raffael » nz

1080 and the letter G

raffa — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:27:14 +0000

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

raffa — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 02:33:13 +0000

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

raffa — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:24:40 +0000

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

raffa — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:56:15 +0000

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…

Mad Climbing

raffa — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:24:41 +0000

Hello everyone,
I spend the weekend in Castle Hill for some bouldering with the climbing club. At the same time there was the final round of the National Boulder Series[1][2]. Here are some pictures:

South Auckland

raffa — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:55:27 +0000

Here some pictures from the Manukau South Head lighthouse:

Here some more information on NZ’s lighthouses

Strange things happen

raffa — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:18:54 +0000

Yes, I should post some more stuff here… but there is no time. Uni starts on Monday and there is still lots of stuff to do. I had to enroll this week — it was so much fun. So much commerce on campus… unbelievable and the students association right in the middle of it. Some kid got murdered around the corner and we have two new flat-mates. I am starting a Free Culture Club with a couple of friends… and I still have Tonga in my mind, which was a great experience.
I almost forgot that NZ Immigration asked me to supply a full medical check and a chest x-ray for the extension of my visa. That would have costed me $250+the x-ray… After I send them two emails and received three, they agreed that it was their mistake and I wouldn’t have to send it through… puh.

So what do you want to hear/read about?

Hitchhiking, Climbing in Paynes Ford#2 and Christmas reloaded

raffa — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:01:16 +0000

Ok, it has been a while… here is an update (pics will follow):

Hitchhiking to Golden Bay was Fun!Fun!Fun!. We met a lot of friendly people and saved some gas money… I’ll try to list the people we met: A women with a boy in a 4wd who hitchhiked through Europe, a Maori bus driver who was going to pick up some students up north, a girl in a van who was going to meet her German travel companion up north, a dutch girl cruising/camping through NZ who’s car got hit by a truck and you could smell some exhaust, a local couple, a nice mother of a three year old girl in a small car who owns an organic coffee shop and local art and crafts shop in Motueka took us to the McKee campground where we had dinner together and sat on the beach. The next day a east European couple on their way to Golden Bay picked us up after quite a while waiting around the campground (not a good start for hitching), we stopped at the lovely coffee shop “Four Winds” in Motueka, a guy in his van took us to Riwaka where we all bought tickets for the Black Seeds concert, then a packed van stopped for us and waived their friends out to take us over the mountains in their overheating van… and here we are in front of the Hangdog campground in Paynes Ford!
We didn’t managed to go climbing that day, but we had a look around. The camp was quite busy, but not too crowded — we found an ok place to place our tent (thx CUTC). From the last night at the McKee campground we knew it better and found a place in the shade (the morning sun heats up the tent and wakes you up at 8am).
Then the 24th Christmas? NoNo. Only for the wired European legacy… and it was raining… enough so make climbing in Paynes a pain. We went to Pohara with a German dude. The walls there were dry and we had some fun, later it was raining quite hard, but we still had fun on a sheltered wall. An 18 was the challenge for the day, the last two meters were wet and slippery.
The 25th: Christmas Day! It stopped raining in the morning, the xmas trees (we had two) where decorated and it was a question of going climbing or not, because today was the big day. About 50 people joint the Hangdog Christmas meal (the deal was to chip in NZ$10 for a giant lunch/dinner/meal). So we were just hanging around, offering our help with preparing the food… and so on. We couldn’t wait to get going with eating. When the food was finally served we didn’t exactly know how to act: Grab a plate a.s.a.p. or take pictures of the great view of four camping tables full with gorgeous food? I chose option #1. Plenty of salads and veggies and salmon… wow! Eating, eating, eating until we were fully full man, and then desert (and party poppers!). Some people passed out… after a while. At some point and some desserts we decided to go for a climb, but changed our mind and went swimming at Pohara Beach. It was quite windy, but it seemed to be nice to go for a swim on Christmas. What a day!
We then had three more days of climbing in Paynes.

(Pictures temporarily stolen from tom)

Christmas?!?

raffa — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:39:07 +0000

Well, it is 20 degrees, and I hear people speaking about Christmas… but it doesn’t feel like Christmas and it is good like this. Sometimes I see a little decoration here and there… but it is not convincing… not with 20 degrees. Why would Santa wear the thick jacket and not togs? Well, it looks as if I’ll go for a little Christmas trip: Paynes Ford for some climbing, New Years at the Canaan Downs Festival and in between some tramping… sounds good? good!

Routeburn Track

raffa — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:12:41 +0000

I almost forgot to write a sentence about the Routeburn Track! Well here it is: We saw lots of clouds, and we also got to know how it feels in case it rains for three straight days… it was wet! If you are keen to see some picture, check rainman’s website So there is a new waterproof jacket on my Christmas wish list!