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- About
August 20, 2010, 10:30
Why the site? I registered simonmcauliffe.com on a whim. It seems a bit self-obsessed, but I noticed the domain name was free and figured I should take it…
- Site Map
August 21, 2010, 12:59
- Site Map
- Gear
August 20, 2010, 10:47
I would like one day to put up some information on gear/food/techniques etc. that I like and use.
- Adventures
August 20, 2010, 10:48
These pages are for more detailed write-ups of trips I do. Most little adventures are just blog entries that you can find on the main page.
- Nepal 2010
August 20, 2010, 23:04
Some Nepal information will go here. Itinerary Oct 2: Depart NZ Oct 3-4: Kathmandu Oct 5-13: To Namche Bazaar, with various side trips Oct…
- Tramp Roulette
September 6, 2010, 23:06
Tramp Roulette is a crazy idea dreamt up by Mario and I one day. The basic idea is you roll dice to decide where to do a trip to. Then come hell or high…
- Nepal 2010
- Technology
August 20, 2010, 10:45
This section contains random articles about science and technology related things.
- Sony Vaio P-Series
August 20, 2010, 10:45
I used to use an EeePC. It was the original 701, which is a really small machine with an even smaller keyboard and a teeny tiny screen. The resolution…
- Vaio P-Series Power Usage
August 20, 2010, 10:46
Overview This page presents some results on measuring the power consumption of the Sony Vaio P-Series PCG-1R1W for various types of usage. The purpose is…
- Vaio P-Series Power Usage
- Batteries
November 11, 2010, 10:04
An Objective Comparison of Major Battery Varieties Introduction People lie. People selling lie more. So it's no surprise that manufacturer stated…
- The Anatomy and (In)Security of Microsoft SQL Server Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), or How to Break TDE
March 19, 2016, 18:14
Contents Intro TDE Encryption Breaking TDE Encryption of Data at Rest in General Should I Install TDE? Making the Most of a Bad Situation (using…
- Sony Vaio P-Series
- Maps
September 25, 2010, 14:36
I developed some map rendering software a while back and occasionally add to or improve it. I use it to generate my own maps, originally because there are…
- Contact
August 21, 2010, 00:21
I'm travelling at the moment, so it's best if you can leave me a message and I'll call you back. I'm currently in The Philippines. How to get hold of…
Blog Posts
- Category: Uncategorized (1)
- Nepal Day 5: Pike by: Simon
October 8, 2010, 22:36
These posts have degenerated into tiny mini-posts. I'm making then from the Android WordPress application now, so I can do them from anywhere but they don't…
- Nepal Day 5: Pike by: Simon
- Category: Adventures (35)
Posts relating to adventures
- Mt Warren (Haast) by: Simon
January 5, 2016, 21:02
This page will soon feature some information about the Browning Range in Haast.
- Kahurangi Tramping: Around the Flora, Tablelands and Cobb areas (2D/3D HD video) by: Simon
April 9, 2012, 13:07
This was a trip with 6 other people from WTMC. Video and stuff...
- Tararuas Main Range Loop from Otaki Forks by: Simon
February 4, 2012, 12:25
I did a little impromptu trip around the main range with a few people from WTMC. Here's 3D Video of the trip.
- Tauherenikau/Waiohine by: Simon
April 3, 2011, 18:09
Went for a little run from Kaitoke to Totara Flats to meet Meg, Andre, Cole and Lane. Stayed the night and had a casual wander back out Walls Whare. I…
- Mangahao to Ohau by: Simon
January 30, 2011, 20:40
"Led" a fit trip with the WTMC from Mangahao, to Barra Creek, up a spur to Dundas Ridge, past Arete and down Gable End to Ohau. On Friday night we walked…
- Social Ohau tramp by: Simon
January 16, 2011, 20:28
I went for a very gentle tramp with Ants, Dave and Matt. We were going to go to Te Matawai originally but ended up just going to Waiopehu. It was quite a…
- Levin to Masterton Mid Crossing by: Simon
December 12, 2010, 23:47
Originally an 81km 60MJ trip, I shortcut it slightly when I managed to get a ride over part of the road portion. This was a bit of an unplanned trip and I…
- Tramp Roulette TR2 by: Simon
November 28, 2010, 22:45
I went for the second ever Tramp Roulette, accompanied by Mario, Meg and Rochelle. We met at Mario's place in Lower Hutt for the roll. We opted to roll a…
- Tauherenikau trip by: Simon
November 14, 2010, 22:36
We did a 1½ day trip from Woodside. The plan was to go up to Mt Reeves, along the Tauherenikau ridge, head to RP770 and turn off down the spur that comes…
- Nepal Day 9: Surke by: Simon
October 12, 2010, 00:27
Lots of mules, yaks and poo. I was finally feeling a little bit of energy so I ran most of this route. It was quite slippery clay towards the bottom. Af…
- Nepal Day 8: Bupsa by: Simon
October 11, 2010, 00:26
This was a short recovery day. No extension trips again. It rained all day for the first time. My Favourite Thing Today The mule trains were quite…
- Nepal Day 7: Nunthala by: Simon
October 10, 2010, 00:25
My cold is starting to improve now. My throat no longer hurts and the mucus is reducing a little, but it's starting to move to my chest now, which is exactly…
- Nepal Day 6: Junbesi by: Simon
October 9, 2010, 22:36
The morning started very early at 4:20am and we headed up Pike Peak 1 and 2. These peaks provided the first glimpse of Everest and Makalu that can be seen…
- Nepal Day 4: Kenja by: Simon
October 7, 2010, 22:35
The walk from Shivalaya starts with a 1000m climb to Deurali followed by a drop into Bhandar, that undoes all of the good work. We stopped in Bhandar for…
- Nepal Day 3: Shivalaya by: Simon
October 6, 2010, 22:23
The three most common occupations in Nepal outside of Kathmandu are standing around, sitting around and squatting. Spitting probably takes the number 4…
- Nepal Day 2: Kathmandu again by: Simon
October 5, 2010, 06:33
Today we spent a full day in Kathmandu doing some touristy sightseeing type stuff. The running and climbing and whatnot starts tomorrow. Apparently there…
- Nepal Day 1: Singapore, Kathmandu by: Simon
October 4, 2010, 03:58
I'm going to attempt to post once each day during this trip, and see how that goes. Today, in a slightly long day, I flew from Wellington to Auckland to…
- Tramp Roulette, inaugural tramp by: Simon
September 5, 2010, 22:45
Went for the first ever Tramp Roulette with Mario and Rowena. We rolled E1784147 N5444224, which turned out to be a location not far from the track along…
- Mt Cupola by: Simon
August 29, 2010, 22:27
Left on Thursday night on a tramp with WTMC. Caught the ferry down and slept in St. Arnaud near the water taxi jetty. Arrived at Cupola Hut on Friday…
- Tawa Rogaine by: Simon
August 20, 2010, 22:00
There was a 3 and 6 hour option for this rogaine, which was a good thing. Magnus was testing a new headlight though, and didn't think there would be sufficient…
- Mt. Taranaki by: Simon
August 8, 2010, 22:00
I spent the weekend with some nice folks from WMTC up Mt Taranaki. Unfortunately we didn't make the summit due to bad weather.
- Tararuas Run by: Simon
August 1, 2010, 22:00
This weekend I did a run from the Marchant Road end. I was intending to head over the main range and meet up with Rowena, Ross, Gavin, Steve and Jenny at…
- Mt. Ruapehu by: Simon
July 25, 2010, 22:00
Spent the weekend at the WTMC lodge doing some climbing with and without ropes.
- Tararuas Tramp by: Simon
July 16, 2010, 16:34
We went for a wander up from Otaki Forks with a plan to head back out via Renata, but we ended up stopping at Kime and just went back the following day. A…
- Tinakori Rogaine by: Simon
July 13, 2010, 15:54
Mary McBride and I set this rogaine. It took a bit of planning, and wasn't 100% polished in operation. Rowena turned up complete with warm van, which was…
- Mt. Ruapehu by: Simon
July 11, 2010, 22:00
Spent the weekend at the WTMC lodge climbing around Ruapehu. Went for a wander up to dome and Te Heuheu, and did some ropes work.
- Trip to Mitre/Tarn Ridge by: Simon
June 5, 2010, 09:00
This was a three day trip. The plan was to do a loop, but we got weathered in pretty badly. We ended staying put at Tarn Hut for the day on Sunday and headed…
- Ruapehu/lodge trip by: Simon
May 23, 2010, 22:00
Went to see how to run the WTMC lodge. I also did a run up to Dome on Sunday morning. Quite enjoyable. Used microspikes and axe and moved pretty quickly. …
- Stewart Island by: Simon
February 14, 2010, 17:43
Great run around. I spent a few days down in the deep south running, battling through scrub, swimming and pack floating rivers and sea and negotiating…
- Random run in the Tarauas by: Simon
January 24, 2010, 22:00
A northern crossing. Some very chilly weather up by Arete and some really rough track below from Arete Forks. Great trip.
- Taupo by: Simon
January 7, 2010, 00:07
Took a grabaseat to Taupo from the 4th to the 7th. Went on amusement park rides, a helicopter ride, jet boating, rock climbing, bungy jumping and sky…
- Kakanui by: Simon
December 28, 2009, 00:01
Went to Kakanui from the 22nd to the 28th for Christmas. Stayed with my mother. Did some mountain biking and running.
- Queenstown trip by: Simon
December 20, 2009, 23:52
Went down to Queenstown for the weekend on a grabaseat. Did a 13 hour run up to the Remarkables, a bit of a scramble to the peak and down into the Wye Creek…
- Lake Colenso by: Simon
November 22, 2009, 00:28
Did a fairly hard tramp to Lake Colenso in the Ruahines by a slightly roundabout route. Camped at the road end on Friday. Went the long way to the lake on…
- Crazyman by: Simon
May 3, 2008, 21:00
I did the Crazyman duathlon with Lisa. I did the running leg (18km mountain run). Seems like I got the easy part. My time was pretty crap.
- Mt Warren (Haast) by: Simon
- Category: General news (7)
General news and updates
- Riversdale by: Simon
December 26, 2010, 08:19
Went to Riversdale for christmas. Spent a couple of days playing on the beach and relaxing. And digging a big hole. As you do... I bought myself a…
- Another site by: Simon
August 20, 2010, 10:30
I decided it's time to set up a new web site to replace an old and outdated site. I registered simonmcauliffe.com on a whim. It seems a bit self-obsessed,…
- Climbing shoes by: Simon
January 13, 2010, 00:27
Got some climbing shoes today. They're 5.10 Coyote Stealth C4 shoes. They hurt like a bitch.
- Monkey Menace by: Simon
May 4, 2008, 19:08
Placed a new cache by the zoo today.
- Penguin Power by: Simon
April 27, 2008, 23:35
My back was destroyed by my Friday run for some reason. I was supposed to run butterfly creek today with Magnus but bailed in the end. Instead I opted for…
- Fins etc by: Simon
April 26, 2008, 23:25
Boughts some fins, snorkel and mask at Rebel for .87. Pretty crap, but pretty cheap. Might try them out tomorrow if my back is up to it. Also went and…
- Got some gaiters by: Simon
April 25, 2008, 21:07
ANZAC day, so no work. I went out to Petone to buy some running Gaiters. They were on sale and only cost . After I got those, I ran home. I didn't…
- Riversdale by: Simon
- Category: Making (4)
Making stuff
- Battery Battle-To-The-Death by: Simon
November 8, 2010, 11:37
I've started on a bit of a mission to find out what batteries are good for various jobs. I bought some Maxuss 3000mAh batteries, which is an exceptionally…
- Power adapter and consumption measurements for Sony Vaio P-Series by: Simon
August 21, 2010, 14:45
This is about as simple a thing as you can possibly make so barely worth mentioning, but I just rigged some plugs for measuring the power consumption of the…
- Penny Stove by: Simon
August 18, 2010, 13:25
I made a couple of little penny stoves to test out. It weighs practically nothing (8.9 grams in fact). ...
- "The Bat" sonar module by: Simon
August 14, 2010, 10:00
This is a design for a sonar module. It's something I've been wanting to play with for some time, and I finally had an excuse so I whipped something up. ...
- Battery Battle-To-The-Death by: Simon
- Category: SAR (19)
- Wairarapa SAREX by: Simon
February 11, 2012, 12:32
Four of us from Wellington went over to join in the Wairarapa SAREX. I took video...
- Operation Mann by: Simon
February 24, 2011, 12:27
This was a callout for a man lost in the hills surrounding Waikanae. He went for a walk and didn't return. I went to the callout and spent Monday doing…
- River Training session by: Simon
February 5, 2011, 18:56
A fun day doing river training again. This time I went with the advanced group and did some rope recovery stuff and river stretcher techniques on top of the…
- Operation Paeroa by: Simon
November 21, 2010, 17:47
This was a search on our back door step in Mt Victoria for Ralph XXXXX. Ralph was feeling a bit down and out and went walkabout without notice to (at least)…
- Police search assistance by: Simon
July 12, 2010, 17:25
Helped police look for evidence relating to homicide.
- Operation Coffey by: Simon
July 4, 2010, 23:55
Search for Phil Coffey in Karapoti area. It is a well tracked area (for biking etc.). I was in a 4WD team as team leader. Quite a weird way to search.…
- SARINZ First Aid course by: Simon
July 4, 2010, 18:00
I spent the weekend on a SARINZ first aid course.
- SARINZ Search Methods by: Simon
June 13, 2010, 18:00
I spent the weekend out at Camp Kaitoke.
- SAR Nav Field Session by: Simon
June 3, 2010, 17:03
This was a map/compass/GPS training session that I helped to put together. I have no idea how well it went.
- Operation Makara Cemetery by: Simon
May 19, 2010, 16:55
No missing party located. No identity known. Apparently no missing party at all. Just some plonker that got off a bus and presumably walked back into town…
- Operation Henk by: Simon
May 16, 2010, 17:00
This was an operation at QEII park for Henk Boekholt. The weather changed suddenly and got quite wet and chilly. A very sad story and a very sad outcome.
- TCA Field training by: Simon
May 6, 2010, 17:05
Always good to practice tracking more. Good evening...
- Vertical Rope Rescue by: Simon
May 2, 2010, 22:00
Spent the weekend doing Vertical Rope Rescue training. Really good...
- 2010 SAREX by: Simon
April 18, 2010, 22:00
This was a station-based SAREX on private land near the Marchant end of the Tararuas. We were choppered down to Smith's Creek area by Iroquois. I was a…
- Rope Rescue course by: Simon
April 11, 2010, 22:00
A really good course out at Kaitoke. Covered the fundamentals of rope rescue methods.
- Operation Gallagher by: Simon
April 3, 2010, 16:52
Two slightly misplaced hunters. They were really just a bit delayed due to thick scrub. All over very quickly.
- Tararua Mountain Race by: Simon
March 13, 2010, 17:14
We were providing SAR support for the race and assisting a little with marshalling. I ended up de-facto team leader with Tara and Marie on my team. It was a…
- Field training, Extremes of Temperature by: Simon
March 4, 2010, 17:09
This was a really good presentation by Dr Jenny Visser. She also spoke about her time at the sherpa hospital in Nepal, and the effects of altitude. This…
- River Safety by: Simon
February 21, 2010, 17:18
Always fun playing some more in rivers and trying various things.
- Wairarapa SAREX by: Simon
- Category: Sailing (3)
- Roberts 38 in Auckland by: Simon
August 30, 2011, 19:49
Another possible yacht. Basic specs: Steel sloop, cutter rigged. Hard dodger, centre cockpit. Cockpit and cabin top glassed plywood. Dodger…
- A possible yacht by: Simon
July 14, 2011, 22:54
I went to look at a possible yacht to buy in Waikawa. It was a bit overpriced for what it was, and not in the greatest condition. I'm looking for something…
- Yacht to buy? by: Simon
March 11, 2011, 13:08
I looked over a potential yacht to buy in Dunedin. Unfortunately the owners didn't want to take me for a sail until I make an offer. It was all netted up…
- Roberts 38 in Auckland by: Simon
