Posted on Sep 1st 2010 by ryan.
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.
Posted on Aug 12th 2010 by ryan.
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)
Posted on Jul 24th 2010 by ryan.
Jaimee Wood, Larry Martin and Krissi Wood joined David Patchett and I at the Lower Manorburn dam.
Jaimee in front of the dam
Larry Martin at the dam
Larry and Jaimee playing hockey
Larry and Jaimee playing hockey
Larry and Jaimee playing hockey
Larry with the puck
Jaimee in the bottom basin
Jaimee in the bottom basin
Jaimee passing the puck
Jaimee and Larry playing hockey
Krissi Wood
Krissi and Jaimee showing their charming side
Posted on Jul 12th 2010 by ryan.
Anna, Harry and myself road-tripped from Dunedin to Alexandra to do a night skate on the Manorburn dam, then headed to Poolburn reservoir the next morning to skate on mega thick ice at Poolburn reservoir, then finished our journey by travelling through to Lake Tekapo for a hockey tournament between the Killer Keas (our team) and the Christchurch Rangers.
Harry on Poolburn reservoir
Harry and Anna at Lake Tekapo
Harry and Anna on Poolburn reservoir
Anna, Harry and Dave during a night skate on the Manorburn dam
Anna and Harry on Mt John, Lake Tekapo in the background
Anna and Harry heading towards the dam face at Poolburn reservoir
Anna during a stopover at Lawrence
Anna on Poolburn reservoir
Anna, Ryan Hellyer (me) and Harry. Unfortunately the flash didn't work too well with my reflectors.
Ryan Hellyer (me) and Anna struggling to keep our eyes open due the glare on Mt John. Lake Tekapo in the background.
Posted on Jul 12th 2010 by ryan.
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.
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
Ben Wallis
Posted on Jul 6th 2010 by ryan.
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.
Posted on Jul 6th 2010 by ryan.
Some photos showing the beauty of the frozen Poolburn reservoir this winter.
Alan Knowles and Dave Patchett skating through the maze of jagged rocks on Poolburn reservoir.
View of the rocks at Poolburn reservoir. This photo is result of merging three different photos to create a wider angle view.
A light snow dusting on the rocks created a stunning backdrop for the ultra-smooth near-black ice
Wide panorama showing how beautiful Poolburn reservoir is on a good day. Full resolution Panorama available here. If you look closely you will see Dave Patchett and Alan Knowles skating.
Posted on Jul 4th 2010 by ryan.
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.
Posted on May 27th 2010 by ryan.
The Killer Keas ice hockey team, bronze medalists in the Dunedin Ice Hockey League Autumn season.
Clockwise from top left: Ben Wallis, Edward Waite, David Richards, Peter Wallis, Ryan Hellyer, Bret Dougherty, Señorita León de la Barra, Elizabeth Roberts, Jaydee Cabral, Hernisha Fakir, Sonja Woods,
Thanks to Jaydee Cabral for providing the photo and Anna Craw for taking it.
Posted on Apr 6th 2010 by ryan.
I’ve been fishing through my families old photo albums and found the following photos of the Manorburn dam from the past that some of you may find interesting.
From left: Lynn McArthur, Ronald Hellyer, Pamela Hopkins, John Hellyer, Ken Hellyer and Robyn Reid on the central basin of the Manorburn dam in 1954. The hand writing is courtesy of my Nana.
From left is Ronald Hellyer, Ken Hellyer, some random guy, Phylis Hellyer and John Hellyer on the Manorburn dam in 1952.
Ken Hellyer. I think this is the Manorburn dam, but I'm not entirely sure which part. It may have been somewhere else, but I'm not sure where that would be. I'm guessing this is some time around 1970.
Ken Hellyer on the Manorburn dam. I'm guessing this is some time around 1970.
This is my brother Scott Hellyer on the tiny ice cube they called a rink which sat beside the Manorburn dam. This would have been around 1984 I think.
And this is Scott demonstrating why I'm the one who's still skating!
