11:41 257191 kms. Off over the hill, Lake Benmore/Ohau C somewhere, via stop in Cromwell for gas/diesel/ice and shopping. Put 63L in tank (257216). Oh, have a couple of new gadgets on board this trip – a 400W inverter and a car mp3/fm transmitter thing. 14:05 Omarama (stopped at Lions and Lindis to let slow traffic go!) 14:30 Stopped at Nev and Wendy’s, now on to Twizel to get water,
then park up. 15:20 Parked up below Ohau C, further along to end of point than where we were last time, ‘cause that place is chokka. Beautiful afternoon – 28⁰ in the sun, stripped off and sat and enjoyed the first proper day of spring. Now 18:40, and still 30⁰ in the sun, thoroughly enjoying the good weather! Spent all afternoon just sitting in the sun, enjoying the views and listening to the music on our new gadget! 20:30 Still 18⁰ out!! YAY a taste of summer at last! Had meatballs/spaghetti and asparagus for tea and hit the pit at 21:45.
3 November 2008
Up at 06:30 – sunny, no wind, not a cloud to be seen. Had coffee and went for a fish. Now 09:25 and Mike’s about to cook breakfast. Temp when we got up 4.5⁰, now 13.5⁰. Fished, read, slept, walked dogs – a very relaxing day. Chicken/honey soy Wok Creations sauce/rice and fresh stir fry veggies for tea. Bed by 21:45.
Up at 06:30 – sunny, no wind, not a cloud to be seen. Had coffee and went for a fish. Now 09:25 and Mike’s about to cook breakfast. Temp when we got up 4.5⁰, now 13.5⁰. Fished, read, slept, walked dogs – a very relaxing day. Chicken/honey soy Wok Creations sauce/rice and fresh stir fry veggies for tea. Bed by 21:45.
4 November 2008
Up at 7:15, Marielle went for a fish while Mike relaxed. Now 10:31 and off to Twizel to empty and re-stock. Bit wobbly, to say the least, getting out of where we were parked – so wobbly, poor old JD fell off the seat – and he’s now not impressed! After chores we went and checked out Ruataniwha, had a fish below Oha
u A but caught only didymo, drove to Lake Ohau (the other end to last time we were here – blowing) and checked out any future other campsites, none really here. Then went back to main highway, down Ohau Riverside Drive to check out the other side – after what seemed like ages on a pretty poor road, driving a fair way down to try and find a sheltered spot, we turned around and found a really nice spot half way back. The weather forecast is awful – heavy snow warning in place for Otago, Southland and Canterbury. The NW gales that were forecast never eventuated, but it’s been occasionally spitting since we got here at 15:25 and the wind has now turned South, with corresponding temperature drop. We are using the gennie for the first time on this trip! Quiet night in (ha ha!) and planning to have stir-fry beef/Chinese bbq sauce with first capsicum of season (cheap at 4 Square in Twizel) and rice. YUM. Ended up not having beef – neither of us could really be bothered cooking. Had Alfredo pasta with fresh asparagus/ham and capsicum thrown in and it was delicious. Had several attempts at trying to catch a nice looking fish that’s cruising the wee inlet beside us, no luck. Also spent a bit of time “storm” proofing – making house for gennie, trying to get the umbrella to stand up in very rocky ground, all in preparation for the bad weather that is already meant to be here, but no sign of it yet. Bed at 22:10. 5 November 2008
06:30 – the bad weather has arrived, with a vengeance. They said it would, but it was forecast to hit about 12 h
ours ago. Only 0.5⁰ outside, and snowing – lightly when we got up, but getting heavier all the time!!!! We’ve had to start the gennie up, just to try and get some heat in the place. 2 days ago in singlet and shorts, now in winter woollies! Going to be a very quiet day in by the looks of things –although if it keeps snowing we’ll be able to build a snow-man. Well, it carried on snowing very heavily until about 09:30, when the sun cam
e out for a few hours. Had bitterly cold winds all day, snow showers, hail, sleet – all interspersed with sun and little wind. In these pleasant intervals we fished – Mike had 6 follows and one catch, Marielle one follow. Played euchre and monopoly when it got too cold to be out. Temp today ranged from 10.7 when sun was out, to 2.4 when a squall went through. Fun, this camping thing, according to Mike! Bed at 22:10 after tea of beef/chinese bbq sauce and veggies. 6 November 2008
Up at 7:11 – 1.2⁰ out, but sunny. Still cold wind, but ok. Mike caught another fish, Marielle’s been trying to get the one in the wee channel to the right of us on the fly – no luck! Off to do shopping/chores in Twizel then find somewhere else to park up. 12:12, rollin
g to Twizel. 13:28 – off to Lake Ruataniwha) just checked out the Rowing Facility – huge – and now rolling. Got home at 17:47, after a stop at the Lindis Mouth on the Clutha (nice!). Decided we’d go home because even though it is slightly warmer, there is still a stiff southerly and we’re over cold and wind and snow. 257630 kms – 439 kms this trip. Oh, and we’ve decided to permanently mount the electric toothbrush in the power cupboard, and mount the dustbuster on the wall, so that we can charge them while we are travelling – 2 reasons: 1) no point in using the battery to charge stuff when it can be done off the motor; 2) the inverter is a bit noisy, so if you charge whilst travelling you don’t notice it. And we’ve also decided to get rid of the curtains in the bedroom – we only ever use them when we’re cooking to stop smells going up there, and the curtains are a right pain – Mike gets caught up in them when we’re asleep, and they are hugely in the way when making the bed. So they will be replaced with a blind that we can easily close from the house side.