Earlier this year we lost Andrew ZL3CC to a sudden and unexpected heart attack. To remember him, we decided to have a day of SOTA activity on the Saturday following his birthday. This year that fell on Saturday the 15th of September. I decided it was high time to tackle Pouakai ZL1/TN-002. I was joined by Kyle ZL2KGF who had done the summit earlier in … Continue reading Pouakai – ZL3CC Memorial
I had a free day to kill so decided I would give Motere a go. While the day was sunny it was still quite cool under the canopy. That said it was still a pleasant day for a walk in the bush. Motere is East of Taumaranui. The track starts accross farmland and then turns into a quad bike track. There are a few stream … Continue reading Motere (motion) ZL1/MW-077
We decided to tackle ZL1/MW-034 which is on the eastern side of the desert road. Not knowing what we would find we brought all our winter gear to keep warm however the day turned out to be a bright clear day. The puddles were ice but there was no snow on the ground. All the way up we were treated to magnificent views of Ruapehu … Continue reading The Desert Road
Te Paki is the highest of the 4 summits at the top of mainland New Zealand. We decided since we were already so far north that we should see Cape Reinga and attempt a summit. The drive from the Bay of Islands is about 2 hours so it is still a fair hike. We eyed up Hiriki ZL1/NL-082 first however the track shown on the … Continue reading Te Paki
While Emma caught up with friends in Kerikeri I thought I would duck out to do a quick activation of St Paul’s Rock ZL1/NL-090. Sadly becuase it was night time there are no photos so the photos here are ones found on the internet. Night time activations are tricky because the bands are totally different than day time conditions. As such 3.7 MHz was where … Continue reading Night time activation of St Paul’s Rock
The weather forecast this weekend looked horrible for New Zealand Auckland south, so we decided to make a weekend of it up North. For the first summit we decided to attempt ZL1/NL-039. This is an unnamed summit on the Eastern end of the Brynderwyn ranges. I worked Soren ZL1SKL from here a few months earlier while on ZL1/AK-005 Tamahunga so I was keen to get … Continue reading Waipu Forrest Summit
Back in Hawkes Bay chasing hills…..The end of the electrical teaching season left us with a free Saturday afternoon to fill and fill it we did. After a bit of door knocking to gain permission to enter private farm land, it was up another summit we ventured. Mount Cameron Summit is shared by two land owners on either side. We had success with the 2nd … Continue reading Mount Cameron
Our second activation on the Monday of Queens Birthday weekend 2018 was Mount Stuart. This is a drive up summit. For this summit the cloud had dissipated and left clear views to the ranges. The air was still very fresh though and there was heavy frost in the shady. The kids enjoyed finding puddle ice and smashing it. Kyle took a wrong … Continue reading Mount Stuart
With the annual NZART conference being in Mosgeil this year, of course it was yet another perfect opportunity to activate a couple of untouched Otago Summits before we jumped on our plane and headed home. The SOTA presentation at conference was well received and hopefully it may encourage some new SOTAteers in the future. Monday morning bright and early to rendezvous with Kyle ZL2KGF and … Continue reading Sandymount
Gisborne’s closest and publicly accessible summit is Town Hill. For my annual training trip to Gisborne I thought I would add this one to my list. The weather looked sketchy but I figured I would risk it. Half way up dark clouds gathered on the horizon. However I still favoured pushing on – what is a little rain anyway right? Fortunately the rain left me … Continue reading Town Hill – Gisborne ZL1/GI-155
ZL-SOTA. Warren (ZL2AJ) and Emma 