2003 September - Lake Waikaremoana

I decided to do this walk in winter , Lake Waikaremoana is in the Urewera national park


























- I just about had the whole lake to myself , I think I saw 12 other people in total . After going through Rotorua you head through Murapara - 90 km of winding dirt roads . It's a good thing I left a day early because I got so tired of driving at 20km an hour that I started going a bit faster - 30 km/hr is enough to get my stomach moving on a road like that and at 45 km I was so sick I had to climb into the back of the car and sleep it off .  






The next day I located the 'water taxi' service , they drop you off at the beginning of the track and pick you up at the end . The boat was out of service so they dropped me off by van . The driver needed reassurance that the machete and hunting knife were for trees that had fallen across the track - but he didn't look that convinced .


They dropped me off at Sandy bay and I started making my way up the Panekiri range to the hut ....








In the evening I was reading and it was raining quite loudly on the roof - suddenly things went quiet and I looked out the window and it had started snowing ! I ran for my camera and ran outside and it changed to rain again :( .






The next morning the weather cleared up a bit for some photos .








I wish I knew a bit more about photography back then !






I made my way down to Waiopaoa hut in the morning and had breakfast there .




Past the Korokoro campsite , over the bridge .....








I saw some wild pigs that took off ....




It is an interesting track - and well maintained ...




 I kept heading for the Maraunui hut 








 I turned out to be an interesting night , it didn't rain hard , just a gentle drizzle that I couldn't hear but I woke up a few times with the sound of what seemed to be 500 rats running along the roof a few times . Eventually I got the torch ready , had the machete in my hand , and when I heard the noise again I ran out at the ready with the machete ..... it was some trees above the roof - each time the wind blew the water fell off them in a row across the roof .
This warning on the door had me worried about rats originally .....




The next day I headed off for Waiharuru hut which turned out to be a nice new construction in a very nice area .




There was nobody else around so I decided to keep walking to the end of the track even though I would finish the 53 km a day early .
When I got to the end of the track there were a few others there that had done the walk which meant one of the taxi services would be there to hopefully give me a lift back to the camp .
When they arrived I asked the one driver if I could pay him to take me back and mentioned that I had been dropped off in a red van ... he said to me " That was my son " , then he looked at the machete handle sticking out of my pack and said " On Friday when he came home he said " Dad , no matter what happens don't let me forget to pick up the South African on Monday ! " " ...... it's not as if there are  blood stains on the machete or something ?


I can't remember where it was that I stayed that night - it was a motel somewhere along this road ....
 I'm starting to remember what I ate that night though !


 It was  along time ago but I think I just convinced myself to head back there soon !













009.) The Pinnacles , Thames 06/2003

The Pinnacles walk near Thames is classified as one of the 'Great Walks' in New Zealand . It is very popular and the hut at the top is top class . It has two separate bunk rooms that each have 40 bunks providing bedding for 80 people . You have to book in advance , even if you want to spend the night in the nearby camping site .
There used to be a lot of logging in the area and steps have been cut in the rocks in many places along the track .
We arranged a group of 15 people keen to do the walk and arrived in a few carloads . We got there first and decided to start walking/climbing .




There are a few bridges to cross , everything is well maintained along the track .




Some of the 'stone steps'




Apparently they used flooding techniques to wash large amounts of logs down the river which resulted in a fair amount of damage - something us humans seem to excel at .




There's the hut in the distance ...




Now my machete on the bed there adds to the story - I put it there to help mark out beds for everyone in our group .




The hut warden had asked about it and I assured him it was just in case a small tree had fallen across the track so I could clear it away without having to damage new vegetation by going around it - I even did him the favour of showing him how to twirl a machete -





He obviously didn't appreciate that because when the first of my mates got to the top he said he had seen the map stating that it was a 3 - 5 hour walk - 5 km up a steep hill , and asked the hut warden , who he met coming down the track , what the fastest time anyone has done the track was .
The hut warden replied " A madman with a machete just did it in 1 hr 27 minutes " - he told me he immediately knew I was at the hut ....


As mentioned it is very well laid out , except for the fact that the showers are cold water only .




There is also a kitchen with gas cookers and a gas barbeque on the sizable verandah where you can sit and look out over the treetops .


The 'dunnies'


The next morning we decided to climb the pinnacles which are supposedly a half hour walk from the hut and can afford views of the east and west coast on a clear day  .


As you can see it was a little foggy so our view wasn't too good .






If we had stayed another half an hour we would have had a good view because the cloud started lifting as we made our way down .




The steel ladder leading up to the lookout .....




And on many of the walks in New Zealand you can be pretty sure of running into some mud along the way which is fortunately reasonably well taken care of on the more popular walks .










It's a good walk and now I'm tempted to return with a better camera after more than 6 years ... 
06/2004 was another short trip , not with a good camera though .
We stayed in the campsite this time ...


and had slightly clearer weather for viewing from the lookout

 But we came down via a different track which was a refreshing change .




There is a lot of history to the place and they make sure that everything is well marked on these walks .






It has been a few years but there is still much to see before I go back to old tracks again I suppose .


Interestingly I just noticed the old picture compared to this trip while going through the pictures :
first trip :
second trip .....






















 





008) Lietches clearing 10/2003

This is an old trip we did , back in 2003 , taken with my old 4 meg Panasonic DMC-LC5.
Lietches clearing was an area of land cleared out by a farmer many years ago who anticipated that one day it would be a major traffic intersection ... still waiting !
Now it is a nice walk to a hut which also has a few dog kennels available for hunters [ I mean for the hunters dogs !] .
It involves a gradual uphill walk for about 1 1/2 hours followed by a gradual downhill walk for 1 1/2 hours with some reasonable scenery along the way


We used to always take a 'before' picture on our walks ,  Wayne , Jeremy and me ...








I won't claim to remember everything from that trip but a picture can tell the story and refresh my mind .
Jeremy insisted on carrying 1 1/2 litres of Coke ....




And Wayne was always trying to sneak it out of his pack ....




At one point there is a landslip which you have to work your way around .






And that's the hut ...
There is a nice swimming hole there , some people tie their food to a rope and hang it in the water to keep it cold which is why I never swam in it - I'm not too fond of freezing water .

This is a view of the hut from the nearby hill which was also nicely cleared away .






There were two families in the hut - with screaming kids so we decided to make shelter in the nearby trees ...




I think our shelter turned out pretty cozy in fact .....


We took a few videos that night , this was a thumbnail of one of the videos which included a lightsabre duel with our LED torches ...





But it was this trip that convinced me that I needed a new sleeping bag because there was a frost that night and my ears were sore when I woke up .




We had breakfast in the hut though .


Those two guys on the left were eating boerewors , I asked them if they were South African but they said that they just worked for a South African butcher .
Besides that it was a rather uneventful return journey and the scenery was good -though my photography wasn't so good back then .
I dropped Wayne off at home until the next adventure ....

Photovan gets a helmet-cam !



Today I tested my new "gopro hero" HD helmet cam after mounting it on the dash of the van .


 
  

I'll be adding some pictures and video links as I process the images . 

This is the first short video clip I tried while driving out of my driveway onto the main road heading in to Raglan from 'Te Uku' .
 The quality was set at its lowest and has been further degraded by youtube processing . I'll add a link to a clip of 100% quality video for anyone interested in seeing what it is really capable of .

I took some stills as well , where they were jumping off the bridge in Raglan town . Since the camera uses a centre weighted metering pattern and the sky was bright there will be more noise in the shadow areas which are under-exposed .




And this is a 100% crop of the pole in the picture ....




This is a video of a drive into Raglan , along the waterfront and to the wharf ....





For anyone interested in seeing the HD quality this camera produces here is a 5 second clip of HD video [ 6 meg ]  



Electrical system of the photovan .



" A shoemakers children go to school bare-foot " .
I'm an auto electrician and there's no way I'm going to spend the time and money I tell the customers to spend .... on my own van !
We had a few good  second hand batteries at work , one is behind the drivers seat , the other is behind the desk at the back .




The earth connection goes straight down to ground , bolted to the body of the van . The positive connections of the two batteries are joined together with a 30 amp fuse at either end in case of a short circuit . 
There is an isolating switch , usually for boat batteries , between the seats and this takes a positive feed from the main van battery , I operate this manually so it depends on my memory whether the batteries get charged or not ... the correct way to do this would be to use a voltage sensitive relay    which would automatically connect the two systems together when the alternator starts charging [ 13.7 volts or higher ]- and disconnect when the voltage drops below 12.8 volts , in other words when the engine stops .
This will prevent the 'house batteries' draining the van battery to ensure that the van can start in the morning even if the additional batteries have been run dead flat .
If this ever happens , and the house batteries are run dead flat care would have to be taken not to rev the engine up when the vehicle starts because the house batteries will demand a very high current which could melt the alternator windings [ an alternator only has a voltage regulator and has no protection for excessive current draw ]  , the 30 amp fuses would prevent this in my situation because they would 'pop' but I would not know this and the batteries would stay flat  - with bigger fuses this would not happen so easily and the alternator windings could get dangerously hot . The best to do in this situation would be to start the van and let it idle slowly for 10 minutes , limiting the alternator's voltage and current output capacity to a minimum amount which would not damage it or blow the safety fuses with a sudden current surge .






Where possible I have used gas for cooking [ and emergency heating in winter ] since using the inverters for cooking [ microwave oven perhaps ] draws a huge current from the batteries that won't last long .
there are also 16 cigarette lighter plugs [ 4 batches of 4 ] in various places since many camping accessories plug into them easily .
The spare batteries have various other wires coming off them to the extra cigarette lighter adapters , running various accessories - two of which are map lights which can be pulled out and plugged in wherever needed , along with the gps , and a wireless fm transmitter something like this ...



so I will always have something to listen to even when there is no reception - and no cd's to skip tracks on rough roads . It takes a USB adapter and a 2 gig card holds 400 songs . It transmits wirelessly so it's just a matter of tuning the radio station in to the right frequency . this has the added advantage of being able to have a cheap looking stereo that's not worth stealing while being able to listen to high quality audio via an fm signal . 
Fortunately I want the van to look like a piece of junk , I don't want people to think there may perhaps be $10 000 worth of camera gear inside . 
Being a paranoid South African I also have an alarm system installed just in case .





22.) Tongariro - snowy northern ciruit

May 2009 :


Snowy Northern Circuit adventure !
At the end of May I did the Tongariro crossing and there was only a little snow and I had hoped for more so this time I waited until I knew there would be more snow - I had wanted a bit more of an adventure . But this time I was going to do the northern circuit which includes the scenic part of the crossing and a night at the hut followed by a 25km walk back to the village the next day .
On Monday night I was told that there would be organized transport to the beginning of the track at 9am so I wouldn't have to walk the 9km from the Chateaux so Tuesday morning I took some pictures while I waited for the visitor centre to open so I could fill in a form stating where I would be and when I would be back .



When the visitor centre opened at 8 am they told me the organized transport had already left [ some people pay $150 for a guided trip up into the snow ] so I went back to the camp cafe where they arrange some transport .
They phoned through to one of the transport companies , made some quick arrangements and I was told I had 20 minutes to be ready which is where things started going wrong - in my hurry I forgot to pack my waterproof rain pants .
When the driver picked me up he told me he wasn't going to the beginning of the track , there was a misunderstanding and he could only drop me at the road leading to the track - an extra 7km walk .
I never had much choice so off we went .

Nguaruhoe in the distance while walking up the road ....



Ruapehu to the side .....



And here's a map of the journey starting at the bottom of the road ..... [Those numbers '5 1/2 ' etc. are wrong - they were written there when I was trying to work out some distances and thought each division was 5km instead of 10 km ]


It took just over an hour and 10 minutes to get that first 7km out of the way - I was going rather slowly because my pack was probably the heaviest its ever been - over 25kg because I had all my snow gear including another pair of boots . My 'normal' boots don't do too well in snow and my alpine boots give me blisters on anything other than snow so I had to carry both pairs , plus crampons , ice axe , food , clothing -30 degree sleeping bag , emergency shelter , small knife , big knife , machete ..... all the essentials :smile:
I saw two other DSLR's on the trip besides all the compacts - a Nikon D40 and a Nikon D90 - no Canon cameras .
I had my trusty old D50 and Tamron 17-50 lens .
I wasn't too happy with the amount of snow - I had wanted much more to make it a bit more difficult . Apparently the snow was much lower earlier and I was told that 5 days ago the ice on top was so hard that even the crampons weren't holding and climbers had to cut steps to get up .





Obviously enough high winds to have to chain the toilet down - you wouldn't want it blowing away - especially if you're in it



Then the weather started closing in .....


On the opposite ridge I had seen the organized tour heading for Tongariro summit .



As I got to the top of the first climb I saw someone running down the side of Nguaruhoe and waving and thought that perhaps there was something wrong ?



I came around the corner to get behind some rocks so I could get my serious gear on and found "Romina" from Argentina " waiting for her friend " Tina from Germany " who was running down the mountain , it turns out they were doing almost the same walk and were heading for the same hut as me so we decided to travel together . That was when I found out that in my haste I hadn't packed the rainproof pants but decided to keep going rather than turn back - if things get nasty I always have my emergency shelter .


So we headed off into the fog following the wooden marker posts in the ground .....
Last time there was a thin layer of snow and a few ice patches , this time the poles were shorter meaning a thicker layer . I was going through the snow and ice more often than the girls because of my extra weight [ the pack of course ] and once or twice we hit 'slush' where we sunk into wet slushy snow - this particular time I ran as I kept going deeper - wondering how deep it would go but luckily it wasn't too deep .



And then we headed up to the red crater





and the clouds started moving away







Was the snow deep or was the pole short ?





My gear was doing ok ....




A look across at blue lake ....



there were some patterns in the snow ....

Don't walk too close to the edge !





Red crater steaming away .....





The emerald lakes were a bit snowed up



someone had taken a short-cut across the crater ....


After the emerald lakes we started heading down ....





and suddenly it's a different world with different scenery







Tina was also carrying a reasonable size pack ...



We were all pretty tired , and after eating , the girls were in their sleeping bags by 7:00 pm - I waited till 8 and I think got about 5 hours sleep in total , noises outside , aches and pains and just about being too tired and sore to fall asleep . At 11 it started raining - heavy ! I spent most of the night waking up and listening to hear if it was still raining since I never had my rain pants with me .
In the morning it was still raining but the weather was quite warm .



Then suddenly it stopped raining , the weather went cold and it was snowing .

And these are the last few pictures before I had to put the camera away .
Romina getting ready to go ...



I wasn't sure which was worse , warm and wet or cold and snowy but at least we only had one to contend with . I eventually resorted to cutting my emergency blanket in half and wrapping it around my legs before we left , I also put on my track pants over it all . It probably made a difference , I was a bit sweaty at first but eventually I was soaked and when we got to a little bit of shelter I took one last shot of my pack before hiding the camera at the bottom with some dry clothing - each time I checked on my camera there was some water on it so I decided it was time to stop taking pictures .



I had seriously considered leaving my fleece jacket at home because I thought my alpine jacket would do a good enough job but I really needed it ! After we got down to Waihohonu hut I put my fleece jacket on because I was rather cold , and then the alpine jacket over that - somehow water was getting in everywhere and my hands were cold - I got my gloves on but when I took them off later I couldn't get them back on because my hands were wet so resorted to pulling my hands up inside my sleeves .
The snow kept falling , we had about 10 km to walk to the hut and after that about another 15km to walk back to Whakapapa village . The girls had parked at the beginning of the track so to save them an extra 8km walk I offered to give them a lift back to their car if they walked to the village where my van was .
So we all kept going to the village , the last part of the walk is relatively flat compared to what we had been through but the weather was getting worse and I seriously wondered how long I could last on the ridges when the snow turned to small ice particles blowing in our faces . My old H-frame pack is getting a little tired and the strap kept jumping out on the left side while the waist belt kept slipping , it wasn't a comfortable walk back - mud puddles , slipping and falling in the snow , adjusting the straps with cold wet hands , the last few hours seemed to take forever ...... it was one of my best trips ever !
When we finally got back I dropped the girls back at their car ,we said our goodbyes and they mentioned the fact that they were heading to Taupo and the hot pools and I thought of my cold van at the campsite ..... and headed for National Park where I saw a sign at a ski lodge advertising spa baths . $70 Dinner bed and breakfast was pretty good and I got to talk to one of the guys who worked in the kitchen about his D80 and photography .
The next morning the mountain looked really good .

It's been a while now but last week [ 20 March 2010 ] I got an email from Tina who is back home in Germany and finally managed to find the card I left with her . It turns out that after I dropped them off at their rental car and left .... she managed to lock the keys in the car and ended up having to walk all the way back to Whakapapa village to get the AA out to get the car open again !













21.) Stony bay revisited .



Stony bay revisted in the photovan
So far Stony Bay is on the top of my list of North island camping spots in New Zealand . I like the fact that it is quite isolated and even when it is a really busy time of the year the other campers are quite spread out - besides the good scenery of course :smile:
On Friday I packed my van ready to go but needed 'supplies' and the shops were closed so I decided to head in the general direction and sleep overnight near a town where I could buy some food for the trip .
I ended up pulling in at this place called 'Wentworth falls' ....





I took a half hour walk to the falls and got a few snaps with some sunlight on the leaves - I take the D50 when I'm walking a distance from the campsite .



I also went to the bottom of the falls and got some shots using the tripod .







Then I took some shots of the rugged path as I climbed back up again ....







By this time the sun had disappeared ...





and the path on the way back - end of day one .....

 

On Saturday morning I headed off early and bought some supplies at Thames and then started the up and down winding road to the northern tip of Coromandel ....



and at the very end of that road you look down on the last beach after 'sandy bay' .... ''Stony Bay" which is probably full of round stones from the river that empties out onto the beach .



I had another look around the campsite to find a good spot this time







and ended up camping very close to where I was last time - under the shade of some big trees [ Pohutukawas ]

This time I took my bike with as well .
For me this was an 'exercise in relaxation' , I have never been able to keep still or stay in one place more than one night so this time I stayed two nights !
In my new-found 'spare time' I actually did nothing for a while and relaxed .
But then I also wanted to go back up the walking track that leads across to Fletchers bay on the other side - but I only went up to the lookout and took a few shots there before heading back ... slowly .



The D50 is still serving me faithfully after all these years and is my 'hack' camera for rougher trips and walks in the bush .

And the lookout :





I also had the D90 and 70-200VR lens there and it was good for the slow walks around the campsite .









It was also my 'wildlife lens ' [ I took some bread with this time because I remembered the ducks ]



hasty retreat ....



The one that never got away ....





Hmmmmm , maybe next time ?



In all it was a good trip - a lot of driving though but worth it to get away from the crowds .
In a few days I'll be heading off again to climb mount Egmont [ Taranaki ] so I'll have to keep fit till then .....


20.) Photovan does Mount Egmont / Taranaki

On the 1st of the 1st 2010 I climbed Mount Egmont .
I took this picture of " The Camphouse " from the roof of the photovan for a better perspective .



When I arrived on Thursday afternoon I did a short walk and got some pictures of the surrounding plant life .











Including some of the damage caused by introduced possums ...




Friday morning I started walking at 7:15 since they rate it as a 5-8 hour climb one way .





First you head for the tower



next to this hut ....



That took just under an hour .



Then after a 5 minute rest you start climbing again



and within a few minutes you reach these steps designed more to protect the soil than help climbers .



Initial thoughts are that it is hard having your steps paced out for you but once you leave the steps you start to wish there was more of them .

After the steps is a long steep slope of scoria , lots of light loose volcanic rock particles ..... two steps forward takes you one step in the right direction as you start 'moonwalking' and welcome the occasional solid rock to step on and get full movement for a second .
At this point the gusts of gale force winds occasionally knock you off your feet if you don't learn to drop to the ground as you feel them and when you have a Nikon D50 hanging around your neck it's a bit harder .



Then you welcome the sight of solid rock to get a grip on until you notice how sharp its edges are ![ have a look at that rather suspect image right in the centre of the frame ]



Then perhaps the most scary part of the trip is when you find some nutter doing the climb butt-naked for a challenge and sort of wish he would realize how sharp the rocks are and put on some protection to make the scenery more pleasant for the rest of us !



I eventually got to the 'top' 3 hrs and 15 minutes after leaving and prepared for a walk around the crater .
At the top it was quite warm until I stepped around the corner into icy gale force winds and snow and had to get all my protective gear on before going any further .
I started walking onto the snow and almost got knocked over a few times by the wind and since I never had my proper alpine gear decided I had already seen enough and had lunch in the warm area .



Besides that I had slipped on the ridge of Mount Ruapehu in the past and ended up hanging on the safety strap of my ice axe and I didn't like the look of the sudden stop in the rocks at the bottom of this slope .



so lunch on the edge of the crater would be enough for me ...


Going up was nerve wracking enough but now I had to maneuver my way back down the sharp rocks without damaging the camera [ which had been forgotten on iso 1600 for some of the earlier pictures - hence the grainey skies ] , or losing too much blood in general . Going down involves 'helping gravity' on such a steep slope .



Then you leave the sharp rocks and are greeted by the slippery scoria and a pile of rocks a long way down if you start to roll or slide too fast .



Someone was taking a different route on another slope .



I did have the chance to enjoy some of the colourful plant life on the rocks though .



while eagerly anticipating getting back to a safer environment .



and 2 hours after leaving the top I had one last glimpse of mount Egmont before heading off in my van ....
Of course you have to wear the correct clothing on these trips



I decided to take the scenic " Forgotten world highway " which is a mysterious stretch of road with buildings rotting away [ Unfortunately I never had the energy to stop for all of the nice opportunities ] and some attractive mountains .





and Ruapehu in the distance [ which is actually in a few of my pictures from Egmont ]







After stopping to help someone with a puncture , finding out I never even had the tools to change my own tire ! , driving the guy to Taumaranui to get the AA and only arriving at a Waitomo camp site at 9 pm I was rather tired and slept pretty well till this morning .... [ drove straight into town and bought $200 worth of tools for the van for NEXT TIME ]
And that was the end of another adventure in the photovan - but then there's still next week ...............

19.) Photovan does Kawhia .

25/10/2009 .


Kawhia / Waitomo in the photovan .
It's been a while since I did a tour in my photovan so this weekend I did a short tour over the mountain from where I live and visited Kawhia which I have never seen before

It's one of those places that has a lot of character and some interesting buildings .








I parked the photovan and went for a walk around town yesterday





These are a few shots I got in Otorohanga









I'm getting angry !



 still sorting through what to post !









iso 3200.

And some at the natural bridge [arch?]



The springs at Kawhia ...



It is like 'hot water beach' where you can dig into the sand and sit in a pool of hot water . these two guys were getting so hot they had to keep running and getting cold seawater to cool themselves down !





 

I had the 70-200 with me this time as well





This shop was seriously 'in the middle of nowhere' and I commended the owner on how tidy the place was . He told me that once they painted it up properly their business increased drastically .



Maybe one day you could visit New Zealand , but then but you'd have to pronounce all these names !




















18.) ''Overlander'' train trip .

I just got back from a tiring full day trip by train from Hamilton through Tauranga and then on to Rotorua by bus for a walk around paradise valley and then back to Hamilton . This is all I have to share for now till tomorrow morning .....

Craig with his Minolta 7D and Peter with his Olympus E3 ... both trying to work out how their cameras work while I'm taking pictures with my Nikon !






The morning before we left .....





warming up the gear ....

It was really exciting for most of us



Standing outside on the viewing platform made the motion sickness better ...





We saw a variety of photographic situations but had to be quick to get them ....





Then we had to get off the train and wait for the busses to turn up , all 9 of them .




 

The bus took our party to paradise valley



Craig tried to entice this bird to have some lunch without success



we had to encourage this Kea NOT to have our camera gear for lunch



Max the lion was showing everyone who's boss at feeding time ...



He took a few swings at me as well ....





This one had a different emotion to it with his eyes closed ....
And that's about it for that day :) .

92 km through the Kawekas

92km through the Kawekas ...
This was one of my better trips .
We started at the top of the Kaimanewas and walked out the bottom of the kawekas . [we came out of the mountains to find out there had been the tsunami to give an idea of the time .]
My mate from Taihape is known for his fitness so I knew he wouldn't hold me up . BUT : he took his dog , hunting rifle , dog food .... and told me he wasn't going to eat dry food , he was going to eat 'luxuries' like steak and bacon and eggs .......
I looked at the map , added up the distances and said to him " Do you realize we will be walking 92km ?" . He said " whatever , it will just make us fit" .
This time I managed to narrow my pack down to 18kg for 5 days when I usually have a 25kg pack for two days !
This was one of the better pano's from my old Panasonic DMC-LC5

Jess just had to be carrying something , wherever we went . She had the luxury of being able to spit it out though when she got tired .



Hey Matt ! That pack looks a bit big there - why can't you keep up ?



I carried my camera in that tupperware container . I had twisted my knee 'training ' , I climbed Mount Maunganui in 11 1/2 minutes and came back down in 7 1/2 minutes which resulted in me having to strap my knee for the trip .



walking through the mist ....





These New Zealanders seem to be nutters , look at the knife he had !
Cascade hut was 17km from the drop-off point . He said "I've brought too much stuff !" - and proceeded to cook 6 steaks , we each ate what we could and the dog ate the rest .
This hut had all the luxuries ....




but we had to get moving , and this is when things got interesting .

The track was not easy and the 'bridges' were slippery .


Now my knee was hurting a bit and we had two options ... go over the 7 hour ridge track or cut though the 'flat land' .
The problem was that the flat land was private property and we never had permits . We worked our way down next to the river and stopped for lunch when we were back in doc land



Then this guy in a high-vis jacket , carrying a briefcase confronts us and tells us we are on private land . According to the map we weren't but he told us the map is wrong . [ someone had seen us earlier ] .
Anyway , to cut a long story short he told us he doesn't like issuing trespass notices because he used to poach the land before he got that job and he would tell them my knee was injured [ I told him it was bandaged and we had taken this route because it was hurting ] which would give us legal right to cross the land , and my mate got a trespass notice because he had the rifle . he phoned when we got back and was let off .
When we saw the hut we were headed for up the hill next to us we decided that since we had some time on our hands we would move on ....



and after about 26km of walking we reached this hut .
We had seen some good scenery on the way



The hut had a nice 'front yard '



with a view of Ruapehu
It's a lot to remember but this was the hut we stayed in on the third night . By this stage we had walked 60 km



100m before the hut we saw some deer standing in front of us but Matt said he was too tired to skin them so we just kept walking until they ran off .
We decided we had taken on too much and the next day we would walk 8km down to the river and camp there and 'relax' .
At one point on our way down there were sharp rocks and Matt had to carry Jess because she couldn't walk across them . He never carried water while I carried two bottles , one for me and one for the dog and she welcomed it when I squirted a bottle into her mouth after walking hard for a few hours .
I don't think that dog knew how much rest to get - we would pass out when we got down to the river , she would walk right into it , lie down for 30m seconds and then go and get a stick for me to throw for her . When I just lay still she would pick it up and drop it on my head . When I threw it far enough to wash down the river she would dive under water and bring back a rock and drop it on my head ! When I threw the rock into a deep pool she would dive down and fetch it ! I think she was actually an otterX or something



Oh yes , I had bought some new socks and they were too big and kept bunching up around my ankles which eventually turned purple and hurt a bit so I cut the sides of my boots to ease the pain .....



But anyway we got to the bottom and crossed this 'bridge'



made a shelter ....



and 'relaxed '.



and the next morning we crossed back over on that 'thing '
day 5 involved climbing 700m up a slope , I had my ' altitude ' watch and kept reporting our progress " we've climbed 300m , 400 to go " , "we just went down 100m , we have 500 to go " we gained 200m but lost another 50" .... and that's when he said "would you mind keeping that to yourself !" .



Please can I have some !



That's the hut we were headed for ....



and a rather uneventful walk to the end of the track while we waited to be picked up .....



3 days later I could almost walk properly again !




DIY Kontiki / longline torpedo

DIY Kontiki / Torpedo .
Instructions for assembling the "ekonotiki" bilge pump powered torpedo .
This is meant mainly for New Zealand and the few other countries where longline fishing from the beach is legal . The 'kontiki' I designed pulls out at least 15 hooks on 50kg line to a distance of about 500m in 25 minutes .


These are the instructions for the simplest design I could conceive for just about anybody to make their own torpedo .It will do the job but some changes will make for a more efficient model for those prepared to go that extra bit . The T-junction is simple but effective but obviously the upright bit causes a bit of resistance as does the coke bottle . My next model will require a bit more skill and will consist of a straight 100mm tube with the back end heated up for batteries to be pushed in - so they can also be removed , a lid at the rear for less resistance , and a long thin flotation tube possibly 50 to 100cm above the main pipe , which will make the torpedo more functional in white water [froth] as it will be lower and also do away with the resistance of the upright of a T-junction .It will also be made using the 13000 litre / hour bilge pump which is twice as strong as the prototype .There will be a saving of $45 on the piping , an extra $60 for the pump and the cost of an extra battery to ensure efficiency due to the extra current draw of an 18 amp pump . Meanwhile , however , here are the instructions for the prototype .... The early design featured in the June edition of "bay fisher " and was mentioned again in the July edition .














.







You will need:

1.] Bilge pump. , at least 1500gallons/hr / 6500 litres/hr . About $85 for the Hella 10 amp model .I suggest using the same pump as I used since no others have been properly tested yet and a higher capacity pump uses a lot of battery power which causes other complications but I include the following information anyway : Burnsco marine has a 3000g/hr / 13000l/hr pump that draws 18 amps and will make a torpedo that is twice as strong.The whole advantage of a bilge pump is that they are designed to sit in seawater .Some bilge pumps may need their bases cut away to allow direct flow as many are designed to suck from the sides .
Warning ! Bilge pumps do not like to be run "dry" .When mounting the pump , roughen up the surface for better glue contact . If you are paranoid like me you can drill some small holes around the perimeter of the front pipe [not in the bilge pump !] for the glue to sink into and get a better grip .Remember that some pumps have different bases so you may need to drill holes in the bottom of the pump to let water in the front of the torpedos movement .
19/06/04 Today I went into Burnsco marine and they have a special on bilge pumps . The one I used was a hella 1500g/h or 6500l/h .
They have a TMC 2000 for $95[2000g/h] ,TMC 2500 $179 , and a TMC 3000 for $139 which is twice the output of mine . .
The interesting thing about the TMC 2500 is that it has its outlet at exactly the right angle which will require no bends , but it is rated at the same current draw as the 3000 which suggests an efficiency fault or someone has made a spelling error . The 2500 was the most expensive and was 500g/h less than the 3000 so I bought a 3000 and will have to get a decent pipe/radiator hose of 32mm for it .... time to give the jet turbo power ! { I gave up on the 3000 model and stuck with the more reliable prototype design eventually}


2.] T-junction 100mm pipe . The T-junction with twist on lid makes it easier to work with the wiring and timer , it is reasonably watertight but in any case sits above the water line most of the time .The T-junction is sold with a piece of pipe on one end so it is not necessary to buy an extra meter like I did which ended up being cut into a tail . With a line pulling at the back , a tail is not totally necessary but will make it go straighter . even a piece of plastic pipe will do the job for the tail and being flexible will make for better traveling through waves since it will flex instead of tilting too much.Make the front pipe 100mm long , if the pump is heavier than a 10 amp model you could make it about 50mm longer for extra flotation .

3.] Water bottle . A spring water bottle from K-Mart has an o/d of 104mm which is the exact i/d of "100mm" tubing . If you cut it in half , and glue it up the tail end ,it seals off quite nicely and provides a lid for
drainage if you get water in the torpedo , and some nice aero-dynamics .

4.] Glue . I used kitchen and bathroom white silicone because it dries quicker and has a more rigid hold while the clear stuff is a bit stretchy . Now that I have finished cutting and experimenting I will get something
more permanent like Araldite which should also look neater and strip it down and put it together properly , though this silicone is quite easy to work with and has held quite well . Just remember to roughen up the
surface of the bilge pump before you glue it because it is quite smooth and pulls out of the glue with little effort .I stripped my torpedo down once I "perfected" the design and bought some "knead it " 'aqua ' from K-mart on special for $6 a roll . You have 20 - 30 minutes to work with it before it goes hard and it did a beautiful job holding the bilge pump in ... it still remains to be seen how long it lasts but it supposedly can be used to repair boats underwater !

5.] Battery . A 7,2 a/h battery fits nicely into the inside of the T-junction when you cut out a rectangle from the bottom and glue it in .{ make a layer of glue under the battery to insulate it from the sea water , cold can affect a battery's output by up to 50% } A battery should ideally be 3 times the a/ hour rating that you require . For a 10 amp motor a 7,2 amp hour battery would keep it going for 0,72 of an hour or 43 minutes . A third of that would be 14 minutes use to guarantee a maximum lifespan from the battery . Many people just run the battery dead flat which means the acid goes into the plates and they break down faster . A good compromise would be to use it for 20 minutes maximum even though it would go for 40 minutes on one charge .
I have connected up a cigarette lighter adapter to my battery so it can be charged from my vehicle .A 1/4 charged battery is 12 volts , fully charged is 12,7 volts .If you don't want to cut and glue a battery in , a
heat gun makes the plastic piping very flexible and the battery squeezes in perfectly . You would have to do this at the tail end and then make a flap/lid that seals off nicely so batteries can be removed or
swapped around with charged batteries, the piping shrinks a bit when it cools so put some spacers in when you first slide the battery in and pull them out once it cools .This is an alternative to buying a $45 T-junction in that you could buy 1 meter of piping for $15 , push the battery/s up the rear , and make a lid/flap at the back for changing batteries and setting the timer .

6.] Hose . The hose that joins onto the bilge pump outlet and bends at 90 degrees to the outlet jet should not be ribbed as that wastes a lot of energy . A radiator hose with the correct bend is ideal and easy to
work with and can be bought new for about $15 or sometimes the wreckers have a barrel full of them for next to nothing . The jet outlet should be the same size as the inner diameter of the bilge pump outlet for
maximum thrust .Even though narrowing the outlet down produces jets of water that shoot further it still produces less thrust due to less volume . I have cut a small piece of hose to glue between the outlet and
the main body of the torpedo to keep it stable .Find a piece of piping the same size as the bilge pump outlet with the same inner diameter and glue it in the end to ' tweak ' the thrust .On my prototype I used a CH1047 radiator hose from Repco [$12.50] which was the perfect size , but the wreckers gave me a hose out of their bin for the MKII.

7.] Switch/timer . I have mounted a toggle switch , with a screw on rubber boot to waterproof it , on the lid of the T-junction for experimenting . The same switch will eventually be in line with a mechanical timer from
an old stove so that the timer can be set while the switch is in the "off " position . Then once it is ready to send out a flick of the switch on the top will start it up .An alternative I have been considering for a timer is to tie the line to the front of the pump , loop it to the tail end tied on by a single strand of cotton ... a jerk breaks the cotton and turns the torpedo around .. a procedure I learned while doing test runs .[ I am not the jerk by the way ] . This can be taken a step further by connecting the same line that moves from the rear to the front , to the switch on top , by a piece of elastic which will then turn the switch off in the same motion . I am also thinking of the possibility of a flap that pivots on the bottom for minimum resistance when it is going forward , but when you pull the torpedo backwards and the water pressure forces the flap down , it trips the switch off , and disconnects the line from the back so the torpedo can be turned around and pulled back later [This might not be practical due to the amount of stretch in 500metres of line . I eventually pulled the timer out of my tabletop oven that cost $60 [only $10 more than buying a timer] and I will fit a toggle switch in place of the timer for my oven to work .

8.] Flag . A kite can be bought at the "dollar value " shop for $2 and butchered to make a flag .

9.] Coke Bottle . Placing the coke bottle above the front section keeps the front from pointing down . I have noticed though that a bigger motor seems to cause the torpedo to pull to the right a bit . This would be due to the torsion of the motor making the torpedo twist to the side a bit , placing the jet to the left of centre , causing it to veer to the right [ depending on what direction your motor turns ] . The solution for this is to place 2 floatation devices [coke bottles if you don't have something more dignified] above the pump - the further apart they are the more stable it will be . Since a 600mm coke bottle does the job , two 300mm bottles placed above the pump , one to either side , will stabilise the torpedo and prevent it pulling to the side . This is all dependent on the weight of the torpedo and how far from the centre the jet is , the further from the centre the more pronounced the effect of twisting will be , but don't make it so close to the body that it wastes energy on turbulence against the body . We will end up with the "starship enterprise " design soon . A moderately distanced jet with 2 flotation devices acting as "outriggers ".

Optional. ... "soft seal" spray for preventing corrosion from sea water which will one day find its way inside . Spray over everything , battery terminals , wiring and switches - don't get it on bare switch contacts . This is a precautionary measure that will save you the frustration of having to pull everything apart if corrosion sets in .

Jet size . This is very important . My first experiment was to see how high I could make the jet shoot by squeezing the nozzle , assuming that this would give maximum thrust . My assumption was wrong because the volume was restricted resulting in a slow movement . If you just have the water pouring out of the hose , which has an inner diameter of 25mm which is the outer diameter of the bilge pump outlet , the water slows down because it has gone into a larger area , you must get the area back to the 22.5mm [approx] that it was coming out of at the pump to regain the original speed . I believe that a slightly higher speed could be achieved by certain laws of physics by making the outlet ever so slightly smaller than the 22.5mm jet . I fitted a 32mm electrical wiring gland which makes the outlet adjustable for easy experimenting . I could not get a noticeable improvement on 22.5mm so have decided to leave it at that in the knowledge that less pressure on the pump means a longer life .I was told by a water pump technician that a "positive displacement " pump would achieve better results with a smaller nozzle but the centrifugal bilge pump does not react the same way with restrictions .

The piece of pipe in front is 100mm long and without the coke bottle it would point downwards . A bit of fancy fibreglass-work could make it more streamlined . A 375 ml bottle would also do the job as the torpedo floats perfectly with the coke bottle about halfway under the water .This also ensures that the front of the pump is always under water and doesn't suck air
Night fishing ? Instead of a coke bottle , mount a glass jar on the front and put in a bicycle flashing LED available for $2 from a dollar-value store .


Shorter and heavier means more stability going through waves and better momentum , which also reduces the effect of waves .Two batteries means a heavier torpedo and slightly more time to build up speed but once it has that speed it will be harder to slow down by oncoming waves/swells .

Tail . A tail is not entirely necessary when towing something but can be useful for tying things to . A flexible tail would also make for easier movement through swells .Thinner is better as it causes less resistance .
Another good idea for the tail is to have a " fan - shaped " tail with a row of holes in it so that , depending on the current , you can connect the line off centre to steer the torpedo left or right .

Wiring . Run an earth wire straight from the battery to the pump .Preferably put a 15 amp fuse from the battery positive , to the timer then to the switch . Since bilge pumps don't like to run dry it is best to also have a toggle switch with a rubber boot over it on the lid so you can set the timer , close the lid , and then put it in the water and flick the switch on .The fuse is not to protect the pump , it is so that if there is a short in the pump or wiring the switches and wiring don't get damaged .

Voltage sensitive relay . I have designed a crude " voltage sensitive relay " which does away with the need for an expensive timer and gets the most out of the batteries .This has worked but needs a fully charged battery if you are going to use a push-button to energize it , another option is to remove the outer casing of the relay and just squeeze the contacts together when you need it to start .... it will stay in until the battery drops to 11 volts . On the attached diagram you will see how to wire it up . The ' 30 ' terminal is the positive input . When a button is pushed [ or a simple toggle switch is flicked on and off again ] , the relay pulls in and supplies " 87 " with power , which also supplies " 85 " with power , through a diode , which keeps the relay on . The " 86 " terminal provides an earth through a resistor [ 100 ohms , R1650 , Dick Smith no. ] which has the effect of halving the voltage at the relay coil since the coil resistance is also 68 ohms .
Now a 12 volt relay can work at 6 volts , but as the power runs out of the battery and its voltage drops to 11 volts , the relay now has 4 volts at its coil , and 7 volts across the resistor , and lets go around this voltage . This means that the battery voltage never drops below 10 which could happen if a timer is set too long .. With the mkII which has 2 batteries I have wired up the batteries separately so I can have 2 settings ... one or both batteries .It would make sense to put the relay in a small plastic bag for water protection .

I also welcome suggestions on improvements .
Thanks , Desmond . { Springbok kontikis } 

Eventually I also drew up some plans for a bilge pump modified to take a propeller and one person who bought the plans to help him finish his project sent me a picture of his 'rig' along with a picture of a few large snapper he caught the next weekend . His version was quite a bit bigger than mine .





  Here are the plans for making the propeller version along with the next project I designed - a wiper motor driven winch for reeling the line back in .....

Before you start :
1.) These plans are a guide only , it worked for me but you may have other/better ways to do it .
2.) A bilge pump is not a "thrust "motor , it does not necessarily have a washer at the top of the motor to prevent wear from pressure pushing upwards on it . The thrust must be directed to the front of the plastic pipe .
3.) Though the hella bilge pump is rated at 10 amps I have it running at 15 at the moment . I don't expect it to give trouble but still need to do a few more runs before I am convinced . Generally anything electrical is like a welder , it can run continuously at a low current draw but has a duty cycle for higher currents , as it draws more current it gets hotter and so needs a certain cooling off period before being used again . With the motor sitting in seawater it should cool off a bit quicker though we must remember it is insulated by plastic and a bit of air so don't count on it . It will also have a maximum current draw wher the wiring to the brushes will blow like a fuse after a few turns . One of the props I made had a massive thrust but drew 30 amps from the motor . Once I have perfected the brassprop design I will give it a run with that prop and either sacrifice a good motor or find that we have a winner and that the motor can handle that type of punishment .
4.) There are two options : 1.]  making a motor that pushes and 2 .] making a motor that pulls . 1.] I have chosen this way because it is easier to make in that the force pushing against the plastic pipe actually strengthens the supporting framework instead of trying to pull it apart . With a pushing motor water that is sucked in  to the prop can come from any direction and the thrust has no obstruction .The prop pushes on its drive shaft and so the small pipe cannot fall off while running .The disadvantage is that you must be sure to direct the force to the plastic pipe to prevent motor wear .
  2.] A motor that pulls has the advantage that the pump most likely has a washer at its base for wear and it will pull against this washer . A pulling prop can be pulled off the drive shaft if not 100% secured . A pulling prop will direct its thrust straight at the motor behind it and create turbulence . need I say more ....

First  you will need a Hella 10 amp 1500gph bilge pump . If you use a different pump you will have to play around with other modifications .
You will also need : A sheet of polypropylene at least 120 mm diameter .
                             A piece of "32mm " plastic pipe .
                             A length of tubing about 10mm diam , about 7 mm inner diam or have one made up .
                             2 or 3 17 mm nuts , preferably stainless .
                             A washer .[ or two ]
                             A small propeller , about the same size as the white plastic impeller inside the pump , or make one out of the polypropylene .
Remove the blue plastic base . { When you push the clips in observe the small lip on the clips , if that is not pushed down enough to release the clips can break }
Remove the rubber ring that holds the plastic impeller in place and remove the impeller .
Cut a circular piece of polypropylene with a hole in the middle for the plastic pipe to fit snugly inside . Drill holes to fit this circle to the blue base with self tappers .
Check your distances by pushing the pipe hard against the base and glue it in place with marine silicone .[ only glue it to the disc you have made .
Drill a few holes in the pipe to let water in , the pump seal will be damaged if it runs dry .You may want to wrap a bit of cloth around the holes to keep sand out .
The hardest part is the small pipe . If you have the means to so so you could drill a hole in the stainless shaft of the motor and put a split pin through to hold it on .
I chose to drill a small hole in the small pipe and tap a thread and tighten a small bolt up against the shaft , which has a flat spot , to stop it slipping .
You must also cut a round "bush" to go inside the plastic pipe for the small pipe to go through and which will take the thrust of the prop .
Where the pipe comes out of the bush you must cut a thread or find another means of securing the prop [ maybe a grub screw ] .
I have used 3 stainless nuts and a washer so that I can tighten the washer against the plastic pipe , to put the main force on there instead of on the inside of the motor , and to lock the prop in place .
The propeller I bought from "Bay hobby supplies "Tauranga (07) 577 6240 . It never had a part number but cost $22,50 .
It is fairly easy to make a prop out of polypropylene if you cut the shape out and heat it up with a heat gun and give it a twist . I made one the size of the base of the pump and then machined it down smaller and smaller on the lathe to get the current draw right .
The bilge pump motor spins relatively fast so a smaller prop is needed . I am fairly confident the gearing down that speed to about 1/3 and making a prop with good thrust will get much better results . Until then we must use the small prop / high speed rotation .
Contact me at dvdowns@xtra.co.nz if you have any questions or suggestions .{ springbok kontikis } 






This winch will not pull in the whole weight of the line for you but it is a compromise that will turn the spool while you pull in the weight of the line to make the job twice as fast for a one man setup .
I paid $30 for the motor and $15 for the pulleys from the wreckers .A battery will be about $30 so for less than $100 you can have something that does half the job of a $1200 winch .


The winch-assist was designed as a cheap alternative to the $1200 models that do all the work .
You can use any wiper motor and pulley/s but the ones I used are readily available from the wreckers .

You will need :
1.) Wiper motor [ Mitubishi L200 A478 ] this one has a nice braket on it that makes it easier to mount onto your exisiting spool .

2.) Pulley [ Mitsubishi L300 A 905 ] twin size pulley for 2 speeds .

3.) 7 amp hour 12 volt battery , this size is big enough to do the job but a bigger battery will last longer .

4.) Fan belt , any old belt will do , as long as it fits in the pulley .

5.) One half of a 2 piece alternator pulley . Go in to your local auto electrician , they will most likely have a box full of old pulleys .

Undo the bracket that the motor mounts onto and rotate it so that it sticks out 90 degrees to the motor to make for easier mounting .
Take the wiper motor and cut the drive part with the socket on it so that it can be drilled to fit the pulley , that is the way I did it but welding will do a better job .
{ I used 2 bolts but 3 smaller bolts will prevent the pulley pulling off centre under load }
On the spool , you will have to take off the plastic cap on the end of the through-bar and pull the frame outwards to get the half-pulley on . Centralise it and drill 3 holes and tighten with self tappers .
Fit the fan belt and use its length to align where the motor will mount . The belt must not be too tight , you want it to slip when it starts to get tight to prevent the spool being wound too tight and to stop the spool from falling over when under too much tension .If you can't get a haly-pulley you can make something since there is already a round bit on the spool , it just needs something to keep the belt on it .

Wiring : The wiper motor has 2 sppeds and the pulley has two sizes giving a total of 4 possible speeds .
The white wire must be earthed .[ direct to the battery ]
The blue and orange wire is for slow speed and the blue and black wire is for fast speed .
You can either just put on push-on terminals on those wires which you will have to plug on to get the motor going or you can take the wires to a switch .
With a 3 way toggle switch you can take a wire from battery positive to the centre pin and put the blue/orange and blue/black on the outer pins so flicking the switch in either direction will give 2 different speeds .
Either mount the motor with spacers directly below the pulley or loosen the main bolt holding the spool , give it a slight twist to face the bottom pulley , and give the motor bracket a slight twist so they face each other properly and the belt doesn't climb off .





































Pirongia drama !

Pirongia drama .
I dug these old photos out , taken in June 2003 , my first trip up Pirongia heading for the hut . I took two beginner trampers with me and told them to carry tarpaulins as emergency shelter . They told me they didn't need to since we were planning on sleeping in the hut .....
It started off as a normal trip :
Panasonic DMC-LC5 .
















And this one as taken at 3:39pm .





It was at this point where we checked the map and realized we were only halfway . the other two were very unfit and had to keep stopping to rest .
I told them we would have to pick up the pace a bit and started walking faster ........ 
After about 20 minutes I decided to wait for them to catch up but after a long wait I headed back on the track and came to the intersection we had passed earlier . I left my pack there and ran down the track and found an overturned tree with no footprints in the mud - so they hadn't gone that way . I went back and got my pack and started running back to get help because it was dark now . I fell and banged me knee going down the chain and grazed my knuckles - halfway back to the car they shouted to me from the side - they were trying to shelter from the rain by a big rock . They told me they had shouted to say they were going back because it was getting dark - they assumed I would go on to the hut 'knowing what they had done ' anyway , since we were halfway why not keep going to the hut ? lesson learned - now I usually go alone .
Anyway I had a tarpaulin with me and set up a shelter where we spent an uncomfortable night [ since I had a cold as well ] .








That's what we slept on .....





and that's the 'after' shot ......



Photovan does Marokopa

Default Photovan does Marokopa ....
March 22 2008 ....

I just got back from a two day trip in my Photovan

It wasn't too amazing but due to the good weather the sunset wasn't that spectacular but I did get some shots of the "green flash'' as the sun dissappeared which made my day .
http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/



My first stop was at the Ruakuri walk in the Waitomo area .



It is a walk through a valley of natural caves and tunnels close to the main cave system of which there are around 300 in the area .



I almost expected "Lord Greystoke" to come swinging through the trees .

There are paths and platforms made for better viewing of the caves .



which provide difficult lighting but also interesting side lighting shots ...



a rather interesting half hour walk ....





Next stop "the natural bridge "

And then Marokopa falls ...



closer ....



and over this hill ..



but marokopa camp site was too far from the sea so I went over to the next unpronounceable beach which had a piece of land with a few other campers on it



the other campers were junk compared to my photovan ...

Half an hour from the site was this tunnel leading to the beach . Apparently three farmers dug it by hand years ago to have a place to take their sheep to the boat since the roads were so bad then ....





It would have been nice with better lighting though ....



Can you see the two sheep in the centre of this picture ?



There's a closer look at the daring sheep



And a bit of the beach



and just before the green flash ....



Of course in a place [ we can't call it a town yet ] as advanced as this you would expect to find public seating of some sort [ nailed down to a log !]



I thought this log looked a bit like a raven or something ....



the log ..



I took a picture of the vegetation in this area , everything is looking very dry since for the first time [ever?] we are having a drought in the central North island [ climate change ?] . It hadn't rained for a few months and the ground is all cracked and dry . It started raining 2 days ago and the grass is getting green again .

Photovan does Papanui point

Papanui point Raglan .
Today I took a drive back out to Ruapuki , Papanui point . If you go into Raglan and then head South for about 25[?] km you eventually see "the bus on the hill" which is the sign that you are nearing the spot ...


That's it there .... [ Papanui point ]


Looking back in the other direction ......



Then you get to this gate with a metal 'mailbox' where you can contribute towards the upkeep of the farmers road - I always put something in ...

 
I've driven up this road before , but not in this kind of slush ....







I did some slipping and sliding for a while and ended up reversing all the way back to the gate because I was going to get stuck for sure . I parked in front of the gate and went exploring ....

 I walked toward the point itself and looked back toward the van ....



that's the point down there where people fish from the edge of the cliff ....

looking to the left .....
the back of the signboard when climbing back up ...
This is the mud I would still be stuck in if I drove all the way ...
Looking back toward the right .....
remember to do this when you leave ....
Heading back ....
And a stop-off along the side of the road on the way back ....

Ruapuke was the first 'wild' looking place I visited in New Zealand and I love the scenery .
Today for the first time I drove down to the beach and had a look ....



Mount Karioi

Climbing karioi
Sept 6 2008 :

Today I visited a new town and when I looked back at Karioi in the distance [ close to my home ] and saw how good the weather was for a change I decided it was time to climb it ...



3pm I was at the start of the climb to the lookout rated at 2 hours .
The beginning of the track is close to the sea right next to "Te Toto gorge" .



Past a dead tree with lots of potential .
Sept 6 2008 :

Today I visited a new town and when I looked back at Karioi in the distance [ close to my home ] and saw how good the weather was for a change I decided it was time to climb it ...



3pm I was at the start of the climb to the lookout rated at 2 hours .
The beginning of the track is close to the sea right next to "Te Toto gorge" .



Past a dead tree with lots of potential .
At one point there's a ladder



In some places chains have been added to help over rough terrain .



The view was sort-of-ok I suppose :smile:





That's Raglan in the distance ...
55 minutes to the top , 45 minutes back down and some more pics right across the road at the bottom which is actually the top of the Te Toto gorge ....







And then one overdone sunset shot with a "sunset" filter and a ''gold'' filter at the same time ...





A few months later I went back up with a 63 year old man - he left me behind . We both got to the top in 50 minutes but I was finished - I needed to get fit again . I started exercising a bit again and went back and did it in 47 minutes . Apparently some of the fitter runners do it in half that time .












Magic mountain horse treks

'Magic mountain ' horse treks
My first time on horseback .... October 27 2008

I've never been on a horse before so today I decided to go for a guided tour - about 2 hours riding in total along with a stop at ''bridal veil falls" .
I got to ride "Albert" - this was the first picture I took , I left the D40 in aperture priority and snapped away .....



We progressed down the mountain toward the falls ...



The steep bits were rather scary but at least I never fell off at any stage .



We spent a while at the falls .



And then headed back - our guide was surprised to see that I was back on the horse when he had finished helping the others onto theirs ... so you can call me "Bronco'' from now on :smile:
What you'd expect to see in NZ ...



We went back on a different route and had a good view of Karioi in the distance ..



'Albert' kept dipping his head to grab some grass and at one stage ripped the reigns out of my hands - it was a tense moment waiting for his head to come up so I could reach forward and grab them again before he took off on his own . Of course these animals know the way themselves but it was still a bit scary when he tried to gallop a few times and went down the steepest sections he could find .
When we got back they had a good meal ....



My legs are a bit sore on the inside - the guide says that means I was doing things right but we'll see how I feel tomorrow !

Ruapehu , sleeping in a snow mound .

This was actually August 2004 , my first attempt at sleeping in the snow .
I decided to only climb halfway up for this attempt and build a 'snow mound' so I could photograph the sunrise .
I started off with this rock to help provide some structure for my shelter ....



I was hoping to get the sunrise in this direction ...



It took a total of 4 hours to collect and pile up enough snow for my 'mound' this was halfway through ....


I eventually got it all together and tunneled in to it and made and entrance at the small end .



Then I realized that I wouldn't be able to see the sun from that side and closed it up ....



and made a better entrance in the side ...



And started the water boiling ....

Then I was taking some snapshots ....



Then someone came past and snapped one for me ....



but before he wandered off ....



he told me my entrance would not do because it was too high . We cut some blocks and closed up the entrance and then I had to tunnel under the wall and climb up inside and place my pack over the hole .

Like this ....

The old entrance that I was supposed to have closed up was letting a bit of the cold in ...



barometric pressure 791 ...



That night was rather cold . there was air leaking through all the gaps and my mattress was not properly inflated so basically the -30 sleeping bag is useless if your body is directly on snow .
In the morning I woke up [ not that I really slept much ] and there was a howling wind outside - basically this is what it looked like outside .. so much for photographing the sunrise ....



Anyway I couldn't get through the tunnel with all my gear on so I had to get fully dressed up to go and kick the wall down . As I stepped out I was dragged sideways by the wind and had to lean forward and dig my ice axe in to pull myself back up the ridge .
everything was white wherever I looked so I just headed ''downhill'' . Once or twice everything went clear for around 20 metres around me , one time it happened I was at the edge of a cliff so I backed off and walked 90 degrees in the other direction . I could pick out dark patches here and there that were rocks and just walked toward them each time .
Eventually I got back to my car .....



That was Sunday morning , on Tuesday morning I was at work listening to the radio and they said that all the climbers that were trapped in the whiteout on Ruapehu managed to come down now that the weather was better . maybe that means I was supposed to stay up there until the weather was better ?
Apparently there were 120km/hr winds which get compressed a bit on the ridges ...






Photovan does Te Toto gorge .

June 29 2008 :
This afternoon the rain and clouds cleared away after a week or two of bad weather so I headed for the te Toto gorge to see what it was like .
The road there showed some promise .





so I parked my ''photovan'' and went for a walk .





first to the lookout .





maybe I should go back in better light .





anyway I walked in the wrong direction for half an hour since there are no signs but it was worth the scenery .





no prizes for guessing which way the wind blows here .











































I'll have to plan a full day of exploring next time because the scenery is "acceptable"





The sea was very frothy from all the bad weather .





a couple of "wrong way" dead-ends .





a cabbage tree ...





Then I went through some trees and got blocked by some thorns and had to pull out "junior" [ There was no place in my pack for "senior" the machete ]





and a quick self-timer shot through the grass





all that to find out I was supposed to go in this direction to get all the way down to the sea - maybe next time ...





July 6 2008 :


Today I went back since the weather was looking good . I had a look from the platform .





Looked across to my left .


.


And decided to walk to the bottom . It took 15 minutes to get to the first flat area but after that it was long curled up grass , thigh deep in places .





This time I concentrated on ''detail shots'' as an addition to the normal landscape shots .














I called this formation ''the eagle'' because it looks a bit like one from the side . In this case the sun popped through the clouds at the right time to highlight it . The lookout platform is a tiny speck on the top left of the picture .








some more trees with potential ... maybe I should go back at night - in summer of course .


Photovan does Stony bay !

April 2009 :

Friday morning I loaded up my Photovan for a tour . I usually pack it the same day I leave so I sleep properly the night before - keeps the adrenalin levels down :smile: .
I actually didn't know exactly where I was heading when I left but knew I wanted to head north . As I was driving I decided that since I had liked the Coromandel trip so much I would head up there but on the rough roads to the right where I'd never been before . I had liked Fletcher's bay and wanted to walk across to Stony bay on the previous trip but not with a sprained ankle - so I headed for ''the other side '' this time , Stony Bay



  I had a lot more keepers this time so either I've improved a bit or it's due to the fact that I wasn't using the Sigma 10-20mm which is a fun lens but yielded few keepers .
This time I had the D90 and Tamron 17-50F2.8 and Nikon 70-200VR but ended up taking most of the pictures with the D40 and 18-105 combination .

Why one earth did a pick an arterial route from Auckland to head for Thames!?



I stopped at the food-court in Thames and splashed out on a waffle and banana combination and the worst hot chocolate I have ever tasted .


Just as a teaser I'll include a long distance shot of the destination . Judging from the number of people/families I see camping for days/weeks on end in one boring spot I've realized that I have become spoiled in the scenery I have seen and while for many people the camping ground is a ''base camp'' for their fishing trips to me it has become a 'destination' and has to be close to spectacular with at least a few options to walk in different directions for 'more' scenery . This is the first view you get of "Stony Bay" as you wind down the hill on the last dead end road of the northern tip of Coromandel .

Many of the pictures taken in the early stages of the journey are duplicated in the previous Coromandel thread , but this time the weather was a bit better . The 'new' scenery started with Port Charles and I was dissappointed to see that there were no camp sites here because it looked like a really nice place to stop .



I actually never even knew if there was a campsite at Stony Bay but with my van I can stop almost anywhere if need be 

Anyway I'll only post 'day one' on the first page . After choosing a site in the Stony bay camp site [ yes there is one!] I wandered around and took a few pictures . Stony Bay is one of those places where I could actually spend more than one night , I've grown so accustomed to touring and seeing new scenery every day I haven't yet stayed more than one night at a campsite .



I tried a few slow exposures that night though there wasn't enough movement to make it look too good .



and , pushing the limits a bit here ....

Towards the afternoon I had walked across the bay and a bit up the pathway [ tell you more about that later ] to get an elevated view of the place .

And then made my way back along the beach



photovan framed in the distance ...

definitely one of the best campsites I've been to .

In the evening I focused on the reflections of these rocks ....

This guy was napping when I snapped him .



I ended up grabbing the D40 combination for the rest of the trip , especially for the long walk I did on the second day .
This is the 'road' coming in to the site - you just have to hope you don't meet too many cars to work your way around .





This is where I walked to on the second day which is actually where I stayed in December on my first Coromandel trip mentioned at the beginning . I'll post the Day two story later when I get back from my photography drive with my mate ....


I think I'm safer just photographing the water , like from the top of the lookout on the walking track .

Anyway .... day two I decided to walk across to Fletcher's Bay . They rate it as a 3 1/2 hour walk but those ratings are generally for people who put their teeth in a glass of water at night . Another 'local" camper told me you can do it in 2 hours if you're fit so I headed off with only a small pack and the D40 and 18-105 combination .



There were a few streams along the path which wound its way up rather close to the bushy hills with the occasional glimpse of scenery .



50 minutes later I was at the lookout and a sign that told me it was 1 1/2 hours back to the camp . I need to do more HDR with my landscape shots with bright skies ....



A little further on the scenery changed , along with a bit of rain .








Something that really gets to me on these tracks [ ok not so much on this particular one ] , they have a sign marking the track when it is totally obvious where it is and you can't go in any other direction - but when everything is flat and washed away there are no signs . We got lost on one walk at a river crossing onto a flat area with no markers on the other side . eventually we found a dirt road and as we looked down the road we counted about 8 markers in a row .... on the blinking road !

Anyway I got to Fletcher's bay in 1 hour 45 minutes not counting the lookout stop and the only place I ran was on the steep downhill which my thighs have been reminding me about all day today .



I spent 5 minutes resting and taking in the scenery and turned around and headed back . Even though I really like Stony bay and had told myself this would be the first campsite I stay two nights in a row my mind was already ticking over " would I find better scenery further down the coast on my way back ?" .
I got back , rested for 5 minutes and then started getting an itchy accelerator foot and started packing up camp ........

I should have stayed where I was now that I think about it but ....next time .
I started off on the road again .

Second half of the second day , I drove back past Waikawau , not much to see [ nothing 'spectacular' I mean ] , then when I saw Kennedy bay I hoped there would be a campsite there but nothing , just a sign saying 'no camping' .



Then I drove through this strange "settlement" that doesn't even seem to have a name ?
I could have spent a while there photographing the interesting buildings but curtains were pulled back as I slowed down and I didn't want to make them too nervous but I got a few snaps .







this 'ghost house' even had a letterbox !

Then there was this climb on the winding road up the mountain , it was a little nerve wracking finding a spot to pull over that didn't look like it was going to collapse - then two cars met and had to squeeze past each other and the van but I managed to get close enough for a picture that included most of the road .




Then I parked the photovan at this lookout and climbed the hill .



and got a view of Coromandel town from the top .



also got a side shot of the van



I'll post the rest of the story on the second campsite on a new page ....

Anyway , Saturday afternoon I settled for a camping ground in Coromandel since there was nothing spectacular around for a fair distance and I was tired of driving .
I was fortunate to get a quiet site


just around the corner from the busy site ...











and there was a bit worth photographing in the area....



Once I was settled I went for a walk ...








and that's about the end of the story , Coromandel is now my favourite area for 'condensed' scenery .