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

Farewell to Mareeba

If there's one thing we've all learned about this post-Covid world of ours, it's the need to be flexible! I wrote earlier about how my plans to go back to NZ in mid-September were disrupted by the closure of the trans-Tasman travel bubble. This was followed by the MIQ booking system being paused at the end of August as the NZ government tried to deal with an outbreak in Auckland.

In the following weeks, announcements were made about how the MIQ system was going to change to a 'lobby' system, where users would log in and then be randomly allocated a place in a queue to apply for room vouchers - essentially a lottery. I wasn't complaining - it seemed better than spending all of one's waking hours monitoring the site in case a room became available. I also knew that God could use this to ensure that I could get back to NZ at the time He wanted me to.

In the midst of this limbo I had no fewer than FIVE farewell functions at work and church! It felt rather surreal because I had no firm departure date, but I realised it was important for others to have the opportunity to say goodbye, in case I ended up leaving in a hurry (and the school holidays were approaching, where many people would be away).

A gift from my students - T-shirts with 'We survived Bridget's flight training'
I was impressed - there's a lot of forward planning involved in them doing this!

I logged in for the first 'virtual lobby' on 20 September and was allocated 11,139th in the queue for 3200 rooms. My heart sank but I quickly accepted that God could still make things work in my favour if He wanted to. I recorded how the queue progressed over time - roughly 20-30 places each time the page refreshed (every 40 seconds). I knew I was most likely going to miss out, but I figured I would stay till the bitter end and treat it as a data collection exercise.

Not a hopeful sign...

I did end up being unsuccessful, but the numbers told an interesting story. The dates with the longest lead times were the first to go. The process seemed to speed up over time. And most interesting of all, some 7,800 people ahead of me had either got into the booking system or left the queue - significantly more than the number of rooms available. If the number of rooms available next time was X, then if I was allocated a space within 2X in the queue, I might be able to get a spot - especially since I would be able to travel at relatively short notice, and those were the dates that seemed to be more available.

About a week later I logged in for the second lobby. As the minutes to the start time ticked down, I started feeling nervous. How would I feel if I was even further back in the queue than last time? Would the sheer number of people in the first round - 31,800 - put people off from trying again, or would there be even more to 'compete' with? I tried my best to 'take captive' these thoughts and leave them with God (2 Cor. 10:5).

Then it began...

Second lobby

With 3800 rooms available, I was guaranteed to at least get into the system. I prayed that a room would be available on a suitable date! Flights from Brisbane were only departing on Saturdays in October and November. If I could get back before 11 October then the South Island component of my trip could stay intact...

When I got into the system, Sat 9 October had been booked out, but the 2nd and 16th were available. I quickly sent a WhatsApp message to my home support team, who it seemed were waiting on tenterhooks like me, and the resounding message was "Take the 2nd!" I clicked on it and got a message saying my slot had been reserved for 48 hrs pending me confirming my flight details in the system.

What followed next could only be described as a kaleidoscope of emotions. I think the adrenaline had hit me when I reached the front of the queue, and I wasn't at all prepared for the intensity of the emotions that followed - relief and happiness at being able to go back, sadness that I was leaving Mareeba so soon, a little bit of guilt that I had most likely secured a place ahead of others who had been trying much longer than me, and increasing panic at the realisation that I now had 3 days to pack up my life! I fired off a few quick messages to key people and headed home to make a plan of all the things that needed to happen.

I won't bore you with any more details. Long story short, I managed to:
- get flights booked
- get the necessary pre-departure Covid test
- clear out my office
- pack my stuff going to PNG
- sell my car

and get to the airport on time!

MAF is a small world, and I'm sure I'll be back in Mareeba at some point in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, and I am grateful to have been spared the Covid dramas that have plagued more populated areas in Australia and elsewhere.

So it's not 'goodbye', but rather, 'See you later!'