Archive for April, 2008

1080 and the letter G

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

1080 and the letter G (23)Well I climbed it *hurray*, well since I had a nice swing not really clean, but good enough.
Yesterday I also climbed a 22 clean (without falling or sitting in the rope). That was an exiting weekend in Paynes Ford. I went up there spontaneous on Thursday night with some Americans and just returned with two Germans, a Czech and a Kiwi.I also updated my tramping log book, pictures will follow.

Mt Herbert

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

We did a tramp, up Mt Herbert. Two of my flatmates, three friends and two dogs wanted to climb the 919 meters from sea level. It is the highest point of the Banks Peninsula, near Christchurch. The farmer (and m friend) didn’t like the dogs on his property much, so we had to tie them off somewhere. At the beginning we had great weather. But the higher we got, the more clouds surrounded us. Our lunch break was basically in the clouds. No more sun. It got quite cold — for some people.

But the show must go on, so up we go… the last part of the walk way was not that interesting anymore. We followed the “road” to the summit. The last “10 minutes” where steep. It was nice to reach the top (it would have been even nicer with a clear sky). On the way down we tried to find the shelter, which was a little other direction then the way down… But because it gets dark so early now we had to turn around and “hurry” down the hill. One of my flatmates managed to twist his ankle… so the last 30min took us a bit longer.

Then the drive back to Christchurch… waa those streets are crazy. Hardly any markings of the road boundaries. Crazy.

Dentist

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

Today I went to a dentist to check out how things work here in New Zealand. The downside, the “studentsafe” insurance from the University of Canterbury doesn’t cover maintenance… no fillings, makes a $150. But you get to wear fancy glasses and the water to rinse your mouth is blue and tasty. The dentist was very friendly and “gentle” — a much better atmosphere than with my former German dentist. He also seems to know what he is doing. So overall a plus!

St James Walkway

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

Jep, we went there. But just for a day walk. We underestimated the distance, Lewis Pass is not directly around the corner… The weather was perfect, until Lewis Pass… So we caught some rain but also some sunshine. We crossed the river before the first hut and went back on the dirt road. On the side of the road were possum traps and yummy green stuff for them…