Finally we made it on holiday and of course the first place after a rest and dinner was to pack the car with SOTA gear and head up to TeMata Peak – Summit ZL1/HB-135. How this had gone live on the SOTA database and remained unclaimed as a first activation we are not quite sure as its an easy drive to the top. However off we set and met up with two of Warren’s Hawkes Bay radio friends – Blue ZL3TT and Wally ZL2MO (pictured with Warren, in the cover photo for this blog entry) who were keen to see how this SOTA business goes, thanks for joining us for the evening both of you!
TeMata Peak in Hastings New Zealand has a great view on all sides and even looks out to other near by summits. We were rewarded with a beautiful sunset and there were plenty of public around checking out the views, some were interested in what we were up to up there naturally and Warren was naturally pleased with this as its good publicity for amateur radio.
The summit is 10 minutes drive from Havelock North, with a sealed road to the summit. The gates are locked overnight to minimise vandalism. A walking track to the top is well frequented by locals and is worth the time to check out. More info on the peak and surrounding park here http://tematapark.co.nz/.
20 Contacts were made from the summit to ZL and VK. 40 meters worked well to local chasers in ZL. Switching up to 20 meters brought in good signals to VK to share the summit to friends in Australia. This was an easy but valuable 1 point added to the log.
One last shot from the evening as the sun went down must be shared, it was certainly worth the wait to capture the sight, while showing the boys (Warren, Wally and Blue), along with tourists and sightseers both local and from around the world, and of course who could miss the parasailing adventure seeker in the shot, there were a group of them flying as the sun went down topping off an already impressive sight from the hill top.
Summit Information
Te Mata Peak ZL1/HB-135
Summit height – 399 m
Access from Simla Ave to Te Mata Peak Road.
Nominal time to summit – 10 minute drive from Havelock North
Summit marker – trig station.
Land access permission – not required.
