23. August 2023 20:08
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
The trip in New Zealand first landed us in Christchurch where we picked up our rental car and stayed the first night.
Next day we drove through Arthurs Pass to Franz Josef (a long drive) where we stayed for three nights. This was mainly so that we had a spare day in case the weather closed in and we couldn't fly to the glacier.
From there we drove to Queenstown via Wanaka and the Crowns Range (another long drive). We were lucky that this was open and that snow chains weren't required.
Here we stayed for 5 nights whereafter we went to Twizel near Mount Cook for two night.
Lastly we drive back to Christchurch to fly out.
Queenstown is a scenic place, but lost of other scenic places along the way.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
At Lake Pukaki there is this little beautiful chapel at the lake.
Again this is a really photographed location and much more busy than I remember it.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
At Queenstown we did 4 days of skiing at the Remarkables.
The boys did two days of lessons and were with me the other two days. Some friends of our joined us in Queenstown, so for the other days I had Tod to go with, who is a very decent snowboarder.
Aiden and Lucas are both becoming good skiers, but especially Lucas is getting really good to the point where I can bring him onto black runs.
Although Kim is still very much a beginner she still did two days of skiing sticking to the beginner slope where there is a 'magic carpet' lift. I did see some improvement to last year, but she is still too scared to go on the proper lifts.
I bought my own ski boots last year and brought them along (my feet are not compatible with rental ski boots).
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
The west coast of New Zealand is really beautiful.
It is not very populated and there are not a lot of tourists either as it is hard to get to.
We did a lot of walks in the area both around beautiful lakes and also at the beach outside Fox Glacier and Franz Josef villages.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
Driving back towards Queenstown we had to go through Wanaka. Boy, has it changed! It used to be a small place with maybe fifty houses, but now it is a proper town with lots of cars and traffic.
It is very scenic approaching Lake Wanaka, and the lake itself has this tree growing in the water that photographers from all around the world come here to take photos of.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
A place that I have always found really magical is driving through the Lindis Pass.
Kim doesn't think much of it, but since I visited it the first time, I've alwas found the rolling hills and the colours absolutely stunning.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
Kims highlight on the trip was to go up on a real glacier.
She had booked a helicopter tour that would take up up on a section of the glacier between the two major ice falls.
This is a section of the glacier that Andy and I dreaded having to walk through 20 years ago when we were climbing higher up on the glacier. Mind you, back then there was probably another 100 metres of ice on top of where we landed on this day.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
Driving from Christchurch toward the west coast we passed the Castle Hills boulders.
This is a phenomenal place to go climbing if you are a good boulderer. It is also quite scenic to just go for a walk.
We saw lots of people with their bouldering mats (a soft mat to land on when you are climbing).
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
At Mount Cook we did a long 10km walk to the start of the Hooker glacier.
It is a beautiful walk where you walk past the Tasman Glacier and Muller Glacier before you eventually come to the Hooker Glacier lake.
The lake was frozen with an iceberg floating around in it.
Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal
ass="AdnTopRight" style="float:right"> It has been raining almost constantly for the past two weeks (since
the dust storm really) and Andy and I had organised to go climbing in
the Blue Mountains together with a friends of his (Dan) who's never
been on on real rock before.
We looked a the forecast and it
didn't look promising for the mountains so the night before we decided
to go to plan B and go to Barrenjoey instead.
The quality of the climbing is more limited, but at least it is a shorter drive and walk-in in case you have to bail.
We arrived up at Palm Beach in the morning and the roads were still soaked in water from all the rain the night before. We therefore decided to stop at a cafe and have some breakfast and let the cliffs dry out a bit before walking in there.
While eating breakfast we were having a look at the latest radar pictures and we could see that it was pouring down in the mountains and we could see rain approaching the Sydney area.
After breakfast we were trying to decide whether we should bail or go climbing. After much procrastination we decided to climb and went to the carpark. Andy pulled out the insect repellent and started rubbing it into his genitals (or so it looked) saying that it would keep the chicks away (which I'm sure his wife appreciates)...or was it ticks.
For Dans benefit we started out on one of the easiest climbs around there called Jezebel. Andy did the first lead and as he finished we could feel the first rain drops. I then did the second climb and once I reached the top the rain became heavier. The plan was to have Dan follow me up so that he could try an absail from the top. Once he reached the top it really started pouring and all of us became drenched while setting up the absail and clearing the gear.
Dan made it down in good style (although nervous) and once I'd made it to the ground as well we quickly packed our gear and headed back home for a nice warm shower.
Mostly a non-climbing day really...but Andy did get his sugar-hit with the pancakes.
12. October 2009 11:37
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
Saturday evening Kim and I went with a couple of friends to the Capitol Theatre to see the Broadway play called Wicked.
The play is about how the Wicked witch became wicked in 'The Wizard of Oz'.
The play very cleverly provides the background for the Wizard of Oz.
This was Kims birthday present to me earlier in the year...satisfied the criteria for presents: Must be an experience or a consumable.
It was a really nice evening and the play was very funny...especially the Wizard of Goodness (a real blonde)
23. September 2009 04:35
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
The last 24 hours has been the most freak weather I've (and anyone else) has experienced in Sydney.
Yesterday we had 30 degrees during the day and in the evening a huge thunderstorm descended upon Sydney with massive rainfalls and very high winds. Kim found that water was dripping through ceiling and my first though was "This ain't good" and rushed up to check if there was a hole in the roof tiles or in the plumbing (if you see one of the previous posts then you'll notice that we've installed Solar hot water and this system is positioned above that same bathroom).
I could clearly see where the water had come in, but it wasn't through any gaps and it seemed that the strong winds had pushed the water backwards and upwards under the tiles...whew...but I'll have another look next time it rains.
Then this morning I woke up and looked out the window and everything was covered in a bright red and yellow haze and it was blowing a gale. I had a look at the forecast and stuck my head outside the window and it turned out that all of NSW was encapsulated in a massive dust storm with fine red dust coming from the Australian outback.
Everything outside is now covered in this fine dust, cars, windows...everything.
One of out friends too the following photo from his balcony:
The area covered by the dust is huge and apparently it may even reach New Zealand.
14. September 2009 12:55
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
This weekend we invited a group of my friends over for BBQ.
The official excuse was for my recovery after my Hernia surgery (which is still causing me some grief some days).
It was a beautiful spring day with 31 degrees in the shade and luckily I had put up a gazebo outside to cover the area and provide a bit of shade.
Most of the day I was attending the BBQ cooking Lamb Cutlets, Fish, Prawns, Vietnamese Sausages and Chicken skewers.
The last batch of chicken skewers I forgot on the BBQ with a very predictable result.
In the evening we had Kim's family over for dinner/BBQ, so a repetition of the afternoon.
6. September 2009 10:44
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
This weekend we went to Sasha's and Mavis's wedding.
Family and friends were invited to attend the ceremony at Greenwich at 10am. The location they had chosen had a stunning view of Sydney Harvour and skyline.
When we arrived neither the groom or the bride were there. Approximately 20 minutes later the bride arrived, but still no groom, so she did another round in the car.
Finally at 10.30 Sasha arrived with his dad after having been stuck in traffic, shortly after Mavis arrived in her beautiful wedding dress and the ceremony could get under way.
It was a beautiful ceremony, beautiful location and beautiful weather.
After the ceremony it was photo time.
The reception was at a restaurant called Occilate Wildly in Newtown. The food was nice and at the end of the afternoon everyone went on their way.
27. August 2009 12:18
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
27. August 2009 10:27
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
The week before we went away on holiday I experienced pain in the pelvic area. I quickly got it diagnosed with ultrasound to be a hernia. Furtunately it could wait until we came back from holiday to be fixed although it was giving me some problems along the way carrying suitcases etc.
As soon as we came back I went to see the specialist and he told he that it would have to be fixed with surgery and that he could schedule it for the following week.
In the morning of the surgery I had to be at the hospital at 6.30am in the morning. Surgery started at 9am and by 11am I was awake again released at 1pm.
So it terms of the surgery it was very smooth...but it was very painful afterwards. I had problems standing up and sitting down.
This photo was taken two days after the surgery:
The cut is 13cm long and at this point I am still very much in pain.
The feedback from the doctor was that this was an Indirect Inaugural hernia and apparently the type that can cause a lot of problems later on if not fixed.
Unfortunately part of hernia surgery is that they have to cut some of the nerves so that they don't get caught in the mesh they use to repair it with.
This means that now two and a half weeks after the surgery there is still a large area around the cut that has got no sensation to touch or pain and some areas are hyper sensitive with the result that even the lightest touch is painful.
I hope the eventually all the sensation returns to normal (apparently in 25% of the cases this doesn't happen). I also hope that the scar won't be too bad and will mostly disappear long term.