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.
