25 years and counting

- And months later I finally got it together to write another post. Things are happening down here, busy days full of studying, research, skiing, more studying, tramping, avalanche courses, research, abstract submissions, more skiing, more research, a visit from Denmark, studying, more skiing and finally some more studying and research. I guess this post will be a brief list of what has happened since May, and first of all let me apologise for the lack of photographic evidence. Unfortunately, my camera went down a mountain to end up in a stream attached to my big tramping pack without being in any sort of waterproof bag, and since then it has had a tiny drop of water stuck on the inside of the lens. Some day I might come around to making an insurance claim and buying a new camera, until then you will have to settle for my words..

In the beginning of June I went tramping in Nelson Lakes National Park on a wonderful trip to Lake Angelus and Angelus hut. The sceneries were amazing, and I am hoping to do exactly the same trip this winter only on skis! There were four of us going, two Germans, an American and myself, and we had a great trip to refuel before the exams kicked in a week later.

On the exam note, I met my usual changing mood during study weeks and exams, but as usual I made my way through with some very decent results (especially considering that I spent no more than one day preparing for my Anatomy and Physiology exam and still made a B+). The whole change of exam procedures turned out to be ok, though I still think that written, closed book exams might not always be the best way of testing if students have learnt whatever was taught in a course.

After exams came a couple of weeks of study break which I used for moving to a new apartment (much, much better than my previous room), chilling for a few days (I guess they call it nesting - basically I just enjoyed doing absolutely nothing), moving on with my research project, skiing and finally I did an introductory Avalanche Awareness Course with the local Mountain Safety Council. In many ways two very productive weeks, and the best part is that I feel so much better in my new home. Thursday in the first week of semester two I got my first visitor from Denmark. Nina stayed with me for a bit more than a week while buying a car, recovering from the worst jetlag and all the other practical stuff that needs to be taken care of when arriving in a new country to stay for 4 months. It has been absolutely wonderful to have a friendly face staying, bringing Toms Kæmpeskildpadder, proper liquorice and good rum, and now that she has moved on and is out living the skiing dream I must admit that it is very quiet being home alone. On the other hand, it is very good for my productivity, and we would probably have ended up killing each other if we were to stay in my (relatively small) place for 4 months, so I guess it serves the greater good that she is doing her thing while I am stuck in Christchurch getting brighter and brighter for each day that goes by (I really just want to go skiing these days!).

The first month of the skiing season has offered some remarkable experiences. Skiing in New Zealand is truly something different than skiing in the European Alps, and I love it here! All of the smaller ski fields are run mainly by volunteers, and the atmosphere is friendly and welcoming. The lift technology is rubbish, but then again it can all be fixed with a can of WD-40, a big hammer and a bit of duct tape. And when this all means that you can just leave your bag (including wallet, mobile phone and everything) in a lodge at the center of the area without worrying about people going through your stuff it is definitely worth it all! I have taken a beating from one of these tow rope lifts when a stitching in my tow belt ripped, but nothing too serious (and don't worry, if it keeps hurting for more than another week I might just get it checked...) - and it was not a faulty design of the lift, but rather a bad model of my personal gear that was to blame.

To do a bit of namedropping of ski fields (for those who might be interested), I have now visited Porters, Mt Cheeseman (yes, that is an actual ski field here), Broken River, Mt Hutt and Mt Olympus. A few words on each:

Mt Hutt wants to be a European ski field. Stop doing that please, it is just too small to be compared to European conditions, and the atmosphere is just as bad as in France (without the crazy ass after skiing). They have three chair lifts and a fancy chip system for the lift passes - which in my opinion is a massive overkill! Everything is groomed slopes.

Porters is semi-commercial, certainly more atmosphere than Hutt, but still not a proper club field. Has a slope with the awesome name "Big Mama", and some pretty sweet skiing (has had some of the best snow of the early season). Mainly groomed slopes, and the ski field closest to Christchurch (about 110 minutes from the time I lock my door until I have my boots on ready to go skiing). T-bars instead of rope tows.

Mt Cheeseman, Broken River and Mt Olympus are "proper" club ski fields close to Christchurch. Fantastic atmosphere, lots of ungroomed skiing and heaps of back basins waiting to be explored once I get my avalanche knowledge going (which is on my to-do list with a 4 day course over two weekends in August). Cheeseman is quite family friendly skiing, has T-bars and a quite new lodge with a decent cafeteria-thingy (sells coffee and food that can be cooked in a sandwich press or a microwave). Broken River and Olympus both have the infamous rope tows, nothing but ungroomed runs and plenty of friendly faces around. In connection to these club fields are different kinds of acommodation on (or just off) the mountain, again with just the right atmosphere and at reasonable prices as well (at least if you go for the self-catered once, 15 minutes drive from the lifts).

Access roads are a story on their own - some very well maintained (Porters and Hutt), some long, windy and quite exposed (Cheeseman), some more or less just a single vehicle track in the forest (Broken River), and finally some which are a single track, long and windy and certainly very exposed (Mt Olympus). Though Olympus seem quite close to Christchurch on a map, the time to get there is quite long because of the 49km gravel road that leads up there...


Status now is sore legs, a bruced rib or two, high spirits regarding studies (with a slight fear that it may all get horribly stressed over the next five weeks up until deadline of the report on my research) and big plans for avalanche education over two weekends in August. I have not yet decided what to do in the coming weekend, I might see if there are a tramper or two keen on some easy ski touring to get into the game before the avalanche course. Otherwise I might just go "normal" skiing or tramping.

Oh, and on the finishing note - thanks to everyone who sent me a greeting and/or a present for my birthday. It is certainly something else to celebrate such a long way from home, but on the other hand this allowed me to turn 25 without being exposed to ridiculous amounts of cinnamon. I spend the day studying and the night eating out with Eva and Nic, and had a qiuet but very good day. Upon my return to Denmark I promise to throw some kind of a massive party to celebrate all the good stuff that I miss out celebrating in style while away!

That'll be all for now, I am off to bed before another long day at the office awaits me tomorrow. But hey, I am now playing around with BlueFern, our local super computing facility, allowing me to run my simulations in up to 16 parallel processes. It still makes me smile every time I submit a job and see it done within minutes (previously I have had stuff running for 8 hours overnight) - and it will look great on my CV! This next few days I better focus on a presentation on medical imaging of ADHD I am giving on Thursday, but there will soon be time to play around with big computers again..

Tramping in Nelson Lakes National Park, 19-21/1

We got up to an early morning Tuesday 19^th and drove from Motueka to St. Arnaud where we hired a water taxi to take us down Lake Rotoiti to Travers Track. As usually, we were split into two groups, and the group I tramped with set off for Upper Travers Hut on day one, a tramp estimated to take eight hours. We started tramping at noon, spent five and a half hours to get to John Tait Hut, before continuing for another three hours to get to Upper Travers Hut where we arrived at 8.30PM, exhausted but thrilled that we made it. The surroundings were absolutely spectacular, through untouched forests where dead trees were left to rot, down by the river with magnificent views of the mountains, and when we finally got to Upper Travers Hut we had just reached the tree line. In the hut we prepared diner, ate and went straight to bed. In the hut were two Israelis and a Czech, who might have been a bit annoyed by us, scrambling around until 11PM, but they never complained.

Wednesday morning we got up and headed to Travers Saddle, a climb of 450 meters. This day we had plenty of time, and at the saddle we chose to climb one of the summits in close proximity, and had a spectacular view of the valley we were about to descend into.

Onto the track again, we had lunch above the tree line and had time for a nap or a game of cards. We then continued down, and before reaching West Sabine Hut we had descended about 1000 meters. A rough day on the knees, but we had plenty of time and good weather conditions and a nice and easy day. In wet conditions though, it must be a pretty demanding day, since everything is very exposed and there are many meters to climb and descend. West Sabine Hut was welcoming us with the Sabine River just next to it, and most of us jumped into the river to get washed after a warm day of tramping and sweating. After the dip, we all took shelter in the hut before the sand flies got the best of us. The day was estimated to a 6-9 hours walk depending on the conditions, and we cruised through in what I recall as being around 7 hours, taking quite a few breaks.

Thursday started out in rain, but we had to meet a water taxi at Lake Rotoroa at 2PM, which left us with no choice, but to put on our waterproofs and get going. It had been raining during the night, so the trees gave little shelter since they were already soaked. Fortunately, the rain stopped at lunchtime, and about one hour before Lake Rotoroa we found a neat spot by the bank of Sabine River where we had our lunch, all hidden away behind our mosquito nets to avoid the sand flies. We got out alive though, and when we reached Lake Rotoroa at 1.30PM, we surprised two guys who had gone for a swim in the lake, not expecting 11 Danes to show up while all their clothes was hung in a bush on dry land!

In all, the tramp was a fantastic tour through forests and mountains, offering great views and the feeling of being all on your own, even though the path was clearly marked by DOC. On the last day I had a bit of an off-day, but in the middle of everything a small bird flew down and sat about a meter away from me on the path. It jumped around me in a semi-circle, being patient and calm enough to let me get my camera and take a picture of it, and the mere presence of this curious little being lifted my spirits back up. This is exactly why I enjoy the outdoors as much as I do!