Lake Daniells Day Tramping Trip

Happy Trampers at Lake Daniells Hut

View of Lake Daniells from Lake Daniells Hut

Lake Daniells Jetty


Where are we?
Happy Trampers at Pizza Parlour
Hungry Trampers

Early on Saturday morning at 8am, 4 of us (some nursing a hangover) arrived at the UCSA carpark ready to embark on a tramp to Lake Daniells in Lewis Pass. But before that, we picked up Daniel from his place along the way. Then it was a 2.5 hour drive north west of Christchurch to our destination. We stopped at Maruia Springs for a bite and a proper toilet break before bidding farewell to civilization for the rest of the day. Upon arrival at about 11am, we wasted little time in gearing up and starting the tramp. It was a relatively easy tramp, with gently undulating terrain. Some of us did not even break a sweat, although at times it was slightly muddy as it had rained the previous night. We arrived at Lake Daniell’s hut (8.4km) in 2 hours and had lunch. Since Lake Daniells was in the middle of linear route, we decided that 3 of us (Naomi, Daniel, Moses) would go northwards; while Til and Sam went back to drive the car and pick us up at the end point. Little did we expect the 3 hour tramp northwards to require crossing the same river 25 times (as we followed a 4WD track). Little did we expect the tramp northwards to require bushwhacking and crossing private pasture land where cows were grazing freely. Initial hopes of staying clean and dry evaporated almost as soon as we left the Lake Daniell’s hut. At times, there were no clear tracks so we either proceeded in a general direction or created our own tracks. Losing a shoe in knee deep manure, repeatedly getting wet-dry-wet-dry, climbing over fences were just part of the physical activities for the day.

We learnt 3 valuable tramping lessons that day:
1. Don’t worry if you’re in deep shit, you will be clean by the time you finish crossing the same river 25 times.
2. There’s a reason why 4WD tracks are called 4WD tracks.
3. Just as your feet are about to become dry; they will get wet.

Clip 'n' Climb at the Roxx Climbing Centre

The Roxx Climbing Centre
Left to Right:Sammy, Eva, James, Me, Jan
Climbing
The professional side of the climbing centre
quite a decent rock wall

And so 5 of us arrived at the Roxx Climbing Centre on Wednesday night ready to find out what was on offer. There was a quick briefing, and then we put on our harnesses and off we went. It was good that no belayer was needed for each climber. This was because the rope acted on a spring mechanism which arrested the fall of the climber when there is a sudden increase in load. Thus each of us was free to try out as many climbs as we wanted (which we happily did). There were climbs which allowed us to time how quick we were in scaling some of the walls. All of us gave it a try and Jan was the quickest, making it to the top in under 10 seconds (His time was 9.99 seconds). There were climbs that allowed us to use Velcro gloves instead of our bare hands. Some even chose to climb without using their hands since the wall was inclined inwards. There were chimney climbs and even “night” climbs (climbing in a dark enclosed space). Generally the climbs were simple enough for all of us to reach the top. All too soon, our time was up; we had only booked for an hour of climbing. It was definitely an enjoyable time as we had a good workout.

You don't get fit tramping; you get fit to tramp

On top of Bealey Spur
Resting at Bealey Hut (Left to right : Matthias, Marlene, Naomi, Anna)
Admiring the View
The view from up there
Breathtaking Panoramic View

On Saturday morning, we woke up to an overcast sky. Fearing the worst but hoping for the best, 5 trampers from non-kiwi countries met at the UCSA carpark at 8.30 am and left at 8.45am. We stopped along the way in Darfield for a quick energy boost (muffins, coffee, smoothie).

Arriving at the Bealey Spur carpark at about 10.45am, we geared ourselves up (or rather, we degeared by removing as much warm clothing as possible since the skies were clear blue. And then the tramp began. It was a relatively gentle climb, with clear signs and clear paths. Getting lost there is almost impossible; even though we did consider taking a less well-marked route but turned back after 150metres. Climbing from 700metres to 1200metres within 4kilometres in 1.5 hours, we arrived at Bealey hut by 12.30 pm and had lunch there. It was too early to head back down so we decided to forge ahead and climb to the top of the spur which was an unmarked but quite distinct pathway. Arriving at the top (1545metres), it was only 1.15pm. So we went further along the ridgeline to another spot height. Finally, persuading Marlene (she wanted to keep going) that we should not go any further as we had to spend an equal amount of time getting back, we left the ridgeline at 2pm. It took us 2 hours to get back to the Bealey Spur carpark, done without any stops during the descent (unless you consider Matthias offering chocolate to some other trampers a stop). We overtook a few groups on our way down and one lady even called us “the fast pack” as we skipped past. On our way back to Christchurch, we shared experiences of getting lost on past tramping trips and how we eventually found our way. We also debated the issue of whether it was worth it to get lost and get a free helicopter ride at the expense of having our faces splashed on the front of newspapers the next day.

Apparently the tramp was considered easy but my muscles are sore from all the walking and climbing. Was constantly lagging behind trying to catch up with them.

Enjoyable Saturday and Sunday

Neighbour's room
Funny suggestion/question for the Library
Another funny suggestion/Question for the Library
Towards a sustainable future. Grow a tree.

New Zealand Music Month-Award winning jazz, funk and bebop band Peacock Street
Singapore Club Gathering - Movie, Cards, Mahjong and Winning 11

In comparison to a dull friday, saturday and sunday were more interesting. Went to the beach to spend some quiet personal time. Weather was beautiful. Was walking along the beach when suddenly a small boy ran past me and shouted "Mum! I think I saw a shark!" The mum looked at the sea for a while and then laughed "It's a dolphin, not a shark."

On saturday night there was a singapore club gathering. It was supposed to be a sleepover but in the end everyone went home. But it was good fun. Didn't manage to watch Silent Hill cos I went at 10pm instead of 9pm. So Veron Hongkai and I just sat outdoors in the cold under a star canopied night sky and chatted. Finally it got too cold so we decided to go in. We had waited long enough. It was time for Mahjong! We didn't have a proper table but such was our desperation to play the game that any surface would do. We settled for a rectangular table. In the end there was higher demand than supply, so we had to take turns playing. Some of them were so funny. "Pengs" and "Hus" were exaggerated and some of them could not read chinese characters! Laughed ourselves silly. Good times indeed!

And my neighbour's bedroom was converted into the common room when he was away over the weekend. Apparently, some of the guys have had enough of being woken up at 3.30 am in the morning by my neighbour. Imagine 1 guy coming back from a night in town at 3.30am and waking up 3 floors by his screaming and shouting.

As for rugby, there won't be a new zealand team in the finals of the super 14 since the auckland blues and canterbury crusaders both lost in south africa.

Happy Mother's Day

Most Boring Friday Night Yet

Finally the weekend has arrived. Friday came and went. Didn't do much. Had to do active recovery after the brutal boxing skills training on wednesday. This is to remove lactate buildup in the muscles. What was I thinking on wednesday evening. Should have done warm down and run off the lactic acid after the workout but I wasn't thinking properly that evening, because I have not been "tekaned" so much since NS.

Anyway I was chatting with this american classmate of mine, just catching up about how we spent our easter holidays. And I asked him how his hitch-hike to Queenstown from Christchurch went. It took him 2 days and 10 trips from kind drivers before he got there eventually. What an experience. And during dinner tonight, I was talking to another american friend, asking him what his plans after the exams were. Apparently he is doing religious studies and only has 1 exam paper to take. He intends to ask his professor to let him take it earlier so he can travel more.

But here's the funny parts of our conversation (let's call him A, the reproduced conversation may not be as funny as it seems. But during dinner time, the setting, the people, the actions all added up to make us laugh until people at the next few tables were looking at us and wondering what was going on):

A: I want to hitch hike to Auckland.
Me : That sounds interesting .... (and I relate to him my classmate's hitchhiking experience from christchurch to queenstown). So what about the Cook Straits? You intend to hitch hike on some sailing vessel/interislander? Or swim across?
A: Oh, that's the only part of the journey where I will pay for transport on the interislander. So do you know how much it costs to take the interislander?
Me: About 70 dollars. Do you know a one way flight from christchurch to auckland costs only $99 on Qantas? So for that $29 you save on transport, you intend to spend about 2 weeks hitchhiking your way up to Auckland? Are you sure you want to do that?
A: Hmm...that's a good point. Actually my friend who has a van is the one who wants to hitchhike. I am just accompanying him. We think it's going to be a good experience and the kiwis are some of the kindest drivers in the world.
Me: Well good luck then. Look forward to hearing about your trip!

Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou

"Structural Engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand, into shapes we cannot properly assess, in such a way that the public at large has no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance. " The structural systems prof shared this quote with us this morning during our lecture. It was actually said in 1946, but it's probably still relevant today. Both a scary and funny quote eh?
And then he went on into seismic forces, pseudo-equivalent static forces, ductility, overstrength factors, soft storey mechanism which I need to start learning about.

Days are getting shorter. Sunrise is now 7.30 am and sunset is 5.25pm. And so I must say I was pretty surprised to see the gym crowded at 7.30 am on a weekday last week. Thought I was going to be the only person there but nope, I was wrong; there were easily 15 to 20 other people there.

Christchurch marathon 3 June, 9 am, anyone? Probably will do the 10 k fun run since I have not had time to do progressive training. $25 for early bird registration by 11 May.

Road Trip to the South - Arrowtown, Wanaka, Aoraki/Mt Cook

Arrowtown - Born of Gold (these words are what I am pointing at)
Wanaka - Puzzling World
Sheep crossing the highway as we were leaving Mt Cook
Following like sheep
Take your time some more...the stragglers, shepherd watching over

Road Trip to the South - Queenstown

2007 Harvest of Pinot Noir at Gibbston Valley Vineyard
Tour of Wine Cave and winetasting
Bought a few bottles of wine

Animal Farm
Close Encounters of the Animal Kind
Santa's Reindeer and Friends
At the top of Deer Park Heights


Panoramic Shot of Queenstown from Deer Park Heights

Road Trip to the South - Milford Sound

Red Boat Scenic Cruises - Lady of the Sound
Pitter Patter
Phew, I am soaked
Here we go again Away from the waterfall but raindrops keep falling on my head

Road Trip to the South - Te Anau

Lake Te Anau
Lake Te Anau

Road Trip to the South - Dunedin St Clair Beach

St Clair Beach - Decent Breaks
How's that for size?

Panoramic Shots

Panoramic Shot of Cathedral Square in Christchurch

Panoramic Shot of Wellington as we left the harbour during Easter Trip

Credit to Autostitch for making it possible.

Wall as a Message Board

This afternoon we had a brutal 3 hour workshop/tutorial under the structures prof who uses profanities quite often. I realise that I don't know much about bending moments, shear force diagramms, tie and strut method, and neither did the 20 + people sitting around me in the lecture theatre today.

I arrived back from school to find the corridor wall plastered with messages. Some were quite funny, some were demeaning. Messages were like "Eli is a stud cripple" (he broke both legs), "Gabrielle is really loud" (Gabrielle is quite soft spoken actually), "Mousegirl is the life of the party" (mousegirl is in her own room most of the time actually).

Fine weather is expected tomorrow. Looking forward to it!