Ok so this is the new site for the blog. Honestly I couldn't remember the password or username for the other one so I'm consolidating this with my VT account.
Not much has really been happening since I made my last post. I have been working a lot in the hope that I can take January and February off. I may do some casual work at a river guide place in Punakaiki in exchange for a place in a barn there. The days have been long but the work in Christchurch is rewarding. I was working with my friend Chris today. We were using grinders longer than a persons leg to cut concrete out of a wall so the building can meet code. The weather has been getting warmer and the days have been getting longer.
Things that have happened since my last post.
One of our older cavers named Derek was rescued from Kubla Khan cave on the West Coast. His story was told last night at the cave club meeting. He wrote up a very interesting and funny trip report that should make the Tomo Times (much like the NSS News). The man is 82 years old and still caving. His wife had to walk down a very bad road to find help when he didn't come out of the car. She had cooked him a chicken dinner which was spilled by the rescue crew. The whole thing was very fascinating and she took some very nice pictures of moss on her walk down from the cave.
On December 9th the Canterbury Caving Group had their annual BBQ at Cave Stream on Castle Hill. It was a very fun and relaxing event to go to. I went to pick Alice up at her place around 9:00 Am. Finding her still asleep I walked down Columbo Street to the dairy and got a Ginger Beer and a Bumper bar for breakfast. I then attempted to find something to grill but dairies are sadly under-stocked in steak.
I got back to Alice's place and she said I could have some of her vegetarian sausages. I quickly agreed to that and we got under way. We went first to the house of Mike and his wife (who's name I'm embarrassingly blanking on) to pick them up for the trip. Mike got in the front with me and the girls got in the back of the Oddity. We set off through Christchurch on the road to Arthur's Pass.
About 30 minutes out we drove through Sheffield. There is one thing in the town of Sheffield... Pies. I got a Lamb Fry pie. It was much better than one of those little awful things you get at the dairy pre wrapped. A real pie with real lamb and good pastry and good gravy. I had some friends that went up to Murchison on the way to see a friends fight in Nelson. They got pies with a whole Lamb Shank in them at a place there, but I digress.
We began the ascent up into Arthur's Pass in the Oddity. My boss Gene had given me some fuel additive a few weeks before so the Oddy actually made it up the hill at more than 50 kph. I was quite proud of this and my passengers were thankful that we were moving in the correct direction. Eventually we got to the parking lot for Cave Stream. There were rumored to be 23 scouts descending on the place so we tried to get on our gear as quickly as possible so as to be in the cave when they turned up.
On the way to the cave Alice mentioned there were other Americans about who wanted to go caving with us. As we got out of the car she loudly exclaimed this and sure enough Americans turned up. Scott was the leader of their band. He was surprisingly a member of the Northern New Jersey Grotto that we all know and love so well. He has also been down to the Blacksburg area and told me that he went into James Cave with Travis, small world.
We all suited up and took off to the cave. Thankfully we got in before the Boy Scouts found us. We entered the cave and immediately sank in water up to our chests. It was going to be one of THOSE kinds of trips. One of the cavers in the CCG, Hamish, myself and Scott were having fun poking around high leads in the cave. Scott and I found this little hole in the ceiling that eventually went and closed off into nothing as little holes are want to do. The CCG members were laughing at us for wanting to go down such an obnoxious little hole. Over here there is still epic bore hole to be discovered so the need to survey tiny little passage has not yet been realized.
Eventually the rest of the group left Hamish, Scott and Me behind. We wanted to keep exploring the side passages of the cave, they wanted to BBQ. Eventually we got out and ascended the hill to the party. We all grilled and ate our various foods.
At that point most of the people left but Hamish and Haley joined Alice and Me ridge walking to a new patch of land called Prebell Hill. It's new because the Department of Conservation (DOC) just recently listed it on their areas of owned land. There has been a land dispute with a rancher up until recently about the ownership of the land.
We traipsed all over the country side looking at remains of animals, plants, and giant rocks that were precariously balanced. Haley and Alice were talking about various plants and geology while Hamish and I were playing around on the hills. We found some, I'm told, very interesting and rare plants. Some of them were quite cool and I'm sure Ellen is reading this and salivating but I was interested in the scenery. It was like the western US but I'd just left the beach!
We walked back to the cars up a river. Hamish proved this was his home territory by somehow making it up an impossible river bank without getting wet. Hamish, if you're reading this at any point my hat is off to your rock hoping prowess.
Alice caught back up with us shooting pictures of cool, rare plants all the way. We got back to the car and I changed out of my second set of wet clothing for the day. The Rogers' had collected some Christmas trees using the hatchet I keep in my car for emergency wood cutting. They were all Charlie Brown in nature which is, in my opinion, the only way a Christmas Tree should be. We drove home cutting more and more small pine trees on the way. By the time we got back to Christchurch we had six Christmas trees in all.
It was a very good day of caving and ridge walking. We never got back to our destination of Prebell Hill so there could still be caves there. I plan on going back soon to check it out with anyone who will ride along in a voyage in the mighty Oddity.
I am quitting my job in Chirstchurch this Friday. The reason is that I now have adequate funds to continue my crazy journey across this big little island. Who knows what happens next?!?
To see pics look at my facebook page.
