A rare skate near home!

A good frost this morning had me up and checking the closest skating spot to home - just 20km away. A good sized pond in a shadow of a hill.  Fabulous ice about 7cm thick.  Great skate!

 

Just enough....

Dave and I headed to Poolburn this morning to see if the freeze had iced up the lake.  About 30mm of new ice over some of the lake.  We had a look around and managed to get a scratchy skate in the corner of the main bay and a better skate and the end of the far bay. Black ice, hard and smooth but talking all the time so we didn't go too far.  Great fun skate.  Good to catch up with Inge as well - on a fabulous blue sky winter day.

Snow ice!

After the storm I decided to take the bike and have a look around Naseby as the temps have been quite low.   After a bit of excellent  forest riding in the snow I had a skate in two places on snow ice.  Ice was good considering the weather but not very strong. Not my favourite ice but great to skate again.

Meet up

A good frost in Central this morning got me up early and to Poolburn again.  Ice had changed a bit since Sunday - a lot more water with an edge melt.  Had to go around the main bay to get on.  Once on the ice it was good out to the main island, the dam and the far bay.    Great to meet up and skate with Clive and his crew from Canterbury.  Good fun and good company.   Went home via the other side of Ida Valley and had a skate in a new pond.  Couldn't  resist a short skate on Idaburn as I passed through.

One more for Poolburn

Decided to give Poolburn one more try early this morning and was surprised to find the ice had settled in since last Friday.  Not a heavy frost but enough to set the ice and lock it in around the main bay and further out.  Plenty of water showing around the back of the island but good ice if you were careful.   Great to meet and skate with Inge again - although missed her dog Stone galloping around.  We had a great skate around the island, down to the far bay and the dam.  Too much water to go anywhere near the long arm.  Fab skating on hard ice.  Used the long skates for quite a bit which was fun.  Warm weather coming so not expecting the ice to last.   Track rough but mostly dry.

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Big Skate

Up early to Poolburn this morning to meet Inge and make a most of the ice.   Bit of frost overnight has set the ice up well.  We had a good long skate out and around the main island and around to the dam.  I particularly enjoyed watching the colours change as the sun came up.  Had a quick skate on Idaburn main bay on the way home.  Ice was pretty good there despite being later in the day.

Fog and Sunshine...

Up early this morning to skate at the Lower Manorburn.  Foggy weather and around zero degrees left the ice a bit weak.  Surface was hard but bumpy - good skating with the long skates.  Found a bit of weak ice and managed to get a bit wet!  Decided to check out Poolburn before heading off.  Surprised to find sunshine and good ice in the main bay - though I was a bit late and it did start to creak (in the sun).  Skated around the small island and out to the big island. Great skating on crazy pave ice.   Not sure what will happen but if there is a good frost tomorrow it may be skate able again.  Light wind and warmer when I left.  Track is a bit rough.

Don't forget these....

Coal Pit

Quick trip up to Coalpit Dam today for an early morning skate.  Most of the dam was good but you needed to choose where to get on as some edges were thinner.  Fabulous skating on mostly black ice.  Headed home via a pond(s) area at Danseys and skated on ice that was like glass. Fab.  Wind was up  and warmer temps when I left.

Smooth ice...

Checked out Poolburn early this morning.  Was disappointingly thin but had a quick edge skate before heading over to the Lower Manorburn.    Had a fabulous smooth skate over most of the middle basin before people arrived. Good to see others making to most of the ice and great to catch up and chat with Inge.  On the way home I checked out the old Dansys Rink area and had a skate on amazingly clear hard ice. There were two ponds to skate on - one with clear ice and the other cloudy brown water but a fab smooth skate.  Would have been even better first thing this morning but nice to have skated somewhere new.

Black ice.....

Decided to check Poolburn this morning.  Most of the lake has ice but it looked like it had all come at once overnight.  Hard and strong but too thin to skate.  I had a couple of scratchy edge skates then walked to a far bay over the other side of the dam.  Found thicker black ice and had a good skate within the bay only.  Then went via Idaburn to check out Grey Lake - the only place I knew was in shadow apart from Rush Cutters.  Idaburn had fresh ice (some water showing) that may have been skate able early morning but I was too late.   I rode into Grey Lake and found black ice and was treated to a fabulous skate.  Hard to leave....   Finished the day with a smooth skate out from Rush Cutters.

Skating at its best..

Up early to Hooker Lake again today to another great ice day.  Smooth ice over most of the lake and plenty to see and skate around.   Skated with Alan and Fred close to the glacier face. Spectacular.  On the way back to Central I check the Lower Manorburn and had a quick skate in Rush Cutters Corner.  Ice should last with a bit of frost.

Hooked in...

Finally managed to get away to the ice today.  Headed to Hooker to meet Dave and Alan.  Fantastic skate.  Most of Hooker Lake is covered in smooth ice with plenty of features to explore including a couple of ponds on an old iceberg..   Just the best and worth the long walk in.  Go if you can...

Snow ice

 While in Queenstown today I checked out Rum Gully again.  Snow ice down the shady side and over most of the pond.  Had a good skate on hard (but bumpy) ice.   Checked out some other spots on the way back but not enough ice yet.....

Another short one...

Still no ice around but had a bit of a skate again at Rum Gully today. Ice was less than last week and weakening at the edge as I was later in the day (warmer).  Good to get the skates on though.

Pondering....

Still unsettled weather but managed to get a skate today on a couple of small ponds in the hills.  Ice was a bit creaky but held up ok. Good fun.  There was a bit of ice around on the usual skating spots but not thick enough to skate.  Will need a few frosts.