A happy-go-lucky English rambler dude goes to New Zealand for a year. Here he interfaces with some of those he left behind and details his nefarious activities. Or summat.
Recently clicked on MP3s - 7th June 2005 The Lucksmiths - Warmer Corners
Jens Lekman - When i said i wanted to be your dog
The Trashcan Sinatras - Weightlifting
Teenage Fanclub - Man Made
Laura Veirs - Carbon Glacier
The Decemberists - Picaresque
The Eels - Blinking Lights
Friday, May 17, 2002
I'm back in the, rather nippy, capital of NZ, Wellington. I was hoping to meet Keith here, but due to the virtual impossibility of finding anywhere free / affordable to park in Wellington, he's sadly had to bugger off elsewhere :o( But, there's still plenty for me to do in the Welly area till Sunday when i get the ferry, including visting Bad Taste filming locations!! I've just found some on the net, and after i've done here, i'm off out in search of some "Extra-Terrestrial-Bastards Barry!"
I had a great few days in New Plymouth, where the weather again (!) behaved perfectly, and so i managed to climb Mount Taranaki, now my highest mountain at 2518m. As the peak is on totally flat plains, next to the sea, i again had incredible views, all the way back to Mount Ngaurahoe, where i was a couple of days earlier. The climb was reasonably straightforward, but the summit had plenty of ice about, and the sheer size of the thing was quite intimidating, so i did feel a tad nervous at times. I was also the only person to climbing it that day, (4 Israelis i met had turned back due to a bit of cloud / wind halfway up, pah!) so if i had come a cropper i would have a had a looong, cold night waiting for anyone to rescue me :os I also made things a bit harder for myself by picking the wrong summit, when i go into the crater. I climbed halfway up an icy precipice called the "sharks tooth", before noticing a pole / cairn, on the other side of the crater rim. So i happily left the slightly scarier, lower option, and went to the proper summit!
