April 27, 2012
Anzac Day jaunt around Wuthering Heights
A late afternoon wander around the Wuthering Heights section at Kura Tawhiti. It really is a beautiful spot to watch the sun go down on the Castle Hill Basin.
Posted by conor at 1:25 PM
April 20, 2012
Exploring Long Spur and into Waterfall Creek
My original intention was to head all the way up Long Spur to the summit of Mt Cloudesley, and along the ridge past Mt Izard, before dropping into the basin at the head of Waterfall Creek. However, the frozen ground and my (lack of) head for heights (always used to be better when I was doing more climbing/tramping in my 20s) prompted me to turn back from the top of Long Spur and explore Waterfall Creek from the bottom. Good day out, probably 16+ kms with about 1500m of ascent, which was a reasonable days tramping for me given I really haven't done many big days out recently. Enjoyed the company of 3 keas high on Long Spur and some peaceful dozing in the golden tussock at lunchtime; didn't see another person all day...
Posted by conor at 1:42 PM
April 8, 2012
Breaking through on Broken River
On a fantastically sunny and windless Easter weekend, we headed down Broken River from the Cave Stream carpark with friends from Castle Hill, Amanda, Bernadette, Paul, Shane, Lauren, Monique, Michael and Ella. Warm day, but cold water already at this time of year, even if Evie, Lauren and Monique were brave enough to go for a dip in their undies in one of the swimming holes!
Posted by conor at 11:30 PM
March 4, 2012
A watery wander up Tim's Stream
Tim's Stream runs through Craigieburn Forest Park near the Cheeseman Skifield road, and features a pleasant walk up Broken River (including about 20 river crossings) to the confluence with Tim's Stream which gets increasingly gorge-y as you approach a reasonable sized waterfall. Quite a few wasps around in the beech forest this time of year, so we didn't hang around in the bush.
Posted by conor at 9:31 PM
November 14, 2011
The Gateway to Castle Hill
Inbetween floor-tiling sessions, I took a quick jaunt up the Starvation Gully route above Porters Pass to Trig 'M' in the Korowai/Torlesse Conservation Area. There are great views over Lake Lyndon into the Castle Hill Basin, along the Lake Lyndon Road towards the Rakaia river, and back down Coach Stream towards Springfield.
Posted by conor at 9:12 AM
January 2, 2011
Christmas & New Year 2010
A very relaxing Christmas & New Year so far, 10 days in and around Christchurch (incorporating a few large and shallow aftershock earthquakes centered right under the city centre on Boxing Day which caused a certain amount more damage to the city), with trips to the beach (with the Maddigans), the Botanics (with the Abeleiras) and Banks Peninsula (with the Keohanes) - we just needed a bit of time off from house construction. Had a great Christmas brunch at Andy & Leonie's, and a great New Years party at Anna & Ben's. Roll on 2011, we might actually get Castle Hill finished!
Posted by conor at 8:40 AM
