Hiking, Hunting, and 4 Wheeling

Just got back from a couple of days in the backcountry. It started of a little rough but ended well. About hour into the hike on the way in it started to pour rain. Needless to say I got soaked. After about an hour hiking in rain got to a hut and got fire going. Managed to get dried out after about 3 hours. Continued on up the river valley to another hut. All told it was about a 8 mile hike in. If you look closely in the second photo right where the trees meet the gravel of riverbed you can see a small red dot. That's the hut. Fording the river was the only way to get over. Without breaking stride I plunged right in. After being soaked only 3 hours earlier I was again wet from mid thigh down. Knowing a wood stove was in the hut helped. I arrived to find a young guy already there. He was just about to leave for a evening hunt for red stag. Perfect! I had hoped to run into some hunters. So I just dropped my pack, grabbed flashlight and camera and tagged along with him. He had two others friends that were already off upriver hunting. We went down river. Never managed to find a stag but was a good evening none the less. The other two guys arrived about hour after dark. They were all three firefighters from Dunedin. 21, mid 40's, and mid 50's. Stayed up way to late swapping hunting stories with them quizzing me on everything American! Three super nice guys. So the next day I hitched a ride back out to my car with them. They had driven in. That necessitates a very slow crawl up the river bed. High clearance and 4 wheel drive a must. By riding with them I never had to ford the river again which was good. But it doesn't stop there. About halfway out we met four other hunters on the riverbed that were stopped, and sighting their rifles in. Naturally we stopped for a chat. As soon as we walked up to them one noticed my hat(I'm still faithfully wearing my B Bar Ranch Montana hat with the elk on it!) turns out he was from Livingston! The other three guys were from Whitehall, and Philipsburg. They had just arrived and were starting their own do-it-yourself hunt for Tahr and Chamois. We wished them luck and went on our way. Turned out to be a really good trip. Just goes to show you never know who you're going to run into!
Have had a little snow on mountain tops and it real frosty this morning. I guess fall is here. Headed for the coast tomorrow. Hopefully the weather stays right.

Migration Day video

Hydro-Power & Salmon Farming

Am kicking around the town of Twizel still. There is a lot to see around here. Thought I would share a bit about the town. It was founded in the 1960's as a base for the workers of the large hydroelectric operations being installed. There are 5 big lakes within a 30 mile radius of here. And by big probably average about 50,000 acres each. All natural lakes. Basically they raised them a little by building dams at each end and connected them all with a canal system. At the outlet of each lake is the hydro power generating station. All told the system is probably 100 miles long. The town was meant to be torn down after the project was complete but the locals decided it was a great place to live. None the less it has prospered. Now it is a holiday destination for New Zealanders. Lots of people have second homes here. I'm staying in my friends at moment. Interesting enough New Zealand produces about 60% of all its electricity by hydro power. This is probably the largest scheme in New Zealand but there are numerous other areas. Another plus is that the canals are excellent fishing. They harbor big trout, (10-20lbs) and salmon up to 20+ lbs as well. Also there are a lot of salmon farms in the canals where they raise them. In the top photo you see all the walkways with floating cages. Here they grow them to eating size and then suck them out with a very large pump. Pretty neat setup. The next two photos are where one canals ends and the subsequent power plant. Some old machinery they left parked in center of town. You get idea of how big pipes are by truck parked inside. Did a little fishing yesterday for first time. No luck yet but saw few people who caught nice 3-8 lb salmon. Picked their brain on what they were using-doing so am going to try again today. It's beautiful full sun today. We had first real frost last night since I've been here. Autumn is on way I guess!

Mount Cook National Park

Have been in Mt. Cook national park the last couple of days. Doing some camping and hiking. The weather has been perfect!! For the first time this morning there was a tiny bit of frost on ground. Suppose the elevation helped that. The mountains here are simply amazing. So sheer and abrupt. And all the glaciers too. The mountain you see in first two photos is Mt. Cook. Around 12,500 feet. Not real sure of my base elevation at moment. The parrots are called Kea. The only alpine parrot in world. And they're really tame. Will let you get within about 3 feet. Really a neat bird. The last photo is of Tasman Lake. At head of the lake lies Tasman Glacier, at 27 kilometers long its biggest in New Zealand. Lots of icebergs floating in lake after breaking of from glacier. It's only the lack of wildlife that disappoints here. Nothing compared to Montana. If it wasn't for parrots there would be nothing. Oh well the scenery makes up for it I guess. Am still based out of Twizel. Lots to see around here. Not sure what deal with videos was??

On the Ahuriri River

Brent and I on the river this afternoon. His daughter did the video of us going through the rapid. Am now down about 2 and half hours south of the farm in the town of Twizel. Going tomorrow to watch off road racing friends of Brents.

Migration Day!

I've been waiting quite a while for the right time to post this video. And the time has come! I'm done on the farm here for awhile. And am migrating south in the morning. But that is the opposite way I should be going as the birds fly North here in winter!! Anyway am taking off for the southern part of the South Island. For a month or so I'll travel around camping and have a good look around. After that not really sure what I'm going to do. Something will happen I'm sure. Will continue to use farm here in Methven for a home base. It is very generous of the family I've been working for to let me come and go. They are really super people! Its been a true blessing working for them. The last three months have flown by which happens I guess. Looking forward to whatever happens next!!

Ps. This video was taken last November at the B Bar. I didn't even know that my good friend Bryce had taken it till he sent it to me very recently. Needless to say it brought a smile to my face. Hope you enjoy!!

First Overnighter

Went out on my first overnight camping trip last night. It was a solo trip of course. They only other living things i saw where of course sheep, and some cows. At least they were Angus! It was a 9.5 kilometer hike with a approximately 2500 foot gain in elevation. Took me 2 and half hours to hike in. Stayed in a small public hut that was super clean. They are common place here on hiking trails. First come first serve. Was a beautiful day. The only downside was the lack of wildlife around. Only saw ONE hare. That was it but oh well. A great trip. Four more days of work then I'm off to do some traveling for the next month or so. Looking forward to that!