A Touch of Winter

Monday 12th & Tuesday 13th March 2007

Mon-12-Mar

The recent forecasts and my observations predicting bad weather 'just over the horizon' and heading our way are proving correct. Today, Mon-12-Mar, the temperature dropped by around 10ºC to the mid teens Celsius.

Nevertheless, I am in the Mount Cook area specifically to revisit the BIG surrounding mountain ranges; so for the first time since Thursday-18-Jan (when we were way down in the very far south of South Island) I decide to zip the quilted liners into my riding jacket and trousers before starting the 50 km (31 miles) westward from Tekapo to The Mount Cook Visitors' Centre, which is located at the southern end of neighbouring Lake Pukaki.

When I arrive at my destination, just 40 minutes later, the cloud cover is spoiling my photo opportunity .. :o( ...

Unlike last year at the same spot .. :o)

So I move closer to Mt Cook via the right-hand, and much less used, eastern bank ...

.. and yet further north up the eastern bank along the deserted gravel track. But it's still hopeless .. :o(

So I head back south to around the mid-point of Lake Pukaki, where I turn left and return to Tekapo by crossing over the lonely, unsealed, windy and cold, Braemar Road, which runs along the southern slopes of Mount Cox.


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Tue-13-Mar

I still regularly chat to John [Jones] through the media of video Skype calls, landlines and our cell phones. In view of the inclement weather, Johnny invites me to hold-up at his-and-Pip's place for a couple of days, before I head southwest again towards Queenstown and the Fiordland region.

The time is 10:00am and it's back west and south for 90 km (56 miles) in a bitterly cold and rainy SW wind sweeping up from Antarctica, via the Mt Cook Visitors’ Centre where I take another picture during a brief break in the rainfall, before arriving at the Jones' household by around midday.

It's good to see John and Pip again; almost like arriving 'home'

The current (as at Wed-14-Mar) South Pacific regional pressure chart. Notice the tightly-packed cyclonic isobars sweeping freezing cold conditions up from Antarctica

But there is a fair weather 'window' predicted for this Friday, 16th March. This is an important factor in my plans for the imminent future - (to be explained later .. :o)