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Well an absolutely great week! Started with Monday (as weeks usually do) when I got an e-mail from a previously unheard of cousin. Kate. 2nd cousin on mums side. Who was coming into ChCh on Thursday. So we met up, which was really fun. Funny really how just ‘cos someone is your cousin you just instantly get on with them (or I do at any rate). She’s on a gap year (kinda 1/2 wish I’d done one of those) between school and university. Traveled through South America on the way here, now on to Oz, then Asia and finally home. The more I hear about South America the more tempted I get… But I do kinda want to go to Africa more on the way home (whenever that’s going to be.. also getting more tempted to stay a little longer perhaps) Sounds great though.

So here’s a pic of Kate (on the right) and her friend Abby.

Headed out to a slide show (and yes, they loved it.. or said they did :) But it was given by Guillome – a French climber / mountaineer. He’s such an all round mountaineer. But then what do you expect from a guy who used to ski to school and get the cable car home again.. He’s also got the contact for a guy wot makes Down Jackets to order out here.. even waterproofs them .. so will be getting one of those. Just as soon as pay day rolls around again as have managed to spend quite a lot this week.

Though some of that was enforced savings kinda. For this hike that I went on yesterday (Saturday) we weren’t sure what the weather was going to be doing, so I hired out an Ice-Axe and crampons from the club. It’s really amazingly cheap – $10 for the ice-axe and crampons, and I could keep them for two weekends really if I wanted to.. The catch was the $200 (fully refundable) deposit, but that makes a dent into available cash!

Also booked my tickets for a comedy event next weekend, quite looking forward to seeing some kiwi comedy. Should be fun! Climbing on the Tuesday (yes we’re a little out of order here) and was quite happy with my climbing, just getting back into it, but led six routes, and finished off with a reasonably strenuous (to me) 17+ which is only 5c French, but still, after 6 other leads wasn’t awful.

Oh yeah, on Wednesday when I went along to the CUTC meeting to find out about the hike, Dave was giving a slide show on caving, pretty awesome pictures from Jonathan Carrs. Really good show.

So yes – signed up for the climb with Florian (climbing friend – and mountaineer) It was up and around Arthurs Pass. Drove up on Friday evening to the pass, and stayed in the Alpine Club hut there. Up at 5am on Saturday morning, we wanted to avoid bad conditions (melting snow ‘n stuff I guess!) Was supposed to be a 9 hour hike, and it was, but not the one which we were quite expecting (fog)

So here’s a pic of our group (minus the guy who was taking the picture) Quite a mix of people really, two kiwis, two Germans, two French, an American, and Irish and a Malaysian. Good fun though. Due to… ummm… not everyone being as fast as needed we decided not to do the entire ridge we were going to do. This left us time to play in the snow.

Here we practiced self-arresting (which is where you dig your ice-axe into the snow, lean your weight on it, and hope you don’t hit hard ice!) Good fun, though I’ve a lot to learn. We did get, well, mislaid… we unfortunately got onto the wrong ridge and it very gently did a U-Turn, until we weren’t headed in at all the right direction (ok, south instead of north if you want particulars). However, all worked out well, but next time I think I will bring my own map and compass and try to keep track of where we’re going.. Far too much out of practice me.

so yes, all in all it was a fun day, quite long though. Oh, the other good news was that an old college friend – Emma Towey (fellow engineer) has, apparently, just arrived into ChCh, so have to find some way of meeting up, I don’t think her mobile phone is going to work in NZ. So much for good old-fashioned rendez-vous appointments!