Wet puddle!

The creek

There is a stream that runs along the side of upper Mangatawhiri campground in the Hunua Ranges, and this was our picnic spot on Sunday afternoon.

It’s been a while since we were here last, and that time was on a mountain bike. This time I was happy to explore our native forest via the Nikon and watch my two favourite guys throwing stones into the creek.

It is no wonder that my favourite colour is green because, quite frankly, it's the only one that can provide such imagery of vibrancy and life in amongst the stillness.

I would have jumped right into the creek and frolicked around in the water, but it is still way too cold for that (although there were kids there that were doing just that - goes to show how much of a pansy I've become!).

The dam

The Mangatangi Reservoir is New Zealand's largest water supply dam and second largest earth dam (I’ve just found out from reading the Super City website). Jef has loads of memories of this place from his childhood where he spent hours upon hours exploring and playing here.

Lush fields of grass lead up to the dam where sheep grazed.

We wandered along the path to the spillway, and Kien played merrily in the tall grass.

When Jef lived out here they used to put Foxglove flowers onto their fingers. He has passed the tradition on.

As we made our way back along the ridge Kien decided wanted to pee like the big boys. So we let him try.

Even though he looks the part he wasn't really too sure of what to do next.

It was perfect weather for a lovely afternoon at the dam.

The falls

We made a brief detour to the Hunua Falls before heading home.

Kien was in the mood to run around. This is what he looks like running away from us as fast as he can.

When Kien first understood the concept of "wet" one of his first 2 word sentence was "wet puddle" as he pointed at the ocean at Coxs Bay. It always makes me smile when I think about that.

Inspired by water for this post our trip to the Hunua Ranges was timely yet completely spontaneous.