After several clear, warm, and coatless days last week, Friday went back to steady rain and dropping temps. Late in the afternoon we even had sleet. We woke Saturday to falling snow. Doug got snowed, sleeted, rained, and sunned on as he walked to the office. Coming home for lunch he got battered by 4 mm hail. The sitting room was cold enough to see our breath after lunch so we lit the pellet stove. While waiting for the icebox to warm up, Doug went back to the office and I decided to drive to the Westfield Mall to check out Pack-n-Sav for groceries. I quickly discovered that ChCh goes to the mall when the weather is lousy outside. Parking was hard to find and the mall was wall to wall bodies. I am not much of a mall person at home but Westfield seemed very crowded to me. I did one lap of the mall to check out the selection of stores and to continue my search for a pastry knife and pie dish. Success was had in finding the pie plate in K-Mart but the pastry knife is still elusive. I guess the two butter knife strategy will have to suffice. Pack-n-Sav is a scaled down Costco without the pharmacy, home appliances, books/entertainment, and clothes. Prices seem a bit lower than Countdown so I guess Pak-n-Sav will merit the big shopping trips. Pam’s is the store brand. I did find vegetable shortening made of hardened coconut oil - so another stab at pie crust making is in the offing. The Shreddo will have to go. After a dinner of venison and blue cheese ravioli with pretty good apple pie a la mode (Hokey Pokey ice cream – check out Kiwiana in Wikipedia) for dessert we settled in to watch Olympic coverage. We are 4 hours ahead of Beijing so live coverage is on quite late so we didn’t last for the opening ceremony on Friday night. The emphasis is a bit different with the focus on Kiwi athletes (lots of rowing) but we did see American swimmer Michael Phelps set an Olympic record his first heat of the individual 200 IM and a few American women move on in their swimming heats. The Football Ferns (Kiwi Women’s soccer) didn’t kick off till 11:45 pm so we didn’t stay up.
Sunday we woke to clear blue skies but very cold temps. My outdoor thermometer/birdbath was frozen solid. The plastic table on the patio is bowed with a shallow depression that collects water. I know the air temp is cold if it is frozen. When it is not frozen the black birds and song thrushes which frequent the back yard use it a birdbath. Doug almost killed himself on the black ice on our driveway on his way into the office early in the am. Yeah, he is working all this weekend (in his unheated office) trying to get ahead so we can entertain Cappy next weekend. Cappy just got her PhD from Tufts in Mech Engr and is visiting here as a stop on her world tour prior to starting her responsible working adult life. We have fingers crossed for decent weather next Fri to Wed. One advantage to the clear, cold weather is the spectacular sight of the snow capped Alps jutting up on the horizon. The Mech Engr Dept is on the 5th floor so the views are great. Doug’s corner office faces southeast so storms coming over the Port Hills are fun to watch. The Alps are on the other side of the building (but so are the bathrooms).
My walk today took me north of campus to Jellie Park. It has lovely gardens with very soggy playing fields, an aquatic centre (with several huge outdoor waterslides), and a very sluggish monarch – obviously not very happy with the frigid temps. On the way I saw several people out washing their cars, doing yard work, and hanging laundry. What a difference a day makes - kind of like New England weather. The yarn shop in the small mall close to home whispered to me as I got close enough so I couldn’t resist a gander at their offerings. I ended up with needles and yarn for fingerless gloves. A quick trip into Doug’s office for googling yielded several patterns.
The icebox has warmed up nicely today with the sun streaming in through the north picture windows. No hot water bottle necessary. Thus I am writing the blog, downloading pictures, and trying to figure out how to knit fingerless gloves.
Pancake Rocks
Punakaiki
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Mt Hutt Ski Field
We spent last week watching the weather forecast closely to try and pick a clear day for skiing at Mt Hutt so we would be able to see the ski field. All the rain down here has translated into 2 metres up there over the last two weeks - this is the earliest the snowpack has been this deep and is approaching the all time deepest pack levels at 2.25 metres.
Sunday morning it was drizzling here in ChCh so we got soaked while waiting in the dark on a nearby street corner for the Snowbus to pick us up at 7:30. We were prepared in a waterproof outer layer. For $180 each we had decided to let someone else do the driving. The cost covers transport, rental, and lift ticket. We actually ended up paying $155 each by presenting our International Teacher Identity Cards.
The drive begins with the drizzle continuing for just over an hour almost due west along the Canterbury Plain basically at sea level. Then the sign for Mt Hutt Ski Field - 14 km appears with no snow in sight. I know from the web site that the ski field is at 2086 metres with a vertical drop of 683 metres. The road quickly turns from sealed (paved) to gravel and starts climbing and getting narrower. About 1/3 of the way up there is snow along the road and on the peaks where they are visible in the clouds. The road continues to wind upward and we stop at the Canterbury View (good view of Canterbury Plain if there were no clouds) to chain up (good thing we are not driving ourselves). Here we are about ½ way up. The drizzle changes to light snow. We arrive at the ski field about 9:30. We get fitted for gear after trying to figure out height and weight in cm and kg. Rental gear was not too bad. The temperature was about 0°C so we wore usual ski clothes and were even a bit overdressed. It did feel weird with just a knit cap and goggles and no helmet. The helmet did not have a chance to talk to me much. Doug of course suggests we head directly for the Summit 6 chair since we couldn’t see the summit. We get to the top and cannot see a thing. The cloud/fog and snow made for no visibility. The first few runs are not fun skiing by Braille and trying to find nonexistent trails, but the snow was great - still soft and powdery. It was so powdery that a few times it was hard to get back up after falling because poles would just keep going down and down. My goggles fog over and will not clear so I have even less fun. The base lodge has the usual expected amenities – equipment rentals (including clothing), café, bar, restaurant, store (no long sleeve t-shirts), ski school, daycare, restrooms, and ski patrol/medical. We stop for an early lunch and the sun peers out, snow stops, and my goggles clear. Visibility is not over-rated! Afternoon runs are much better with good visibility, familiarity with equipment, and the lay of the land with the sort of trails. Trails are listed on the map but very few are actually marked on the slopes. The field is one huge bowl consisting of several smaller bowls. Lifts are 1 high speed 6 accessing the summit, 1 quad going about ½ way up, 1 triple coming up from below the base lodge to about ½ way up, and a magic carpet. We take the triple once but the snow is better up top (a little wetter and heavier down low) and spend the rest of the day on the Summit 6. There are two long traverses either way off the summit to access the South Face chutes (at double black I said no way – even the helmet couldn’t talk me into it) or Virgin Mile Ridge. We found the Ridge by peering into the mist and watching for other skiers. The Ridge drops off the summit and follows the east ridge boundary of the field with a great view of the Canterbury Plain 2000 metres below. Note the braided river on the plain before the next ridge in the distance. More about braided rivers later.
We quit skiing at 3:00. I am not in ski shape and was working way too hard so I got very tired. Next time Doug wants to get me on the South Face Chutes. Maybe the helmet will speak to me next time. The van loads up just before 4:00 so we are home by 5:30. The driver does not have the card reader with him so we have to stop at a cash machine back in ChCh to get money to pay him.
Once at home we walked two blocks to get Indian food take away for dinner and had a quiet evening in front of a nice warm TV after a long hot shower.
Sunday morning it was drizzling here in ChCh so we got soaked while waiting in the dark on a nearby street corner for the Snowbus to pick us up at 7:30. We were prepared in a waterproof outer layer. For $180 each we had decided to let someone else do the driving. The cost covers transport, rental, and lift ticket. We actually ended up paying $155 each by presenting our International Teacher Identity Cards.
The drive begins with the drizzle continuing for just over an hour almost due west along the Canterbury Plain basically at sea level. Then the sign for Mt Hutt Ski Field - 14 km appears with no snow in sight. I know from the web site that the ski field is at 2086 metres with a vertical drop of 683 metres. The road quickly turns from sealed (paved) to gravel and starts climbing and getting narrower. About 1/3 of the way up there is snow along the road and on the peaks where they are visible in the clouds. The road continues to wind upward and we stop at the Canterbury View (good view of Canterbury Plain if there were no clouds) to chain up (good thing we are not driving ourselves). Here we are about ½ way up. The drizzle changes to light snow. We arrive at the ski field about 9:30. We get fitted for gear after trying to figure out height and weight in cm and kg. Rental gear was not too bad. The temperature was about 0°C so we wore usual ski clothes and were even a bit overdressed. It did feel weird with just a knit cap and goggles and no helmet. The helmet did not have a chance to talk to me much. Doug of course suggests we head directly for the Summit 6 chair since we couldn’t see the summit. We get to the top and cannot see a thing. The cloud/fog and snow made for no visibility. The first few runs are not fun skiing by Braille and trying to find nonexistent trails, but the snow was great - still soft and powdery. It was so powdery that a few times it was hard to get back up after falling because poles would just keep going down and down. My goggles fog over and will not clear so I have even less fun. The base lodge has the usual expected amenities – equipment rentals (including clothing), café, bar, restaurant, store (no long sleeve t-shirts), ski school, daycare, restrooms, and ski patrol/medical. We stop for an early lunch and the sun peers out, snow stops, and my goggles clear. Visibility is not over-rated! Afternoon runs are much better with good visibility, familiarity with equipment, and the lay of the land with the sort of trails. Trails are listed on the map but very few are actually marked on the slopes. The field is one huge bowl consisting of several smaller bowls. Lifts are 1 high speed 6 accessing the summit, 1 quad going about ½ way up, 1 triple coming up from below the base lodge to about ½ way up, and a magic carpet. We take the triple once but the snow is better up top (a little wetter and heavier down low) and spend the rest of the day on the Summit 6. There are two long traverses either way off the summit to access the South Face chutes (at double black I said no way – even the helmet couldn’t talk me into it) or Virgin Mile Ridge. We found the Ridge by peering into the mist and watching for other skiers. The Ridge drops off the summit and follows the east ridge boundary of the field with a great view of the Canterbury Plain 2000 metres below. Note the braided river on the plain before the next ridge in the distance. More about braided rivers later.
We quit skiing at 3:00. I am not in ski shape and was working way too hard so I got very tired. Next time Doug wants to get me on the South Face Chutes. Maybe the helmet will speak to me next time. The van loads up just before 4:00 so we are home by 5:30. The driver does not have the card reader with him so we have to stop at a cash machine back in ChCh to get money to pay him.
Once at home we walked two blocks to get Indian food take away for dinner and had a quiet evening in front of a nice warm TV after a long hot shower.
Banks Peninsula
Saturday dawns partly cloudy so we head south to explore the Banks Peninsula. The weather trade off is that it is a bit colder but the sun is nice to see. We see the results of the torrential rains with flooded paddocks and sorry looking livestock. Flocks of black swans are swimming across flooded fields. We see several places where the hillsides have slipped down onto the road. A slight detour around one road crew clearing the road is not too bad as there is not too much traffic.
Banks Peninsula just south of ChCh was formed by two adjacent volcanoes. They both blew out to the side like Mt St Helens but then filled with water. The south one blew south forming Akaroa Harbour and the north one blew east forming Lyttleton Harbour.
We stop at Birdlings Flat just before heading out onto the peninsula. The Flat is a pebble and stone beach about 20 k long on a spit separating Lake Elsmere from the ocean. The pebbles were washed down from the Alps to the west and swept north along the coast by the strong ocean current. We have yet to explore any of the numerous braided rivers that carry snowmelt/glacial runoff from the Alps across the Canterbury Plain.
National highways here are two lane with little to no shoulder and periodic passing lanes. The road winds and climbs through the green hills to the crest and Akaroa Harbour spreads before us. We want to walk out on peninsula in the harbour to visit the remains of a Maori Pa (fortified settlement) but the tide is getting too high and the peninsula turns into an island. We settle for a lunch of Shepard’s Pie and Lamb and Kumara (sweet potato) pie at a café on the waterfront. We check out the Nature and Dolphin Cruises in the harbour. Maybe next time we will swim with the endangered Hectors/New Zealand dolphins.
We drive back out of the harbour to the summit the way we came in (all the other roads are 4WD only) hoping to find another walk in the Bush. The summit road is closed – probably too many slips. We head all the way back down and get back up to the summit over Gebbies Pass where Doug can check out the WindFlow Technology windmill in the pass. We drop down into Lyttleton Harbour and drive along the south shore as far as possible then back around the north shore. The road clings to the hillsides and winds through several small communities. There are several passes and a tunnel connecting ChCh and Lyttleton. We drive up Dyers Pass to Summit Road. This area is open! There are a lot of walking/biking tracks all through the Port Hills. Since it is a nice day walkers, joggers, bikes, and cars share almost two lanes of two way traffic. I am glad Doug is driving. The views of ChCh and Lyttleton Harbour from the summit road are gorgeous. The sun is getting low over ChCh so no good pictures this time. Definitely an area we will need to get back to. We continue along Summit Road and come down Evans Pass into ChCh. I try to navigate us just south of downtown to get home but a lot of roads are closed due to a big rugby game just letting out. I am glad my map reading skills are pretty good. Since we had missed out on earlier opportunities for a walk we stopped at Riccarton Bush pretty close to home and strolled through the forest.
Banks Peninsula just south of ChCh was formed by two adjacent volcanoes. They both blew out to the side like Mt St Helens but then filled with water. The south one blew south forming Akaroa Harbour and the north one blew east forming Lyttleton Harbour.
We stop at Birdlings Flat just before heading out onto the peninsula. The Flat is a pebble and stone beach about 20 k long on a spit separating Lake Elsmere from the ocean. The pebbles were washed down from the Alps to the west and swept north along the coast by the strong ocean current. We have yet to explore any of the numerous braided rivers that carry snowmelt/glacial runoff from the Alps across the Canterbury Plain.
National highways here are two lane with little to no shoulder and periodic passing lanes. The road winds and climbs through the green hills to the crest and Akaroa Harbour spreads before us. We want to walk out on peninsula in the harbour to visit the remains of a Maori Pa (fortified settlement) but the tide is getting too high and the peninsula turns into an island. We settle for a lunch of Shepard’s Pie and Lamb and Kumara (sweet potato) pie at a café on the waterfront. We check out the Nature and Dolphin Cruises in the harbour. Maybe next time we will swim with the endangered Hectors/New Zealand dolphins.
We drive back out of the harbour to the summit the way we came in (all the other roads are 4WD only) hoping to find another walk in the Bush. The summit road is closed – probably too many slips. We head all the way back down and get back up to the summit over Gebbies Pass where Doug can check out the WindFlow Technology windmill in the pass. We drop down into Lyttleton Harbour and drive along the south shore as far as possible then back around the north shore. The road clings to the hillsides and winds through several small communities. There are several passes and a tunnel connecting ChCh and Lyttleton. We drive up Dyers Pass to Summit Road. This area is open! There are a lot of walking/biking tracks all through the Port Hills. Since it is a nice day walkers, joggers, bikes, and cars share almost two lanes of two way traffic. I am glad Doug is driving. The views of ChCh and Lyttleton Harbour from the summit road are gorgeous. The sun is getting low over ChCh so no good pictures this time. Definitely an area we will need to get back to. We continue along Summit Road and come down Evans Pass into ChCh. I try to navigate us just south of downtown to get home but a lot of roads are closed due to a big rugby game just letting out. I am glad my map reading skills are pretty good. Since we had missed out on earlier opportunities for a walk we stopped at Riccarton Bush pretty close to home and strolled through the forest.
Grocery Shopping
We grocery shop for most things at Countdown which is about 4 or 5 blocks away. It is your basic grocery store – a Shaws equivalent with not quite as much choice. The one very nice thing is that Countdown carries wine and beer and the wine is very inexpensive. We are going through about a bottle a day. There is also a vegetable stand and butcher also within walking distance. Yesterday my eyes were bigger than my daypack while shopping and I ended up with two bags to carry in addition to the full daypack. I think I will drive to the store from now on. Today Doug came home for lunch and we decided to take a Shoo Fly pie over to Susan and Colin’s for dinner tonight. That meant another trip to the store. It has been raining steadily for days so this time I drove. Yes, I finally broke down and got behind the wheel. With Doug’s subtle reminders everything went well. I just had trouble getting out of the parking spot in the parking garage. Looking over your left shoulder while backing up is just not comfortable. Our long narrow driveway with posts at the entrance is also a challenge. Doug found a recipe for Shoo Fly pie on line that sounded similar to the one I usually use. Pie making was fun. The Crisco substitute is Shreddo, a dry “quality shortening” made of suet. I needed to use a lot more water than usual. We’ll see how the crust turns out. Pie pans do not exist so I used a cake pan and a casserole dish. Another grocery difference was trying to find dry lentils to make soup off the lamb bone from last week. I ended up with canned lentils. Dry beans are not available. Kiwi fruit are great especially the golden variety.
The crust was OK. A little hard due to too much working the dough to get the dry shortening worked in. I need to do a little bit of experimenting with my crust recipe to adjust for the difference in ingredients. Maybe getting the suet wet – to the consistency of Crisco will work. Doug wants meat pies so I need to get it worked out.
The crust was OK. A little hard due to too much working the dough to get the dry shortening worked in. I need to do a little bit of experimenting with my crust recipe to adjust for the difference in ingredients. Maybe getting the suet wet – to the consistency of Crisco will work. Doug wants meat pies so I need to get it worked out.
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