melita stream

loaded the kayaks (decided against the jetski as i didn't want to be responsible to liberating didymo into the eglinton)on the truck yesterday and headed up to lake gunn in a bitterly cold south-easterly. nice headwind across the lake which slowed things down a bit. parked up on the beach and then "followed" one of those "i was a nice track in the 1970s but now only exist as the odd bit of permalit on trees that narrowly missed out on being wiped out in a slip 10 years ago" kind of tracks. Thankfully not too much bush lawyer but some nice vertical bits where you are trusting your life to a handful of moss that is tentatively holding onto a crumbling rockface. fun stuff!! Took about 2 hours to climb up to bushline and then it was boulder-hopping up the stream bed to the saddle. bit of chamois sign up near the tops. Took about 4 hours to climb 800m - the saddle sitting at 1309m. nice views down the hollyford and into falls creek - looked like a good spot for whio. managed to find a little more of the track on the way back down the hill which meant that we managed to avoid most of the bluffs.



have spent most of today staring at the computer, trying to write some bullshit about why my research will benefit nz for a scholarship application. bit of a waste of a gloriously sunny day. still, am planning on taking the jetski out on lake manapouri tomorrow.

word of the day: flibbertigibbet

A flighty or whimsical person, usually a young female.