iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Middle Earth Tour 2016/17

Started by Ianab, December 10, 2016, 03:22:12 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Ox

Oh, I see now!  Thanks for that - it makes it even more magical.  I love those movies.
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Ianab

Looking around Christchurch. The city still isn't "normal" after the big quake there. Lots of empty sections, but also lots of construction going on. Most of the larger buildings "survived" the quake, as in, the didn't fall down. But many where damaged and over-stressed beyond repair, and had to be demolished later.

But there is a new kids playground, where the old swimming pool used to be (that didn't survive) A well known NZ children's author died a while back and left a large amount of $$ to the city to build a kids playgound. So this is the Margaret Mahey plaground, and it's pretty dang awesome. The kids just didn't know what to do next  :D



That spiral slide tower is basically 3 stories tall, with a spiral cargo net to climb up. But even Taylor gave it a go.



Then we went and took a gondola ride up the hills and had lunch up there.



View looking down the other way into Lyttleton Harbour

Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Ianab

Double post to "catch up"

OK, heading East from Christchurch we have come all the way back to the West Coast, just for the fun of driving over mountains really. OK, the scenery IS awesome.

Before we left Canterbury district, we drove through a small town called Springfield. Guess what their town "mascot" is?



Then on through the Arthurs Pass and the Otira Gorge. Picture doesn't show how steep the downgrade is over tha curved viaduct.



Stopped in the car park and this guy came to check us out.



Then here in Greymouth I "suggested" we do the local brewery tour. ;D



Came home with some supplies 8)



Might be a later start tomorrow to head back over the Mts to Hamner, but we can live with that.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Ianab

Before leaving Greymouth we went and had a look at the Shantytown museum. Lots of old gold rush history there.

Admission includes a steam train ride.





Check out the waterwheel. It's a working replica of an older one that was used to crush gold bearing rocks locally.



And their "wild" Weka birds are so tame they will eat out of your hand which the kids loved.



Then we drove back East to Hamner Springs, which is a small tourist town build around some hot water pools. The drive is usually pretty scenic, but it was all mist and rain today, and heavy traffic due to the main road still being closed. Will go for a dip in the pools tomorrow, then on to Kaikoura via the partially patched up inland road...


Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Magicman

Oh no, your checklist is almost checked off!  :o  But I am still enjoying seeing that which I will never see in person.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Ianab

Well we checked out Hamner Springs this morning. To be honest, it has hot springs, and that's about it.

But, at least they are very nice hot springs  :D Lara is big enough for the regular hydroslide and had fun on that. But they had this smaller kids water slides / sprinklers etc that kept Taylor happy too.



And a soak in the 38C mineral pool



Then we had lunch outside the pool.  With the young Oak trees.



And baby Redwood trees.



Hamner is a small sheltered basin in the inland hills, and has it's own little "micro-climate", a bit like Rotorua where redwoods also grow well.

Then we hit the road for Kaikoura. This is the small coastal town was hit by a big Earthquake at the end of last year. Road from Hamner is now open again, but a lot of this sort of thing.



To be honest it was a winding back road to start with, throw some  broken bridges, subsidence and rock falls at it, and it was a bit of a slow trip. Places where the straight road isn't even straight any more. I will try and get a pic when we leave, but at one point there where the words GIVE WAY painted on the road. Half way though the word GIVE, the road shifted 2 ft to the right. The road crew has stuffed a bit of hot mix in the crack, and moved on to fix more serious problems. :D

Anyway, for a tourist town in the middle of summer, things are pretty quiet here. Every other place we have stayed has been pretty much booked out, here we are in a line of 4 cabins, the other 3 are empty, and I can see 2 camper vans in the 10 spots down the other direction. Camp manager actually thanked Lil for not cancelling when we booked in, and as a bonus, the camp Wifi actually works pretty well (not overloaded)

But we couldn't book a Whale Watch boat because they can only operate their smallest boat. The sea floor around the harbor has actually lifted about 6ft, and the water is now too shallow for their bigger tour boats. They have their helicopter tours running from 100 yards across the rail track, but there where no bookings for the boat ride.  So we opted for the Airplane whale watch, and will head out for that tomorrow.  We figure a scenic flight in a 6 seat Cessna should give us a good overview. Not cheap, but we are near the end of the trip, and haven't blown the budget yet.

Clicked over 5,000 kilometers (3100 miles) today.  Little Toyota has done us well, and is just the trick for blowing past slow camper vans on the occasional straight bit of road or slow vehicle lane. We've spent a LOT of time on steep narrow and winding roads, with corners that have a 15 km (10 mph) advisory speed. When you see a sign like that, you know they are serious. Some of them seemed to be more than 180° by some quirk of geometry., and where about like doing a U-turn.

Anyway, looks like a good day tomorrow. Airplane ride, Lil wants to buy a Crayfish for lunch, and then an early night. Because of the road closures we have a huge back track and detour to get back to Picton and catch the ferry North again. What we had planned on taking 2 hours might be closer to 7...
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Ianab

Doing the tourist thing at Kaikoura ;D




All aboard. Lara got to ride shotgun up front, but we all had window seats.



Climbed up to ~1500ft and head out over the sea... Suddenly the pilot points out to the side to this little dot in the ocean and throws us into a spiral turn.



As we get closer it's not just a dot any more.





Then on the way back a huge pod of Dolphins,



The general idea is that for every dolphin out of the water, there are 9 more you can't see.

Anyway, it's our last night in the South Island, so taking it easy so we can get an early start tomorrow. Long detour from here to get back to Picton because of roads still being closed. Then a night in Wellington before heading for home the next day.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

WDH

Do you know the type/species of whale?
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Texas Ranger

The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

Jeff

Look at the long long head in front of the dorsal. My guess it has to be a sperm whale.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Czech_Made

Didn't Ahab chase Moby Dick somewhere near New Zealand?

Ianab

Yup. MALE Sperm whale. About 60ft long and ~50 tons.

Just sitting in Picton now waiting for the ferry North.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Ianab

Finally home.  :-\

Long day yesterday. We had planned to leave Kaikoura, in the morning, drive about 2 hours North to Picton and catch the ferry around lunchtime. That would leave time to drive home from Wellington. Was not to be.

Instead we got out of Kaikoura at 7am (luckily ahead of a lot of the traffic, and had a 7.5 hour drive, on narrow winding roads, most of it in driving wind and rain, with all the other traffic that had been detoured (heavy trucks / campers / buses etc) Then we get a TXT the ferry is running late  ::)

Not the end of the world, and gave us a chance to check out the Classic Fighter museum in Blenhiem. At that point we knew we where 1/2 an hour from the ferry, and had 4 hours till final check in.

The roads around Kaikoura are a MESS. There are only 3 roads into the place. State Highway 1 North and South, and the "Inland Road", which is basically a back road through to the middle of nowhere.

SH1 North is still buried. 9 BIG landslides to clear. Might be open by Christmas...
SH2 South to Christchurch is sort of open. Daytime only, and may close again at any time if more rock falls on it.
And the Inland Road that we took. It's "Open", but it wasn't a great road Before the quake, and it hasn't improved since. This is the sort of thing you see everywhere. I stopped and took a picture because the lettering showed how the earth actually moved.



You found this all over the place, and especially with things like bridge approaches. The bridges survived, but they didn't line up with the road any more, and you had a little 12" ramp built to get on and off the bridge. Most of the serious damage had been temporarily patched, and lots of work crews doing more permanent repairs.

This is one of the bigger issues where they have built a new temporary road down into the gully, across the stream below and back up the other side.



Anyway, couple more pics from the Aircraft Museum. Some of the aircraft are original, and others are modern replicas, and fully flight ready. Like this replica of the Rad Barons plane. Note the authentic oil drip trays under it  :D



And a fully airworthy Spitfire.



Then on to the Ferry in Picton. Although it was running late the weather had cleared from earlier in the day ( the reason it was late) and we had a nice evening sail. This is coming out the Tory Channel between Arapawa Island in the left, and the Mainland on the right. Wellington Coastline is under the white cloud on the horizon, another ferry is just heading out in front of us.



We gradually caught up to the other ship as the sun began to set.



Bye Bye South Island



We stayed at a friends house in Wellington, and had a leisurely 4 hour drive home today. Back to the familiar Mt.



So there you have it.  How to tour the South Island of NZ in just 3 weeks.  ;D
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Ianab

Trip total...

6,029 kilometers. and 80 hours of driving.

Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

sprucebunny

Thanks for taking us on your trip, Ian !

Great pictures ! Really makes me want to visit but pictures will have to do.
MS193, MS192 and an 026  Weeding and Thinning. Gilbert Champion sawmill

thecfarm

A nice tour indeed. The LANE sign was quite the sight.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Ox

Oh, how I love the old warbirds!  I was surprised to see a 5 bladed prop on that Spitfire, though.  I thought they were all 4 bladed.  Thanks for taking us with you on your trip - the pictures are all fantastic!  8)
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Ianab

Quote from: Ox on January 13, 2017, 12:10:47 PM
Oh, how I love the old warbirds!  I was surprised to see a 5 bladed prop on that Spitfire, though.  I thought they were all 4 bladed.  Thanks for taking us with you on your trip - the pictures are all fantastic!  8)

Spitfire Mark XIV from near the end of WW2. It has a 2300 hp Griffin engine and hence the bigger prop
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Ianab

Quote from: thecfarm on January 13, 2017, 06:47:08 AM
A nice tour indeed. The LANE sign was quite the sight.

There are other places where the road has shifted the full width of the road, and lifted 6ft in the air!. But that road is still closed.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Ox

My lord, it must have been able to just about go vertical with that kind of power and prop.  Any methanol or water injection for emergency power in that engine do you know?  I wasn't aware of this version of the Spitfire.  It must be about like the Bearcat which could do a barrel roll around a P-51 when they both took off at the same time and then climb away.  End of the war machines were mean.
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

samandothers

Thanks for the tour.  I'll miss the trip!  I enjoyed the pictures of your family vacation!

Ianab

From Page 2. Blue Pools was in the news today. Tourist jumped off the bridge, and didn't come up.  Luckily bystanders where able to rescue him, carry out CPR and save his life, then help the local fire crew carry him out to the road to meet a rescue chopper. Pretty lucky as it's a remote area, 10 km to the nearest phone etc

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/88442692/man-saved-from-blue-pools-now-in-dunedin-hospital
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

WDH

Dude should get a Darwin Award.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Ox

I've wondered in the past:  if you jump off a bridge trying to suicide, get knocked out, get rescued, then come to eventually.... are you mad or grateful or what?  Pretty bad if you think the only answer is to suicide...
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Ianab

Quote from: WDH on January 16, 2017, 07:42:12 AM
Dude should get a Darwin Award.

Dunno. Here in NZ jumping off bridges is almost an official summer sport. :D If you look at my pic on page 2 there is a guy sitting the railing ready to go, and a steady stream of jumpers.

Heck if I was a bit younger, and the water more than 5C I might have been tempted.  :D

Not sure what went wrong for the guy they had to rescue. Maybe just landed funny and stunned himself. At least the water is clear enough they could see him on the bottom and haul him out.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Thank You Sponsors!