The weekend with fun at Rainbow

We had a superb weekend away to St Arnaud and the Rainbow skifield. This was my first time skiing at Rainbow - and if one day it is the closest field to me (when I live in Nelson) I will not be unhappy. It is fine for a day skiing with good snow cover.

[Mike is here as editor and he'll be adding his adventures in the third person, not that he is awkward about talking about Mike like that. He will also be translating the Football talk.]

Punters for the weekend were: me, Mike, Andrew, Jenny, Jacqui and Ken.

Right. How did we kick off this wonderful weekend? Mike worked Friday morning and Jenny came to our place to get a lift to the ferry with us. Bluebridge sailing at 1.30pm. We had to get there early as there was a QF [Womens' football world cup quarter final game] on at the stadium and people everywhere and road closures around the train station.

Andrew caught the train from home with his gear - alongside all the crowd for the football. The train was heaving at 11am on a Friday coming in from the Hutt. The Bluebridge were their usual efficient, pleasant selves and we boarded quickly. Jacqui and Ken in Jacqui's car not far behind us in the queue.

Leaving Wellington harbour on Friday

Cars and cows

Mike had booked a cabin - twin beds. So Andrew and I got into that fairly quickly. And I lost reception as we had no outside view. I was keen to watch the QF [Womens' world cup quarter final, being played in Wellington] - Spain v Netherlands - so I wandered out to the deck to get the last bit of cellular coverage as we went through the heads.

Spain prevailed. [2-1 and Angela cheers for anyone but Spain because she believes they threw the pool game against Japan to get an easier path through the knockout rounds]

Arrived in Picton and the two cars headed to St Arnaud. Our car went via Blenheim to call in on Iona and Col and Helen was there too. We had a cup of tea and then left to do a somewhat over-catered shopping at Countdown and continue on.

We got to the pub in St Arnaud and the others had secured a table. Lovely customer service at the Alpine Lodge. Same as always. You feel so welcome there, whether you are smartly dressed or you've just dragged yourself in from the tramping tracks and haven't washed for four days.

I ordered putine and baba ghanosh. Mike couldn't go past the rib-eye steak with a cauliflour side. It was all delicious. Mike's cauliflour arrived as a starter, and there was a mountain of cauliflour with a delicious cheese sauce. He heroically got through it all. The steak was perfect. But he had no room for any dessert. Neither did I. Neither did anyone else.

Left there and headed to our house for the weekend. It was a crib on Korere-Tophouse Road - out of St Arnaud a wee bit. Closer to the Rainbow turn off. And it was such a nice place. Ken had started the fire earlier in the day, so the house was starting to warm up. Andrew had the double bedroom to the left of the downstairs bathroom, and Mike had I had the double bedroom past the laundry area. Our room was cold that first night - but I was perfectly warm when I snuggled into my tramping sleeping bag.

Kitchen dining area

Our room - an icebox on the first night

Slept so well.

Up for brekkie - Mike and Andrew made the three of us scrambled eggs. Delicious. And then we were all off up the hill to Rainbow. We left the house at 8.10am and we were in the car park at 9.15am. The road wanders through fords from the main highway towards Hanmer - but the car park for Rainbow is reasonably close in. All cars, even 4WD, had to fit chains.

Cold morning!

Mike took a while to figure out our plastic special chains. But once he did they worked really well. And the icy road needed chains. Wow!

Up to the carpark - which was fairly high up the valley. Maybe 8km or so? Andrew got into the queue for his ticket and ski hire and that took him a while.

Mike and I eventually got onto the field and did a run. One t-bar up to the top. The snow was lovely. Crisp but plenty of grip. I managed to get 13 runs in. At $110 for the ski pass, that was just under $10 a run. Nice. I would have paid $10 for any of those runs!

Sibling Foresters

Mike gets ready

We heard from various t-bar riders that the snow coverage was lower this year than most years. It meant there was only one face we could ski down from the main t-bar. There is another bowl that is usually accessible. And we could see terrain off to the skier's true left that looked fun with better snow coverage.

But for my first ski day back after last August, it was fun. No crowds compared to where we usually ski. So I felt safe and gained confidence through the day.

Jacqui, Jenny and Ken

Stunning view over Rotoiti and back to St Arnaud, from the top of the ridge

I left early (3pm) with Jacqui and Ken. Andrew had decided he wanted to see how fast he could do each run and speed was essential. No turns. But I was tired enough by then. And happy to ride in the newer (2016 I think) Forester of Jacqui's to see how that handled the snow.

Coming down from Rainbow - Jacqui expertly negotiates the icy road

View down the valley from Rainbow

We unpack at the house

Back for showers at the house. By now the house was keeping its warmth. I opened the curtains in our room to let the weak afternoon sunshine in.

The rest of the group went back to Alpine Lodge for tea - but the biggest game so far of the FIFA WWC was on and I did not want to miss any of it. Australia v France quarterfinal. And what a game. It was mighty.

Mike had Baba Ganoush (so yummy from last time) and Diablo pizza. YUM.

It was still on when they all got back. But by then I was in bed. Mike joined me and when it was still nil-nil after full time, then extra time, and the penalty shoot-out started he was riveted to it too. And after penalty after penalty and it got to the 10th player to take a penalty, it was nail-biting.

Then Cortnee Vine stepped up, off the bench in her World Cup debut - and slotted it away for a historic Australia football win. First time in the semis. It was epic. Huge. I cried. Well done to them.

Up for a lazier start to the day. I was the only person expressing interest in a second ski day - but when Mike came in with breakfast in bed for me, I was sound asleep and it was already past leaving time. I discovered that drizzle showers and low cloud meant that it would have been a cold, damp claggy day on the mountain.

So up I got, helped clean up and off we went to find other things to do for the day. Went to DoC visitor centre for some ideas. And the rest of them secured a water taxi to Lakehead for the 3 hour walk back. Great idea!  10.40am they kitted up and left the jetty.

Bye wee house

I did not go. I only had my ski jacket and one pair of shoes/pants and did not fancy sitting in wet clothes for the ferry ride back. But the rest of them had a wonderful walk.

Here we all are

Boarding

Everyone fits under the canopy

Off they head

Snacks on the beachfront walking back

Mike ran back - and he did so well. I was waiting for him when he got back around 1pm.

Here he comes!

Selfie on the jetty

Andrew solved the mystery of the "St Arnaud café" that was a wonderful stop last time we were here, but alas has gone broke and is now for lease. Andrew talked to the water taxi operator and apparently the lessor just wants too much money. Three operators have come and gone because the rent is just too high to be sustainable. So empty it sits.

Mike and I headed back to the ever wonderful Alpine Lodge - to see if he could have a shower there. Yes, they had showers available, for the princely sum of two dollars. He had to wait for them to be cleaned, so we had a bite of lunch. Including yummy iced latte, and Creme Brulee - since we had never ventured into desserts since were were always over-full after mains.

Alpine lodge iced latte

Made with care

The others returned and we met up for photos at the iconic jetty. 

Rainbow seems appropriate for the weekend

Selfie

Another selfie - yes, I was taken with the rainbow

Rainbow on its own

Yes, another pic of the rainbow

View from the car of the iconic jetty

After a quick change into dry clothes, we headed to Picton and Blenheim in the two cars. The blue Forester with Jacqui, Ken and Jenny went to Cortado in Picton for tea. And the red Subaru went to Blenheim for a cup of tea and Afghan biscuit or two with Iona, Col and Helen.

That second contingent left Blenheim at 1700 and found the others at 1730 at Cortado. They were just finishing delicious looking pizza. Mike and Andrew had time for a drink only.

Then off to join the Bluebridge queue. On the ferry on time. And after a quick chat to everyone in the main food area, Mike, Andrew and I slipped off to the cabin (B52 again - exact same one as the previous voyage) and fell into a coma. I was asleep by 7:30 I reckon. We were all dead to the world in minutes. And when we got the wake up call at 10:00pm, I could have sworn we only just shut our eyes. 

We unthreaded the gear and people across the two cars and dropped Andrew and most of his stuff at platform 9 where Sally waited to whisk Andrew home. And we went home and Jenny got her gear and left in her car.

The cats were happy to see us. And we fell into bed just on midnight and slept very well.

What a weekend. Thank you to the company and such good accommodation choices. Rainbow was fun! Limited in snow and therefore terrain while we were there, but having Rainbow as my local field would be great. 

The long Easter weekend in Nelson Lakes

Hi,

We had a fabulous time tramping/camping in Nelson Lakes over Easter.  Ok - my organisation of it left a bit to be desired (note below Mike's comments on the dinner I tried to serve him), but the weather was pretty good.  Stunning on two of the days, raining on one, and a bit overcast on the other.  Not a bad selection of weather, really.

I took Thursday afternoon off, as I had a parent teacher interview with Toby's ropu teacher (form teacher - in the old school terminology).  Thank goodness I did that - it was bedlam enough without trying to fit in work.  Toby was at home too - so that was another factor (teacher only day - so they can chat to parents).  Mike and I Ubered home and collected Toby and gear and headed to school.  Ok - that makes it sound easy.  Mike and Toby basically had to pack at this point.  And we had a deadline.

The appointment was for 2.30pm and Mike had thought it was 2pm.  So that threw us for a bit.  We ended up picking up Iona and grabbing her car keys before she thought we would.  We collected her from the Interislander terminal and dropped her at the train station for her long weekend in Wellington.

We drove out to Melling, collected the van, transferred our gear from our car to the van, and drove back to town to collect the punters.  Stacked all of us (well, 13 of us, the 14th person was running late and ended up as a foot passenger) in the van for the short drive to the terminal.  The ferry ride was uneventful.  Got to Picton where Toby and I disembarked as foot passengers with Iona and Col's car key and found their car easily enough in the long term car park.

Toby's hand is way bigger than mine, now.

We drove in convoy with Colin driving the van and me driving Iona and Col's car.  We got to St Arnaud around 10.45pm.  Found the campground, after checking out the eels under the jetty.

Eels at Lake Rotoiti at 10.45pm Thursday night

Tents at the campground

Had a good sleep in the campground and realised we were in the boggy, damp part of the campground in the morning.  Brrrr - I had been cold. Halfway through the night, I climbed into my sleeping bag liner and back into my sleeping bag and managed to sleep better after that.

Ummm - how long are we away for?

Our frantic week ahead of Easter meant our packing wasn't optimal.  And as we emptied the car onto the handy picnic table, it became very apparent.  But eventually we got everything into our packs.  And boy, was mine heavy!

Never get tired of this view - Lake Rotoiti looking mighty fine

Tourist shot.  Is it cliche or iconic?  Iconic!

The day was stunning - so sunny and still.  We got the iconic photo on the jetty with the best view imaginable.  We live somewhere special.

Awesome mushrooms!

We started the walk to Lakehead, but Toby found the heavy pack meant his ribs were not up to it.  After a brief chat around a massive toadstool that looked like it was right out of an Enid Blyton story, we decided to head back to the waterfront.  From there, Mike and Toby booked a water taxi to Lakehead, with all our gear.  And I scurried up the track to meet them.  With no pack, and carrying a bottle of water and a brownie in my pocket, I made it to Lakehead in just over 2 hours.  Well under the 3 hour DoC time.

Everywhere you look, it's stunning

Just starting my walk - and more mushrooms!

Feet and the view.

I found the boys had pitched the tents in an awesome spot - same as we had used when Toby was 8 years old.  Only that was Labour weekend.  And obviously not sandfly season.  They were everywhere!  Lucky we had some Dimp!  Mike was convinced they actually liked it.

Our campsite at Lakehead

Wee robin - so cute!

 We enjoyed a lovely Friday afternoon.  I had to give Toby my Exped sleeping mat as his mat deflates overnight and the ground was too hard on his ribs.  The things a mother does.  Saturday was drizzly most of the day so we chilled out in the tents for the most part.

I cooked tea on Saturday - and Mike was not impressed.  I tried to serve him rehydrated beef mince on rice.  The rice was slightly undercooked and the mince was plain.  He took one bite, and declared it the worst thing he had ever eaten.  We shuffled food around, and he heated up some butter chicken sauce we had, dumped that over the top and declared it edible.  Toby ate 2 minute noodles and was happy.  We now won't let me prepare any menus and we need a slightly bigger billy for camping/tramping.  Oops.

Saturday night, once we hit the sleeping mats (me on the deflated one) we heard kiwis calling in the distance.  And a squealing pig much closer.  So close I was sure I heard snuffling at one point.  Mike ended up in Toby's tent for that night.  So exciting hearing the squeals - although it did wake me off and on.

Next day was stunning.  Mike and I went for a walk further up the valley and I will totally stay further up next time.  The grassy flats are beautiful.  No wonder that night had been cold.  I thought it was because it was just me in our tent, but the frost we walked through explained it!

Mike and I go for a walk further up the valley

There was a goblin forest - it's just one tree here though

It took a while for me to thaw out as we walked.  I had to use gloves and my hoody to try and keep warm.  The frost and damp grass soaked my feet quickly and made my feet so cold.  But the beauty of the area was breathtaking.  I could stay here longer.  Obviously with better sleeping mats and a food menu not prepared by me.

I contemplate life while on a bed of rocks.  Like some religious zealot.

We stopped after an hour and I lay out on some rocks (the grass was too wet) and just soaked up the solitude and scenery.  Ok - it does make it look like I have actually died in the photo above.  Or possibly some self flagellation by resting on a bed of nails (rocks).  But it really was quiet contemplation.  And the dry stream bed was perfectly comfortable after Toby's rather flat sleeping mat the last few nights.  Hahah.

Pig damage

Thought I'd take a pic of the pig rooting to show Toby what the squealing pigs are actually doing during the night.  Excitement at finding a juicy root, maybe?  Might make me squeal too, I guess.

Toby enthusiastically rolls his egg

Angela enthusiastically rolls her egg

Mike rolls his egg and wonders why.  Like every year.

As it was Easter Sunday, we had to roll our eggs before we could eat them.  Toby and I did this with our usual enthusiasm.  The photos show this excitement - it is evident in our body language.  Mike, on the other hand, was underwhelmed.  It is merely a barrier to his chocolate eating.  Hahahah.  His body language is saying - what are you making me do?

Stunning colours

We packed up the tents and left for the walk back to St Arnaud.  We lightened Toby's pack and he managed to walk, even though his shoes were not up to the walk and he ended up lightly twisting both ankles as we walked out.  Mike walked ahead at came back at some point (2/3rds the way back) to spell Toby for a bit.

I clean my shoes - they filled with mud

We stayed at the St Arnaud Motor Lodge (or Alpine Lodge, maybe).  Anyway, it was so heavenly to be in a bed.  Cost us $180 but I spent a long time in the shower and washed my gear as well as myself.  I think it was worth it.  Hahahah.

Toby takes odd iced coffee pics

 We ate brekkie on Monday morning at the petrol station cafe.  I got an iced coffee too.  Solid 6.5.

This was supposed to be me drinking my iced coffee.  But I like it so much, it's in the blog.

We spent a while reading on the foreshore before collecting other punters from their various trips.  One had a story about her emergency beacon (PLB) activating itself after getting damp, and a rescue helicopter being dispatched from Canberra's Search and Rescue call centre (she's Australian) to find her.  It landed at Angelus hut, much to her horror.  She had no idea it was for her until they spoke to her.

In Picton, Toby and I went through the Edwin Fox maritime museum.  We both loved it.  I think Toby might be a history buff.

Picton harbour through the Edwin Fox porthole

Captain Toby

Me in the lower hull

Mike accidentally left our important ferry bag in Iona's car so we have an excuse to visit again soon and retrieve it.  We got on the 6.45pm sailing and Mike dropped me and Toby home before doing the car van transfer at Melling.  He's a lovely organiser.

Great weekend.  We need better food planning, and a light, bigger, billy.  And no more sore ribs for Toby.  But take me back there, anytime!

Love,
Angela