Up early this morning to meet Inge and Dave at Poolburn. Good frost up at the waters edge and ice more solid than yesterday. Ice locked in, hard and bumpy, but good skating. Dave and I skated around to the back of the main island but the ice thinned out and we couldn't make a complete circuit. Great to skate with Dave and Inge and explore. (Dave stayed on to overnight and have a night skate)
Great day...
After watching the temps and webcams for the last couple of days I decided to check Poolburn today to see if the ice has survived the snow and warm temps. There was still some snow around Oturehua and -4 as I passed through. I was hopeful as I headed to the Poolburn road but surprised the find the track was thawed and muddy most of the way to the top. At the very top I was back into snow again and arrived at the water edge to see our truck marks from last week. Some of the ice had survived and had been snowed on then thawed bit and refrozen leaving the strongest ice this season. Bumpy but hard so put on the nordic skates and went for an explore. I made it down both sides of the main island but not around the back. The water being very low left lots of rocks and mini islands the skate around. Great fun exploring then finished off with the hockey skates around the smoother edges. Messy gnarly track on the way out. Dropped in for a quick skate at Oturehua Domain. Fab day and to still find skate able ice......
If you go take care as the ice varies with some water showing in some places.
Dave and I headed to Poolburn today to see if any ice had survived the stormy weather. We were surprised to find snow all over the Ida valley with temps around -6. Looked amazing. I wasn't that confident we would be able to reach the dam but the road was passable due to farmers having pushed a track through. Poolburn looked fabulous surrounded in snow. All the previous ice had gone. New ice had formed over the last 2 days and managed a crackly skate at the edge of the main bay before moving over to the little bay where the skating was great. Only 30-40mm of black ice but held ok. Rest of the lake was too thin with water showing in a lot of places. Heading back we stopped at Oturehua for a skate at the domain. Great day out exploring.
After an ok frost this morning I went up to Poolburn today to see if any ice had survived from my last visit. Quite a bit of water compared to last week but there was evidence the ice had thickened before melting again around the edges. I had a great skate across the main bay but was careful to keep away from the weak and open areas. Well worth the visit.
Also had a skate at Dansey's on the way home.
Coalpit and Ida had some ice but were a few frosts away from anything skateable.
Back up to Poolburn today before heading home. Arrived to clear sky and a reasonable frost. Headed over to the far bay first to see if the ice had improved. Ice was thicker than yesterday and was able to safely skate quite a way out. Then moved to the main bay and was treated to a great skate. Clear black ice! Ice still varied a bit and had to take care. Another frost or two would really set it up.
On the way back I stopped in for a skate in the domain pond in Oturehua - just because I could....
Bit of a wait this year for the cold weather. Set off yesterday for a look around the skating spots. Managed to get the skates on a very small pool by a creek but nothing much else. Today was better. Visit to Poolburn and more ice than yesterday and had a great first skate at the shaded edge of the main bay. Ice was clear, hard and almost thick enough but held my weight ok. Had a look in a few other places and had a wee skate at the edge behind the dam. (Needs a few more frosts)
Water level is very low this year and making the resevoir edges look quite different. Track is rough but mainly dry with a big water hole at the top.
