Home for Christmas

Snow at heathrow
Arthurs stone, Gower

My niece Elisenda!

Langland Bay in the snow


Mumbles
Pennard Castle
Caswell Bay

Christmas day was pretty cold in the evening

Burt Munro week and Jet boating

There is a series of motorcycle races put on during November named after the famous DIY speed fanatic from Invercargill called Burt Munro. He modified his Indian motorbike to run in speed trials and built a custom streamlined bodyshell which is the red object here. A film starring Anthony Hopkins called The Fastest Indian portrays his later years. It's well worth a watch.
Not the fastest Indian!

I joined the Southland Landrover club (which is open to all 4x4s as you can see)
Some classic bike racing at the Teratonga Racetrack

Then I went up to a farm and carried out pest control - the rabbits we harvested here are being put to good use in the stew.
And on to the Waiau River for some jet boating. These boats developed in Hamilton, NZ use a series of impellers in a 4 inch tube to suck and spray water providing thrust. They are able to be used in much shallower water than the conventional propeller driven boats and this was proved when we were able to speed our way up the river in less than a foot of water at times.
We launched the boats from Clifden near Tuatapere and got up as far as Monowai Power Station with only a few scrapes!
There were some great rock features along the way.




A spot of fishing which is unreachable from the bank.

Some links,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiau_River,_Southland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_jet_boat

Mavora Lakes Part 2

So, my flat mate Jason and I made the return trip to Mavora to rescue the 4x4's from the end of the valley. Not looking forward to the seven hour walk we enlisted the help of Jason's mate Matt who shares this small but fast fishing boat to take us to the top of the lake. This saved us nearly 4 hours walk which we completed in around half an hour on the water!

The forest is mainly beech and the tree line is at around 900m. There are plenty of trout in the lake and being the Spring bank holiday there were a few boats out. It wasn't exactly crowded though as you can see - crowded is a word not often used in these parts.
Looking SOuth, three quarters of the way up the lake. The boat ramp is at the distant point of the forest on the left shore.
The walk starts here, wee dog wanted to join us but I feared we'd have to carry her after about half an hour so she returned to the boat after some protesting.


The hut and trucks are in at the top of the valley so still a fair way to go. Once we met the track the going was much faster. Walking through marsh and tussock is hard work with all of the holes and creeks.
Nearly there!
Once we reached the spot we saw the river had dropped significantly (about 2 feet) James had already rescued his Isuzu from the water last week so it was a clear crossing for us and although a bit bouncy on the boulders there were no dramas.
We had a few hours until sun down and took our time on the return trip, savouring the wilderness and capabilities of the vehicles.

The last of 3 rivers, not too deep and quite a pebbly bottom. Again, no dramas.

The road out!
Made use of the long weekend and went to Piano Flat near Waikaia. A beautiful spot with a great Kayaking river. We shall return another weekend and try the tracks and hunting around here.
Alls well that ends well! Until next time...

Mavora Lakes Part 1

First trip out in the new Landy, packing to go. Ruby the cat was keen so we stashed her in the cab.
Up the track by North Mavora Lake. Time to remove the tow bar as she was narrowing the exit angle.
View up the track to the confluence of the Mararoa River and the Windon Burn

Having a play in the mud
River crossing #1 All good so far
2 rivers later, at Forks hut. 3 trucks, 6 guys and a lot of beer and coal.
Next morning the river was up.
Needed some help from the winch. However just succeeded in winching a few boulders towards the river. Once hypothermia was approaching we returned to the hut and warmed up.
We took the decision to walk out. This is half way down.
Luckily a kilo of cheese some salami and a 25km walk later we were still smiling!The relief vehicle - a Toyota Corona. 7 of us squeezed in and planned the recovery for the next day.

To be continued...!