mobilenvidia Posted January 17, 2008 Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 Yesterday a little fire started down by the head of Lake Pukaki ~25km from where I live (Mount Cook) Today it became a raging inferno, and ripped through about 400ha of widling pines (a weed in New Zealand) Along the oposite side of the lake are the power lines that supply the valley with it's power. The fire decided lets burn about 4km of poles and cut power to the head of the valley. Luckily for me, I have an inverter and 4 big batteries, so can still watch TV, and DSL still works. The fridge is still keeping my beers cold :) I only have one light bulb working so excuse any mistakes. Below are a couple of piccies of the action, nothing major like the California fires but still exciting for us. At one point there were 10 Helicopters and a cropdusting aeroplane fighting the fire. Keep in mind I took these piccies from about 5km away, on opposite side of the valley the fire was on (to drive would be 100km) More piccies for those that are bored can be found here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSudlow Posted January 17, 2008 Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 Good luck, Pieter! Have you got a way to recharge those batteries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted January 17, 2008 Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 Are kiwis good at cycling? Maybe if his laptop puts out enough heat it could boil some water and turn a turbine generator. A blast furnace might be really good for this. Over here it was snowing/hailing (sorta) yesterday. (seriously) The end of the world is coming I think.... :) On a more practical note, he could always waste some gasoline and use his car to recharge the batteries. Cop: Why are you speeding around so close to the this fire like you have nothing else to do? Pieter: I'm charging my batteries to run Crysis in SLI for 5 minutes. :) Edit: Man you guys have some wimpy firetrucks in NZ. We have firetrucks almost twice the size over here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobilenvidia Posted January 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 Good luck, Pieter! Have you got a way to recharge those batteries? No, once the batteries run out and no mains power to recharge them I'll be in the dark too. The Inverter/batteries are for the house at Lake Ohau eventually, where Solar and wind will keep the batteries charged. I'll head to Ohau today anyways as the power at home won't be on till Sunday night at earliest. And at Ohau I'm better setup for no power. Will mean I'll be away from the www for a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSudlow Posted January 17, 2008 Report Share Posted January 17, 2008 Okay - we'll keep things afloat while you're away. Again, good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobilenvidia Posted January 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Returned from the back blocks to a house with power and DSL :) Ohau has no power but does come with Dialup (via a 500m phone cable) Batteries are a charging for future mishaps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®®® Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Man vs. nature. Glad nobody of your clan was injured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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