Up coming four wheel drive trip fundraiser ~ weekend of 6-7 March 2010

For perhaps near on 20 years my cousin Mike and a handful of enthusiastic friends in North Otago Search and Rescue have pioneered organising 4 wheel drive trips [drive your own] all over the remote areas of Otago. Apparently they've guided about 7500 vehicles over this time, and that'd equate to well over 14,000 people!

Since permission from high country farmers is hard to organise [finding out who owns what], and there are so many complex routes and tracks, they're very popular with the public - you pay your money and rock on up. They're not all about pitting one's vehicle against the terrain either, but about enjoying a day out in the hills. I like to sign up to see remote areas myself, and like to be the tail ender helping shut gates etc..

This autumn [best season - good traction means no damage to terrain, vehicles or nerves] Mike invited me and my camera on the pre runs which are right on my back door step, and as I prefer to ride with him to catch up in a brotherly way, rather than drive myself, we talked about trying a blog to see if it'd be useful for folk who are contemplating coming, to see a few photos.

So below is all the guff for anyone keen and a selection of photos made last weekend during the recce. of the two trips offered on the Sat. and Sun. of the weekend 6-7 March 2010.

Actually re-post to a different blog [btw I use MarsEdit to blog - it's Mac and marvellous, and I can post about 4 times faster than in blogger, to numerous destinations]

Day One: Dunstan Mountains - from Cromwell Gorge to Thomsons Gorge road via Leaning Rock.

Dunstan tops...


Lake Dunstan...


Leaning Rock...


Track up to Leaning Rock...


Arriving at Leaning Rock...


Gentian...


Past Leaning Rock...

Recce crew has lunch...




Stamper Battery Thomsons Gorge...


Trip ending at Northburn Station Vineyard...




Day Two: Pisa Range - southern end.

On the tops at 1900 mts...


Possible morning tea stop in this ancient glacial cirque...


Looking across at the Dunstans and Leaning Rock...


Fragile alpine bog...


Looking towards Roaring Meg country...

Fragile vegetation abounds...








Register 8 to 8.30 am for a 9 am start each day at the Cromwell sports grounds on Alpha St.

Cost $35 per adult per day. Under 16 no charge. Deposits to John Simpson, 6 Forth St.. Oamaru. Chqs. made out to N.O.S.A.R.

No dogs allowed.

For Sat. night we recommend the Cromwell Top 10 Camping Ground ph 0800 107 275, and is very close to the assembly point.

Should the weather be unsuitable it will be held the following weekend 13 - 14 March. In event of cancellations please tune into Radio Central [More FM] Port FM or Classic Hits FM [4ZB].

John Simpson: 03 437 1689
Mike Firman: 03 434 7385 or 027 220 1948

Photos and blog creation Donald Lousley email

More Clutha River meanderings, this time with a flavour of gold mining history

After an unsettled but mild beginning to spring, this weekend, both mornings when waking we found it snowing outside. Conducive then to being indoors, Dougal and I decided on some exercise this Sunday afternoon when there was some sun, so headed off again to explore the Clutha River, determined to make a competent job of landscape photography to publish here to draw attention to ill conceived ideas quietly being published by the spin doctors telling us we need more dams on this world heritage class river!

In the vicinity of Reko's Point again...


Drift fishing by raft - this was maybe my friend Lewis who runs an Eco Rafting operation on the river, but the wind did not enable him to hear my greeting from atop a rather large cliff...


Thumbing our noses at tracks, up the bank we travelled noting the recently established Didymo is slippery stuff to walk on when it's exposed...


This forced us into some scrub bashing, which in turn forced us to travel under this very interesting cliff, until we could turn the upstream end and gain a broad terrace to pick up the track home...








On turning the upstream end of the band of unusual sedimentary layering, we're still very puzzled as to the purpose of this small and strongly constructed wall right on the very end of it. Behind Dougal there were many gold working tailings, and surprisingly they'd piled the rocks right on the very edge of the aforementioned cliff - little did we realise while traveling below that this had been done, and I still can't understand why they did not just toss them off, and if they had we'd have noticed the extra complexity they would have added to our scrambling...


On higher ground again we found the travel easier as the soil and pene-plain rocks don't encourage vegetation...


On these wandering, as opposed to having kayaked this river many years ago, I'm starting to realise that to understand it's place in the environment we have to walk and explore the banks and look at it in the bigger picture of the landscape. In this instance in relation to the end view of the Pisa Range...


... and also in the context of the huge areas neighbouring the river where native vegetation and bird life, native and otherwise, flourishes. I was relived we were on our short little ridge/terrace which allowed us to have a semi "high" route through this rich and densely growing Kanuka, and Matagouri etc...


This week's link to a newsworthy blog puts the very essence of life in perspective: Bob Mc Kerrow's DEATH, DESTRUCTION AND HOPE IN SUMATRA EARTHQUAKE.

Keep up the good work Bob, take care and know our thoughts and prayers are with you and those caught up in this tragedy.

Rain and more rain, with more snow up high...

It's been a frustrating week weather wise, not only for skiing but living also, as a constant succession of fronts prevail on us. Westerlies keep continuing then tend back more northwesterly and then freshen again with rain followed by tending to colder west to southwesterlies with snow lowering on the mountains.

Some nice light was to be had for making landscape photos, just before the next bad weather to the west arrived...


Did I mention the snow? Above about 1500 meters there is more than you can wave a stick at - below this... well the inaugural Winter Games, while aspects such as the cross country skiing at the Snow Farm were on track as they were held over three successive days and the weather cooperated mostly, over at Coronet there have been delays due to storms for days. I've found it very sad too that TV coverage on the main NZ channels has been lacking for such a huge event that in essence leads up to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in several months time, and sets the tone that NZ can be a serious player in winter sports.

My fellow time keepers for my Winter Games volunteer day on Tuesday. We started in cloud and wind and ended in rain and a snowstorm...


Last chance for a few hours for seeing the sun on the snow - looking at the area where the Criffel and Pisa ranges intersect...


For press releases on the Winter Games events held at the Snow Farm, I've put together a collection of links on one page on nordicnz.com