This was our second attempt to have a great tramp in the Tararuas, the first in November 1998 was rather wet and lacked any real photo opportunities - see Tararua 1. Ian had planned an "old man's tramp" from North to South, apparently following valleys more than crossing ranges.
Access & accommodation: We all made our way to Ian's place at Carterton, then by minibus to the Putara Road end via Kaiparoro (by-passing Ekatahuna).
On this trip I had a new harness for the Nikon D50 SLR and a new zoom lens with rather impressive optics and a new polarising filter. As I had problems with the Nikon EN-EL3 and EN-EL3e batteries, I also took a spare two generic ENEL3 batteries.
WEATHER4am Friday Feb 27 2009:
"A significant sub-tropical storm is developing Friday and is likely to bring widespread rain across many parts of the North Island along with gales in some areas."
Saturday 28th (am):
Heavy rain warnings for the North Island. Our number one concern is for public safety - last year too many people died from flooded rivers and this year we want people to know to stay away from rivers and streams on days like this, even if conditions at home don't seem that bad".
Saturday 28th (pm):
"In the southern part of the North Island gales have blown down trees and knocked out powerlines near Levin as the strong winds that blasted northern New Zealand this morning move south. Last hour easterly winds gusted to 90km/h in Levin with gusts to 80km/h in Palmerston North and 70km/h in New Plymouth."
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On to the pictures
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The trampers on our Tararua "SK Valleys" tramp were:
- Ian Bardsley (ex Hawera): photo ID=IB
Camera = Canon Ixus 80 digital [8MP],
- Jim Callaghan (Wanganui, ex-Hawera): photo ID=JC
Camera=Olympus µ400 digital [4MP],
- Alan Rogers (Hawera): photo ID=AR
Camera=Panasonic DMC LC40 digital [3.9MP],
- Graham & Cathy Thompson (Hawera): photo ID=CT
Camera=Sony DSC-T5 digital [5.1MP]
- John Sutton (New Plymouth): photo ID=JS
Camera 1 [001-063] = Canon Ixus 80 digital [8MP];
Camera 2 [064-171] = Olympus µ300D digital [3.2MP]
- Keith Blayney [yours truly] (Hawera): photo ID=KB
Camera=Nikon D50 SLR digital [6.1MP]
with a Sigma 18-200 f3.5-6.3 zoom lens.
All photographs © - media
reproduction requires permission
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