I went shopping for a compass at lunch time today, as I can’t find my old one since arriving back. It turns out that not much has changed: the cheapest basic base-plate compass in a tramping shop is $30, and the ones worth getting are at least $45. Fortunately I managed to get a Coleman compass identical to my old one from Rebel Sport, which as far as I can tell is just as good, except it’s not a fancy Suunto or Silva branded compass with shiny lights and mirrors all over it.
Tag: tramping
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Observations on getting back
I’ve had a bit of a period without getting outdoors much lately, since getting back. This has mostly been a consequence of having gotten straight back into the flat-hunting routine, then moving in. (Yay, Stacey’s good at organising.) Work’s back in full swing, and I’ve found myself with plenty of additional things to do. The down-side has been that there hasn’t been much time for other stuff, and when there has, I’ve just felt a bit like not doing anything.
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Hooray, I got my shoes back
Two weeks, three weekends, plus an additional week of drying out time later, my trampey boots finally came back from Christchurch. (This is a 35 minute flight or overnight courier.) They had a note attached from the distributor saying that unfortunately the rubber wasn’t split enough to be able to repair them, and suggested that I keep wearing them. The retailer then had them fixed in Wellington, and I got them back again. I wasn’t really expecting to get a credit, and after the previous experience I wasn’t so surprised about the length of time it took, but I was a bit flummoxed that they didn’t even repair them at all.
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Trip: Pinnacles, Washpool
This trip was my first opportunity to try my brand new Huntech 2-man bivvy. I’d bought it with the following weekend’s trip in mind, but this was a good opportunity to test it all the same.
Dates: 30th March – 1st April, 2007
Location: Aorangi Forest Park
Huts visited: Washpool Hut (0 nights), Pararaki Hut (1 night camping), Kawakawa Hut (0 nights), Mangatoetoe Hut (0 nights).
[Photos]This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category. -
Trip: Parks Peak / Upper Makaroro
Dates: 2nd – 4th March, 2007
Location: Ruahine Forest Park
Huts visited: Sentry Box Hut (1 night), Parks Peak Hut (0 nights), Upper Makaroro Hut (1 night).
Huts seen: Kylie Biv (from the opposite ridge).[Photos]
We arrived quite late on Friday night, for a 10 minute walk into Sentry Box Hut, where there were already a couple of people. There was limited space, so Craig and Sam went outside under Craig’s tent fly, whilst everyone else found space indoors. (I think there were about three people on the floor.)
This post is a trip report. You can find other trip reports about other places linked from the Trip Reports Page, or by browsing the Trip Reports Category. -
Walking around the sanctuary
Yesterday I went for a walk around the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary (again), after the physio actually suggested that I should go for more walks again to get a better idea of how much my knee’s been improving. The weird thing has been that it feels as if it’s very suddenly gotten much better. As in, I can suddenly walk down steps without having to swing down the bannisters after the first few. I wasn’t expecting it to go away quite so suddenly, and I’m a little concerned that it might come back again just as suddenly.
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Shiny new boots
Yesterday I bought some shiny new boots. Someone told me a while ago that New Zealanders don’t have a very good reputation for looking after their trampey gear, so I thought that perhaps I should take a photo of them before I trash them.
Here they are.
They even still have the label attached.
In any case, I’ll make an effort to keep a record here of any misfortune they might happen to suffer under my ownership, and make notes of how they cope with it. This afternoon, I’m planning to take them for their first walk, if my broken knee can handle it okay. (Nothing too strenuous, just a walk up to the air traffic control radar dome behind Wellington’s wind turbine, and wandering around that area for a while.) I expect to suffer a blister or two as a result.