The Wednesday with nothing

Hi,

I have to say, I got the wettest I have ever got on my bicycle this morning.  The rain was sheeting down and pooling.  One of the roads I rode down was actually a waterfall today.  And I rode past a toby that had a geyser of water skooshing up about 30cm.  Yep.  Wet.  The exclamation this morning from someone when I walked in dripping wet was "You're game".  Sure sign, right?

But, it was still fun!

Last night Mike took me home in the car and we had dinner and then I escaped to see Christine for a cup of hot cocoa.  We hadn't caught up for a while so we chatted away.  I showed off my toenails!  Heheheh.  She was very appreciative.

Have a fantastic day!
Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with Cubs

Hi,

I got rather wet riding in this morning (Wednesday).  How do you know it is wet?  When you get to work, people look at you and exclaim "Good on you!".  Uh ah.  They think I am mad.  I understand.  But it was lovely in the rain this morning.  The harbour was as flat as a pancake and the raindrops looked pretty falling into the grey water.  My gear is drying out under my desk. 

Last night Cubs went well.  We seem to have snaffled another Cub leader.  Cool.  I suggested Pip come to an evening with her son and he could jump the waiting list if she signed up as a leader.  Looks like she wants to jump the queue.  Mini golf must have looked like fun.  Apparently her son knows some other Cubs and he has been told we slept with lions (huh? - the zoo sleepover I wasn't on perhaps) and light fires with magnets (flints - and no one managed to ignite anything!).  Hahahah.

I am also quite taken with my toenails.  Aidan's suggestion to paint them was a great one.  The colour is called "An affair in Red Square" and they certainly catch my eye in the few times a day my toes are visible.  What a hoot!  I may be getting in touch with some deep, hidden feminine feelings.  No, hold on.  I am sitting here with wet bike gear under my desk.  No other woman around me has clothing festooning her desk.  Perhaps it is just a momentary aberration.

Time for a lovely cup of tea.

Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Angela

The Monday with hauling stuff to the loft

Hi,

This morning (Tuesday) I left the house with Toby, saw the ski pants hanging on the line to dry and knew they had forecast a bit of rain so I took them in and then went up to get my bike.  Toby got in the car with Yingjie and I started riding... And the heavens opened.  I got soaked within 1 kilometre.  They were heavy, fat, wet drops.  And lots of them.  Hahahah.

Last night I rode home with Mike after Mike watched Curiosity landing on Mars (I missed it by seconds and saw the NASA staff celebrating).  After dinner we emptied out the under-stairs cupboard ready for Mike to demolish the last wall in the ensuite area.  We need to get a slab of concrete poured.  Sigh.  Lots of work.

This morning we woke to news of Tongariro erupting.  This is putting a bit of a brake on Mike's plans to walk over the top of Tongariro again this weekend.  Lava and ash spewing out of vents are not part of the alpine course he has done.  Heheheh.  I am concerned it might put a brake on ski plans this weekend.  Currently Whakapapa is in no danger at all.  But if the wind turns to a northerly, it might blow that way I guess.  And they finally have a bit of snow!  Aaarrghh.  I want to ski!

Cubs tonight.  We have a Den night - which is good because it is not a nice day out there anymore.  Still not cold though.

Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Angela

The weekend with loads of fun

Hi,

Toby went off for a sleepover on Friday and Mike and I went out for dinner with Sally and Andrew.  Then I dropped them off home and Mike and I caught up with loads of Olympics on TV.  Woke up and made Mike a nice breakfast (smoked salmon and cream cheese on bagels) and Toby was delivered to us.  We tidied and Mike dug a trench (exposing our broken sewer pipe - nice) and then we were off to walk with Jack and his parents.

We walked up to Belmont trig and it took 4 hours.  Will joined us as well so Toby was happy to walk and chat the whole time.  I was in shorts and a t-shirt.  It is so warm.  Toby saw flowering pohutakawas.

Then home and Jack stayed for a sleepover.  They were asleep pretty early - says a lot for a four hour walk!

Sunday more tidying and then away for lunch with Sally and Andrew and the Tabors.  We met at Uncle Mike's Kansas BBQ place in Petone.  Yummy.

After lunch Mike took Andrew and Josh to see Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter (yawn) and I went with Aidan and the boys to watch Rex race his remote control car.  When we got to the race track, Rex was overjoyed to have instant pit crew for his final race.  We timed the race and refueled his car every 7 minutes.

After that we shot off to see a house in Island Bay for Aidan to check out.  Nice view.  Shame about the house.  Then home to paint toenails!  My toes look amazing!  Ta Josh for filling in my mistakes!

Then Vivienne and John came over for tea.  I drove Andrew home and headed to Porirua to get Indian takeaways.  I can't think of a much better end to my weekend than driving the wee green car all over Wellington on a glorious evening.  Good excuse.

Next weekend is a ski weekend!  Let it snow.  Bucketloads!

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with whatever

Hi,

The roads were bone dry this morning and my ride down the hill was fast and furious.  With the Hutt Valley out of commission due to a petrol tanker crash, the roads have no traffic on them.  It's like a holiday!

Mike has a migraine this morning and it walking back home after getting off the bus.  Poor guy - it might be my work stress levels contributing to his stress.  I hope he is okay after taking his migraine medicine.

We saw Toby's teacher yesterday evening and she seems very happy with Toby's progress.  We are too.  He's a good kid.  He could try harder, but he is way better than last year.

Have a marvellous day!
Love,
Angela

WTMC Ruapehu Lodge - directions

The WTMC Ruapehu Lodge is easy when you know where it is, but initially difficult as it is mostly obscured from the car park.  Here are some directions.

Drive up the Whakapapa ski road, until you get near the top (the 50 km/h area).

On your right, cars will be angle parked.   On your left are the day car-parks, numbered from Car Park 10 (the first one you see).  But soon, you will see a car-park on the right, directly opposite Car Park 1.  Park here if at all possible.

As you face up the hill, the WTMC lodge is to your right and a little back down the hill.  You can't see the WTMC Lodge from the road, but you can see Serac Lodge on the ridgeline, likely with a big spotlight shining.

From the car-park, head away from the road, directly away from the 'Car Park 1' sign on the opposite side of the road.  Climb down into the small gully and up the other side.  Careful, as a stream runs through the bottom of the gully.  Not usually a problem in winter as there is usually snow covering it.  But in wet conditions in autumn or spring, you may end up with very wet feet if you're not alert.

Climb up to Serac lodge. (a few minutes).  The path should be pretty clear from the bottom of the gully.  It has steps, and a couple of road markers someone has helpfully stolen and put on the path about halfway up.

Walk past Serac and the WTMC lodge is just behind it about 30m away and slightly more uphill.

And if in doubt, ask.  Especially if people are wandering up and down the path.  They are likely to know.

There are more maps and directions, and a video of the path, here: http://wtmc.org.nz/lodge-location

The Tuesday with Cubs

Hi,

Oh - it is Karen's birthday today! Happy birthday wee girl.

At 4pm the other Cub leader texted me to say he couldn't make it for the Cubs session.  I texted Mike to call him up for active duty and he heroically shunted aside his work he had lined up and came and ran the Cubs session with me.  He did a great job - on top of his threatening man-flu (so he tells me).  Thanks, Mike.

Sigh - it does make it a bit hard when the other Cub leaders can't make it.  I think we need to recruit more leaders.

Busy few days at work - busier than usual.  And parent/teacher interview this afternoon.  I think I will need to go back to work after that to get through a bit more.  I have a two hour session today to run and an eight hour one tomorrow.  Yikes!  I am unsure I can talk for two hours let alone eight of them!

I do have a lunch date with Aidan to look forward to today though.  Some bright light in the murkiness of work.

Love,
Angela