45. Waianakarua – Oamaru

Posted on by
Reply
Empire Backpackers, 13 Thames St., Oamaru, $40 single room
Tuesday, March 19: A bit clearer in the morning, although still quite cold, becoming cloudier in the evening
Steampunk Museum, Oamaru, exposure bracket

Steampunk Museum, Oamaru, exposure bracket

Today was a bit of a day for odds and ends. On the way into Oamaru had the tyre pressures checked – front right was down to 16 psi, which probably explains the recent fuel consumption. Leaky old air delivery system had to be operated by the attendant himself as I could not work out how to let the tyre down again. Will have to check this again tomorrow to see that there is no leak. Continue reading →

44. Dunedin—Waianakarua

Posted on by
Reply
Olive Grove Lodge, 2328 Herbert-Hampden Rd, Waianakarua, $45 for double as single
Monday, March 18: Rain at first, becoming drier but still cloudy, cooler

Was up fairly early to get some breakfast and get my stuff packed up. For some reason PPP had packed in during the night, so the whole directory wasn’t completely developed. Waited around a bit for Ben, but only Lucy appeared, first for a shower and then for breakfast in their bedroom. Had all of my stuff in the car and when Lucy was ready to go, I left with her. Continue reading →

43. St Patrick’s Day in Dunedin

Posted on by
Reply
Ben & Lucy’s
Sunday, March 17: A little rain overnight; overcast in the morning, then some rain in the afternoon

Was out of the house by about ten to stroll around town. A couple of people stopped me with requests for various directions and I did as best I could. Went right around Moray Place, then back along George St. Decided I wanted to look for “Boy the Movie”. Had a look at Whitcoull’s and their staff tracked down two copies in Christchurch & one in Nelson. Then tried a record store in the Golden Middle shopping centre, which is right out the front of my lodgings. They, too, gave me a pass. Continue reading →

42. Otago Peninsula, South Dunedin

Posted on by
Reply
Ben & Lucy’s
Saturday, March 16: Sunny and somewhat windy until the clouds appeared in late afternoon

This was a day for a latish start after all of the action yesterday, but I did want to drive down the Otago Peninsula & see if I could do some walks, but first there were a couple of computer matters to deal with.

Developing the pictures from Milford Day 1 virtually filled up the hard drive, so a solution had to be found to avoid gridlock. Looked around a bit and saw that Dick Smith had a 2 TB hard drive for $149 and that will have to do as a backup device for the moment. Tried for ages to get the other 32 GB card to become bootable for the SX 120, but if it were bootable at all it couldn’t find the necessary modules to load for grids, etc. Continue reading →

41. University of Otago & Skeptics in the Pub, Dunedin

Posted on by
Reply
Ben & Lucy’s
Friday, March 15: A drop of rain in the morning and cloudy all day
Caricature of Prof. James Flynn, University of Otago, Dunedin

Caricature of Prof. James Flynn, University of Otago, Dunedin

Was up fairly early and had the rest of my crumpets with vegemite for breakfast. Ben & Lucy were still getting up when I left for Flynn’s office. I had judged the distance and time pretty closely and only had to enquire at the Psychology Department where his building was and was there on the way to finding his office when I bumped into him.

He had forgotten his wallet at a petrol station and left me in his office while he retrieved it. A few piles of paper on the floor suggested he was doing his tax return and in the meantime I checked that my equipment was working and ready to go. Continue reading →

40. Te Anau—Dunedin

Posted on by
Reply
Ben & Lucy, Haddon Place, Dunedin, via airbnb; $49/night for spacious double bedroom, wifi, shared facilities
Thursday, March 14: Sunny and windy along the road with cloud increasing towards evening, quite a hot day
Go back! Wong Way, Te Anau

Go back! Wong Way, Te Anau

Everything repacked quite nicely and I was able to deal with breakfast fairly quickly and get down the road to take the photos that I wanted and to get to the library for the internet. Katie has a place for us tomorrow night (Dunedin Skeptics in the Pub), and Ilona was chattable. Continue reading →

39. Milford Track, Day 4

Posted on by
Reply
Dumpling – Sandfly Point (22.1 km)
Steamers Beach (see March 6, 2013)
Wednesday, March 13: Some low cloud at first, clearing with dramatic cloud patches left behind. In Te Anau hot
GPS Tour
Youtube video
Mackay Falls, exposure bracket

Mackay Falls, exposure bracket

A few were up from 6:30 onwards, and Andrea & Kobi seemed to have difficulty getting up at their 6:45 target; but in any case I had enjoyed a restful night’s sleep and was pretty much ready to go. Only Franklin had started snoring once, but I woke him and got him to turn on his side; and the Belgian guy did snore very softly and it was over when he turned. The Israeli guys were impeccable. All in all we were about 95% snore-free which, for an impromptu revolt, was not bad. Continue reading →

38. Milford Track, Day 3

Posted on by
Reply
Mintaro – Dumpling Hut (18.5 km)
Tuesday, March 12: Some low cloud at first, afterwards sunny throughout
GPS Tour
Youtube video
Fog blankets the Clinton Valley in the early morning

Fog blankets the Clinton Valley in the early morning

The republic of non-snorers had its first success last night; except for one snorer who had slipped in, and Mark who snored a little around 6:00, we were 90% or more snore-free.

So the wake-up call was just after 6:00 when people started to congregate in the kitchen. Had my breakfast and let most people leave before me, before brushing my teeth and sending an OK with the spot. Just after a couple of posh hikers arrived to check out our digs, I took off up the track. Continue reading →

37. Milford Track, Day 2

Posted on by
Reply
Clinton – Mintaro Hut (20.6 km), excursion to Mackinnon Pass (8.0 km)
Monday, March 11: Cloudy at first, with a few drops of rain, later mainly sunny with a few clouds
GPS Tour
Youtube Video
Whio (“blue duck” – Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) wading in the Clinton River

Whio (“blue duck” – Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) wading in the Clinton River

Was up at 6:00 – surprisingly snore-free night, although the other hut had copped more than its share of snorers – and had breakfast with Alissa (student of landscape architecture) before most people were out and about. Packed up my stuff and was away just after 8:00, after sending an OK with the spot tracker & getting a satellite fix for the GPS. First partner was Franklin (engineer from New York) and then we caught up with Alissa who was visiting all of the ponds. Lots of shots of robins playing around and saw a whio flying at a pool @ 4 miles. Continue reading →

36. Milford Track, Day 1

Posted on by
Reply
Glade Wharf – Clinton Hut (7.1 km)
Sunday, March 10: Cloud at first, then mainly sunny apart from one cloudy period
GPS Tour
Youtube Video
Bridge over the River Clinton at Glade Lodge

Bridge over the River Clinton at Glade Lodge

Up at 7:30, which was cutting it fairly fine, especially after the cooked breakfast of baked beans from some abandoned food and fried eggs took about twice as long to prepare as it should have, due to the defective can opener. Continue reading →