Ice still there...

After watching  the weather over the week Dave and I decided to check Poolburn to see if any ice had survived the warm weather and wind.  The drive there was relatively mild temperature wise so we were surprised to find skateable ice.  The ice from last Sunday had been snowed on then the snow thawed.  We ended up with about 8cm of ice near the shore thinning out further out.  Some of it bumpy because of the snow but great skating.  There was open water near rocks so we were limited to most of the main bay and around to the dam.  Great skate although on the way back from the dam a strong headwind came which started an instant thaw and cracks appeared around us as we skated.  Once we made the lee shore the ice was less affected.  Coalpit Dam had skateable snow ice.  Good day all round.

Blue sky day

Up early this morning to meet Inge at Poolburn.  Beautiful clear morning after emerging from the fog in the Ida Valley. -8 when we arrived.  Fab to be at Poolburn amongst its winter glory. We were treated to great ice but kept ourselves to the main bay.  Fun skating around the small island and on good ice way from the shore.  Had a quick chat with two people (non skaters) who had camped in a roof top tent overnight among the rocks.  Bit too cold for me!  Ice might get a rough time over the next day or so as strong wind is expected with a rise in temps.  Good solid snow ice on Idaburn as I went past.

After the storm

Up to Poolburn this morning to see if any ice had survived the stormy weather.  Interesting drive - I haven't seen so much snow around for a while.  New snow on the top of the track, low cloud and fog but passable.  The last of the previous ice has been piled up in the bay by the wind.  New ice was borderline for a skate. Cracked most of the time with some tram tracking.  After careful testing I had a good skate around the edge of the bay.  Too thin to venture out.  Idaburn had solid snow ice - couldn't resist a quick skate.  Coalpit also had solid snow ice.

On reflection...

I met Inge at Poolburn this morning to get one more skate before the weather changed.  Was treated to a fabulous sunrise on the way up.  Much warmer than the previous days and the light breeze had already made the ice wet making it smooth and hard.  We headed off around the main island to the far bay. The water level was so low that nothing looked familiar with new rock islands everywhere.  Heading back we used GPS to navigate back to the passage around the island.  Great skating with reflective views all around.

 

Clear sky - great ice

Up early this morning to meet Inge at Poolburn.  The ice had set in since Monday and we were treated to great skating.  We skated to the dam and around the back of the big island.  We had to turn back when the ice thinned out.  About 80mm in the main bay thinning out further away.  We were both surprised at the low water level and the height of the dam above the ice.  Hard to leave.   On the way back I had a skate at Idaburn but the ice was going off in the sun and the ice spiders were out!   Stopped in at Coalpit and found good ice.  Was able to skate over the whole dam.  What a treat!

Best is black

Warm temps today around Central this morning made it an optimistic call to look for ice.   Decided to check out Coalpit as it had the most promise on Saturday.  The ice was hard and dry but not quite thick enough so decided to head to Poolburn to have a look.  Despite being above zero there was still a bit of snow on the way up - a good sign.  Walked down to the the lake edge and was pleased to be able to skate on black ice - my favourite skating ice.  Was able to skate over a satisfying area but didn't venture too far as the ice varied and was creaky in a few places.  Fab skate.   Hopefully we will get a few more frosts....

Long wait....

It has been a long wait for cooler weather this year. Usually we head out early June to look for any sign of ice but this year it is the end of June.   After a cooler week with a bit of a southerly storm there was a hard frost in Central Otago so I decided to go for a look.  A bit of snow around the Ida Valley and -9 as I headed up to have a look at Poolburn.  Plenty of snow on the track but passable.  New thin ice over most of the lake but too thin to skate - still water in a few spots.  I managed to have a scratchy skate on wind stacked ice in a small corner of the bay. Used the Nordic skates first then the hockey skates.  Bit bumpy but great to be on ice again and had fun.  Water level is very low.  A couple of frosts could bring skate able ice.  Checked Idaburn and Coalpit. Both had ice that needed a few more frosts to give a skate.

Good to be out on a sunny winters day.