June snow camp.

It is said humans are creatures of habit and certainly in general we like to have a comfortable habitual and predictable world. Nature is rarely so kind as to grant us creatures of habit a tomorrow that is the same as today which was just another incarnation of yesterday and we are left often with our theories of what is and must be left in taters by forces that we have struggled to understand and quantify since the beginning of human history.

 Well, recently in our local area nature has been so kind as to grant us more than 12 months now of very predictable , normal and benign weather - so much so that one almost wonders what is going on! We have had an almost perfect autumn and than,like clockwork almost to the hour winter arrived. Winter is  officially stated to start on the 1st of June and so it did this year.  A series of storms dropped the temperature overnight and covered all the local mountains in snow - the weather gurus could never have been so accurate (and happy considering how often they get it completely wrong).

 I have been off training of course in preparation for Pakistan trip although we still wait upon our visa's. The training outside of climbing the paperwork mountain's has been the normal - physical training on the bike and in the hills but nowadays a video camera tags along with me everywhere I go. Even 6 months ago i never could have imagined trying to shoot movie film so its a new skill  to learn which keeps me thinking and young - I hope. Certainly on the technical front I'm slowly getting to grips with filming aided I must add by the new technology out there for film making. Battery power limitations have become my main concern rather than poor technique! . However artistically, despite having many artist's in the family that gene seems to have passed me by completely and the artistic inspiration to form a great composition is still lacking! I'm not sure if becoming an artist can be trained or learned but am trying my best to figure it out with my normal trail and many error methods..

Kahurangi national park - early winter

Kea’s have become a familiar sight as they migrate lower on the mountain sides.

Take off!

Mid May - the small amount of icy snow makes a small rock climb treacherous for Sergio.

Sergio

Sergio on the ridge line.

Winter dawn.

Winter Dawn.

Small mountain tarns begin to freeze over.

Classic South Island winter view.

fetching water for a snow bound camp higher up.

the camp

dawn from the tent.

looking other way , south into the Southern Alps.

the sea and Motueka are in the far distance under the sun.

Setting out into the Blizzard with Diarmuid and Ashley.

Snow storms are mainly white!

mind the ice!

!st of June.

same place 10 days later.

Looking down at the sharks fin. and Ellis basin.

looking up the snow and ice route to the summit.

Looking West to the Arthur range on an early winter dawn. The Black swans live at the Nelson lakes during summer but migrate North and lower to the more benign climes of the Motueka estuary for winter.

Looking South west over the Motueka Estuary to the Marino mountains.

looking North from Motueka into the Tasman sea.

Flying the drone over the Mouteka sand spit at dusk.

A beautiful spot , high camp below Mt Tapuaenuku and Mt Alarm

The weather this Autumn has been very settled giving me a busy time busy traveling and camping with family and friends. The last 6 weeks have definitely had a holidaying air to them. Unfortunately again one of my best friends passed away recently , Oggi from Mongolia with whom I spent many years racing with in countries all over the world and whom I twice visited him in Mongolia - an exceptional and unique guy . He was involved in an automobile accident whilst coaching the Mongolian cycling team. For awhile Mongolian cycling was Oggi and he will be sorely missed by all his family and friends in Mongolia and around the world. Condolences to Ariuna his wife and Tsatsaa his daughter. RIP

Oggi , on a bike !! This picture taken during my last visit to Mongolia over 10 years ago on the rolling steppes west of Ulan Batar.

Pictures of Autumn trips.

Dawn from a camp on Mt Arthur ridge. An easy overnight trip for Leo , Isabelle and myself.

Keas - the New Zealand Alpine parrots make friends with the kids.

Leo , discovering the incredible karst country of weather worn limestone en route to the summit.

Drone photo - our tent is the blue dot.

Moke lake , near Queenstown , a lovely camping spot.

Isabelle on the Moke lake walking circuit.

Kids and friends , high in Nelson lakes.

The midnight bonfire

Isabelle at our Nelson lakes campsite.

Dawn

Kids on the rocks

doing some rock climbing at the same site

A mission in the Raglan ranges gave this lovely view to the East ,and the snowy peaks of Mt Tapuaenuku and Alarm to the left and Manakau to the right. In Autumn normally these are the only peaks high enough in the Northern south Island to get a permanent cover of snow..

Carl and Ryan about to start the hike up the Hodder river.

Embrace the river one is told if you want to climb Tapuaenuku The Hodder involves 80 to 100 crossings over about 5 hours to reach the site of the huts.

We slogged on above the huts which are situated at about 1450m to pitch camp at about 2000m. The snow was deep and fresh , very hard work with heavy packs.

Carl climbing a large snow gully on the way up to the top.

Hot work for Ryan , we hadn’t got to the ridge where a bitter wind awaited us.

Ryan contemplating the view with Alarm behind.

Carl plods on , most of Tapuaenuku was just hard work with soft snow under a thin crust making it extra hard.

The summit sweeping majestically up above us.

Ryan ahead

Carl Behind

Beyond the Seaward Kiakorua’s, the Grand Pacific!

Looking way North - to Motueka!

West to Mitre peak

From the summit North to Pinnacle.

Dusk falls , happy campers Ryan and Carl after a success full day.

In Dunedin with family , Leo, Isabelle , Aleksander and Marco.

Found someone on the beach.

Beach times.

Beach again

Leo finds the Moreaki boulders

and Isabelle

The art of camping.

Lake Ohau at Dawn.

Forest waterfall, Nelson lakes

Its been four months since my last post - the long months of summer. It’s a busy time both job and family wise and also being the school holidays but as it winds down into autumn the chances to start going back to the local hills start again.

It’s also the time to start seriously training for the upcoming season objectives. A small group of us are planning a trip to the Northern areas of Pakistan. There, we will trek up the Baltoro glacier considered the most concentrated arena of great peaks in the world including K2 , and then and up over the Gondogoro pass and into Hushe valley. From Hushe we will move onto Kandi glacier to do some mountaineering. During the trip I plan to try and make a film about the local Balti mountain people who are the Pakistani equivalent of the Sherpa’s in Nepal - even to the extent of being Tibetan . These unheralded people form the bulk of the mountain workers in the Karakorum and they mostly come from the villages of Kandi and Hushe which we will be visiting.. The idea of the film is to show the contrasts ‘s between their humble village lives and the harsh environments on the glaciers where they labor every year to make their meager incomes. The trip is planned for July and August of this year.

The late summer has also seen two rather sad events.

One was the passing of an old friend , Lee Chapman who I have known since I first started cycling some 38 years ago. A more interesting and positive person I’ve rarely meet, and his passing was a great loss to all who knew him.

More recently,in Christchurch some 400kms south of my town of Motueka, a lone killer massacred 50 people in an act of terror here for no other reason than their Muslim religious beliefs. Here in New Zealand far from the problems that beset so many peoples of the world it has often been easy to believe that terror and violence of this magnitude would never visit these Islands. It has come as a great shock to us all to see that even here at the far ends of the earth extreme hatred and bigotry can be turned into cold blooded murder. There is hope though in the great reaction by the people of New Zealand on the whole to this violence. Special mention must be also made that the Muslim community which is very small here but has taken this loss very well not asking for retribution or punishment but only for sympathy and due justice .

After 4 months in the low lands finally getting back up high - here on Mount Chittenden , mid March.

Summer , Nelson lakes National park.

Ashley, summit Mount Chittenden

Judges creek , up in the Raglan ranges.

looking down Judges creek several hours later whilst descending point 2144m.

Heaphy Beach - New Years eve.

The Old Ghost Road - a new trek for the company I work for can be seen clearly running under the ridge tops at dusk.

Waterfall along the way , Old Ghost road.

Heading down the Mokihinui river - the gorgeous finale of the Old Ghost Road .

With Isabelle on Iron Hill in the Kahurangi National Park.

Camping with Leo and Isabelle in the Nelson Lakes.

On Iron Hill

Kayaking in Golden Bay

Hiking to mountain Tarns in the Nelson Lakes.

On Iron Hill above Iron Lake

Another lakeside campsite

Chasing the flock in Golden bay

and on the beach.