Christmas

I'm thankful I was able to spend Christmas with family and friends in NZ - until a couple of months ago, the plan had been for me to be in Papua New Guinea already!

A particular highlight was my mum's attempt at a Christmas tree pavlova...

Alps to Ocean - day 6

Day 6 - Kurow to Oamaru

87 km, 9.0 hrs

This was another two-section day: Kurow to Duntroon (27 km), which we were able to knock off by morning tea time, and the final leg from Duntroon to Oamaru (54 km). Highlights included the limestone rock formations at Elephant Rocks, the Rakis railway tunnel (and the lovely smooth, downhill section following that), and the sense of achievement at reaching our destination!

An early start, following the Waitaki River

St Martin's church, Duntroon

Elephant rocks

Trail through farmland

The Rakis railway tunnel

Mission accomplished!

Post-ride celebratory dinner

Alps to Ocean - day 5

Day 5 - Lake Benmore to Kurow

63 km, 7.0 hrs

The day dawned quite foggy, so we waited until it started to clear before starting out (since we knew we had a relatively short day). To start with we got to enjoy a new section of track, which involved a bit of climbing interspersed with some slightly technical descents. We had lunch overlooking the Benmore Dam and Lake Aviemore, before dropping down to cross over the dam and then cycle on the road to the Aviemore Dam. We had quite a strong headwind on this section, and being on the road we tried to only stop when we needed to. From the Aviemore Dam we were on a dedicated bike path next to Lake Waitaki to the Waitaki Dam, then another 8 km to our overnight stop (and dinner at the pub) at Kurow.

Morning fog on Lake Benmore

Lake Benmore

New section of trail - a bit more technical, lots of fun

New bridge

View of Lake Aviemore from our lunch stop

Benmore Dam

Lake Aviemore

Aviemore Dam

Lake Waitaki

Arriving in Kurow - a welcome sight!

Alps to Ocean - day 4

Day 4 - Lake Ohau to Lake Benmore

55 km, 7.0 hrs

Don't let the short distance fool you! The section from Lake Ohau begins with a fairly steep climb, which is one of the reasons we pushed hard to get there the day before, rather than overnighting in Twizel and trying to do two sections on this day. It took us about two hours to reach the high point (11 km, 350 m elevation gain) and from there it was mostly downhill for the rest of the day. We restocked some supplies at the supermarket in Omarama before continuing on another 8 km to the Lake Benmore holiday park.

A steady climb

The top

Quailburn Road

Inquisitive cows

Trail in to Lake Benmore

Alps to Ocean - day 3

Day 3 - Tekapo to Lake Ohau

103 km, 9.5 hrs

This was our longest day, covering the sections from Tekapo to Twizel (54 km) and Twizel to Lake Ohau (38 km). From Tekapo to Twizel the trail runs next to a hydro canal and then around the shore of Lake Pukaki, before traversing through pine forest and across the downs to Twizel. We stopped for an icecream and then continued - again following hydro canals and finally a dedicated trail around the lake to the lodge.

At the Tekapo start point

Following the hydro canal path

Lunch stop with a view

Mt Cook and Lake Pukaki

More hydro canal

Lake Ohau

Alps to Ocean - days 1 & 2

Day 1 - Mt Cook to Tekapo

63 km, 7.0 hrs

Our first day dawned cloudy and cold. We had taken a shuttle from Oamaru to Twizel the previous afternoon, and had booked a morning shuttle from Twizel to the start point at Mt Cook village. The first section involves cycling for about 8 km to the airport, then a mandatory helicopter flight across the river to ride down the eastern side of Lake Pukaki to Braemar Rd (a further 25 km). Normally riders would then continue on to Twizel (41 km) but we opted to ride on Braemar Rd to Tekapo instead. This proved to be much harder than expected, with deep gravel that made it hard going both uphill and down!

8 am shuttle from Twizel to Mt Cook village

At the Mt Cook start point

Helicopter ride across the Tasman River

Sheep being mustered across the road

Braemar Rd - 22 km of hard slog

Day 2 - Tekapo

We had planned to have a whole day in Tekapo to explore. We went for a leisurely stroll in the morning around the lakefront and up to Cowans Hill. In the afternoon we walked to the hot pools and back, and in the evening we did the Mt John observatory tour.

Church of the Good Shepherd

Lake Tekapo and Southern Alps

Aurora seen on our Mt John observatory tour
(photo from Dark Sky Project)

Alps to Ocean - overview

One of the 'big ticket' events I had planned for my home assignment was to cycle the Alps to Ocean trail with a friend. Originally we had scheduled it for the end of my visit, but now with my arrival (and departure) being delayed, it ended up being closer to the start!

The trail has two start points (Mt Cook village and Tekapo) and runs for around 300 km to Oamaru. It's a mix of dedicated cycle track (some of it right next to the main road), gravel roads and some sections of sealed road. The track is described in seven sections. Due to some of these being relatively short (less than 40 km) we opted to combine some of the legs and planned to do it in 5 days of riding. While we were doing it, I realised that because our 'Day 1' was essentially riding from the Mt Cook start point to the Tekapo start point, we would actually be riding the trail in only four days!

We had great weather the whole time - no rain, mostly clear skies. We didn't meet a lot of other people on the trail either - not like the time we did the Otago rail trail.

Here are the numbers (with links to photos):

Day 1    Mt Cook to Tekapo
63 km    7.5 hrs (5.5 hrs moving)

Day 2    Tekapo

Day 3    Tekapo to Lake Ohau lodge
103 km    9.5 hrs (6.5 hrs moving)

Day 4    Lake Ohau to Lake Benmore
55 km    7.0 hrs (4.0 hrs moving)

Day 5    Lake Benmore to Kurow
63 km    7.0 hrs (4.5 hrs moving)

Day 6    Kurow to Oamaru
87 km    9.0 hrs (6.0 hrs moving)

Strip flying

I took two weeks of annual leave at the start of November and sought to accomplish two things: 1) a bit of flying at the Marlborough Aero Club, and 2) the Alps to Ocean cycle trail. More on that shortly!

Marlborough Aero Club offers strip flying training at various airstrips near Blenheim. I had flown with them back in 2017 in preparation for my MAF flight assessment. On that visit we had looked at different techniques at the home airfield, before heading out to four different airstrips. The fourth one had been beyond my skill level at the time, so I was keen to give it another go, as well as try my hand at some sloping strips, which are common in PNG but almost non-existent in Australia. I also used the opportunity to get my BFR (biennial flight review) signed off, since if I waited until my next visit to NZ in 2023, it would be more than 5 years since my last one and I would have to resit the aviation law exam if I wanted to keep flying.

We had flyable weather on four days in a row, which was great.

On day 1 I did some refresher circuits with Sharn to get reacquainted with the aircraft - a 1963 C172 E model with manual 40 deg flap, STOL kit and 180 hp engine.

The next day I flew with Ben to do the BFR in the morning, and then in the afternoon we went out to the Sounds to two airstrips there.

Airstrip at Nopera (landing direction indicated by arrow)

Take-off view at Nopera airstrip

Airstrip at Port Gore

Just before commencing take-off at Port Gore
- like heading down a skateboard ramp!

On day 3 I was flying with Ben again, so we headed to the Awatere valley to try some strips there. Richmond Brook front had sheep in it, and Prouting had some puddles and mud patches visible from the air, so we couldn't use either of those. I wasn't too disappointed as I had flown into both of these previously. We headed a little further up the valley to the Aotea strip, which was reasonably long (and two-way) but had quite a confined circuit area. I did a few landings and take-offs in both directions and we headed back. In the afternoon we were treated to a rather impressive thunderstorm!

Dark clouds over the Taylor Pass, about 30 mins before
the rain reached Blenheim

On the final day I flew with Sharn again, with the aim of heading to the 'CFI-only' strips. Our first destination was the Richmond Brook back strip, which I had struggled with last time. This time, finding it was my biggest challenge! Once I was able to make it out, I felt relatively comfortable flying the approach and landing the aircraft. It was a confidence boost - but then I had gained about 500 hrs and new MAF techniques since my last attempt!

I did 4 or 5 landings, during which time the tail wind started to become quite noticeable, so we headed to our second destination: Dashwood pass. This is a sloping strip on a spur - good practise for PNG! I was particularly keen to have a go due to the visual illusions that can result when you are trying to land uphill. Sharn demonstrated the first approach and then I had two successful attempts. We decided not to push it for a third as the wind was picking up (crosswind this time). All in all, I was very satisfied!

Dashwood Pass airstrip from the air

Looking down the spur prior to take-off

A very capable machine!

Surviving MIQ

Following a hectic three days of packing up my life in Mareeba, I spent 14 days in the Stamford Plaza hotel MIQ facility.

There were similarities and differences to my previous 14-day quarantine experience at Howard Springs...

Similarities:
- emotional rollercoaster from the first 3-4 days of 'this isn't so bad to day 8-10 of 'it feels like I'm never going to get out of here'
- food being delivered in cardboard containers
- being able to use the time to 'check out' of a previous MAF programme and re-orient myself for the next phase

Differences:
- more comfortable bed :)
- no outside access :(
- bigger room :)
- virtually no human interaction :(

I really feel for the extroverts who have to go through it...

When I was packing up all my stuff I came across a pack of Post-it notes and decided to throw it in. On arrival in MIQ I decided that I would use them to create window art each morning. My room overlooked the exercise pen area so I hope it brightened people's day as they walked around.

Exercise area - an 80 m loop

Here are my daily efforts (flipped horizontally so you can see what people outside would have seen)

Day 1: Pacman

Day 2: Sunshine

Day 3: Waving

Day 4: Hot air balloon

Day 5: Lightbulb

Day 6: Exit

Day 7: Octopus

Day 8: Music

Day 9: Heartbeat

Day 10: House

Day 11: Tropical islands

Day 12: Bike

Day 13: UFO

Day 14: Bye

In 14 days you can also build up some substantial collections...

Cans (2 per day)

Brown paper bags (1 per meal)

Another stack I brought with me