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.
Quick post today. I will try to expand on it later.
Fri night we went to The Boss tribute band. They were fantastic. They knew exactly what to do and how to do it. So much fun.
Please have lots of happy supportive thoughts to Angela. On the first run of the first day of her big 1 week snow adventure she was smacked into on the cat track and is now lying in bed feeling sorry for herself. It's a shame for her.
She's been sending me some stunning Wanaka photos though.
I got a great day in with Ana at Tukino skifield - the little-known chilled out club field that shares Mt Ruapehu with the big corporate entities of Turoa and Whakapapa. It was a great day. Thanks Ana!
Ana on nutcracker tow
Club field style - free sausage sizzle at the top of the mountain
For me, Wellington on a Plate Burgers beckon. I've got Monday, Wednesday and Thursday booked in. I better have salad for dinner on Tuesday.
It's been a terrible year for Ruapehu, what with everything between no
international ski staff, fewer lifts running, lockdowns and distancing, car
parking woes, and dismal snowfalls. I thought that this would be the first
winter since I was 12 years old that I got zero snow days in. But lucky for
me, there was a work snow weekend that I said yes to. I'm so glad I did.
Friday night saw us off promptly at 4pm and straight into a particularly bad
Pukerau Bay traffic crawl. But strangely once we were past that we sped along
with no holdups whatsoever and made Taihape for dinner, 3/4 of the way there -
that's a first for me. We ate at Le Cafe Telephonique which was very pleasantly surprising (The
Brown Sugar Cafe
sets the Taihape bar pretty high). $20 for a very good chicken burger with
heaps of tender yummy chicken meat crammed into it. We all got interesting
sauces and condiments with our chips too, not just the standard ketchup or
aoli. Will return! Hopefully the new roads coming on stream let us make
Taihape every friday night.
Le Cafe Telephonique
Soon enough we were through Ohakune and into Ratehi. For the last drive I
could see the unique headlights of a WRX behind me and sure enough Ben and I
were driving in convoy.
The house was very strange with an odd layout, weird extra cavities built in,
and an incredibly eclectic set of artwork on every wall. Including a
spooky clown, watching every move in one of the bedrooms.
I was a late ring-in and the 'sleepout' was nowhere to be seen blundering
around in the dark. But I didn't try very hard because truth be told, I like
my sleeping bag and there was a perfectly good piece of carpet in the corner
of the oddly shaped dining room that I made my own. I think my workmates
thought this was quite weird, but just like the porch of a tramping hut, I
slept better there than I do at home.
Saturday dawned to clag, drizzle and low expectations. For the first time in
about five years I actually tried fitting my snow chains, just in case. The
instructions are all in Japanese but there is this handy and hilarious
video tutorial
on youtube. It was easier than it looks - and the three pictures amongst all
the japanese text are actually enough to get them on and off. They're way
easier than regular chains.
But our quick 30min drive to Whakapapa was uneventful and easy. Car park
system worked seamlessly with zero delay and no need for chains. It was gently
snowing when we arrived and we piled out of the car and on to our various
tasks - renting gear, getting lessons, down to Happy Valley or up the gondola.
I'd chosen skis for this weekend; I figured snow would be sparse,
terrain would be limited so I'd be riding T-bars, hopping over rocks, walking
around and over obstacles and negotiating traffic on lower cat tracks. It
wasn't nearly that bad but I think between the T bars, the interminable
traversing and the sparseness of lower mountain off-cat-track trails, I'd made
the right call.
Valley T was open so that's where we headed initially. Initially iwith Carlos
and Ben, later Liam came down. He really hated T-bars on his board! I rode
with him a bit, apart from one '80% success' ride we both did pretty well.
Carlos looking at the not-bad-at-all conditions
Near the end of the day I heard someone call 'Mike!' and there were none other
than Anita and Tim from our Nepal trip. It was great catching up with them and
fun skiing with them too. We did a few runs together from top of Knoll Ridge
T, all the way to the bottom. This seemed to be the run of the mountain with
the conditions as they were.
Anita and Tim
The day was really good, coming from low expectations. There's been just
enough snow to freshen up the whole mountain, and just as it was getting
slushy and wet around 2pm, we got a short snow shower blow through that nicely
crisped everything up. Having said that, I didn't find a single black run that
was open and/or easy to get to. I could have hiked further out west and picked
up some runs out there, and true the Pinnacles with their ice and frozen-in
ruts were accessible from Valley T, but conditions didn't inspire me to
try.
The mountain wasn't too crowded so even wading down Rockgarden and Tennants
Valley wasn't too bad. Though I picked up collateral damage; a bent pole where
I planted straight through the skiff of snow and jammed it between two rocks
(I was wondering what was going to give but eventually the pole did after it
bent itself into the right shape to release!).
Yeah, that was a good day
After a really, really good day it was back to Raetihi to freshen up. We were
hoping for a local dinner burt pickings were slim. The
Raetihi Cossie Club
could have been the go but that was about it, all the other cafes were closing
up or already closed. We decided to keep going back to Ohakune.
Demand was reduced but so was supply; it was not straightforward to find
somewhere open and with space. Eventually we ended up at
The Mountain Rocks
bar, a trusty favourite on the main street. Covid complications meant that the
owner had to do a lot of rearranging to get us seated and still socially
distanced but he did a great job at sorting it. After a few minutes propped at
some bar tables a dining table came free and we were ordering and eating.
Lots of meat. Not bad.
This bar does the tried and true thing of furnishing the walls with art for
sale. It was eclectic and mostly a bit kitsch I thought. Including a painting
of a cow. We talked about that cow a lot. And drank beers. And talked about
the cow. By the end of the night we had all decided that she was beautiful,
and when Michal pointed out that we only needed $15 each to buy her - the deal
was done.
We left with a cow painting. And a 'prenup' for it. (It will live at work, and
the last person still working there gets to keep it when they leave).
Sunday dawned with me, and everyone else, stiff and sore and tired. Some
of us were hitting the slopes again, others checking out the sights and making
a leisurely trip home. We cleaned up and packed up and headed off.
It was a slower start to the day and I shed all the layers I could! Yesterday
I'd been far too hot, the trouble is that my ski jacket is also my handbag
with all my essentials in all its pockets.
Not as good a day today. The light was flat to whited out, and the snow was
initially icy and seemed to go straight to slushy without that nice spring
corn conditions in the middle. I rode Knoll Ridge to bottom 2-3 times.
On one run I came across a knot of people in an inconvenient spot on a fast
bit of the cat track... and discovered that they were treating an unconscious
snowboarder! He was found unconscious and by himself, he must have caught an
edge on the fastest bit where you need to hold speed to get up the uphill just
past it. By this time he was awake and an ED nurse was sorting him out. So no
chance to practice my first aid skills (thank goodness). I headed off and
found a snow patroller to get help send down to him.
By 2:30pm I called it. I was back to Valley T in whiteout, ice and slush
and it just wasn't fun anymore. On my way down for the last time I
managed to pre-release hitting the mogully sloppy mashed spud snow on Tennants
Valley. Not surprising, they're very old skis so I've got the DINs set quite
loose since who knows how the springs are now. Still, an embarrassing
place to fall over because you suddenly discover you're on a monoski.
That was our weekend! It was a tough drive home I found, my windscreen was
filthy and my ineffectual washer spray and old wipers couldn't clean it so lots
of glare to contend with when it got dark. First job the next day was to scrub
down the windscreen inside and out and try to fix the washer jets.
Well, that was a great weekend. With the tribulations of 2020 that was my only
two snow days for the whole season - and my low expectations were vastly
exceeded. Another bonus was, between the days I did and the buddy pass
discounts I gave away, I paid off my seasons pass in that weekend alone which
made me pretty happy and convinced me to buy a 2021 pass after all. Roll on
2021 with no pandemic, some foreign staff to run the place, more snow and a
nice Ohakune lodge to stay in.
What an amazing weekend - Toby and I both said it felt like we crammed a week of fun into that long weekend.
We left Wellington bang on time at 4pm on Friday with Elly and Mike meeting me and Toby. Drove out to Porirua and collected Doro from the train station.
Traffic was slow in an unusual place - Pekapeka way rather than Pukerua Bay. We stopped in Levin and stocked up on snacks to get us through to Bulls. Kebab time.
Got up to Whakapapa around 10.30pm. Fresh snow wasn't a problem, fortunately. We all shared a room and Toby and I were asleep pretty fast.
Up at 5.30am to get dressed quickly and head out the door by 6am. Even Toby managed it super fast - good on him. Mike stayed in bed rather than braving the cold that early. He was looking forward to a hard day skiing anyway.
We saw the coming dawn and the day looked fantastic. Fresh snow crunched under our feet as as walked to the car.
Toby leaves before dawn
Crescent moon pokes over the horizon
Feet in fresh snow
We didn't get to Auckland until 11.15am. Quite a bit slower than I thought it would take. We stopped in Matamata for Maccas for brekkie. The Hobbiton picture on the wall enticed us to buying tour tickets for Monday morning.
Continued to Auckland and then went to check in at Knights Inn, close to the ASB Showgrounds. Lovely customer service at Knights Inn, even though we arrived very early for our check-in - thank you. The whole reason for this trip was to visit the Auckland Armageddon. And the fact that one of Toby's favourite YouTube team was there for it. Mega64. I tried to watch some videoes so I would know more. But it wasn't quite me they were aiming at. Toby though - totally in their marketing sights. We went to The Warehouse to find something for Toby to present to Mega64 for them to sign. He settled on a Blu Ray DVD of The Meg. Hahahah.
Turns out when the Mega64 team saw it, they thought it was hilarious. They crossed out the word "The" and added an "A" after Meg. And the number 64. And they all signed it. They even put a pic of the signed DVD on their Twitter feed later that day. Awesome work, Toby!
While Toby was at Armageddon, I met Arthur for lunch at Forestry Cafe. Yummy! Then we walked to the flanks of One Tree Hill and went to the planetarium. $2 to get to wander around the exhibit.
Auckland planetarium fun!
That's me!
From there, we walked back past our hotel to Mt St John. Turns out this walk was even better than I hoped. Arthur is from St John in Canada, hence the interest. But it was a perfect crater. We got to the top and walked around the rim. Good views of Auckland and the crater was fascinating. The Maori had used it as a pa site and there were kumara pits to see along the rim. Terraced slopes for fortification and gardens too. All in all - awesome walk.
Mount St John crater
Back at the motel to settle in ahead of the rugby. Toby and I went for a walk to find tea. Ate from the local kebab shop - yum! Rugby started. Sent messages to Mike and Col. But the game was disappointing. The All Blacks were owned by England. And sometimes we lose to a team that sparks up on the day and plays out of their skin. This wasn't like that. England just played a superior game and totally deserved to win. By a far bigger margin too. And their rugby is a new style - running, fast rugby. All good. All Blacks have to go back to the drawing board and innovate.
However, Sunday saw the Otago Spirit (women's team) win the Farah Palmer Championship final. Next year they are in the big league. Canterbury won the main league easily.
Otago Spirit win the Farah Palmer Championships. Top league, here we come!
Toby went to Armageddon on Sunday too. After brekkie at Forestry Cafe with me.
Off to visit the Sampsons Sunday evening. Armed with a massive load of fish n chips. And sauce. We sang all night. I loved it!
Sampson Singstar night!
The boys do a duet!
It was so good to catch up with them all. And that is the last time I will be in that house. They have sold and bought a place in Grey Lynn. The pictures look lovely so I can't await to see that. And they have done such a great effort on their old place. No wonder that sold.
I eventually got too husky to continue singing and left around 11pm with Toby. He decided we needed Krispy Kreme donuts then. So we drove out to Mangere and went through the factory shop 24/7 drive through. Hahahah! Toby was so happy.
Back to the motel by midnight and crashed into bed. Up at 6.15 to shower and pack. Toby also up in time. And we left by 7am.
In Matamata by 8.50am and on the tour bus at 9.25am. It headed to the movie set on a farm outside of Matamata and we had a guide take us through the set. This was so much better than I thought it was going to be. Toby and I loved it!
Yep!
Hobbit hole
Hobbit hole
In a hobbit hole
Selfie in front of a hobbit hole
With my new t-shirt from Toby from Armageddon. Stop Wars. Yep, he knows me.
Toby loved this place
So happy to find a forge!
Drinking ginger ale
Gorgeous place
The whole place is gorgeous. Attention to detail is typical of Peter Jackson. Toby was only pulled out of Hobbiton by necessary scaffolding on a dodgy chimney right at the end. Otherwise, all on point. Even the drinking fountains looked like they belonged in Hobbiton.
We got a ginger ale at the end in stone cups. Toby found a forge - which he had been saying was missing. So they even thought about that too. The gardens were perfect. Yep - I thought it was such fun.
I could easily go back.
We left Matamata after some lunch at 12.30pm. Mike and Elly and Doro had caught a van ride back to Wellington, so Toby and I were free agents to get back. We hit the queue at Otaki just south of Levin, still in the 80km zone. And just crawled all the way through to Otaki until we got through to the south side of it. Took an hour to get through that 20km section.
Back home by 7.15pm. Mike looked after us. I was so tired after taking 12 hours to drive (although that did include the 3.5 hour tour stop). I had such a good sleep!
Sally looked after the cats - thank you for that. Mike said they were happy to see him when he got back Monday afternoon.
