Annual Westcoast recon trip part 3

A watched kettle never boils - or in this case a soup. this was a truly community affair.  Sir G.H. kindly donated from his estate a freshly harvested / gluten free bio fresh GE free fruits of his labors from his gardens. Further he went hunting and eventually freed a bird for this meals contributions.  Myself I boiled two chicken carcasses until there was almost nuthin' left of the stock and this all contributed to a extremely flavor-some duck suey - no wait - Duck soup!! So between the tramping / fresh air and flavors added - suffice to say we polished the lot- nothing left. ^^

This friendly local decided to join us for a meal. As you can see he wasn't fussed about table manners and very happily ate from the floor.  At one stage he was even on top of my boot - checking out his wondering meal!!  In the end he didn't much around and got stuck into his meal too.





LOL this reminded us of a cemetery - here lies at rest . . . .    ok a good meal!!  Besides - they needed a good airing and what better way . . . . .








At the end of the tramp we bought some pizza and took back to camp base and then enjoyed a lovely meal complete with a drink.
I wonder if I should copy and paste some of the emails insetting up the shared enjoyment ? ?   MAYBE not (what happens at camp stays at camp - right ^^ ) however suffice to say that a sassy sprightly Italian lass joined a Kiwi rough and ready DIY guy for company! Something along those lines.  It was nice to relax afterwards - even though we all rushed to our cellphones and rung back Christchurch - who we found out had another aftershock - a decent 5.3 mag that rattled the city, cutting out water and power in parts of the city.  Word today is that only a handful of buildings suffered additional damage and one place had to be torn down in a hurry as it was leaning out over the street.









Yess   :)   go on camp and you never know who you meet.  Seems these two got very friendly.  Vinnie being the navigator had a grand view!!  Does that make them officially a pair ? ? ?   Who knows - but they keep meeting in the most unlikely places . . . .   Wonder if I need to have a serious father to son conversation with him!?!?!?!







Daybreak on Sunday - and yes typical westcoast scenery - moody and heavy with moisture hanging around everywhere.  It is a misnomer - we should rename our West-coast to WET-coast!! It rained all the way back home!!






On the return trip we stopped at Arthur's Pass (in the aptly named avalanche shelter) for lunch - which originally was s'posed to be a light sandwich with healthy fillings - like Salmon and Salads complete with Camembert cheese - this changed to Fruitcake only (the one we forget to flambeed and eat last night) only to lay out a meal fit for a starving army. We more or less ate all the left overs in a hand to mouth action - no ceremony here - also no dishes!! Except for the coffee / tea or milo drinks.

Now that we have this trip behind us we just need to sort out our accommodation on the Coast and get transport sorted.  Sadly the City council 10 seater minivans / buses will not be available to get the kids across - so need to be creative in this department.






Oh and one funny thing happened - we split up - Sir G.H. and myself continued on the track, while Stitch and Brush returned to the original entry point - mainly for them to go back check us out with DOC and for us to suss out the rest of the track conditions (which where marginally worse from  here on in). Anyway short story cut  long - at the end point we came across this wedding party who went on location location location for some outdoor pictures.  So imagine the scene - them in their finest livery - all dressed up - best man and flower girls present and a couple of page boys and us rough and smelly tumble characters emerging from the bush and behind them- complete with staves and well - ^^  you know !!  Before the groom realized what was happening, we said - in a loud as poss voice - " We are the local bushman and have a prior right to the Bride - so  have come to kidnapp the lass and take her back to our Liar in the bush"  The Bride was a bit of a goer and said "whohoooooo", hubby well he didn't look to happy about this!!  I am sure  he thought this was somewhere between a joke or a serious matter.  Anyhow we gave her one of our staves and said this is a man beater - or a-round-to-it!!  Funny thing - we ended up in a couple of wedding photos! ^^  A memorable day all round I am sure

Annual westcoast recon trip part2

Scout leaders can read - right?? naturally, but we always reserve the right to investigate any dubious claims, and besides what depth does the water have to be across the road?? 1 cm?? 20 cm?? Anyway - we found out that the sign was there for a reason after all - as it dips below the level of the lake next door and when that floods - there is no road left to drive on . . . . . more like a canoe track . . . .
It did make for some interesting return travel out. 
Message to self - pay more attention to the local signs . . . .

Check out these cool hillibillies - ready for a days of tramping in the rain!!  We decided to go anyway  and check out plan B route seeing that the planned route A - to Cave creek was a wash out.  Funnily enough by the time we got started the heavens stopped crying and we almost had sunshine!! Vinnie - you're a darl!! Had I taken Brodie with me on this recon trip, we would have been doused I am sure - and I really didn't fancy a fresh outdoor shower.  Anyhow the track we went on is a 3 hour loop track around Punakaki and has some fantastic scenery. I would regard it as a easy grade track.  

Sometimes when life gets too much, you just have to go back into your bear-cave?!!!? 
Well looks like it, however this was just one of the many interesting places on the track - walk literally through the rock face. The steps help of course, but you had to bend down and Sir G.h.  had to stoop quite low.  A new experience for his Lord ship perhaps ?  ? Anyhow this particular gem had fallen over the track a long time ago and left a natural tunnel to walk through. Magic

I have a friend in Austria who would drool over this scenery and a simple 3 hour track would probably take more like 6 hours - photo-stop at every 5 paces.  Stitch did good on her walk - we took only some 200 pics ourselves.  Anyhow, a short story long - this is a very typical wild and mossy bush-walk scenery to enjoy. Luckily for us there was a track to follow - imagine having to bush-whack through here.  ^^    

We got to the half way point and made a rudimentary shelter - using two half hitches on the corners and strung the ropes on some trees.
Ahhh our good old scouting skills do come in handy!! Funny thing was, we ended up sitting
O U T -side the shelter, but we proved that the area selected would comfy hold a group of 10 under a larger canvas.  Time to build a campfire (sadly on gas) and get the billie boiling, ohh and lets not forget the lunch meal. 





 
 

Scouts camping on a wet and rainy weekend

Well - s'pose I should be thankful for some small mercies - like a waterproof tent. We took some scouts out camping and the weekend started fine but then it became a wet and rainy weekend. - (I unpacked my suitcase and found gear I had taken there, but not worn, quite DAMP - so yeah). Just as well that I took James and not Brodie (who has a reputation for going camping only in gumboots!!!)
Anyhow the youth came together from our Scout Zone and about 100 youth bunked down for the weekend. They had a ball. From our Group only 4 where brave enough to face the two madcap leaders and a camping experience away. I have to say - well done guys -you survived with flying colors. Seeing that what happens on camp stays on camp - I can't tell you some of the most funny stories / jokes we had - suffice to say - competition giggles has - more to work on her humor she needs.
Pics below - enjoy

So after we set up the campsite, we build the first part of the framework for the afternoon wide game - some water battle that needed a observation tower - a derrick for more supplies, a flag pole and urm stores. The platform also doubled as a local prison and while water-boarding was no longer an option some "prisoners" did get a free shower. - urm we also placed ONE sticky plaster in the middle of the floor and told scouts that if they fall down they have to aim for the sticky plaster - if they miss - they dont get to use that for whatever damage they would have done to themselves!! Suffice to say - they all decided to give that part a miss.

LOL - never mind the cars - the scouts did a good job themselves running round at speed!!




After a half day of running round in cold and drizzly weather - my cooked lunch was described as "Da Bomb" and "Papabears Super special" I have to admit - it was rather tasy and went down well. Nothing left over here!! Maybe - just maybe here is a new burger waiting for McDonalds to be "discovered"?? I am sure it would be a great hit!!

Mothers take NOTE - They DO KNOW how to wash up - so its up to you to utilize their newly acquired skill at home!!













The day finished with a camp fire and sing songs and stories and jokes - a good time to show of your camp blanket and all your badges and dear I say it - some warmth!!

Sadly Campfires are a endangerd species in Canterbury - with almost year round fire bans in force, the youth today no longer get to learn the skill in how to light fires / cook safely on fires and just basic fire safety eticette. Shame really because it is becoming a lost art very soon . . . .








The next day saw all the scouts competing in some games - we had a very intense wheelbarrow race (where listen and following instructions came at a premium) to the old gum boot toss/ tow a tractor / set up a electric fence (hehehe sadly no juice running through the fence - shame )/ to see how many hits it takes to pound in a 4 inch nail and how long it takes to cut a piece of a 2x4 / to tossing over a high rope a decent hay bale!
















Camp has finished with a traditional Scouts own and flag down.













Time to pack up and head back home - and a WARM shower and my very own comfy bed!
Oh and I got to watch the last 40 min of rugby before I crashed in bed- seems the All Blacks have re-discovered a way of winning - playing a decently game - so all in all a great weekend.

:)

Rain. rain and more rain

Rain and more rain and even more rain. NZ is so handily placed for extreme weather. Yesterday we had to fly out 120 trampers from the world famous Milford sound track. They had 400ml of rain in 24 hours - and water went passed them at head high!!! No way they could make the many river crossings on the track.

Here is a poem from one of the very early west coast settlers - Anonymously penned - and a classic - as it very accurately describes our weather out west.

" Rain - It rained and rained and rained,
the average fall was well maintained
and when the tracks were simple bogs
it started raining cats and dogs,
after a drought of half an hour,
we had a most refreshing shower,
and then the most curious thing of all,
a gentle rain began to fall,
next day but one was fairly dry,
save for one deluge from the sky,
which wetted the party to the skin,
and then at last - the rain set in."

And believe me - this is a very good description of some weather patterns.


Usually rain is a lot of fun - and next doors kid can be seen getting ready to have some fun with his duckie and umbrella. Pity his mum didn't give him gumboots, or a boat. Still he had fun which is all that matters.

Salzburg weather

2 more sleeps to go and I decided to check the local weather forecast for Salzburg
Salzburg weather
Wonder why I did that given the prognosis. As you can see it is going to be cold and more snow is expected. Well that should make cruising the German autobahns at 150 km/h plus a challenging experience.
Today in CHCH we woke up to a balmy 18 degrees. I am so gonna miss the warmth of New Zealand. Maybe I should go to the beach b4 I leave and take a pic of "our" Dec weather? Good idea?

On a diff note - what is one supposed to do on a plane for/during 4 and 16 and 6 hours?????
There is only so much to read or watch.