The weekend away camping

 Hi,

As we have to self monitor until Feb 2, it made sense to can the plans we had that involved a bit of social interaction in favour of a weekend away camping.  

In case anyone was unclear - we were a casual contact at Christchurch airport.  The media articles explained the person with covid was on a Jetstar flight and we were Air NZ.  We also wore our best masks the entire time.  We don't need to isolate - but it makes sense to minimise any contact as we see if we develop any symptoms.

So far - nothing.

So on Friday after work we piled our camping gear in the car and headed off.  Janine had pointed out that Holdsworth was holding its annual running event - so we decided on Corner Creek - at the end of Ocean Beach in south Wairarapa.

You could not get better conditions there - ever!  No wind at all when we arrived.  We pitched the tent and then wandered down to watch the sunset.

Ocean beach Friday evening

Watching sunset

Random selfie

South Island is over there somewhere

Timer photo

Lazy morning on Saturday and up for brekkie, courtesy of Mike.  Scrambled eggs.  On our home made bread.  Mike also tried his Aeropress for the first time.  Beautiful coffee.

Saturday morning

Mike tries his Aeropress

Around lunchtime we headed off along the beach and then the road to explore westward.  Towards Mukamuka valley track.  Mike and Andrew had done that tramp from the Orongorongo end many years back.

It was hot work.  But very pleasant.  We saw some surfers close to the Corner Creek end and one mountain biker coming towards us at one point.

We go for a walk

Gorgeous

Walking

Climbing over rocks

Beautiful

We walked out to a rocky point and sat in some shade while I discussed the lack of any seals on this beach.  There are seals over at Cape Palliser, and seals at Kaikoura (which we could see on the horizon).  And none on this vast sweeping beach.

Selfie

And as I sat on a rock to look out at the beautiful sea, I looked down at the rocks in front of me and there was a seal, draped over the rocks, enjoying the sunshine like me.  He or she was unperturbed at my presence.  I called Mike out from our shady spot and the kekeno was vaguely interested in his movements for about 10 seconds.  Then settled down for a nap again.

Oh - hello little seal

Walked back and relaxed with some books.  I heard a wee goat up the creek valley behind us so Mike and I wandered up to get a closer look.  As we did so, we found a perfect bath-sized pool.  So I stripped off and took the plunge.  Not too cold.  But not super warm, by any means.  I did feel refreshed afterwards though.

Back to the tent and Mike cooked up some dinner.  Indian curry with... mash potato!  

Saturday dinner

But around then, the wind picked up.  And as we went to bed, it got even stronger.  So noisy as it howled down the valley next to us.  I think I got up 4 times in the night to fix the tent in some way.  I had to find a few rocks to keep the tent pegs in the soft ground.  Had to collect our rubbish that has blown over.  Had to fix the awning pole that had been blown out.

Sunday morning evidence of the rocks needed for the strong winds

Next morning, the tent was surrounded by rocks holding down the tent pegs.  Hahah.  I think I finally got some sleep as I had the weirdest dreams!

Sunday brekkie

We had brekkie and then lazily read books for a few hours before striking the tent and driving home.  We tried the car wash at Caltex Trentham and the leak in the front finally showed itself.

Got home and unpacked and enjoyed a pleasant warm evening with all the doors and windows open.

Had a great sleep.  No wind at our house last night.  :-)

Up for WFH.  Looks like we might have 400 cases of covid by the end of this week, according to modellers.  

Hunkering down for a bit.

Have a great week.  Enjoy your day off in AKL today!  :-)

Love,

Angela