Last few things

Sorry - another diary blip!

We have a few unrelated things to sort out this coming week so the packing for our trip to New Zealand needs to be mostly done by tomorrow. So - with the changes of plan Gill and I have been re-thinking where we want to go and are likely to see more of the mountains and natural features than we would have if our friends had not had to cancel.  We do really feel for them, but given that it is too late to change flights we may as well make sure we get the most out of the trip.  I can't see there being any overnights in huts but a few longer days in the hills might be on, hence the compass. 

We were given the guide book by our daughter when we were in New Zealand a few years back and found it was a great pointer to those out of the way places less popular but definitely worth seeing.  This bracelet is my emergency contact info - as an ex mountain rescuer I am definitely in the camp of failing to plan is planning to fail.

For the first time in many years I have had to look up magnetic declination ...
Latitude: 39° 0' 55.6" S
Longitude: 175° 43' 44.3" E
Magnetic Declination: +21° 16'
Declination is POSITIVE (EAST)

We're going to be in New Zealand over the time of the rugby world cup semis and final ...  think I'll pack my All Blacks shirt - and possibly buy a Japan one too :-)  Japan were outstanding today against Scotland - I know they had home advantage but Scotland were not at all bad - Japan were just better - possibly the game of the tournament.