269313kms, 11:20am. 12.5⁰C – brrr – cold but at least it’s sunny! Off over the hill somewhere. Filled up at Cromwell (47.79L, 269338kms) rather than in Alexandra because we had 25 cents per litre off voucher. Got to Lake Aviemore (269479kms) – just below the dam but further down than the last time we were here – at 14:40. Mike caught his first fish of the season – YAY! – a nice little rainbow. Nice warm afternoon (21.5⁰C) if you stayed out of the wind. Warm enough to sit outside in shorts and T-shirt. Watched TV for a while – no problems at all with the generator, in fact, it seems much easier to start now with just one gentle pull firing it off. Had lamb chops, asparagus and mushrooms for tea – yum. Mike fished after tea – a first, because it’s now 21:15 and he’s still fishing!!! Bed at 21:40.
Up at 07:00, 7⁰C out, offshore breeze and light cloud around. Mike caught another 2 fish – 1 chocolate sized one, and another nice little rainbow. Marielle tried, on both fly and spinning, but nothing. The season’s total is now 6 to Marielle, 3 to Mike (not counting the ones Marielle has caught when fishing on her own!). Had ham/avocado/salad for lunch. Lots of people around, enjoying a reasonable day until the southerly wind really got up at about 15:00. Then it got cooler quickly! Because it got too cold to sit outside we had showers etc at around 15:30 and then read, played cards etc until news time. Again no problems with the gennie, so it’s obviously fixed. Oh, and we have super cold beer now too – Mike fixed the plug on our plug in chilly bin and it’s doing a great job. Had chicken and asparagus for tea and hit the pit at 22:00.
30 November 2009 
Up at 07:00, overcast, blowing and 7.5⁰C. Forecast is for cloud and maybe rain all day and a maximum of 11⁰C. Will see what happens in the next little while and then decide what we are doing. 09:15, still only 8⁰C with a bitterly cold breeze so doing the dishes then going to dump and head home – the forecast is for this weather to stick around for the next couple of days, and there is a possible road snow warning for 1-2cm of snow for the Lindis Pass. 09:25 – battery dead, as in the truck battery. Too much radio and beer cooling!!! So out with the house battery and jumper leads – trouble is, the battery slide was stuck fast. CRC contact cleaner worked – not ideal but at least it released the slide so we could get the battery out. Then start Maggie off the house battery – just! Thank goodness for backup systems, otherwise we would have been sitting here waiting for the AA. Lesson for future: cool the beer when you’re driving and don’t use it all the time! 11:10 – at Ahuriri Conservation Park at the end of Birchwood Road. Decided to go and have a look, we’ve always wondered what is at the end of this road. Amazing scenery but oh, so cold – like winter with it still only being 8⁰C! Had a cup of soup and some bread and then carried on. 14:00 – checked out Kane Road (when you get to Tarras you are just about there, so we thought we might as well, in the hope that it’s sheltered and warmer down there), but still only 11⁰C and still blowing a southerly. So even though we don’t really want to, we are on our way home. Tomorrow is the start of SUMMER – YEAH RIGHT!!!! Got home at 16:37 after stopping in Cromwell for a commiseration drink. 269725kms – that’s 408.6 for this trip.