Ryan Hellyer

Tag: dam

  • Benmore dam

    I stopped off at Benmore hydro dam enroute to visiting Melissa in Oamaru.

    Benmore dam

  • Conroys dam

    During a skating expedition in July 2011, we stopped in at Conroy’s dam near Alexandra. There was no ice to be seen, but the lake was a beautiful crystal clear mirror.

    Dave Patchett gazing out onto the lake. I wonder what he was thinking about?

  • Poolburn dam face

    Some photos from the face of the Poolburn dam. The ice was very thick right beside the dam face due to the shadow it cast.

  • Green ice?

    Apparently the correct term for ice which looks like glass, is “green ice”.

    Whilst skating over some incredibly smooth “green ice”, Dave Young decided to poke a hole in it to see how good the visibility was. It then dawned on me that he could attach my ATC2k camera to the end of the pole and record upwards through the ice, so I pulled it out, handed it over, and the video below was the result!

    Dave Young poking a hole through the ice with his pole
    Alan Knowles standing on perfect ‘green ice’
    Dave Young standing on some super clear ‘green ice’
    Rocks as seen through the ice

  • Idaburn

    After many, many years of trying, I finally got the chance to skate on the Idaburn dam. Ice quality was average, but very thick at least. Kinda weird skating beside a main highway and underneath giant powerlines. I’m not sure why so many people rave about this place at seemed kinda crappy to skate at. Lower Manorburn, Poolburn and pretty much anywhere else I can think of are better IMO.

    Alan Knowles and Dave Young on Idaburn dam
    The power lines hanging over the Idaburn dam dropped annoying amounts of frost onto the ice.

  • Me on Poolburn reservoir

    Some photos of me on Poolburn reservoir. Thanks to Dave Patchett for the camera work 🙂

    Me (Ryan Hellyer) and Alan Knowles

    Dave Young, Alan Knowles and me (Ryan Hellyer)

  • Keas invade Poolburn

    The Killer Keas hockey team took to the ice at Poolburn reservoir to brush up their skating skills before heading north to Lake Tekapo. Skating conditions were a little average due to the snow, but there was no shortage of ice (up to 15 cm thick in some parts) and lots of fun to be had enjoying the scenery.

    The Killer Keas squad heading towards the face of Poolburn dam. Download high resolution version.
    Lunch break
    Dave Patchett measuring the depth of the water on Poolburn reservoir
    Ed and Pip
    The two Daves, David Patchett and David Richards
    Killer Keas goal tender Peter Wallis
    Panorama showing how massive Poolburn reservoir really is. Download high resolution version.
    Ben Wallis

  • Manorburn dam

    View of the water fall at the lower basin of the Manorburn dam
    Dave Young drilling down to 6 cm at the beginning of the channel between the middle and lower basins at the Manorburn dam
    From left: Dave Young, Dave Patchett and Alan Knowles on the middle basin of the Manorburn dam
    Dave Patchett playing hockey on the middle basin of the Manorburn dam
    Dave Patchett posing with his home-made ice poking device
    View of the middle basin of the Manorburn dam showing the moon still shining in the top right hand corner.
    View of the middle basin of the Manorburn dam from upper channel.

  • Skating Poolburn

    Thanks to Dave Young, Alan Knowles and Dave Patchett for taking me along on their ice skating trip to Central Otago. We had beautiful ice, up to 10 cm thick, at Poolburn Dam. We circumnavigated the entire lake (~20 km), most of which was beautifully smooth near-black ice. There are a lot more photos to come, but here’s a few quick snapshots from the weekends activities until I find the time to process the rest of them.

    Here you can see the "crazy squares" effect in the ice. The rocks you can see in the background are common throughout the lake and make for a terrific view across the huge expanse of ice.
    There were a lot of Canadian Geese in the area. Their droppings are somewhat of a hazard on the ice as not only are they large and gross, but they ice tends to melt wherever they land.
    Dave Patchett striding across the ice after we made a quick jaunt over to the dam face around lunch time.

    For more information about the trip, check out Dave Young’s blog post.