The weekend up at Ohakune

 Hi,

What a lovely weekend. Before we left on Friday afternoon, I spotted a kotare on the wires outside our house. My fave bird.

Kotare on the wires above our house

And I did ask Shoshana about the starter and it seems to have finally kicked off. Yay! Hopefully it is happy until Sunday when we get back.

Starter going great

We left home at 4pm and picked up Nico from work and then headed to Paramata to pick up Alexis. Turns out they both knew each other from NZQA. 

A very pleasant drive up to Ohakune with a stop for tea in Bulls at the Tahi place. Much nicer pad thai than in Dunedin recently.

In Grads

Up at 6.30am to delicious scrambled eggs courtesy of Mike. Away from Grads at 7.30am and up at the top car park at 8am.

Umm. There was no snow.

Where is the snow?

Stunning day

Hello other maunga

So I decided not to ski. I am anxious about other people around me - and with no off trail and Saturday bluebird weather, it was going to be crowded.

I read lots. Caught up with people as they came to the base cafe. Sat in the car and relaxed. And when Mike told me about the conditions, I actually think I made the right choice. But I am sad to have missed a day skiing.

Lunch break with Alexis

Got my pass

Mike boarded with his friend Amy and got into tiger territory. I picked up my new pass with a day on it to use Saturday or Sunday this season.

Caught up with Mike

And got him a leash

Finished at 3.30 and back to Grads to shower.. Except they ran out of gas and I did not get a shower. So off at 6pm to Kings for tea at 7pm. Service was slow - but they told us that well in advance. And they were lovely. The food was excellent. Luke and Anna joined us - then Amy dropped in too.

Mike got his jacket from Park Run that he left behind 6 weeks ago. And dropped his board off for a tune up. And found out they do Old Coach Road bike hire and transfers for $60. So I decided to do that on Sunday.

And Alexis and Mike came too. Mike dropped Nico off at the mountain in the morning. And we went to TCB to get the bikes. We had a great ride. 10am pick up from TCB. Dropped at Horopito at 10:20am. The police followed us to do a check on the passenger vehicle. We saw them doing it later with another bus too.

We were off. Chill in the air - and crunchy ground in the shade. But such a great time.

Sunday fun - my bike is called Tina

So ready for it

Negotiating the stock gate

Old viaduct

Alexis only does urban riding, so this was a bit of a different prospect for her. But she was amazing at it. Never gave up. And that was with a battered body from her snowboarding the day before.

Almost at the restored viaduct

My bike rests

New viaduct for the trains today

Walked over the restored viaduct and had some lunch on the other side. Watched several groups of cyclists get a bit lost and circle around the road from below. Funny.

Mike on the restored viaduct

Back to TCB about 1:30pm. Lovely ride. Lovely customer service. Nipped up the maunga to pick up Nico. And then we were off (after a drop back to TCB to get Alexis' bag from her bike).

Easy drive home - ta Mike. After dropping off Alexis and Nico, we were home to see the cats at 6:45pm. Got them fed and the car unpacked and had some tea. Cheese toasties. Mmmm.

I got my sourdough ready for Monday baking. And then we were in bed. I slept so well. Mmm. Up to sort out the washing and the sourdough.

Rose overnight

Is this a tight ball?

Scored and ready to bake

Let's see what happens to the bread. If it works.

Hope your week is a good one.

Love,

Angela