Carrington Hut Day 2

Well we were awoken early today by some of the others talking in the kitchen area, Dad and Emma got up early but I tried to stay in bed as long as possible, even though I was cooking! I finally got up and got some warm clothes on, wandered into the kitchen and started breakfast. We brought along Uncle Toby Oat Temptations which are soooo fantastic! after a good breakfast we started packing up everything and made a move for it. It was pretty fresh outside, and after taking some photos outside the hut we were on the way, not long after walking we were into the freezing river and cris-crossing the river taking the shortest path possible. The sun hadn't made it to us yet so it was quite nice (cool anyway). We stopped for some scrogg on a log, then the next stop was at Anti Crow hut for some lunch, I think we were more lunch though, the sandflies were everywhere! and they didnt see to mind the insect repellant...so after quickly scoffing lunch we moved on. It was so hot out now, and there were no more river crossings for the rest of the trip :o( we stopped quite a lot on the way back as dad was really feeling the effects of walking all day in the heat. But we eventually made it back to the car, got our hot boots off and headed for Springfield for a well deserved ice cream. Note to everybody, check your insoles before tramping, I managed to wear 2 insoles in my boots for the trip, no wonder my toes hurt (they are usually fine)...so yeah good lesson to be learnt.

Carrington Hut Day 1

Today we began a 2 day tramp to the upper reaches of the Waimakariri river. Emma and I managed to convince dad to come along on this one as it was only going to be a short 3-4 hour walk. We set off after Emma had finished What Now and arrived around the 1pm mark, had some lunch and a coffee before setting off. The day was sweltering and the walk was all on the open flats. After walking for a good 2 hours we were all looking forward to a river crossing to cool off a bit, thankfully not to far after the Anti Crow hut we were blessed with knee deep crossings, we met up with an American tramper named Miles and walked the rest of the way with him. Now if you read the DOC route description it states NOT to follow the marked track after Harper Creek but what did we do? yep, followed the marked track and ended up on a boggy overgrown track which slowed us down. It was getting later in the day and the sun was beginning to get low in the sky, we were all hanging out for the hut. Thankfully it was just around the corner, but what we thought was going to be a short 3 hour walk took more like 5.5 hours! oh well we didnt have to walk in the dark so no worries. We got to the hut, threw our packs down and got the sleeping bags out (why did I bring a 4 season mountaineering one? it was toasty in the hut). Anyway we had a sit down before cooking a fantastic pasta meal with fresh mushrooms and salami and mashed kumera on the side! yummy!!! The rest of the night was spent around the table chatting to all the other trampers in there.

Lake Daniells Tramp

We have just got back from doing an easy 2 day tramp to Lake Daniells in the Lewis Pass area. We left Christchurch on Saturday approx 9:30am and arrived around lunchtime at the carpark. Unpacked all the gear, got eaten alive by sandflies and made our way towards Lake Daniells (DOC recommend 3 hours one way), the day was warm and the river lookd so inviting! Anyway we moved quickly and before we knew it we were there in just on 2 hours (how did we knock one third of the walk time off?). The hut was nice but was going to be crowded with all the people turning up so we setup camp in the forest up the lake a bit and headed to the hut to sign the book. We spent most of the afternoon taking photos and working on a puzzle book until dinner time. Now I must add tea looked fantastic until Emma threw it all over the ground (accident I know, but still...the pasta looked so good!). We ended up having pumpkin mash with cheese, pita bread and salami which was fine. After dinner we went for a walk and then sat on the jetty spotting trout. After we retired to bed, did some reading and more puzzles before hitting the sack. After a restless sleep we arose to a fresh morning, but after running around making breakfast and packing the tent up we soon warmed up. We shortly left the lake and were back to the carpark in 2 hours. Lunch in the sun at the carpark before heading back to Christchurch, all in all a really fantastic easy trip, and one we will have to do again sometime.

3 Year Anniversary

YAY, Today Emma and I are celebrating our 3 year anniversary :o)

New Phone

Finally I have decided to bite the bullet and buy a new phone. I saw this little puppy in the Vodafone store the other day and was very impressed. However at a rather steep $499 I thought I would look around for a better deal, Thailand? in the end I bought it online from New Zealand and it cost me slightly under $400 so I thought thats ok. Just got to wait for it to arrive now :o( hopefully get it before the weekend! Anyway see the pic for the phone (Nokia 6121 in Blue)

How slack am I?

Ok well over the last 2 months or so I have written pretty much nothing...so sorry for that but have not really been doing that much fun stuff. Work, painting a room, although Emma and I did buy a new 40" LCD TV, PS3, 5.1 home theatre system and the like so has been some cool things happening. Just planning a couple of tramps for the 2 upcoming weekends so should be good. Emma and I are going to try our hand a lake Daniells again for our 3 year anniversary and the following weekend (Easter weekend) Dad and I are going on a CTC trip over the Ball Pass below Mt Cook so should be a lor of fun and hard work! Now I am just trying to decide whether to buy a new pack of now (an alpine one, its on special so pretty good deal!) hmmmn decisions decisions!. Well until later have fun and I promise I will write more.