A New Camera - Panasonic Lumix TZ90

Unfortunately my Canon G16 was injured when I tripped in Austria, giving me the familiar words of death that I’ve experienced on my previous ‘G’ range of cameras:

It was nearly four years old. I could never get it to talk to our computers, nor would the wifi work, but the camera performed ok. (I don’t regard myself as a photographer.)

I clearly needed a replacement for a forthcoming trip, and an estimated repair cost for insurance purposes. Mike Parsons recommended a company called Wilkinson Cameras, who have a shop in Warrington. So I popped down there on Tuesday, got good service, and bought this new camera, which is pretty much a direct replacement for the Canon, but with a longer lens.

An engineer’s report would be needed for the repair cost of the old camera, but the shop reckoned that could be about £150. For a four year old camera – probably not worth it, but the insurers wanted that information, and my policy gives them the opportunity to apply wear and tear and depreciation costs to any claim. Anyway, I sent all the stuff off to Ageas, who deal with Snowcard Insurance’s claims. We have a £50 excess. The Canon cost £300 four years ago. So I was happy to agree to Ageas’s offer to settle the claim for £250, and the money was sent to my bank on Wednesday. It’s the fourth time I’ve claimed under our annual Snowcard policy, and all the claims have been dealt with in this speedy and effective manner.

You’ll see that I bought a hard case for the new camera. It was a surprise that my old Camera Care soft case didn’t provide sufficient protection for the G16.

Thanks go to Mike for his assistance. There are lots of products out there to choose from, and others will have different requirements from me. I just hope the TZ90 proves as easy to use as the FT4 waterproof camera that I have from Lumix – the images from that aren’t particularly high quality, but it enables me to take pictures on wet days and has accompanied me on a good many TGO Challenge walks.

Made in Mannheim in 1938

Here’s the latest offering from Wuxing Nick, our roving reporter from the EU. Some of the exhaust system may not be original, but this Bulldog had a label that dated it at nearly 80 years old.

It looks to have been looked after a bit better than the much newer relics pictured in the previous posting. Cheer up, AlanR!

Sunday 23 July 2017 – A Walk from the Candle Workshops at Burwardsley

Keith had kindly arranged a walk a little closer to home than this group’s usual territory, so Sue, Susan and I enjoyed a leisurely drive to the Candle Workshops at Burwardsley, from where we were soon marched off towards Beeston Castle.

David and I got a bit left behind. Here’s our view of the group of thirteen people ahead of us, with Beeston Castle somewhat obscured by trees in the background.

If the others are somewhere in that picture, I can’t see them and neither could David. Eventually we met them coming the other way near the castle entrance by this smart house. I think they all thought that we’d gone ahead!

We nearly got some ice creams, but the shop was full, so we pressed on to elevenses on some wet grass.

We walk these paths more often in winter, when they are less overgrown and are more muddy. Here’s Andrew, stalking through the long grass, wishing he’d taken a lower dose of shrinking powder.

Peckforton Castle, a Victorian country house built in the style of a medieval castle (unlike Beeston Castle, which dates from the 1220s) invites people to ‘Come in and see this hidden gem’. Keith’s pace hardly faltered as he rushed us past. Another time, perhaps.

The Sandstone Trail that we were following may have petered out here (below), much to the confusion of those with maps, but once Graham had studied Keith’s scratchings the route was retrieved and progress was furthered. To be honest, I don’t really know what was going on. If you blow this picture up and study the expressions you might conclude that I wasn’t alone….

More fields were encountered as we steadily conquered the gradient up to the Peckforton escarpment. Andrew was now back to normal, having taken an antidote to combat his shrinkage. Sue’s CCS.

We expected to find AlanR rummaging around here in his private playground.

He needs to take more care of his exhibits!

This restored classic whizzed past, being driven by a gas tank with flat arms. Weird!

A nearby relic needed a bit of work, but….

… this one has been fully restored – very shiny…

The lunchtime view, once the toes of a toppled tree had been photoshopped out, was one of expansive views over Cheshire and into Staffordshire.

Lunch was duly consumed on a soily plateau, then the team marched off once again.

“They’re an ugly lot”, observed Richard, “so the silhouette works well.”

Near the ‘Poacher’, a fine hostelry that Keith declined to visit, a large stone obelisk rises like a giant phallic carbuncle.

An elite group, the ‘Famous Five’ plus Susan, split off near here in a bid to get home before darkness fell and Jenny suffered nervous convulsions. We paused briefly to admire the vista towards Liverpool and towards the Clwyd Hills where we’d been three weeks earlier. Unfortunately the image captured by my Lumix FT4 isn’t perfect.

There’s a trig point marking the 227 metre summit of Rawhead. It’s decorated with an item of great historical significance. The audience (including two strange women out of shot) was rapt as Richard expounded on the remarkable events that took place here. Jenny cried, as did the two onlookers.

From that great height we hastened down loosely carpeted paths, back to the candle workshops, where Martin and Andrew were rewarded with ice creams as compensation for having to put up with Richard’s tall stories, and a quick exit was made before Jenny could be trampled by a cow in the dark.

It was a pleasant enough route along the weak and twisted backbone of the Peckforton Hills, much of it on the Sandstone Trail footpath – about 16 km with around 500 metres ascent, taking 5.25 hours. The other nine went a bit further. But they haven’t been seen since, though four of them may soon resurface in Newtonmore, where they could be held over for ‘bagging’ offences.

Thanks Keith, for organising this walk.

Saturday 22 July 2017 – Wythenshawe parkrun number 298, and some Boules

After getting back from Austria on Friday evening, we registered Susan (pictured below under the watchful eye of Oliver Cromwell) for her first parkrun on Saturday morning. There are none in her part of the USA (Connecticut) so she registered at Wythenshawe. And a fine performance she put in as well, taking just 25 minutes 19 seconds for the 5 km, and coming fifth out of ten in her 55-59 age category.

Meanwhile, Sue managed another PB, 26 minutes 26 seconds, and came ahead of Ron and first out of ten in her 50-54 age category. Strange – women must get faster as they get older…

It was good to see JJ along for his second parkrun, and another PB in the good conditions.

Cary also managed a PB, but was disqualified for only completing 10% of the route! “My knees hurt!” he wimped…

[Sadly I was over two minutes adrift of my PB.]

Full results are here.

The day flew past, but at 6 o’clock we found ourselves playing boules with the Adlington Quizzers (aka The San Marinos) at the Black Horse in Croston. Thanks go to John and Bev for organising an excellent evening with the boules, followed by a nice pie and chips. Sadly the picture below is the only one I took, picturing Susan, Sue, Robert and Louise, whilst John, Lyn, Stuart, Bev and I looked on. Good fun, and narrowly avoiding some rain.

Farewell to the Austrian Alps

Friday 21 July 2017

An 'easy' journey home. Usual 7 am breakfast. It would be good to maintain that habit.

8.06 bus to Kitzbühel. I had the receipt for €56 for four passengers on that very bus. But the receipt was not a ticket. "Schisse internet" expleted the driver, who reluctantly let us on.

It was a lovely sunny morning, but not a good driver, for whom the cloud that engulfed Mittersill was more appropriate. We'd dropped into the cloud inversion, but by the time we reached Kitzbühel at 9.20 it was sunny and hot again, for the rest of the day.

After coffee etc and lunch provisions in Baguette, outside which a classic car drew up, we caught the 10.35 to Wörgl where we swapped platforms for the train to Munich Ost, where we should change for the airport.

The train duly paused at Munich Ost, but a lack of urgency on the part of my laid back companions led to the doors shutting just as we were about to disembark.
"Don't panic, Mr Mainwaring"....

Thus we spent the next hour travelling there and back from Munich Central rather than in a café outside Munich Ost.

Never mind, having got to the airport - a vast and somewhat confusing place, I had to wait for an hour before I could drop the hold bag, with all its dangerous contents, off at the easyJet bag drop.

After quite a long queue for passport control, and a search for explosives, we got to the gate in plenty of time. This part of the journey went perfectly smoothly and Penny kindly picked us all up from the airport.

A most enjoyable trip.

Home by 7.30.

Austria - Day 12

Thursday 20 July 2017 - Sankt Poltener Hut to Matreier Tauern Haus (1512 metres)

8.5 km
200 metres ascent
3.5 hours
16000 steps

Marie served us the usual breakfast for a hut that doesn't have a goods lift - bread, sliced meat, cheese, jam, etc plus as much tea and coffee as you like, and even some specially made hot chocolate for Cary.

Then a delay until 8 o'clock when they could check that Markus had actually paid a deposit when he booked on our behalf.

A sunny walk from the start. We climbed to a small summit, Weinbicht (2545 metres), then gradually descended after a contouring section featuring the final snow patch of the trip.

Saxifrage and mouse-ear were growing amongst the rocks. There were lots of large, curious sheep, and fine views across the valley to Gross Venediger.

The path passed three picturesque lakes, Grauer See, Schwarzer See and Gruner See, with tumbling cascades in between them and reflected mountains within them.

We loitered for some time on a bench beside the lower lake, enjoying the mountain scenery from a little below 2000 metres for the first time for many days.

Several groups were ascending. Perhaps Sankt Poltener Hut would do some lunchtime business.

The path wove its way down the valley, with a little bogginess as we passed through cow pastures. Then it threaded in and out of pines, emerging at a car park from where a short stroll brought us to the hamlet of Tauer, where sadly our twelve day trek drew to a conclusion.

We arrived before midday, so had plenty of time to enjoy a lavish lunch before catching the 13.10 bus to Matrei.

The Matreier Taurnhaus came up trumps. Sue and I enjoyed a superb salad of goats cheese, red onion, lettuce, cauliflower, carrot and button mushrooms with a large crouton,  whilst chickens wandered beneath the tables.

The bus delivered us to the door of Hotel Hinteregger, where a cup of tea was enjoyed before a little bit of washing to make us acceptable for the journey home.

Outside, a violent thunderstorm obscured the mountains. We have been very lucky!

A lazy afternoon was followed by a sociable evening with the Collett's staff and clients who are based here, in particular it as good to catch up properly with Graham and Mary, who we hope to see here next year. It's a great location.

Austria - Day 11

Wednesday 19 July 2017 - Neue Prager Hütte to Sankt Poltener Hut (2481 metres)

15 km
700 metres ascent
8.25 hours
30000 steps

It was a busy morning for breakfast at the Neue Prager Hut. Not our favourite hut of the trip, but I suppose the remote situation of the hut and the nature of their clientele (mainly climbers, often novices, going up Gross Venediger) dictates a fairly rigid and impersonal regime. Quite a contrast to Badener Hut.

Armed with well provisioned packed lunches, we set off with a number of others at around 8.15 after Cary had suffered an unsatisfactory phone call with his bank.

It was unexpectedly spitting with rain. In fact the morning was mostly cool and cloudy, though at one point the sun shone brightly enough for lots of sun cream to be applied.

There were wired sections that dictated a slow pace on a day on which after leaving the main path at Alte Prager hut we only saw four people all day - on the river bed above Venediger Haus - presumably hunting for minerals. A brutal 300 metre ascent up a wide stream bed followed this near encounter.

A couple of tricky snow slopes presented themselves. Justification for bringing axes and crampons, although Sue was the only one of us who took full advantage, using her Yaktrax to cross a steep slope that the rest of us found a way around.

Lunch was taken out of the cool breeze at a path junction leading to Innergschloss.

The  weather then turned - into a glorious sunny afternoon. The shiny noses of curious sheep and cows were adored by Sue. The path contoured with gentle undulations on a superb belvedere route over mixed ground. From grassy corries to rough boulderfields, care needed at times; Cary fell off the path at one point. Ouch!

There weren't quite as many varieties of flowers on today's route, but spring gentians were fairly dominant. Lots of marmots were seen, as well as a pair of Bartgeier eagles, whose massive wingspans floated above us for a while.

Eventually we passed under some incongruous power pylons and found ourselves confronted by today's destination.

Tea and apfelstrudel were enjoyed on the sunny verandah whilst we waited for Cary, who was solving his banking problems lower down the path with the last vestiges of his phone signal.

We are the only visitors tonight and are almost outnumbered by the staff at this 'off the main drag' place. We have the luxury of two separate rooms, so nobody is resigned to a top bunk, and Cary is sharing with me.

There are no showers but the washroom does have warm water.

Best soup of the trip - many different vegetables - then bauerngerösta mit spiegelei (fried potato and bacon bits with an egg on top), followed by peaches cake. Excellent.

Austria - Day 10

Tuesday 18 July 2017 - Badener Hut to Neue Prager Hütte (2796 metres)

11 km
1000 metres ascent
6.25 hours
20000 steps

For those who went up Innerer Knorrkogl, add 0.75 km and 100 metres ascent. The 30 minutes taken is included in the 6.25 hour timing above.

Verena and Marco provided a more basic breakfast than usual, as much tea, coffee, bread, ham, cheese and a selection of jams as you want, with - for a small charge - a self made sandwich for lunch.

It was a perfect blue sky morning, suitable for t-shirt and shorts but not too hot up at 2600 metres.

We set off at our usual time of 8 am, waved off with a present of soap from Verena and Marco (who are pictured with us outside the hut) and took an hour and a half to amble 3 km to the only col of the day, Lobbentorl (2770 metres), adorned with war and other memorials and a large crucifix.

En route were some formidable banks of flowers, including one of the biggest stands of edelweiss we've ever seen. That was after big banks of sticky primroses and banks of leopardsbane. The views into the green valley that descends to Gruben were lovely, with just the occasional distraction of some short and easy wired sections where the path encountered a steep drop.

Sue and Susan toddled off to climb Innerer Knorrkogl, a summit a hundred metres higher than the col. Meanwhile Cary and I admired splendid views across the Schlatenkees glacier to our objective for the day, Neue Prager Hütte, perched in the distance on a rocky outcrop.

From the green of the view to the south we now moved down towards the glacier and the brown and grey rockfields and debris that accompany it. It was easy going through the rockfield to reach a good path along the lateral moraine. Sue and Susan debated a shortcut across the glacier that's described in Allan Hartley's Cicerone guide. They eventually decided against it, and we now think the route is no longer safely possible due to the receding glacier.

A group of six Brits was encountered. They were heading to Badener Hütte. We are currently sitting exactly where they were last night in Neue Prager Hut. But this is being sent Much Later due to technical problems.

Quite a number of people were seen today, as we're in an area from which people ascend the Venediger summits.

After a 400 metre ascent, from the valley bottom, we paused at the Alte Prager Hut, a derelict building on which some sort of renovation work is taking place. A pause to enjoy a bird's eye view of the glacier was obligatory.

A gentle rocky path then led up the final 300 metres in 35 minutes to our home for the night, reached at 2.15.

The hut is less rustic and more impersonal than last night's abode, but quite acceptable nonetheless. We enjoyed tea and apfelstrudel before installing ourselves in room 7.

Dinner was good, and yahtse followed like a bad penny.