Hi,
We had a great weekend this weekend with three days off because of Wellington Anniversary Day on Monday. It started with our ride home on Friday afternoon after work to pack all our tramping and camping gear into the MX-5. We had to modify what we take due to a lack of space but it all worked well and we took off at about 1900 up SH1.
We stopped for tea at Te Horo at the cafe there that Mum and I found one day. The service was slow (but good so we didn't mind) and the highlight was Mike's comment about his pea and pear soup. Well, the food was actually extremely good (Mike's main was chicken breast and mine was beef fillet). However, upon tasting the pea and pear soup, Mike said "This is very nice. The pear cuts through the pea-ness" and wondered why I started chortling and had tears coming out of my eyes. He then went back over what he had said, and realised how it sounded and we both started laughing.
The late dinner meant a late arrival in Taihape but we pitched the tent and fell asleep very fast. next morning we were up and away early to Ohakune to meet the shuttle bus to the bottom of the Tongariro Crossing. We were disappointed at the late start to the walk (9am before we walked off) but pleased to leave the MX-5 in a safe car park in Ohakune. About an hour in I got a blister on my little toe on my right foot. Mike sorted it out but I had to loosen my boot and this caused a blister on my heel to develop.
The scenery was fantastic. We had a cloudless day and could see to the north and east for miles. The mountains all looked great. There were wee patches of snow left here and there (quite a long way from the walking track). There was a panic after Mike and I climbed the devil's staircase when we got out the camera and Mike squinted through the viewfinder and his contact lens flew out. Fortunately he had a spare in his backpack. He popped in the new lens and had no more problem but I was wondering what we'd do with a half blind Mike halfway up Tongariro.
There were people panicking on the scoria/scree slope down from the peak. We passed one woman crawling down and another grabbing onto her husband for grim death. Mike and I ate lunch at Ketetahi Hut at 1pm and from there it was downhill all the way to the carpark for 90 minutes. I didn't like that bit as my blisters were not co-operating and I was favouring one side. Still, we got there and waited for about 45 minutes for our shuttle back to Ohakune.
Mike wants to make this walk an annual event as he liked it so much. I was astonished at the number of people on the walk. Must have been easily 500 people. We met up with work colleagues as we waited for the shuttle at the end. They had started earlier but done the side slog up Ngauruhoe. We think Toby might have to wait for another two years to tackle the walk successfully.
We drove home on Sunday morning after breakfast at our favourite cafe in Taihape (Brown Sugar Cafe) trying to find gooseberry bushes at various garden shops. Unfortunately we didn't find any. Sunday we relaxed quite a bit once we got home. Monday however was a different matter. The top floor has been decluttered in a big way. We worked for hours getting it just right. Now we have the bottom floor to do - mainly Toby's room before he returns on Sunday! We have also decided to get Wilf in to fix the garage roof so we can put shelves in there and store some cartons from the green room. That should work a charm! The plan is all coming together. I worked on the linen cupboard and it looks great! I will even take a photo of it I am so proud!
I hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
Angela
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