The weekend with tramping and Wellington things

 Hi,

Toby won the inaugural trophy for winning the Kahoot quiz at his uni class. He was very proud. I am proud too.

Toby won the inaugural Criminal Justice and tikanga trophy

Thursday after work, Maureen came over to pick me up and we headed to Catchpool for our tramp to find kiwi.

The weather was nice in Wellington but as we crossed into Wainuiomata, we drove into dark clouds and the rain just started to lightly spit. It stayed like that until we got into the hut, to be honest. We stayed dry though.

Started walking around 5.00pm I reckon. My pack was about 12kg but I made good enough time. 34 mins to halfway bridge. I have been much faster - but it was ok. 

Toby tree

At the bridge

Made it to the river around 1 hour 10 mins I think. I had been watching the river levels because we have had some decent rain. But by Thursday it had dropped away to just above normal levels. Maybe 1.8 cu (normal seems to be 1.2 cu). So we decided it would be ok in crocs and we would keep our boots dry. 

I went first to check it out. And it was pretty high - above my knees. And there was a channel and it was fairly fast. But it was ok - I just had to scrunch up my toes to keep my crocs securely on my feet.

Maureen had just bought new crocs for this trip. And she wore them across the river then declared them too small. And looked at mine and said: yours look big on you.

Well, yes, They have always been a bit big. So we swapped. And now I know the joy of well-fitting crocs. Who knew? Maureen is also happy with her lime green crocs. Win, win.

River looks ok

We got to the hut and sorted out the fire and our beds. I was hungry so got dinner on. Well - ok - I boiled water for dinner. The dehy meals went down well.

In the hut

By then it was fairly dark so we got changed into warmer gear and left the hut at about 8:30pm. Crossed the river again - this time in well fitting crocs. And then headed up towards Turere lodge to listen and find kiwi. We heard one in the distance at Turere. Continued on for a bit past the new bridge and heared the same kiwi again. Decided to continue until we were about 400m from Haurangi before heading back. Saw glowworms - so that was cool.

Next time I think Haurangi will be a better centre for kiwi spotting. 

Off to bed after a decent 5km walk. I had a pretty good sleep. Up to a sunny calm day. We had brekkie. Wild bacon in rolls. :-) And cleaned up and headed back to the car.

Friday morning

Walking out

We got a coffee at the coffee cart near the churches in Lower Hutt and visited Sally to catch up with her. 

Coffee cart in Lower Hutt

Walking out

Cleaning up

Thursday evening crossing

Saturday saw Mike get up for our trapline. He had 5 punters on his trip up Sunny Grove and KAT. Callan and Andrew took Caitlin up UTS.

I made some salsa for Ange's birthday party at Danita's house. What a lovely evening. Celia, James and Charlie came. Lize and Clive. Natalie. Nick was there too. Danita pulled together a fantastic Mexican-themed dinner. Thank you for a lovely evening.

Saturday evening birthday cocktail

Sunday cleaning out the gutters

All clean now

Sunday morning Mike woke with a migraine. Waaaahh. So we had a quiet day really. Got the car cleaned on the inside. We did the gutters because Tom came to get my bike rack for the panniers for their Heaphy trip and we stood and looked out over the grass-filled gutters. Hahahah. Well done, Mike. Next rains we can laugh with impunity.

Off to bed fairly early. But it was hard to get up. Mike missed gym - he was still not right. So we ate porridge and felt a bit better.

Windy again here. Sigh.

Hope your week is a good one.

Love,

Angela