Bush
Tai Poutini Polytechnic
Date:
13/09/2013
- Fresh snow on the ridge before dropping down to Kirwins Hut
Date:
12/09/2013
- Clouds clearing to see the Victoria Range
Date:
11/09/2013
Date:
10/09/2013
Date:
9/09/2013
Bush Instruction
Date:
5/06/2013 - 7/06/2013
Trip Name & location:
School Camp at Lake Brunner
Clients:
15x Westland High School Students
Instructors:
Jono Irvine, Kristin Tisdall, Lenny McGirr, Logan Froriep, Alice Payne, Rhys
Hillock, & Zak Shaw
Duration of the activity:
Three full days
Weather conditions:
Sunny with some cloud, warm temperatures during the day dropping at night
A short narrative
which shares your learning and highlights:
We had a really good camp and all the students seemed to enjoy themselves for
the three days. On the first days we played lots of games and team building
activities and they also built forts in the forest. On the second day we went
on the lake in rafts and played games and got wet, we camped out in tents
overnight on the lake shore. We taught the students how to set up camp
correctly and how to have a safe and enjoyable time in the outdoors. The third
day we did a river trip down the Arnold River which the student really loved
and many of them said that is was their highlight of the camp. Us instructors
did a really good job of managing risk and group managment especially during the
down times.
Bush Personal
Date:
19/01/2013 & 20/01/2013
Trip Name/location: Otehake
Hot Springs
Group Members:
Rhys Hillock & Amara Bradley
Duration of the
activity: Two full days
Weather conditions:
The first day was overcast with a few showers throughout the day, the
temperature was warm and there was an occasional wind blowing down the valley.
The second day started to clear up with some sunny spells, a cold wind picked
up in the open areas, and the temperature was cool.
Route conditions and
if they changed over the day(s):
The track on river right of the Otira River was well signed but the travel was
very up and down following the river down to the Taramakau River. Track going
up the Taramakau Valley, Pfeifer Creek, and around Lake Kaurapataka was flat
and easy going. The Track going down into the Otehake Valley was very steep in
sections and sometimes not well marked.
A short narrative
which shares your learning and highlights:
This hike was quite a big slog for us, the track following the Otira River and
down to the hot springs was not what we expected and in turn made for a very
long day. We also ended up camping down river of the actual hot springs as we
could not find the track once we got down to the river. On the second day going
out the same way, we decided to cross the Otira River from the shelter instead
of walking back up the track on the river right side. The river is braided
enough down the bottom, which creates easy crossing in low to medium flows.
- Looking up the Otehaki River with blue sky in the morning
- Getting ready for the big slog up the hill
- Back at the Taramakau Valley for a quick lunch stop
Bush Personal
Date: 14/09/2012
Trip Name/location: Anti Crow Hut to track south side of Waimakariri River Bridge
Group Members: Rhys Hillock and Amara Bradley
Duration of the activity: One Full Day (day four of four)
Weather conditions: Overcast with some clear spells, no snow or rain, light westerly breeze
Variations in environment condition: No snow on ground from the hut down due to lower altitude and warmer temperatures.
A short narrative which shares your learning and highlights: Headed down the river bed from the hut to the carpark. We decided not to follow the track through the bush where the trees were down hoping that the going will be easier. Following the river down went fine, we had to do a few river crossings over the Waimakariri and we continued with our map work as the skies cleared.
- Looking East down the Waimakariri River
- Looking back to where we had come from
- Having a quick rest and soaking in the mountains
Date: 13/09/2012
Trip Name/location: Carrington Hut to Anti Crow Hut
Duration of the activity: One Full Day (day three of four)
Weather conditions: Low cloud in the morning but rising throughout the day, temperature increasing
Variations in environment conditions: The snow had stopped falling and was melting away due to warmer temperatures
A short narrative which shares your learning and highlights: Today we headed down the river to Anti Crow Hut. It was a short distance to travel but as we walked we continued to practice our map skills and use the terrain around us that we could see.
- Looking back up at the snow capped peaks
- Heading down the river through the snow
- Walking on the river bed further down the valley
- Sunset at Anti Crow Hut
Date: 12/09/2012
Trip Name/location: Carrington Hut
Duration of the activity: One Full Day (day two of four)
Weather conditions: Low cloud with snow falling, no wind, cold temperatures
Variations in environment conditions: 10cm of dry powder snow collected on the ground throughout the day
A short narrative which shares your learning and highlights: Our plan for today was to head up to Harman Pass and down to Julia Hut for the night. But the weather changed sooner then we anticipated, so when we woke up we decided not to head up to the pass and just stayed put for the day. We choose other options of where to go, either for a day hike or to another hut, but we choose to stay at the hut and we did a session on maps and compasses.
- Short gap between snow falls to view the mountains
- Just outside of Carrington Hut
- The ground piled up with snow
- Trees still holding up with the weight of the snow
Date:
11/09/2012
Trip
Name/location: Track south side of Waimakariri River
Bridge to Carrington Hut
Duration
of the activity: One Full Day (day one of four)
Weather
conditions: Overcast with some sunny spells, warm
temperatures
Incidents/Injuries:
Sore feet and legs at end of day from long hike and heavy packs
A
short narrative which shares your learning and highlights:
The track that we took on the south side of the Waimakariri River was badly affected by tree fell from heavy snow dumps earlier on, this meant that going
was slow and hard until we got onto the river bed. Travel was easy going along
the river bed, but it was a long way up to the hut with heavy packs.
- Nice and easy valley floor to walk along
- Looking back at the river bed that we walked along
- Viewing of where we have come from so far
- A rest stop up the Waimakariri River
Bush Tai Poutini Polytechnic
Date: 20/07/2012
Trip location: Alpine Hike - Thousand Acre Plateau
Trip Name: GR 468995 to West Bank Road end
Group Members: Tutors - Phil Johnston, Zak Shaw Students - Watson Green, Jeremy Black, Lenny McGirr, Ambrose Ratcliffe, Alice Payn, Kristin Tisdall, Jono Irvine, Ru Kraal, Conor Livesey, Tim Read, Rebecca Reidie, Rhys Hillock
Duration of the activity: One Full Day (day four of four)
Weather conditions: Frosty and cold morning, clear skies with cloud developing in the afternoon
Incidents/Injuries: Members of the group had problems with their feet and knee joints due to the long distance that we needed to travel
A short narrative which shares your learning and highlights: Today we ended up having to hike for over twelve hours, so for the last two hours we were hiking in the dark, so the pace of the group and communication between everyone was very important. We did some scree travel down from our campsite and off track travel which was very slow going.
Date: 19/07/2012
Trip Name/location: Tarns at GR 423997 to GR 468995
Duration of the activity: One Full Day (day three of four)
Weather conditions: Frosty and cold morning, clear skies, light northerly breeze
A short narrative which shares your learning and highlights: We did some ridge travel where in spots we had to set up a hand line to give some support past rock outcrops. Continued to work on our map work when we were on the ridges, and the pace of the group when travelling along the ridge.
- Heading up to the ridge, looking down onto the very frosty Thousand Acre Plateau
- Looking West to The Needle at sunrise
- Watching the team getting around a rock outcrop, with The Needle in the background
- Heading along the ridge with The Haystack in view
- Looking north up a ridge at our lunch spot
Date: 18/07/2012
Trip Name/location: GR 443888 to tarns at GR 423997
Duration of the activity: One Full Day (day two of four)
Weather conditions: Clear skies, warm temperatures
A short narrative which shares your learning and highlights: We had a steep up hill section today, so we had to make sure the pace was good for everyone when going up, so people don’t burn out fast and the group slows down. We did some map reading today using features around us to work out where we were.
- Looking back down the Matiri Valley, all covered in low cloud
- Walking along the Thousand Acre Plateau
- Looking back at where we came from at camp for the night
- Looking at the snowy mountains in the background at sunset
Date:
17/07/2012
Trip Name:
West Bank Road end to GR 443888
Duration of the
activity: One Full Day (day one of four)
Weather conditions:
Mainly clear skies with some cloud around, warm temperatures
A short narrative which
shares your learning and highlights:
Our first river crossing over the Matiri River West Branch was at a high flow,
so we needed to do team crossings to supply some support to everyone.
Bush Tai Poutini Polytechnic
Date: 5/04/2012
Trip Name/location: GR 472976 to Lewis Pass road
Group Members: Tutor- Zak Shaw Students- Kristin Tisdall, Jono Irvine,
Watson Green, Ari
Kingan,
Robert
Bruce,
Hugo
Reid,
Logan
Froriep, Julia
Melvillle, Rhys Hillock
Duration of the activity: One Full day (day four of four)
Weather conditions: Clear skies, hot, sunny
Route/River conditions and if they changed over the
day(s): Headed into
the trees, bush bashing down to the Nina River. Met up with formed track to the
road.
A short narrative which shares your learning and
highlights:
Continued to practice contouring around mountains, bush bashing down a ridge
and walking on a bearing.
- Halo cloud formation on the last morning, wicked!!
- Looking down the Nina Valley above the clouds
Date: 4/04/2012
Trip Name/location: GR 401963 to GR 472976
Duration of the activity: One Full day (day three of four)
Weather conditions: High cloud, windy above tree line, sunny spells
Route/River conditions and if they changed over the
day(s): Continued to
walk above the tree line, no formed track, ridge line walking.
A short narrative which shares your learning and
highlights: Practiced
how to contour around a mountain rather then going up and over. Learned how to
work out your location using triangulation, worked on estimating travel times
for a certain distance over different terrain.
- Multiple camp sites next to the tarns above the tree line
- Interesting cloud shadows in the valley
- Nice view down into the Nina Valley
Date: 3/04/2012
Trip Name/location: Doubtfull Hut to GR 401963
Duration of the activity: One Full day (day two of four)
Weather conditions: Overcast in the morning. Windy, cold and low
visibility above tree line
Route/River conditions and if they changed over the
day(s): Headed off
trail into the bush going up to the tree line. Above tree line travel, ridge
walking and contouring around mountains.
Incidents/Injuries: The wet tussock meant that people were slipping over
when standing on them. Watson stepped into a hole and a rock cut his knee at
lunchtime, fist aid was given.
A short narrative which shares your learning and
highlights: Practiced
bush bashing through a mature forest and walking on a bearing. Learned how to
navigate above tree line in very low visibility and ridge line travel.
- Clouds rolling over the ridge
- Walking along the ridge through the clouds
- Dropping down to our campsite for the night, passing some snow on the way
- Looking up to Mount Carrington in the clouds
Date: 2/04/2012
Trip Name/location: Lewis Pass road to Doubtful Hut
Duration of the activity: One Full day (day one of four)
Weather conditions: Sunny, light winds, hot
Route/River conditions and if they changed over the
day(s): Walking on a
formed track from the road to the hut.
A short narrative which shares your learning and
highlights:
Re-learned the correct way to pack a hiking pack, making sure nothing was going
to fall out and it sat correctly on our back. Continued to practice our
navigation in the hills using a map and compass.
- Looking up to where we will go the next day
Bush Personal
Date: 18/03/2012
Trip Name/location: High camp to Anderson Flat via the Moonlight Track
Group Members: Rhys Hillock and Amara Bradley
Duration of the activity: One full day (day two of two)
Weather conditions: Windy, cold, and raining in the morning down into
the Moonlight Valley. Cleared up in the afternoon to sunny spells.
Route/River conditions and if they changed over the
day(s): Continued to
follow the orange markers in the morning until we came back into the trees to
follow the Moonlight Track.
A short narrative which shares your learning and
highlights: Another
good day to finish the hike. The hike out took a bit longer then we anticipated,
partly due to the bad weather we had in the morning on the ridge. Parts of the
track had also been washed out from a previous storm which made travel over
these sections slower.
- Trying to follow the markers in very low visibility, being on a ridge made it easier
- Just dropped back into tree line when it started to rain again, following the Moonlight Valley track back down
- The last swing bridge to cross for the hike, almost back to the comfortable car!
Date: 17/03/2012
Trip Name/location: Creosus Track to high camp at GR 678208
Duration of the activity: One full day (day one of two)
Weather conditions: Sunny and hot through the trees. Once above tree
line and on the ridge it became windy and cold.
Route/River conditions and if they changed over the
day(s): On a well
formed track throughout most of the day, once on ridge going to the high camp
track disappeared and we were following orange markers that were few and far
between at some points.
Incidents/Injuries: Quite sore feet after a long day in small boots, got
a case of bad cramp once in camp.
A short narrative which shares your learning and
highlights: A really
solid and long day. Really enjoyed getting up ontop of the ridge and walking
along it until camp. In the afternoon when the track wasn’t marked, in some
parts we had to bush bash around to get back to where the track was. We learned
to now take preventable measures to stop getting cramp at the end of a days
hike.
- Walking through the clouds on the ridge
- Looking back to where we have come from
- Sunset on the tussock hills at camp
Bush Tai Poutini Polytechnic
Date: 15/02/2012 –
17/02/2012
Trip
Name/location: Styx River (Start GR497506) to Arahura River (End
GR562553)
Group Members: Tutor- Zak Shaw
Students- Tim
Read, Jono
Irvine, Logan
Froriep, Hugo
Reid, Jeremy
Black, Zenzi
Breitenberger, Jacob
Willett, Rhys Hillock
Duration of the
activity: Three full days
Weather
conditions: Day one - sunny, light cloud, warm
Day two - sunny,
light cloud in morning increasing in afternoon, hot
Day three - sunny
in morning changing to overcast, warm
Variations in
environmental conditions: Cloud increased over duration of the three days.
Temperature rose throughout each day but track stayed mainly in the trees which meant
cooler temperatures while hiking. No rain during trip, so creek and river
levels didn’t change. Above bush line on top of Styx Saddle.
Route conditions
and if they changed over the day(s): Track in good
condition most of the time, 4WD track for a few kms at beginning and end of the
route. Many side creeks flowing into both rivers, Styx and Arahura, had pushed
debris across the track which made travelling over these sections a bit slower.
Some rocks in the creeks were quite slippery as well as muddy parts of track.
Incidents/Injuries: One student injured
their knee on a rock coming down a creek bed half way through day two, was
quite sore when going up hill and down hill, and was limping for the remaining
day and a half.
A short narrative which shares your learning and highlights: Overall a really
good hike. It was awesome to get up on top of Styx Saddle and be able to look
down at where we had been and see where we had to go. Had fun re-learning how
to use a compass correctly and trying to count paces for a certain distance.
Had good food and the appropriate quantities for the whole group.
- Looking west on top of Styx Saddle
- Walking through the trees following Styx River
- Side creek flowing down the Arahura Valley
- Sunset at our campsite next to the Arahura River
- Looking down to the Arahura River
- Looking up the Styx valley to the saddle
- Looking up the Arahura Valley
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