Tramping the Waitawheta tramway

Kien's friend, Natalie, decided that for her 10th birthday party she wanted to go on a weekend tramp with her friends and stay at a hut. So over Waitangi weekend that's what a group of us did.



10km tramp along the Waitawheta tramway, with lots of stops at riverbeds, and many swing bridges. Luckily that Saturday was a little overcast, and we even had a sprinkling of rain, so we all managed to stay relatively cool.











Initially Kien was petrified walking over the swing bridges, but by the end of the weekend he was a pro.







We arrived at the DOC hut in the late afternoon, and the kids ran around playing tag/hide & seek. They also managed to forage a big bowl of blackberries for our breakfast. We were served spaghetti bolognese, which tasted amazing at a hut with no electricity in the middle of a forest.





What was also amazing was that the kids did all the washing up as well! So cute seeing them in the dark with their head torches.





We all turned in relatively early for the night. Jef decided he wanted to brave the wilderness and risk being attacked by mosquitoes and possums.




I didn't get much sleep. In a room full of people rustling around in their sleeping bags it wasn't easy to switch off. Kien also decided he wanted to sleep under the bunk for some reason, and I didn't have the energy to argue with him. Needless to say he changed his mind after midnight, of course!

After breakfast we cleaned the hut up before heading back.












We stopped along the way for a couple more swims.



















When we got to the car there were cold beers and a feast waiting for us. This definitely was not their first rodeo. Natalie's parents had a chilli bin packed full of goodies.



This trip was so much fun. Kien is very keen to do some more. We're building up for Tongariro crossing, when he's ready.

Snippet of our summer holidays

Straight after Christmas we went and stayed at our ngahere for just under a week. It's the longest stretch we've managed to achieve up there so far, and it was fun.







Jef put together our composting area using pellets. This then gives us the ability to use a composting toilet system.











I made this little video for a holidays snaps competition so it makes sense to put it up here as well.

A quick trip to the capital

Last month we went to Wellington for a quick weekend getaway. A colleague/friend was taking her kids there via train, and since Kien is good friends with those kids I thought it would be great to meet them there. I was not however going to spend an entire day on a train - been there, done that in Vietnam, got well and truly impatient, so no thanks, I'll fly! Plus, breakfast (and lunch combined) in the Koru lounge, yes please!

We stayed at the Copthorne on Oriental Bay. We've never stayed down this side before - we've always been more centrally located, so it made for a nice change.

We happened to have been there through a cold snap, and oh boy was it cold and windy. We did a fair bit of walking which kind of helped a bit.

Satnam and the kids finally arrived on Saturday evening, and we walked across town for some dinner at a little Vietnamese restaurant. There was a light festival happening that weekend (which we were not aware of) but it was good to be able to catch some of it on our walk home from dinner.

Sunday morning we visited Te Papa. Gallipoli: The scale of our war exhibition is still running. The last time we were here it was so crowded that we didn't want to queue for hours to see it, but this time, since we got there so early we were able to go through. If there is an exhibition that is worth coming to Wellington for then this one is it. It is truly spectacular with the giant models that look so realistic (and huge).

We all loved it.

We then took the cable car to the top of the hill - how novel.

A run around the playground for the kids to burn off some steam and then we took the cable car back to the bottom again (because we purchased return tickets).

Then a walk back around the waterfront for beers and ice-creams before heading back to the airport.

That's it. Another weekend over. They go so very fast, don't they?!?