Chinara’s
Tuesday, February 5: Sunny with a few clouds and very windy
GPS Tour
Estuary, Le Roys Bush
Chinara had gotten into her mind to buy a Canon 450D for $100 and wanted to pick me up around lunchtime and see if the camera was performing OK so I had pretty much a free morning. Spotted a monarch braving the winds and got the camera running and succeeded in taking a few shots. As I was getting hungry I made avail of one of the apples.
Chinara eventually arrived after a delay at work and we were soon in the pawn shop. Camera was very clunky and cumbersome to operate but eventually I got it to work. Seemed like some good dynamic range values as a first impression, but was very puzzled by what appeared to be a double price tag. Chinara had attached herself to the $100 one, but there was also a $399 price tag on it, and in my still jetlagged mind I could make no sense of it. If the camera were on sale for $100 then that would be a genuine bargain. But then the bubble burst. The $100 was for the lens and the $399 was for the camera. End of story. Chinara returned to work and I to my preparations.
I wanted to get some walking done & needed sunscreen at least for today so being dropped by Chinara searched through a couple of chemists to find a combination of sunscreen and insect repellent for the cheapest. Settled on the pharmacy at Countdown as they had the 30+ sunscreen from the Cancer Society and the pharmacist advising using DEET as the repellent was valid advice.
Went into the supermarket and bought $2 worth of ham for a couple of sandwiches for today and tomorrow’s hike. Had a couple of slices on wholemeal toasted bread and then started preparing for an afternoon stroll. No equipment ready to hand, took tons of time searching, really unmitigated near disaster. Finally had most things together & took off, having forgotten something which had to be recovered.
The rest of the afternoon – apart from actually finding the Le Roy Bushwalk – went off pretty much as envisaged. Bought a $5.3 fish’n’chips from a Chinese place, which apparently couldn’t be served at the place (although they had tables and chairs standing around) but was delivered in fresh newsprint for takeaway, which I unpacked here. Was very filling. Chinara arrived much later, and a friend, Tatjana, who popped in through the deck sliding door surprised the two of us.
GPS Tour: Le Roy Bushwalk
Some brackets and the GPS to be processed. And find a ride for tomorrow’s hike. Two further near disasters. First, raw processing by PPP is totally up the creek. As a side salad, there is something wrong with the filter attachment (quite probably the filter is not firmly on the lens cylinder, or the UV filter is causing vignetting). Second finding a lift. Corinne had chosen her fellow travellers and left all in the dark until the last minute. Then tried SMS via Skype to two gents who were still offering rides. Had told Rayna that I might abandon the hike in favour of joining her for some Waitangi Day celebs, but a confirmation came through at the last minute.
Long day, still some jet lag. Off to tomorrow!
