Another fantastic spring day in Canterbury so off we set for Lake Lyndon in the Canterbury High Country. This hill sits at the South East end of the lake and is adjacent to Trig M where Ian ZL3GIG was headed. 15km away is Peak Hill and John ZL3MR. There was just the small matter of Red Hill in the way!
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| Looking to the Rakaia. Lake Coleridge and John ZL3MR behind the snowy hill! |
I was nice and early so got everything set up including the 2m Slim Jim to give the best chances on 2m. Terrain/Path predictions showed only line of sight to North Canterbury however this was soon put to rest. I worked Ian and then had good signals from Mark ZL3AB and Bill ZL3NB in the city and Geoff ZL3QR in Rangiora - 4 contacts and jobs a goodun! Also worked John through (or around) Red Hill and Rick ZL3RIK who was mobile, grid square chasing.
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| Christchurch is right through the centre of this view - edge refraction maybe? |
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| Looking North East up the lake with Trig M on right, Foggy Peak and Castle Hill centre |
HF conditions were great although with no cell coverage at the operating position, it was tricky to know where everyone else was and get spotted. Found John ZL1BYZ (Pirongia) on 40m CW and then Warren ZL2AJ spotted me on 40m SSB. Once I had worked the ZLs, I went to 20m CW (so the RBN could do the spotting) and worked a string of VKs and also two W7s which was a nice surprise.
Tried 17, 15 and 30m without much luck. Waited for the UTC rollover and worked all the locals again and John ZL1BYZ. A good haul, 32 QSOs, 6 S2S (couldn't hear Dan or Steve).
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| Take your fishing gear, we spotted these guys cruising the shallows right beside the track on the way out! |
John, Ian Rick and I had arranged to meet at Springfield for coffee and debrief on the way home, as is our custom. Happy to recommend the Highway Cafe in Springfield - nice food, good service and great coffee. We had a really good debrief - the highlight for me was Ian's face when Francie commented on "the very different ground plane effect between river flats and summits" (In a previous career she earned an NZCE Telecomms).
This is a nice easy 4 pointer - about an hours climb but take a walking pole for coming down, lots of loose material to negotiate. Andrew has loaded a GPS track on SOTA Maps.
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| Track is unmarked, follow the old 4WD track up to the ridge, then you'll see the summit post |
Andrew's directions to get there are perfect, only thing I would add is that the road in to the parking area off the Lyndon Road is a bit gnarly - deep potholes full of water. If you haven't got good ground clearance, park at the turnoff and walk in. It's not far and you may get a glimpse of the fish!
