed away and grumpy hikers chomped through breakfast. All packed up and ready to go, we crossed the now quickly flowing Hugh River to seek refuge under a very small trail shelter with a solo hiker from Belguim. This guy did quite like to talk, moaning about the rain in the desert, but between grumbles we gleamed as much info as we could about the route through the gorge. I was considering just taking the ‘chicken route’ round the flats on a 4WD road, but after more consultation with the Belgian and then with Pip, a decision was made to have a crack at the Gorge.

I was well pleased we did.. The Hugh Gorge was wonderful, with soaring Quartzite walls, and short narrower slickrock sections. Intially we were wading up to waist deep in the Jaffa coloured waters, but soon had to carefully select our crossing point and raft up against the flow. In a few spots, we had to scramble up the canyon walls and traverse above deep looking pools. As the gradient of the gorge increased near its head, there were two quite tricky crossings of the deep, fast flowing river. We were very glad that the rain had eased to occasional showers by now..

At Hugh Gorge Junction we paused for a hot brew and to try to dry out the Tent in a brief respite from the rain. Though as we climbed away from Hugh River toward Rocky saddle, the drips stopped and the sun tried its best to come out.

Fringe Lilly Creek was a delightful spot to camp, nice flat ground, sheltered from the wind and right beside a beautiful cliff face. Our afternoon was spent drying out our gear in the bouts of sunshine. We were very glad to get that chance…

14 Jul 10

The sky was perfectly clear today, with a cool breeze to prevent us overheating. We ascended the Razorback Ridge, with incredibly wide views in all directions. The immeadiate area in the Chewings range was rough and complex, which contrasted vividly with the flat, almost featurless plains just beyond the range.

Over the tops, the wind was quite chilly, so we hurried off down towards Spencer Gorge. The descent gully had lots of fun scrambles and climb downs, almost like a mini canyon trip. Spencer Gorge itself was more open than the Hugh Gorge, with very little water and plenty more giant boulders to negotiate.

Tonight we camped at Stuarts pass, in the shade of Brinkley bluff to another perfectly clear night.

15 Jul 10

The fine weather continued as we climbed up towards the summit of the bluff. The wind kept us cool though as we climbed up the south face to the panoramic summit. Up on top, there was plenty of evidence of previous campers and if we’d been less weather shy, we might have made camp here. The views were just phenomenal. The Chewings range was like a linear mountain Oasis in a desert of flat scrubland. You could see the plains to the limit of visibility in most directions; most impressive.

We enjoyed a good long lunch on the summit, until we were joined by a guided group, which had some ‘interesting’ members. Soon we scurried on, along the long, gentle descent down the spine of the range, with incredible views all around.

Our amended plan to avoid camping on the summit of Brinkley Bluff saw us arrive this afternoon at Standley Chasm a day early. Icecreams were well received and an early night very much appreciated.

16 Jul 10

Leaving most of our gear at the Standley Chasm Kiosk, we strolled up to the tourist section, took our photo, then disappeared upstream beyond the warning signs. “Death or serious injury may occur if you proceed beyond this sign”. Beyond the sign lay not death for us, but in a short but very very sweet slot canyon. There was a little bit of scrambling involved and a bit of wading, but it was well worth the effort. It was definitely a basic canyon, rather than a tramping route, with narrow walls and some delicate climbing moves.

Above the canyon, we lazed around in the sun for most of the day, strolling back to Standley Chasm in time for another ice cream before our ride home. The bus stopped at Simpsons Gap on the way home.

We were a little rushed getting sorted prior to nightfall, but on arriving at the backpackers, found that we’d been upgraded to a local motel round the corner… Swweeet!

17 Jul 10

Today was spent strolling round Alice springs waiting to fly to Darwin. We visited the Royal Flying Doctor Service, The Alice Reptile Center, an Aboriginal Art Gallery and several shops during our day. And then we’d left the desert and were on our way to the tropics…

Porters 2

2010-07-04T21:02:00.002+12:00

Pip and I returned the following day for some on field skiing..

Mostly icy and mostly windy, but still clear with some patches of nice snow to be found

Porters Backcountry

2010-07-03T20:36:00.001+12:00

First tour for the season!

Toine, Nicky and I had awesome weather today, though the snow conditions were poor to reasonable. Porters Field had lots of ice on the sunny aspects, with a bit of reasonable packed powder in the shady aspects.

First run was off to the south of T3, into Powder Bowl. We then skied and climbed to Alison's peak. Toine dug a snow pit to assess the West aspect (loaded from previous easterly storm). We found some solid windslab with plenty of internal stress. There was a moderate to difficult failure and shear at a full depth ice layer, which made us a little uneasy.

Instead, we skiied the NE aspect of Alisons, being rewarded with some great turns.

The skin out turned into a very firm bootpack/crampon about 100m short of the saddle; a bit of a surprise!

Great day out with good people :)

Toine skins out of Powder Bowl.

Nicky on top of the Craigieburns

Slogging out of the NE Alison Peak bowl.

Back on the ridge

Chucky's Last run

West Coast Glaciers Ice Climbing

2010-06-26T21:19:00.000+12:00

Pip and I intended to head up to Castle Rocks hut, above Franz Josef Glacier for a perfect winter weather weekend on the coast.

However, by the time we'd driven all the way down to Franz, we made a late start up the heavily cut lower ice falls. Not too far from Cape Defiance, we started to get blocked by large waves on the glacier and ended up retreating.

We spent an hour or so ice climbing in the crevasses in glorious conditions before driving over to Fox then to Gillespies Beach DOC campsite for the night.

On Sunday, we went up to Fox glacier for a similar few hours cragging and exploring the ice.

A long way to go for a weekend, but a wonderful place.

Pip about to climb onto Franz Josef Glacier

The waves start to bar progress

Home time, Franz Josef

Beautiful dusk conditions at Pip steps off the ice

Tasman, Pip and Cook from Gillespies Beach

Fox Glacier Valley

Pip exploring the lower Ice Fall

Mt Fishtail Hut, Richmond FP

2010-06-23T21:10:00.000+12:00

The previous day was gorgeous, warm, sunny and clear making me wish that I didn't have to work. Today's spare day was grey, cold, windy, cloudy and snowing, but it didn't stop me having fun on a trip up to Mt Fishtail Hut.

I almost stood on two large Brown Trout in one of the little streams I forded. Not sure who was more startled, me or the fish!

Pine Valley Hut

Pine Valley Stream

Gorgeous forest

Snowing!

Amazing views :(

At Fishtail Hut, 3hr from road end

One of the two large Trout

Mt Dobson Ski

2010-06-19T21:07:00.000+12:00

First Ski of the season on Dobson's Openning day.

Plenty of snow, but most of it was sheet ice. Some good conditions around midday before things began to turn to slush. A glorious day on a dubious forecast.

West Harper Hut, Craigieburn FP

2010-06-05T21:22:00.003+12:00

With the poor wx forecast for Q's Bay, we settled on an alternative Cass-Lagoon Saddle trip, making the most of a good saturday to tramp in over Mt Bruce.

The night was spent at the rustic West Harper hut; complete with dirt floor, fertiliser sack bunks and beech tree pole construction!

When the rain began to fall hard on Sunday morning, we decided to return up and over Lagoon Saddle and retreat to town. Great views of the incoming storm were had on the north flanks of Mt Bruce.

Freezing times at Cora Lyn

Nice temperate conditions up Mt Bruce

Nearly at the Summit, Waimak Valley behind

Descending into the Harper River

Nice and cold in our little side stream

Antony, Pen, Pip and Dan

West Harper Heat Pump

Varying situation reports at West Harper Hut

Nearly at Lagoon Saddle

Antony above Lagoon Saddle in the inclement weather

Huxley Valley, Ruataniwha CP

2010-05-22T19:11:00.001+12:00

A nice relaxed social trip up a beautiful valley off the Hopkins.

Leaving Timaru at 7am, we drove to Lake Ohau and bravely negotiated the Lower Hopkins Valley 4WD track in our city wagons.

This saved us an hour of walking each way. However, the Hopkins valley itself was still very beautiful and rather impressive.

We paused for lunch at the Huxley swingbridge, before continuing up the wide open valley flats. At the Huxley Forks huts, we decided to abandon any further ambitions up the valley. Chilling out, chopping wood, drinking hot brews, playing cards and yarning was the name of the game.

There was an epic Butter Chicken for dinner, washed down with cask wine, followed by Berry Cheesecake and Ambrosia. Oh boy!

It rained overnight, but had mostly cleared by the time we left the huts on sunday morning. The stroll back was just as mellow, giving us plenty of time for Ice Skating, Hot pool soaking and yum Pizza's in Tekapo on the way home.

What a pleasant weekend :)

On the Monument Hut front lawn

Strolling up the massive Hopkins valley

Negotiating the Huxley Swingbridge

Easy travel in the lower Huxley

"The best thing to do with a good rock is to sit on it"

Dan, Pip, Adele, Jane and Pen

About to stop for morno's

Pen on bridge

One last crossing to Monument hut and the 4WD track

Temple Valleys Circuit, Ruataniwha CP

2010-05-15T18:50:00.003+12:00

A very enjoyable weekend, just north of Lake Ohau. The tramp goes up the North Temple Valley, climbs steeply over Gunsight Pass, then descends the longer South Temple back to the carpark.

It was clear, but quite cold on the Saturday. The temp was only 5 degrees at the carpark, with fresh snow on the tops. The travel up valley was pleasant and easy, until we reached the impressive North Temple Cirque.

We shared lunch with a Karearea (NZ Falcon) in the feeble sun, before beginning the climb to the pass. The rock was very loose and unstable, almost like a morraine jumble, making for unpleasant climbing. We were pretty tired during the climb, having plenty of rest stops in more stable sections, however, rock fall usually had us hurrying on.

At the pass we paused for views out to Mt Cook and admired the large herd of Tahr, including one large Bull.

The South Side of the pass sprinkled with some fresh snow, but the frozen scree was what made it sketchy.

Gladly down in main South Temple valley, we had a wonderful evening camping. The sunday was a pleasant stroll down valley, as the clouds came in and the rain fell gently.

Lower (colder) North Temple Valley

Approaching the climb to Gunsight pass (obscured on the left)

Catching some breath on the steep loose climb

Views over the Ben Ohau Range and onwards to Aoraki/Mt Cook NP.

Descending steep scary frozen screes on the south side of Gunsight Pass

Steeple Peak (L) in South Temple Valley

Pip leaving camp on sunday morning

Easy travel in the South Temple