17. North-West Circuit 10

North Arm – Oban (12.2 km) – Invercargill, Tina & Tony’s
Tuesday, February 19: Overcast, with some sun appearing in the afternoon
GPS Tour
Oban panorama from the pier

Oban panorama from the pier

Up fairly early in an attempt to make it onto an earlier flight. The last of the breakfast stuff was soon eaten and again there was enough coffee for two cups, though the sugar seems to have run out. A bag of salt was used to season the egg, and everything was packed up and ready to go by 9:00.

Lucas had already left a couple of minutes prior to me; then I was off on the very well graded and gravelled Rakiura Track. Not much mud here! A couple of stops for photos – mainly snapshots – some of which would be copies of the 2009 series. On the one long wooden bridge, the compass slipped out of its holding and bounced along the bridge. My heart nearly stopped beating. But in the end the device was safe. Continue reading

Kiwi II, 2009

Weka dietary education: Milford Track

The second journey in the late summer of 2009 started with my arrival in Auckland on Sunday, February 1. After picking up a small camper, a Toyota Lucinda, which was named “Juicy Lucy”, I visited my school friend Tom and his family, then it was by way of Kawhia to New Plymouth where I made my first attempt at climbing Egmont. A couple of nights at the old motorcamp in Stratford to discover the Forgotten World and make a second – still unsuccessful – attempt at Egmont from the south and then on to Wanganui and Waikanae to visit Don and Sally Matheson who were giving me their holiday house for a couple of days in March. Continue reading

Green Light

Fern

Koru – the fern leaf spiral

The go-ahead for the new adventure came late last week, after a couple of weeks of prelegal danse macabre. Anyhow, it’s there now, and the final preparations can begin in earnest.

For begun they have well before this time last year, when I was originally planning this trip. There have been plans and preparations, and prices to compare and check again. One of the most comprehensive questions covered was that of photography, although that was no longer a question of what camera to take, but rather how to deal with all of the eventualities that hacking the current set of three cameras has brought with it. Continue reading