November 28, - Mt. Somers

We woke to hot and windy weather. I checked my DEET-soaked bag for signs of improvement but instead it was sort of melting. I wish I had faith in the gay hippy all natural repellent. I went to the proprietors and asked if I could dump the thing in their trash bin, and told them the story of the chair. They told me that all motel owners usually have insurance for accidental damages such as these, and I shouldn't have to pay any more than their excess (deductible) which was usually between $250 and $500. That was a relief.

I had just picked up my phone to put it in my pocket when it rang. It was the chair lady. She told me that she had contacted an upholteress just outside of Westport who had material almost identical to that destroyed, and she could put a dye wipe on it to make it match. Then she told me the price! I was stunned. She was very apologetic and assured me that she was telling the truth and wasn't trying to screw me. I said ok and agreed to pay the $45. Unbelievable. We've paid more for breakfast than that.

Speaking of breakfast, prices here have increased dramatically since our last visit. For example, gasoline here is $6.30 USD/gal. Diesel is much cheaper...$4 something, but then they screw you with a per-mile diesel road use tax that brings it up to about even. On our last trip our eating out to eating in ratio was about 75/25. This trip it has just about reversed. The exchange rate seems to hover around .80, and doing a bit of calculating I come to a figure of $36.50 NZD is about equivalent to what we pay for breakfast at home, considering we pay about 9% sales tax (which is already included in prices here) and pile on a 15% tip (no tipping here). Anyways, I digress.

As I mentioned before, it was HOT out. Fortunately it was also windy. The owner of the motel told us that the weather was supposed to shift to the south and it would cloud up and rain. Darn.

Cynthia had chosen a nice little hike up Mt. Somers. I asked the owner about the place and he said "It's nice...just be down before the sun is."

We are continually being cautioned about the changeable weather here. Especially this time of year, and especially in the mountains where it can snow any day of the year. Because of this, even though it's 85 degrees we pack a fleece and rain gear on every hike.

The Mt. Somers track is a loop. We get to the trailhead car park and as per usual we decide to hike the loop backwards from what is typical. After ascending 975 feet in 6/10 of one mile I am starting to figure out why people would prefer to come down this way instead of up. And as an extra added bonus the wind quit blowing.

Our destination. Will we make it? Details at 11.

Getting closer...

The Canterbury Plains


Why I'm being dragged out here

At this point we stop anywhere we feel the slightest puff of a breeze.

...and closer...

Up here the wind was blowing nicely. It swung around 180 degrees in about 15 minutes.




closer still...will we make it?


I think not. Dark clouds looming to the south

Can I die now...please?

The sky from my vantage point

After we made it down we had a little lunch and it was fleece time real quick. All told, we gained 1775 feet in elevation in 1.56 miles. It took us 2.75 hours to get up here and about 1.25 hours to get down.

By the time we finished lunch it was starting to rain. By the time we got back to town it was pouring.