I love it!

I liked this too much to not post it here.



Also, Firefox3 has arrived. It's nice. You should get it. Even if it still hasn't managed to use the environment variables of an OS for looking up whether it should use a proxy or not. It means I still have to switch a proxy on or off as I move between work and home. Sure, there are plugins which make this as simple as clicking a button but Safari and Konquerer (depending what OS you use) manage to switch with no button clicking at all. Even though they are otherwise inferior browers. Maybe we'll see this feature in FF4 then, maybe.

The problem with technology

Before going to Stewart Island, I bought myself a fancy new camera lens: the beautiful Nikkor AFS-ED 18-22mm along with an 8GB memory card. The combination of the two (plus some spare batteries) meant that while I was on the island I was able to take way more photos than I would otherwise (such a flexible lens!). The problem from this, I now have around one and a half thousand photos to look though. I'm confident I can get rid of at least 500 since many of them are from trying to bracket my shots. Even after a cull there are still a lot of photos to pick though for selecting a dozen or so to post here. I might be a day or two getting them up. Here's one just for starters:

Holdsworth-Jumbo Circuit

This tramp started off as a plan for Nicola and I to visit the geocache plane wreck on Angle ridge in the Tararuas over Queen's Birthday weekend. Over the preceding week the plan grew in participant numbers and then during the first day of walking, it diminished in ambition. We left P.N. earlyish and drove through the fog over to the Wairarapa and Mt Holdsworth.






The weather on the way up to Mt Holdsworth was icy cold but very nice and sunny. It seems that on our way up Holdsworth we went straight past another geocache even eating morning tea right at rocky lookout, right where it was hidden.



The track up to Powell hut was good all the way up with native pigeons and curious mushrooms about. Once out in the tops the wind got pretty gusty and everyone was pleased for some shelter and lunch by the time we reached Powell hut.







After lunch, the walk across the tops to Holdsworth peak gave great views over the Wairarapa and into the Tararuas. It was from here that we got our first look at Angle peak which was between us and the the plane wreck. Things looked a bit steep and icey and so, as the wind increased I started to wonder how sensible it would be to take eight people out along the narrow ridge.











Most of the tarns we passed long the way were iced over and around Holdsworth peak there were some great ice sculptures which had formed from snow thawing and freezing in the tussock. From Holdsworth peak we continued along the ridge to Jumbo hut as the wind gusted stronger and stronger, all the time with bright sunshine.











We reached a very full full Jumbo hut about 4pm and negotiated some bunks. All the people staying there were really nice about sharing the space and we had 28 people sleeping on the 20 bunks in the hut (plus two in a tent). This was quite a contrast to some of the behaviour I saw in the full huts in Nelson lakes over Easter.







The sky remained clear overnight, making for great views of the lights from the towns of the Wairarapa. Masterton, Carterton, Greytown and Martinborough could each be made out as a thin strip of lights.





The weather turned during the night and the clouds we had been able to see on Saturday came over to sit on top of Angle ridge. I don't think anyone was too disappointed about heading straight back down rather than making a three hour trip in the clag and the wind.





Once we dropped below the bush line the weather was much better and we had a pretty easy and pleasant walk back down to the car in time for lunch.







We were (L.-R. in the group photo above): Katrin, Nicola, Mik, Aurelie, Helge, Nicolas, Erich (& me).

There's a Picasa album with a few more photos from the trip:

08-06 Holdsworth-Jumbo

[Edit: Picasa Webalbums seems to be more than a little broken at the moment. Hopefully it will fix itself before too long. Here's the url for the album in case that helps.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/droneale/0806HoldsworthJumbo]

(Or bring me a blank CD and I'll burn a copy of all 300 or so photos for you if you really want.)

Dinner with Dan

Dan's leaving NZ (in fact he's just left). And this time it's for good, or at least for a good long time. All the best for your time in London Dan. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from Dan's farewell dinner at the Elm Cafe. Picasa web-albums, where these and other pictures live, is being a little flaky at the moment and not displaying things quite as it should. I think it's usable though.










Bye Dan!

Dinosaurs, Wikipedia, etc

Some of you may know already that I'm a big fan of Dinosaur Comics. I wanted to shared this one since it enlightens us of an important point: the true purpose of Wikipedia. It has always been clear that Wikipedia must have some hidden motive behind it. People wouldn't go to all the effort of writing those entries just for the information of strangers they'll never meet.


Just in case you start to think that all the Dinosaur Comics are on the same theme here's one about bicycles and another featuring the devil.

Auckland Writers and Readers Festival

The writers and readers festival in Auckland the other weekend was very good. So was the weather there and the general traipsing about Auckland and riding the ferry out to Devonport (Devonport itself remains very pretty but kinda small and dull).







Michael Pollan was probably my personal highlight of the three things I saw at the writers and readers festival. I'd gone off him a little after what I thought was a weak ending to "The Omnivores Dilemma" but he spoke intelligently and articulately and entertainingly --- a rare trio of characteristics. A low point: perhaps Bernard Beckett in the science writers discussion --- he seemed more interested in trying to be clever an playing devil's advocate than actually giving decent answers. Well, I hope for his sake that's what he was doing. The alterantive is that he is as foolish as the ideas he was trying to hold up. The poetry reading was very good but very varied. Some stunning stuff (Douglas Wright, Kate Camp) and some that was less impressive. This happens though. At the end of the festival I had a new book (the Douglas wright poetry) and some new thoughts. You can't do better than that really.

More pictures here.

Made in New Zealand!

Phew! I breath a sigh of relief. I got a reply from Cactus Climbing who assure me that Made in China Cactus gear is only a left-over from the bad old days and that they are now committed to manufacturing in NZ. Good on you Cactus! I'll be buying more gear from you for sure now. I implore everyone else to too. They really do make good stuff --- it would have been sad to have to write them off like I've had to do with Icebreaker, Macpac and such like as they move manufacturing off shore to chase more dollars. Here's the reply from Cactus by the way. I'm pleased I asked after getting my knickers in such a twist about them (apparently) deserting NZ.

Hi,

Not to worry, Cactus used to make a few items off shore in earlier days. A few years ago we stopped making these items off shore and brought all the manufacturing back to NZ.
Cactus gear is now entirely NZ made but I guess there is probably a few items floating around out there.

Items like the Portal pack which used to be made in China we now have an NZ made version. The WP Dreadnought has undergone major redesign and will be available in a few months, this I think is the garment you were going to purchase.
The Wilbur which was our travel pack we simply no longer make it.

Thanks for checking the facts first. Cactus certainly feels strongly about first world environmental and labour issues and we are doing our bit here.

Made in NZ = happy Kiwi's all round

If you have any further questions please feel free to ask,

Kind Regards,

Made in China?

I sent the letter below after getting a nasty surprise this weekend when I went to buy a pair of pants from Cactus climbing. It looks like another NZ clothing producer has made a rapid yet silent switch from being a promoter of "Buy NZ Made" and espouser of the virtues of local production to the owner of a Chinese clothing factory with its very own coal-fired power station and troupe of low-paid slave-labourers willing participants in the free market dollar grab that is international clothing production. I guess it's clear I feel quite strongly about this. I'll keep you posted about any replies I get.

Hi,

I'm the satisfied owner of several items from Cactus and love the quality and design of them. This weekend I was about to buy a pair of Cactus trousers for alpine travel but before reaching the checkout I noticed a new feature of cactus products: a MADE IN CHINA label. Was I dreaming or have I really lost access to one of the few locally produced sources of clothing and equipment that exist in this country? Please tell me that cactus haven't moved production to China in a chase for dollars. If they have, then have certainly lost any dollars that I, my friends or family might spend. I feel strongly about this issue and advertise this fact widely and loudly.

Regards,

Night Sky Photos

I bought a tripod off Dan the other week and I've been carrying it places since then hoping that I'll be able to take some interesting photos from it. The other night the sky was looking nice with the moon at first quarter and a few clouds about to make things interesting so I got out my camera and had a play. Things were pretty dark so I needed exposures of 30 seconds to a minute to get enough light. Some of the photos were good straight off the camera. Some others weren't but lead to some curious effects after a bit of tinkering. There are a dozen or so pictures here

Not ice-climbing at Tukino

The plan was to leave P.N. early on Saturday morning, drive to Tukino ski field, walk up to Whangaehu hut and hopefully find some ice in condition for climbing higher on Ruapehu or, at least, go for a walk on about the top of the mountain. The reality was leaving P.N. on Saturday afternoon. Drive to below the normally locked gate on the road up to Tukino ski field.




Walk up to the ski field in growing darkness, with rain starting. Turn back and walk back towards the car (Rangipo hut was the first fall-back plan) after getting a message from Cindy and Graham (who had left at 6 a.m. and parked at the ski field) about bad snow conditions on the mountain. Altercation and negotiation on account of the key for the gate across the Tukino road (Graham and Cindy's car was on the other side of it). Bad weather and lack of functioning headlamps then meant we gave up on the walk to Rangipo hut and instead drove to Turangi and stayed at a backpackers.

The weather on Sunday morning was near perfect so we headind back to the mountain with our freshly negotiated key, unlocked the gate so Graham and Cindy could get down, and went for a walk up the mountain. Lucky we hadn't pushed on to the hut the night before. The snow was fresh and deep all the way up the mountain with no places where things were hard enough to get some crampons on and make some decent progress. It was a nice enough walk in the sun however, even if it was a little frustrating not to be able to do any climbing in the end. There are a couple of photos here.