Trig M 29 June 2019

This rather unimaginatively named hill is a great walk. Located in the Korowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park and accessed from State Highway 73 at Starvation Gully on the western side of Porters Pass it is 1251m ASL. The summit has fantastic views of the alps and Lake Lyndon and lots of snow around, it was a good day. The strong westerly wind foiled my HF plans - it was a solo activation so I am always a little more cautious. Wind chill was a factor- there is no ability to shelter from the westerly as the summit drops off steeply on the eastern side.

Looking West at the head of Lake Lyndon and SH73

VHF coverage was good to Christchurch and the other activators, Ian on Flag Peak, Rick on Lavericks and Mark on Mt Oxford. I made 10 contacts in all and once again am thankful we have such a loyal band of 2m chasers around Canterbury.

View to the East, North Canterbury, Christchurch and the Port Hills in the background

I look forward to doing this one again with less wind! At the southern end of Lake Lyndon is another un-named summit, ZL3/CB-570 which I am keen to activate soon.

Southern end of Lake Lyndon and CB-570 on the left. You can just see the Lyndon Lodge on the lake edge

Another enjoyable day in the Canterbury High Country. Lots of others taking advantage as well judging by the 9 cars parked at the side of the road. Only saw two other parties, both whilst I was descending.

ZL3/MB-286 02 June 2019

This was the inaugural activation of this peak and my first MB activation. MB-286 (un-named) is a nice 572m hill, just a 20 minute climb up an unmarked but clear track on the border of the Robertson Range Scenic Reserve. Easy walk with pine forest on your left and native bush reserve on your right. Lots of curious Tui, fantails and wood pigeon about to keep you company. The track is well used and I saw several utes with dog crates parked beside the road so there are probably pig hunters active in the area.

The start point is about an hours drive from Blenheim via Picton, Waikawa Bay and Whatamango Bay. The carpark/start point is 4.7 km past the bridge at Whatamango Bay.

Start point of the track - where the spur meets the road

You need to turn off the track and bush-bash the last bit to the summit. There is no marker/trig so you'll need to use GPS and Topomaps or similar. Upon arrival I discovered a bush covered summit which is very unusual for me, Canterbury summits all tend to be bare, rock or alpine tussock! Here's a 360 degree panorama of the summit to illustrate what I mean:

If you zoom in and look carefully, you can see my 8m pole supporting the end of my 41' wire.

I got set up and started on 60m as arranged with Warren ZL2AJ. John ZL1BYZ and Jacky ZL1WA were first to call me with great signals - Warren reported I was in the noise in Taranaki so I switched to 80m and worked him and several of the NZART Conference SOTA session participants. It's a great way to demo - a live-cross to a summit! The other bands (40m, 20m and 17m) were flat but I did manage JH1MXV on 20m CW (got 219...) before deciding I was getting too cold (it had only warmed up to +4 degrees C by the time I got back to the car...) and packing up. 8 contacts in the log. Thanks to John for keeping everyone up to date with what I was up to.

Usual setup - KX2, FT-270R and 41" endfed

Heading down was a little slippery due to the southerly storm that had passed through on Friday/Saturday but no falls!

This would be a good summit for a family walk, there are no views from the summit but the birdsong makes up for it! There are however, nice views from the carpark of the seaward Kaikouras covered in snow and several of the Port Underwood bays.