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I picked a great weekend to camp on the water front!

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I put it on the live spaces page as it was faster and easier....

ARRGH! 

Bravenet admin if you are reading! PLEASE PLEASE!!! do something about the damned page refreshing issue when posting a new post!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok the fix is that I type my post into another doc and then paste when done )so that when the dam f--king thing refreshes out of the blue on me I dont lose everything I just typed) - but goddammit I am used to all those other sites where the bloody page doesnt refresh for no reason mid post - and keep forgetting Bravenet does this!!!!

(In plain english I typed out a great big post then the website lost it all on me without warning)

(*&$%%$#&^$&^*!!!

Ok

The abridged version:

I was able to ski this last weekend - rib injury was finally ok (or ok enough to try skiing).  There was a great forecast for Mt Dobson On sat, and on top of that the had $20 lift passes for their 30th birthday.  Sunday looked to be w write-off, skiing wise as gale force winds were forecast (for you non skiiers/boarders they normally close the field or the access road... and if they dont - skiing/boarding in them is shit anyway).

So I decided rather than hope for a decent sunday and end up with a shitty one, Id just do something else on Sunday and get up a little earlier on Sat.

So I booked a place at Mt Cook/Aoraki - which despite being a kiwi & Mt Cook being our largest hill, i havent been to before (guess that whole size thing really is for guys...)

So I headed up to Dobson on Sat - fan-f-ing tastic weather!  I cannot for the life of me understand why so many ppl who I know who ski or board dont want to go there - they seem to think its a long long long way awa - but its a 2 hr drive from chch to the access road - which is a little more than chch - mt hutt, but the road is shorter - and when you get there you save the rest of the time in NOT queueing for the lifts!

Its like the best of club fields (not crowded and cheap)

combined with the best of commercial (not having to stand all day on rope tows - they have a triple chair)
and groomed slopes (many club fields dont groom or its minimal if they do - for beginners or intermediates (or even advanced skiers/boarders who want to enjoy themselves) ungroomed snow can be horrible to ski.

For intermediates like moi, its great - huge wide open expanses of intermediate level and beginner slope, with some more challenging terrain - but there is a nice step between advanced beginner/intermediate, and  the steeper slopes.  There is also a natural half pipe that I intend to try out next winter - or maybe next weekend if the entry into it is groomed (it wasnt last weekend and my skis are narrow waisted carvers -(great to turn in - no good off piste unless its rock hard - and when its rock hard its like skiing concrete and not fun anyway)

At fields like Mt Hutt you spend most of your day queuing and then looking over your shoulder and side to side for other skiers.    When you are like me, in the intermediate 'plateau' I believe they call it - where it feels as though you are not improving at all - or not very fast - its really good to be able to just focus on your technique, and turns with a lot of space to traverse over, and without having to constantly worry about other skiers slamming into you

I've posted some video clips and pics of Mt Dobson (though I am wondering - WHY am I telling people about the place?  Last thing I want is crowds there!

Im hoping to head back up this next weekend - though the snow seems to be disappearing fast (please snow!)
I cant believe after spending most of my life hading cold weather Im now depressed at the end of winter...(come baaaack cold, and southerlies and biting winds and weather thats bringing snow...)

Anyway after skiing sat, I headed off to Mt Cook.  Stopping for photos on the way.  Weather was perfect for photos, and the lakes (Tekapo and Pukaki) were sporting glass-like still water which reflected the mountains.  I stopped in Tekapo and took a few shots (then the car wouldnt start and I thought I was stuck there - if your car ever floods - take air filter cover off and then try and start it)

Anyway the AA sorted me out and showed me how to fix it next time, and off I went

Stopped a couple of times on the way and took pics

Then got there in the evening, - went for dinner in the resturant (name escapes me).  The food was mediocre unfortunately (though with one small change (the chief) it could have been great, im sure).

Then went and took some pics on the deck of the place I stayed at, edited them for a while and ended up down the road at 2am taking long exposure shots of the stars and the milky way (my shots dont come close to doing it justice - fantastic - really stunning!)

Then went back to hotel, edited those and was knackered around 4.30 - 5 and was going to crash - looked out the window and noticed that the sky had lightened ever so subtly - so figured I might not be in Mt Cook Village (and more importantly - conscious) at sunrise again for a long long time - so had to stay up to get the sunrise as well... (thank god for a late checkout!)

On Sunday ) checked out the planeterium and the 3D movie at the Sir Edmond Hillary exhibit at the Hermatige.  Well worth seeing I must say, the 3d movie in particular was mind blowing - takes you to the top of the alps, skiing off piste up the mountains, crazy-people ice climbing to the peak - falling throu unstable snow - it really was amazing.

The planetarium is a digital experience and takes you through the solarsystem, and outside and is also pretty cool.  For me it was interesting taking the info about our star constellations along with the pictures Id taken the night before.

I also watched a commerative video on a vintage car rally around the McKenzie country - mainly to see if any of my aunts/uncles - were on the film, as I have family members who are right into vintage cars and have some lovely restored vehicles they often take on the rallys...

Then headed home, took some more pics at the lake, and then got stopped by a farmer and sheep and sheep dogs between tekapo and I think Fairlie.  In a snap-happy mood I whipped out the nikon and took a load of shots - many over or under exposed as I didnt have time to keep edging forward and adjust shutter and apeture etc.
Took one of the farmer at the end with his dogs all lined up by him (he was looking at me like wtf are you doing - farmer - if happen to see this and you want copies email me)

Then I decided to take pics of some lambs as well

So heres all the pics and vid...

'

Ski Cam (thats me - skiing holding the phone cam) - 1

Ski Cam 2

Crowds.....

Mt Dobson

Me

Me

Tumbleweed, anyone?

From McKenzie Country, New Zealand

Bet none of you have arms as big as mine!!!!

Cattrack

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Working Dogs - Waiting to get to it...

Sunrise over Mt Tasman (I think)  - to clarify  - it WAS sunrise - but I cannot guarantee you it was Mt Tasman (pretty sure though)

Baaaaa!  (80 mill n counting...)

Lamba's!!!

But wait - there's more!

........and wait you will... as my laptop/picassa/something else has shat itself and I cant upload therest of the pics just now.

I promise Ill try to get em up sometime soon

Otherwise just check out my picassa photos (which I am also in the process of tidying up)

- that link may not work - still trying to find a link in google picassa that I can give people for the whole album.

In the meantime 'friends' (anyone Ive ever emailed...) will be sent links to updated folders

Update:

Lake Pukaki

Lake Pukaki

From McKenzie Country, New Zealand

Lake Pukaki

Dobson

Lake Pukaki

I just had to post these pics.....

I finally went out and brought some skis this week, and then headed off to Hamner Springs to stay at the ski field there for the weekend.

It was the clubs 'Barcardi Cup' weekend - which basically means they drink barcardi and have a ski race, followed by a right proper piss up .

So that was Sat night.  Me and my friend Brian decided to drive up on Friday evening, an idea which I was pondering the sense of, as it meant driving up the access road that we'd never been up before, in the dark. 

Originally we were going to take my car as its a wagon and would have more room for skis, but my mate had a 4wd - not a high wheel base jeep or pajero etc, but a sedan which has 4wd so when it turned out my skis fit in that we went in his car, and thank god we did, because I really dont think it would have been any fun at all trying to figure out how to fit chains to my car on the side of a super narrow road, in the dark in sub-zero temperatures....

The road was much rougher than Ive encountered before going to a ski field and my mate is not originally from NZ so had no 'ice and snow and 'generally rough as guts' road experience, so I ended up driving up the access road, thanking god for the time I spent 4wd'ing in australia....  Luckily the road was pretty dry and apart from some ice etc near the very top it was not slippery.  The cars 4wd was fine and I never felt as though it was even slightly slipping.

We got there and I parked in what turned out to be a really stupid place, and as Brian and I were unpacking the car it started sliding backward towards us!

Anyway we managed to stop the car sliding any further, reversed it back to a slightly flatter bit of ground, and got all our stuff out, and headed on in.  Two other friends, Perrine (who I met in WA, Aust) and her friend Marine - were already there - they are visiting NZ at the moment.  And we had a megaton of bedding as they had asked us to bring more for them cos they were cold - and it was FREEZING!.  If you are staying on a mountain in a ski field lodge which has no power (and therefore no heat) when the generator goes off... these little heat thingys you can get at ski and sport shops are worth their weight in gold!  The cost between $4 and $10 dep on the shape, I had some on the first night that stuck to the outside of my sock at the toe end - and then last night two that were like an innersole, and also this amazing hand warmer one!.  You open them up and expose the pack to air and the thing heats up and stays hot for hours!  Anyway I opened this handwarmer one about 12am sat night/sunday morning.  It was still toasty hot at around 3pm this afternoon! (The label said about 5 hrs).  Now (at 11.30) its still warmish.....  Im definately going to get the feet ones next time I ski - if you are someone who gets the cold curled up sore toe thing in cold spots - these things are the go!

So saturday morning up we got - well Brian - being a first time skier was up at 9am to go sort himself a lesson, and I got up at the more civilised time of 11am-ish....

Unfortunately Perrine and Marine were so knackered from a day of rope tow / nutcracker boarding on Friday they (and their ripped to buggery gloves and aching muscles) headed off on Saturday, having decided that further sking was physically impossible and that they wanted to spend their last week in NZ heading down to queenstown....

I ran into my workmate Tessa (who was decent enough to get us beds at the last moment for a booked out party weekend!) in the day lodge and so off we headed. 

Hamner has 2 tows, a rope tow... which if you havent been to a club field before is basically just a rope that is moving, which you have to grab with your hands, then fold this metal thingy (nutcracker) around it and then hold the nutcracker really tight to keep it wedged around the rope.  Its hard work for skiers, hate to think what its like for boarders....  Anyway so there is that - and then there is the poma/platter.  Which is like a T-bar for one person, and not as hard work as the rope toe (though it had a decidedly evil patch just after you got on where the rope that the pomas hang from is really low and the thing tries to evict you at that point....

I hate rope tows, have never used a nutcracker and everything ive been told about them has convinced me i never should!  So off I went up the poma.

Got to the top and realised it was significantly more difficult terrain than Id skied before....ever.... on top of that I was in brand new skis Id never worn before so unused to and unsure of them.  Then to make things worse the run was not all groomed, and my skis are carving skis with a 'narrow waist' which means they arent fit for off piste, and about 10-20 times throughout the purchase process I was asked 'now you dont want to go off piste on these do you because they are no good.....'

So here I am on the hell steep slope, with ungroomed snow in brand new skis..... with Tessa, who is a very good....snow boarder, and therefore totally unable to help me ski!

Luckily this aussie dude steve heard me saying something along the lines of"How the f--k am I going to get down I cannot f-king ski that!".  And talked me thru side skidding/slipping thru the worst of it.  I even got up the confidence to start sking it a little.....

Then he headed oiff and Tessa and I headed across the poma and ended up on ungroomed snow, and kinda lost as to what was the best trail.  Luckily for me, Tessa is a very good boarder so although she couldnt tell me how to ski it, she could board ahead of me and let me know what the snow was like.... it was like concrete!

About this time a combination of the heat, the fact I was on prednisone for an inflamed inner ear, and a hangover all kicked in and I started feeling so thirsty that I would have happily sold off a member of my immediate family into slavery, in exchange for a cup of water - I even tried to eat snow.

When we finally got down I was feeling light headed, and off balance, and very very sick.  According to Tessa my eyes were all red and I looked unwell.  I felt like I was burning up and went and brought a pump water bottle and was putting that all over my face (this is up a snowy mountain!).

Luckily after an hour or so and a lot of water I recovered, and headed back up again.  Decided to try and tackle the poma again, but having looked at the trail map thought mybe going around the back of the field would be better.  So Tessa offered to head up and check it up and then come back down.   It took ages for her to get back down and that turned out to be because a large chunk of the run was not ski/boardable so Tessa'd ended up on more of a hiking tour than a boarding one.  Anyway her and others said the snow was ungroomed and rock hard and pretty nasty so decided to flag that.  So we went back up and I decided to head down the same way I had earlier.  Tessa said will you be ok if I head off and Ill come back up & find you.  I figured id be fine and said go ahead, and so off she went.  I then managed to loose the track - (which was easy as there was a ton of ungroomed snow, and then what I guess was the day befores groom track as it looked groomed - till you skied on it and it was like concrete.).

I got down to the crossover point over the poma and from there started heading down a slope that was way steeper than I was comfy with.  Anyway - I got stuck and had a nice wee panic attack up there.  I was skidding down, and then tried to turn, not even attempting to parallel ski a turn but just trying to 'super-huge-snow-plow' myself around.  Even that failed and it was so steep and icy that as soon as I headed into the turn I started going downward and couldnt stop myself.  My new skis by the way - were great and had edges for africa - and still I couldnt turn on that slope!

So I sat there panicing and thinking how am I going to get down... It didnt help that right before I went up the poma, a woman skier had fallen and had a really nasty break in her leg in the same spot, they had brought her down on the sled thingy and you could hear her screaming in pain all over the field....  I wondered if she would have to be driven down all the way with no pain relief, but found out later from Holly who - works up there, that they are all trained in first aid to a level where they can give pain relief...  But anyway - while I was stuck up the hill I was wondering if I was going to end up the same way as this woman.  I couldnt traverse across the hil in front of me as it went straight onto a black run which was just ice, ice ice... I couldnt turn as I couldnt keep control in a turn, and I couldnt go back wards on that terrain....  So I sat there for a while like a big girls blouse and had a wee freak out.

Luckily Tessa found me and talked me down.  By that time Id just lost my confidence and the snow was all ungroomed and either rock hard, or - as I was about to findout - too soft.

I now understand why narrow waist carvers shouldnt go off piste.  Imagine a dolphin diving under the surf at a beach... This is what my skis did in the powder ungroomed.  They didnt go forward - they nosedived down into the snow.  Suddenly it wasnt just my lack of skiing ability - it was my skis totally inability to stay on top of the snow in that terrain!

So after a lot of back and forth and pissing and whinging on my behalf - and much tolerance on Tessa's we found our way over to the rope tow and crossed that - over another huge hunk of ungroomed concrete - onto the groomed runs there where I was finally able to actually ski....  Unfortunately by then it was the end of the day...

Meanwhile my mate Brian, was going great guns in the learner section.  Every time I saw him he was hooning down the hill, often falling, but back up straight away.  I was thinking to myself, hes doing pretty well.... then the tinny bugger headed straight down into a parallel stop...wtf?  I dont think he believed me when I told him thats (to my knowledge and confirmed by other skiers that evening) an intermediate maneouvure, and most definately not a beginner - day one thing to do!   He also managed a perfect balanced backward snow plough, and generally seemed to have a natural ability for skiing.  I hope he decides to go up again.

So then later in the day it was time for the ski event of the weekend, the Barcardi Cup.  This is not a Barcardi sponsored professional looking ski race.... its a free for all where everyone dresses up in some pretty hilarious outfits.... the barcardi is shared around prior to the race (and Id guess several times on the way up the mountain and around the back from the top of the poma to where the race was....)

All the racers were dressed up, Tessa was in a long dress and wig, her hubby Matt was in the most gorgeous pink skirt (with no arse) and stickings and a kayak front thingywhatsit (looked like those things that scots put in front of the kilt...), there were leotards, arabs, space suits, all sorts of stuff - everyone went all out.   Tessa won a prize for attempted bribery of the judges.  

The rest of the evening was a rfancy dress party, I went as 'the navy' Brian attracted a few of the ladies as Zorro, Tessa was supergirl, and there were most other characters floating about...

From that point on things get a little hazy... there was a lot of alcohol, a dj and dancing, 2 naked guys deciided to climb off the roof and do a nuddie run though the snow.... and by the end of the night there were some exceedingly drunk people.....

I crashed around 2am, and woke up at around 8.30 to hear Tessa and friends in the room next door laughing their heads off at one of their mates....

Everyone was too hungover to ski on Sunday, and so after breakfast, and a cuppa hearbal tea, and enough time to hopefully be under the limit, I drove Brians car back down.  The road was scarier in the daylight as I could see exactly how far up we were and how dam narrow it was!  Also Brians car has super super super strong sensitive brakes and I was just sitting in idle and braking the entire way down this narrow road with very sharp turns and lumps and bumps all over.  Apparently they spent something like 30K upgrading it recently (god only knows what it was like prior!).  I thought it would be a 'bit' worse than the likes of the mt hutt road, etc, -however to compare the two, the mt hutt access road was like a 4 lane freeway in comparison!  Anyone who is planning to club ski in NZ - I seriously recommend you get a 4x4- proper high wheel base one....

Next weekend Im heading up (ALONE) to either Cheeseman or Hutt, Jo and I were going up but she has been told at least 2 more weeks before she can ski - since hurting her back recently......  Cheeseman sounds good and its nice & cheap - but I need a 4x4 to get there - as Brian isnt going up again for a while, and I dont wanna drive my car up there....

Anyway - here are some pix of the weekend.

Sat Afternoon

Sat Afternoon (waiting for the Barcardi Cup racers to come down)

Sat

Friday night around 11pm - this is a night photo taken on long exposure.

Another night pic.  Though it might look like day, you can see the stars are out

Hello all

Thought I'd upload a few vids from recent times.

This weekend I am off to Hamner Springs Skifield for their 'Barcardi Cup' weekend.  Apparently its a bit of a party where we ski in fancy dress - but the sking is like a demolition derby (for those of you from places where that term isnt used - demo derby means smash into as many other ppl as you can and be the last standing - usually referring to cars...!). 

Given my intermediate ski level I will enter this only wearing (we have to wear some sort of costume) a white "I surrender dont hurt me!" flag on my head or somewhere equally visible....

Anyway it all sounds like loads of fun, Id actually tried to book to stay there this weekend not realising that it was their main event of the year and of course they were booked out - then talking to one of my workmates (Tessa, hereafter known as 'legend') about the upcomming week she mentioned she was staying there and I said "you lucky thing we tried but it was booked out" - then it turned out some friends of hers who she had booked for might not be going....so in the end we ended up with their beds!

Its been a lil bit busy in my place lately - Ive had John from Oz staying here then Nicky from Auckland - soon-to-be-NYC just for a night, and then Perrine who I met in Perth (she is from France and was in Perth to do an internship) said she was heading over to NZ with a mate - so I said come stay at mine, and now her and Marine - her friend - are joining me and another friend who will be having his first time skiing ever....up ath Hamner this weekend.

Its nice to see someone who is going to try skiing for the first time - rather than spend his days on his arse trying to get up on a board... no offense to boarders - but it just looks hard and wrong, but its also way more 'cool' now so everyone who hasnt skied or boarded seems to decided to punish themselves with a snowboard...  Given Hamner is a rope tow only field, Im kinda relieived my mate Brian is skiing, so I dont have to feel too guilty about boarders slogging it up rope tows (the french ladies are forewarned and decided cheap was better than chair...)

I still havent gotten around to going and sorting some skis myself.  I have been feeling a bit off this week, and today suddenly realised that the number of vague symptoms Id had - when put together with my hears going all deaf & sore today probably meant ear infection.  It also makes me feel dizzy & off balance - so off to the Dr I went this afternoon to have it confirmed my 'ears were fulla fluid, my eyesight was wonky as a result and my glands and temperature were up like a..(I dunno...'up thing')

So Im popping augmenton like lollies in the hope of having my inner ear affected balance restored to 100% by sat.... never tried to ski while drunk  or off balance- the way my ears feel at the moment - its probably pretty close to what skiing drunk would be like.  And despite what some of you might think (that I like my wine - lies!!!) I dont drink and ski - heck I dont even have half a light beer and ski (actually thats more about not wanting to waste a run in the loo than anything else ;l)

Anyway, Im hoping to take my 'proper' camera - as we are staying on the field so I can leave it either in my car or the lodge - and it might be fun to get some pix of sat nights fancy dress party (assuming Im not in the local a & e if I fo in this demo derby thingywhatsit earlier that day....)

We were going to be joined by Jo, another mate of mine but unfortunately she decided a couple of weeks ago to lift a 120kg+ chap singlehandedly (shes a physio - and should know better - speshly given shes such a slender wee thing its hard to imagine her lifting 120kg!) Anyway, her Dr says at least one more week before she can hit the slopes in '2 greased planks'.  So me being the caring friend that I am, booked us in for the following weekend at hamner...

oh the suffering..oh... the woe...2 wknds skiing....

 in a row... I am a martyr I am....yes... ...

(thats tonights attempt at rhyme).

Anyway - while my mind is full of the frozen unique (did you read that as a kid - no two snowflakes are alike?? (prove It I say!) stuff....here is a video of my mate John..... this is his 2nd day on a snowboard - and I think from what Ive seen of other ppl trying it, hes doing pretty dam well!  Im  no expert on snowboarding (frankly dont know anything about it - I ski - cos thats sensible...) but the ppl Ive seen try it seem to spend a good few days on their arse and about 2-3m in one go on the board - so Johns - 50 m or so seems a pretty dam good effort for day 2 (thats kinda half day too we got up to the field at lunchtime both days).

Unfortunately John aggravated an old tailbone injury and couldnt board any more after day 2, on this trip, but given the 'I love boarding and miss it already' noises he was making,   I suspect that we will see him again either in nz or at threadbo etc....

Oh if you dont know him, Johns the dude in the orange top and black pants

This next clip is some pics and vid of Doubtful sound...