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.

Flag Peak ZL3/CB-737 and Lavericks ZL3/CB-757 25 May 2019

This is a favourite double activation of mine and is XYL-approved too!  We set off at 7:30am from a very foggy Kaiapoi and arrived in sunny Akaroa just before 10am. I dropped Francie and her Mum off at the main wharf where they spent a happy morning shopping and looking around. I headed up Rue Balguerie and then Stony Peak Road, arriving at the saddle in good time. The Misty Peaks track starts 100m back down the road from the carparking area. This is a very easy 20 minute walk along a wide, marked track with great views down to Akaroa and across to Carews Peak where Ian ZL3GIG was headed. Follow the track past the summit until you get to a gate, turn left at this point and follow the easy ridge up to the summit. This is all on reserve land and there is very little spear grass or gorse (unlike if you leave the track too early!) Set up and QRV by 10:30am using my 450 Ohm window line Slim Jim and 41' endfed. Worked locals on 2m including Mark on Balcksmith Spur ZL3/CB-440 and Ian on Carews Peak ZL3/CB-746. HF produced John ZL1BYZ on ZL1/WK-158 Puketutu and  Bill VK1MCW on VK1/AC-041. I couldn't work John ZL3MR on Coopers Knob, probably due to the big lump of rock between us! 17 contacts in all and I packed up at 11:15am to head back to Akaroa for lunch.

View of Akaroa from Flag Peak

Had lunch in Akaroa and then Long Bay Road and around the Summit Road to Lavericks carpark (Otepatotu Scenic reserve). Mark called me on 2m simplex from his second summit, Coal Hill ZL3/CB-419 as we pulled into the carpark. It was too cold for him to hang around until I got to the top so I worked him from the car as a Chaser. Lavericks is a fairly steep but short climb of about 20 minutes, I was set up quickly on the top and worked Ian on Carews Peak S2S. Still no wind so I bungeed my pole to a fence post and started on HF. This produced plenty of contacts including N6WT in California on 17m CW. The 41' endfed is a great antenna for working DX. Another 14 QSOs in the log. I packed up at 2:28pm and headed home via Little River for a coffee and look around the gallery. A really great day for me, Francie and Anne enjoyed themselves too.

Thanks to all the other activators and chasers!

 Pole bungeed to fence and view of Duvauchelles Bay

You don't often see this wind turbine stationary!

Ladbrooks Hill ZL3/CB-618 11 May 2019

First activation of this hill along with John ZL3MR.
It's a nice walk - permission required from the landowner for the first part of the track which crosses private land. You can do it all via the conservation area but it's a very steep and largely unformed start to the track.

Weather was great - unlike the rest of Christchurch which was swathed in low cloud, we were warm, sunny and no wind!
Plenty of contacts on 2m and HF, including two all the way to the USA! We both activated the summit successfully.

Bare pipe trig, covered in scrub

Panorama showing a clagged in Canterbury Plains

Mt Karetu 4th May 2019

This was the first activation of Mt Karetu ZL3/CB-650 in the North Canterbury foothills. Permission is required from Paul Spark 027 220 1839 to climb this summit. 

 
Ian ZL3GIG and I left Kaiapoi at 8am on a cool autumn morning and drove to the top of Okuku Pass in just under an hour. The climb to the summit is relatively easy, head up the spur along a fenceline and then walk around the tops to the summit. Takes about an hour.

The summit upon arrival. unusual trig and abandoned repeater site

 

 It was a nice day up there but with a stiff northerly wind. We set up on the Southern side and admired the panoramic view from Mt Grey in the East to the Southern alps in the West.

We quickly had our radio gear set up and worked 52 contacts on VHF (27) and HF 40m and 20m (25). Equipment: VHF - 2m handhelds and HF - KX2 using a 41' endfed and 9:1 UNUN. We both qualified the summit and departed around 12:30pm for an uneventful descent.

Pig sign near the summit

This is a very nice summit and people with a reasonable level of fitness could tackle it. The landowner is good to deal with.