3 Seasons in 1 week....

After the summery temperatures the day Andrea climbed Ben Lomond, the following weekend she headed out with the same friends to do a bit of walking near Arrowtown, where she was greeted with the spectacular Autumn colours it's famous for:

However, Autumn didn't last long, as only 2 days later, it was most definitely winter.

This photo was taken from our deck outside our lounge looking towards Cecil Peak on Monday morning:

By the evening a bit of snow had melted on the northern faces but the Remarkables still looked spectacular right on dusk from our kitchen window:

Ben Lomond Summit

A few weeks ago, Jackie (our neighbour) decided that on the 9th of April a bunch of the girls in the street were going to climb Ben Lomond. A few days before had seen a random storm come through and dust it in snow, but Saturday the 9th dawned fine and clear, with no snow to be seen. So Jackie and Andrea headed out bright and early to the carpark where we were meant to be meeting everyone... and 1 other person (Sue) turned up.

The 3 of us started out from near lake level (about 310m above sea level) and climbed to the top of Ben Lomond (1750m above sea level) - a climb of 1440 m. For you Aucklanders, that's like climbing from sea level to the top of one tree hill... 8 times. Or Rangitoto 5 and a half times.

Greg has attempted the summit climb before with our friend Max but they were beaten back by a blizzard, so it was nice for Andrea to be the first one up! See: http://gregandandreajarvis.blogspot.com/2009/05/ben-lomond-take-2.html

As mentioned, it was a gorgeous day. This photo was taken just as we popped out of the tree line, almost half way up. Ben Lomond is the peak in the distance.

Looking back towards Cecil Peak with the morning cloud before it burnt off:

The three of us girls at the saddle (Sue on the left, Jackie in the middle and Andrea on the right):

The view from the saddle towards Mt Aspiring National Park (Mt Aspiring is the hard to make out peak on the right of the picture):


The view from the top back towards Queenstown and The Remarkables:

There was still a little bit of snow right up the top where the sun hadn't got to it:

The 3 of us right at the summit:

And Andrea way out on the ridge:

It might be serious...

A snow addiction is virtually un-treatable. The only known relief for symptoms is to apply the child to large amounts of cold white snow and hope their energy runs out before yours does.

Symptoms of the snow addiction include:

Grinning from ear to ear:

Being happy even when it's -6 (thermometer in the background):

Instructing those around you on how to improve the snow experience (caption for this photo: "Faster, Aunty Jen!"):

We think there's a good chance that JJ is doomed to a life of snow addiction. We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to his poor parents - after all, it's not the child who suffers from snow addiction.....

Just a dusting

We thought it was about time we started boring you all with snow photos again....

We had a bit of a southerly blast come through today (Sunday), leaving behind this dusting on the Remarkables (taken from the top of our driveway):

A timely reminder that winter is on the way. It's good actually, just when everyone starts to get a bit down about the end of summer, snow arrives and reminds us all just why winter is so great down here.

And down the end of the lake - it never ceases to amaze us how individual hills can be hit while those right beside it will be completely missed.

Coronet Peak goat shoot take 2

Last weekend we were invited out with the local Deerstalkers branch for another goat shoot on Coronet Peak Station. Once again we drove to the top of Coronet Peak ski field (the top of the M1 for those who know the field) and then walked out to Mt Soho homestead which is near Macetown - out the back of Arrowtown. All up it was about 17 km over 6 hours, not too bad considering we stopped often and chased goats up and down a few hills.

This picture was taken on one of the ridges over the back of Coronet Peak ski field, looking towards Mt Aspiring National Park. If you look very closely you can see a bit of snow in the background - there was a fresh dusting overnight, amongst the first dustings for this winter, so it was pretty cold up the top!

Moving House

Don't forget about me! I want to move house too!

Burton is now well settled in and hasn't gone back to the old house for at least a week and a half. We had to go back and get him twice - once on the first day after he followed Andrea (who was cleaning the old house) and once a few days later. It must be confusing for him when the old house is only about 100m away, and the new tenants aren't moving in until the 10th of March.

We're busily tidying up the section - the last people living here didn't appear to know what a hedge trimmer was... We've been pushing wheelbarrows up the drive in almost total darkness, which went a whole lot better than pushing them back down again in total darkness. But we're getting there!

The clothesline is now completely usable again, the roses are no longer trying to grow up the inside of the weatherboards, and the front entrance way is much improved - i.e. you can drive down the driveway without damaging the car's paintwork (we gained 1.5m of driveway width just by trimming things back). We've also regained the view through to Ben Lomond and the Gondola by knocking the tops off the hedge, which is still about 20 ft high.

The trimmed roses, removed cherry trees (small, straggly and not thriving) and realigned back yard:

The front rose hedge nicely trimmed, and the front edge dug out and lined with river rocks, with the Remarkables in the background - bring on the snow (only about 8 weeks away now. Already getting noticeably colder, especially in the mornings)!

New tussocks and a closer shot of the river rocks. We estimated that we've carted about two tonne of rocks so far and we still have about 1 more tonne to go. We're hoping to have that done by the time Andrea's parents turn up on Thursday.

Thar Hunt

Greg was recently invited out on a Thar cull for a week with the Department of Conservation and the local Deerstalkers branch. Thar are Himalayan mountain goats, about twice the size and height of New Zealand goats, and they act more like deer - i.e. they run when you try to sneak up on them.
The bull Thar (i.e. adult males) are a sought after trophy and overseas hunters (and many New Zealand hunters) pay thousands to be flown in to shoot them. Nannies aren't such a trophy, even though the meat is good on the younger ones, and the population is getting out of control and damaging the native alpine plant life. Thar live above 1600m so are above the winter snow line.

The timing wasn't fantastic, as the hunt was right at the same time as we got possession of our new home, but it's the sort of opportunity you just don't turn down!

The helicopter the guys flew in on (and the valley they flew up behind it):

The terrain was quite steep...

With lots of glaciers, which made it very cold at night. The lowest temperature recorded during the week was -14°C, which was a bad frost, even by our standards, especially when you're in a tent on the side of a mountain.

A young bull Thar (Greg's first). Standing, it came up to Greg's shoulder. They grow a lot bigger than this - slightly smaller than the average NZ cow in height.

One of the other members of the hunting party "glassing" (looking through binoculars) for Thar. Most of the Thar shot were 200+ metres away.

And lastly, not a bad view to wake up to out the front door of your tent... even if it was as cold as a Mother-in-law's kiss.