Omarama and Ohau C, 11 to 15 October 2009

11 October 2009
268373kms, 18.5⁰C, 13:30. Have watched the start of Bathurst and now off to get supplies and then over the hill to watch the end of the race at Neville and Wendy’s place in Omarama. After that we’ll head off to one of our favourite spots – Ohau C!. Have to be back Thursday afternoon as Mike has work Friday/Saturday/Sunday and then he’s off to Wairakei for an audit for the week. So here’s hoping the weather’s good as it’ll be a while before we can get away again! Oh, it’s a beautiful day – sunny as and temperature’s not too bad. Filled up with 58L at 268383kms. Got to Neville and Wendy’s at 15:45. Watched end of race and chatted and decided to stay for more drinks and a BBQ tea, so parked Maggie on road, filled with water. Got to bed at just before midnight!. Oh, a first this trip - we have bike rack on the back. Everytime we have been to Ohau C one of us has to walk quite a distance to get to their chosen fishing spot - so now we have our mountain bike so that we can cycle there instead!

12 October 2009
Up at 07:20 and it’s minus 0.8⁰C. 08:00, rolling into Twizel for some more salad supplies. Got to spot at 09:30, fished (nothing – plenty to be seen but not interested in anything), read and relaxed. Wind turned around 2pm and nice and balmy 21⁰C in the shade after that – so sat outside and read. Whitebait – YIHA!!!! – and asparagus for tea, bed at 21:30.

13 October 2009
Up at 07:30, 5⁰C and cloudy. Now 09:30 and been for a fish – same result as yesterday. Sun did come through and now temperature at 9.5⁰C. Going to have showers etc and then into Twizel to dump/fill etc. and then on to Lake Ohau. Didn’t go to Lake Ohau in the end – the weather became absolutely glorious so we didn’t see any point in moving. Wendy and Neville arrived and bought a beautiful picnic lunch – the quiche was lovely – recipe please! – and bought salad stuff and bread – YUM. Fished some more – still same result so we bought out the beers instead. Should have gone into Twizel though – the old motto is “when you think the toilet needs emptying: do it”. Well we hadn’t and Marielle decided it was not going to last the night, so poor old Wendy had to drive Marielle and toilet cassette into Twizel. A huge thanks – we would have been somewhat stuck! When Marielle and Wendy got back Mark and David (a couple of fishermen Marielle had met yesterday) had taken up Mike’s offer of a beer – so we had Maggie full – 6 people and 2 dogs on board. The wind had come up a bit by then and made it too cold to sit outside. Great afternoon! Whitebait and salad for tea and be at 22:00.

14 October 2009
Up at 07:50 (sleep in!). Cloudy but balmy 7⁰C. Marielle went for a fish while Mike went back to bed and read. And Marielle was extremely happy that she went fishing – caught 2 nice brown – and one was the biggest fish she’s ever caught, no matter what method. And because she’d stalked this one, and it was on the fly, and it was about 6lb (based on the one at Poolburn being 4lb, well, this was WAY bigger!), she was very happy. The other one was about 3lb. Both caught on size 16 dark nymph. While we were out fishing, the Iriquois helicopter that has been flying around here since we arrived flew down the river bed - freaked Roxie out so much that she hightailed it across the river back to Maggie really fast! Bacon and mushies on toast for breakfast, now still cloudy at 11⁰C at 11:00. Sunny/cloudy all day, but not too bad considering they said it was going to rain. Chicken stir fry for tea, bed at 21:30.

15 October 2009
Up at 07:30 and 6⁰C out – and not a cloud in the sky, beautiful and sunny. Went and had another go at catching some fish – but not interested in anything again. Had breakfast (same as yesterday) and now 10:15 and off to Twizel to dump before drive home. Got home at about 13:30 after stopping in Cromwell to do some shopping. Great trip! 268757kms – 384kms trip.

Piano Flat, 5 to 7 October 2009

5 October 2009
12:57, sunny but only 9.5⁰C. 267971 kms on the clock and we are off! Mike rang at 11:00 from work to say he’s coming home because the weather looks good for the next couple of days (and the way it’s been going, you take every day of good weather when you can – snow everywhere this last weekend!) and we are off to Piano Flat (inland from Gore, past Waikaia). Have to stop in Alexandra on the way through as Roxie has an appointment with the vet for her annual jab. Filled up with diesel (45L, 267982kms). 14:07 – have just had a smoke break at the rest area beside Black Jack’s Creek just outside of Roxburgh – lovely spot. Trouble is, it’s beside water (the Clutha River) and Roxie just can’t help herself, can she? Always straight into the water – which isn’t normally a problem but a wet dog on a camper and another couple of hours to travel? Anyway, we’ll survive! Travelled on via Tapanui to State Highway 1 for a bit, then ducked onto side roads again to Knapdale. 17:00 On our way again after stopping in Waikaia – quite a cool little place really – the store as old Arkwright’s bike on the roof. Stopped at the pub for one – lovely pub, really friendly and has a beautiful garden bar where we played petanque. Mike won – of course! – 10 to 4. 17:30 All set up at Piano Flat – beautiful spot (268197kms) . Lots and lots of space to park, beautiful bush all around and the river is lovely – parked right beside a couple of likely fishing spots. Sat and listened to Kevin Bloody Wilson and had a good laugh. Had left over roast chicken and first asparagus of the season for tea (YUM). Like Roxie and water, so is Mike with fire - and he just couldn't resist building a fire in one of the fireboxes by the playground (cool playground here - lots of good "old" things like a roundabout and a bucking horse). Getting colder and colder outside – only 2⁰C while eating tea! Hit pit at 22:05

6 October 2009
Up at 07:40 after a great night’s sleep. And relatively warm, given that we were expecting a frost – it’s 3.9⁰C out. The cloud came in during the night and stopped a freeze, trouble is, now we have cloud – probably would have preferred sun and frost! Showered, looked for fish but no sign of any fish. And it’s clear enough to see everywhere, except the really deep holes and there isn’t 1 around. Had bacon, eggs, mushies for breakfast and at around 11:30 thought we’d take the dogs and go for a walk along the road. And lovely it was too, until we got to the climb, and Mike decided that he was going to get to a view – “just around the next corner”. Trouble is, each corner was another climb, and we got no closer to the bushline (which was the only way we were ever going to get a view. Eventually we came to a downhill bit before the next climb, and at that point Marielle was NOT going to go down only to go up again – so we caught our breath, and turned around! And then the downhill and associated jelly knees, thighs, backs and ankles! Oh well, 2.5 hours later we were back at Maggie – dogs buggered, we’re buggered! Spoke to a local for a while and had a good yarn about the area and its flora and fauna, and also fishing. Seems it’s still too cold for the fish to have come down yet. While talking to him Mike got “attacked” by the strangest looking beetle – never seen anything like it, and nor had this guy (and he knew about all sorts of insects that are specific to this area!). The cloud had cleared while we were coming downhill and it’s a lovely afternoon – but still need merino and polarfleece – its 11⁰C but with a chilly breeze. Started up the gennie to charge the battery in anticipation of a cold night. Then went for a quick stroll down past the cribs to the swingbridge. Nice out of the wind. Sat and talked, had tea at 20:45 (stir fry beef schnitzel with honey soy sauce, frozen veggies and rice) and went to bed at 21:45.

7 October 2009
Up at 07:30 and it is minus 1⁰C and not a cloud in the sky. Now waiting for sun to clear the hills so that we can warm up a bit – although, to be fair, we’ve had worse! While we were standing having our coffee and a smoke we both saw what Marielle had seen yesterday morning – a parry duck nesting in a hole in a tree! Neither of us knew they did that. Took the dogs for another walk – yep, uphill again! This was the Piano Flat Loop Track and fortunately only an hours’ walk! Left at 11:24 and decided we would take a shortcut – missing the main roads altogether and go from Waikaia to Waikaka and then on to Heriot. Mostly dirt roads in good condition and some neat scenery. Home at 14:28 – 268373 kms. The trip back was definitely shorter than the trip in 176kms versus 214kms! Great trip – really pleased we finally got to go to Piano Flat after Mike heard about it a couple of months ago, definitely worth doing.

Poolburn, 1 to 3 October 2009

1 October 2009
15⁰C, 13:44 with 267842 kms on the clock (the difference between this entry and the last is that in between time we used Maggie as a moving van, to move Kirsty to Queenstown. Very handy too, as there is no way we could have got all the boxes, heaters and other junk on the trailer or in the Terrano!) and we are off while the sunny weather lasts. It’s supposed to turn really, really cold on Saturday (today is Thursday) and it’s the first day of the fishing season – so we are off up to Poolburn. Shopped and filled the gas bottle (only 4kg needed – gosh, that Truma heater is efficient!) and then up to the Dam. Stopped at the same spot as back in March, but bugger, there’s a bus parked there. So round to between the ADC hut and Whippy’s hut. And that turned out to be a good choice in the end, because Whippy’s veranda is a good wind break (of course it’s blowing – its Poolburn!) and Marielle caught a beautiful 3.5-4lb brown trout. YAY! On the worm, just off where we are parked. It’s been cloudy with occasional sun breaks in between and 13⁰C most of the afternoon. Now 18:15 and 11⁰C, getting cloudier and wind picking up. Bed at 22:30 after going to visit Goldie after tea (slow cooked pork and salad). Had a good time chatting with him – good yarns.

2 October 2009
Up at 07:20 and a balmy 5⁰C out. Really, really good night’s sleep – we always seem to sleep so well on Maggie, and this one was even more amazing because Mike finished night shift yesterday and normally has a really horrible sleep the first night. Up once during the night due to the wind rattling the vents but that was at 04:00. Sunny but windy. Pork leg steaks, eggs and mushies for breakfast at 09:30. Rods out – worming – Marielle did try the fly but it really got too windy. Turned gennie on for a couple of hours to re-stock battery. Marielle caught another nice fish, not as big as yesterday but still nice – didn’t put up as much of a fight, either. Graeme Sainsbury and Phil arrived to open up the ADC hut, expecting a few more bods to arrive. Talked to them and helped them get their gear organised. Wind really picking up at times. The rest of the gang rolled up throughout the afternoon/evening and spent the evening having a party at the hut. Had chicken korma for tea at 21:30, Marielle then went to bed whilst Mike carried on partying – of course! Bitterly cold by now – only 1⁰C at 21:30.

3 October 2009
Up at 07:30, minus 0.1⁰C. During the night it was minus 1.5⁰C at about 3:30. Southerly hasn’t arrived yet, but we can see the bad weather approaching. 09:10 – SNOWING! 10:15, now minus 1 and snowing heavily. We had decided, about 10 minutes ago, to stay for another night, so Marielle had emptied the toilet into the long drop in preparation for another night – and then the snow came in. Had a smoke while we thought about our options – and decided to head for home. Ok, so there’s plenty of 4WD vehicles here, but it’s snowing heavily and at 3 tonnes empty, if there’s a foot of snow on the ground tomorrow a 4WD is going to struggle to tow us out. So commonsense prevailed! Stopped at Muddy Creek for one of their famous pies for brunch and home at 11:45 (267971kms).