The weekend with an awesome Tongariro Crossing

Hi,

What an incredible weekend.  We left work early on Friday and went to the Tabor house to collect Toby.  He was in the park so we drove around to the end of their street and collected him.  After a quick stop at home for his devices, we collected Vivienne from her house and we were off by 5pm.

We had a stop in Levin for groceries and a stop in Bulls for the best kebabs in the world according to Mike.

Kapiti Island looking stunning

Angela looking less than stunning, more like sleepy or startled

Mike got a migraine at Paraparaumu so I took over driving.  Poor Mike.  Poor Vivienne too as she had to listen to me singing all the way.  She was kind enough to call it an education.  But I think she'd rather have stayed ignorant of 99% of it.  She did perk up when Jethro Tull came on.

We got into the lodge just after 10pm.  Not too bad.  Unloaded, found a bed and I was asleep pretty fast.  Up early and breakfasted and away to collect Mary from the Chateau.

Mike dropped us off at the Mangetepopo end, and I went with Kirsty in her car.  There were 6 of us doing it.  Jo, Julie, Mary, Vivienne, Kirsty and me.  I work with Jo, Julie and Mary.  Kirsty was a Meetup ring-in and a jolly marvellous companion for our walk.

New signs since my last visit.  It was flashing green.

Ngauruhoe is an awesome backdrop

Up the devils staircase

Top of the devil's staircase

Love my shadow - and it has feet.

Selfie at the top of the Devils staircase

Selfie with Mary

Selfie in the red crater

All my selfie faces look the same.  I need lessons from Aidan or Andrew.  They have both perfected the selfie that doesn't look like a selfie.

Halfway up the next steep section

Almost up to the top of the walk

Julie has a V for victory

Lunch spot - awesome view, eh?

Jo had the comment of the day at lunch.  She pushed the sleeves of her t-shirt up and said she'd get a much better tan here because she was closer to the sun.

The weather was amazing.  Hardly any wind at all, and if we did feel it, it was a cool breeze that assisted us.

Selfie at the top with the crater behind me

There were loads of people doing the walk with us.  Probably close to 1000 people.  That is just a random guess.  But the scree slope held up quite a few of the walkers.  We passed two people going down on their bottoms.

Lake behind me

Selfie with the lakes

Selfie with Jo

Vivienne checks out where she's been

I found the last 3.5 km from Ketetahi Hut hard.  My boots were squashing my feet.  I did end up with a blister on one toe but it is the ball of my foot that hurts the most.  I need new boots.  My mission is to find a light tramping boot now.  Disappointed with these Hi-Tec ones.

Next time I am packing sneakers for the downhill part.  I did appreciate the boots in the scree though.

The end!

 We finished at 4.30pm.  Or was it 5pm.  Somewhere around there.  I do have the stats from my phone but unfortunately I forgot to turn it off when I got in the car so my top speed was 102 km/hr.  Hahahah.

Don't pay attention to the vertical blue line at the end.  Hahahah.

My feet the next morning.  Mt Taranaki poking out of the clouds in the far, far distance

However, I am not disappointed with my sandals.  And my nail polish stayed on through the hammering of 5 km of downhill walking.  That's good nail polish.

Close up of Mt Taranaki

Saturday night we popped into the pub after dropping Mary off at her car for her drive back to Taupo where her holiday is still going.  We ate there and went back tot he lodge and I was in bed as soon as possible,  Had the best sleep.

Up to tidy the next morning and away to Wellington.  We stopped at Brown Sugar Cafe in Taihape and had a great vegetable frittata.  Then stopped at Levin for a play in the adventure park.

Back home by 4pm and ironing and dinner sorted.  Toby walked to the dairy to get some milk for us.  Good kid.

My ride in this morning was god fun.  Dry roads.  My legs are reminding me that I did walk 20 km at the weekend though.  Oops.

Have a wonderful week.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with packing for the weekend

Hi,

Well, my ride home was lovely after a day at work.  No wind, blue skies.  Got home and found the slow cooker had cooked tea to perfection.  Lentil and chicken stew stuff.  Mike called for a lift home at 1830 after his haircut so I went back into town to get him.  Then home to cook rice and we all ate tea.  Although Toby actually hid his tea on the ground outside.  Mike noticed.  Lentil stew didn't seem to do much for Toby.  He expressed guilt at it and promised he'd try harder next time I cook lentils.

We finished packing and had a bath.  I wanted to try my Christmas present from Sally and Andrew.  Mango smelling soap with a loofah.  Mike almost sent me to sleep.  Love my back getting tickled any which way!

We slept well in our new locations for the second night.  Toby slept really well.  Woot!  We finished packing the car and headed to town.  Mike left his laptop at home so has gone back with the car to find it.

Meanwhile, I need a cup of tea.  We're leaving from work at 4pm with a few workmates.  We'll collect Toby and Vivienne on the way.

Should be fun!

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with dinner out

Hi,

Toby went out to see a movie with his mate William and he enjoyed it.  Big Hero 6 I think it was called.  I want to see that one.  Hahah.  Fortunately Toby said he'd come again to it.

I bought some shoes for work while I was out with Toby.  I am hoping they are as comfortable as my last pair.

Trying them on

Mike met us at JB Hi Fi where Toby spent some Christmas money and then we went to Mama Brown for dinner.  Mmmmm.  Toby and I shared ribs.  Good!  Mike had the burger and declared it very good.  As we walked back to the car, me in my new boots, we saw Moby, full of Tabors.  So Mike and Toby took off running after Moby, which had stopped at traffic lights.  An exchange of words was made out of windows and they were off.

We got home and moved our bed into the upstairs bedroom.  It was hot, hard work.  Toby is now sleeping in our room.  The spare room is now Toby's old room.  It's a trial.  Let's see what happens.  Mike said he had the best sleep!  So, that's one person happy with the move.

I still have stuff strewn between upstairs and downstairs now.  I can't shift fully this weekend because we're off to Ruapehu for a Tongariro Crossing walk.  But next weekend is Wellington Anniversary.  Toby and me at home while Mike explores the South Island somewhere.  I'll need to get loads of decluttering happening that weekend to make it all habitable.  At the moment I feel like I am camping.

Have a lovely day.  It's gorgeous here today.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with lunch with Vivienne

Hi,

Having lunch with Vivienne was the highlight of the day.  We eventually found a cafe that was open - many are still closed for the holiday period.    Arabica cafe I had a good iced coffee and we had a nice bread roll for lunch.

Arabica iced coffee - a good 8

The mission was to find sandals for Vivienne.  We went into a few stores, but she declared them all too clunky and described her ideal sandal as strappy.  Aidan's recent sandal acquisition came to mind, so I showed her that photo.

The Op Shop $7 sandals Aidan found

Turns out these sandals are pretty much what Vivienne wants.  But we found ourselves at Kathmandu and I found the sandals I wanted.

My new sandals!

Pretty happy with those.  Vivienne found some there too.  Yay for making us happy.

I went back to work and struggled through the afternoon before riding home.  Nice ride home.  First one for quite a few weeks.

Cooked tea and waited for Mike to get home from work (he was at a client site in Lower Hutt - checked Sally and Andrew's house and letterbox).

I wore my sandals around.  Just to show off.

It is a little damp - but still warm here.  Toby is coming into town at 4pm and we'll go shopping for a bit before having tea somewhere.  Yum.

Have a wonderful day.
Love,
Angela

The Monday back at work was hard

Hi,

I managed to get through the day somehow.  Sally and Andrew left on their adventure down south and we got a few updates via Facebook.  Awesome stuff.  I can't wait to hear how it goes.

Iced coffee at Bethel Woods

I nipped out with Celia and Mike for a coffee.  Mixed Business was still closed so we popped into Bethel Woods.  They made a different iced coffee for me.  I quite liked it.  Solid 8.

After work, I drove up to collect Toby from the Tabor household and managed a quick cup of tea with Aidan.  She is still recovering from a bad cold and sounds very husky (or squeaky, but I think it might sound better if I call her husky).  Toby went to see the Penguins of Madagascar movie with her and the boys.  What a lucky boy.

Toby and the hat he found at the park

We went home and just as I pulled up, Mike texted for a lift.  So I popped down the hill and got him.  Then we had tea at home and I drove out to do the rubbish at Sally and Andrew's place.

Back home and Toby was asleep by 8pm.  The boys must have worn him out.  He did mention Duncan snored a lot, and Aidan mentioned her coughing woke him early.  But, whatever it was, I haven't seen him sleep that well in months!  More, please!  Hahahah.  I was also fast asleep by the time the documentary finished.  I now have no idea if the planet can sustain 9 billion people by the middle of this century.  I suspect not.

My ride in was lovely this morning.  The roads are dry.  It is super muggy though.  I am seeing Vivienne for lunch - happy about that!

Have a great day.

Love,
Angela

The Monday back at work

Hi,

What a great Christmas break.  I can't possibly do it justice.  So I won't bother trying.  Here is a summary.  We had a great Christmas Eve together.  We got our last minute things and Aidan popped in with her mother for a while.  I got a spa appointment from Aidan and a hand knitted woolly hat from Susan.  Toby got an awesome t-shirt (and exercise book) from the boys.

I got a hat for winter from Susan!  Thanks.

We made our contributions for the Christmas lunch.  So we had it out of the way for Christmas morning itself.

Christmas Eve

Mike's mother came around for Christmas Eve and we sang Christmas carols around the piano.  Made me happy, although I think Mike's mother would have appreciated singing that was in tune.  Enthusiasm doesn't really make up for lack of talent in the singing arena.

Christmas morning was lovely.  Toby woke up at 4.30am but we convinced him to go back to sleep.  He did!  Second Christmas morning was much easier to handle.  We put on Christmas carols and opened presents.  Great fun.

We drove over to Sally and Andrew's house for lunch and caught up with loads of family.

Dessert table

Mike going back for seconds

Toby looking festive

Ham.  Mmmmmm.

Our contribution for lunch

Aidan carved the yummy ham and beef and we all tucked in.  And tucked in.  And maybe even tucked in a bit more.


 I stayed later than Mike and Toby, enjoying the food and company.  Eventually I took Christine and Brian home and went home myself.  Madly packed (although Mike had done some) and fell into bed.  Up early for the flight to Auckland and then onto Brisbane.  Karen and Scott met us and we joined slow traffic north out of Brisbane for two hours.

Got to Peregian Springs and immediately felt at home.  Mum and Dad are good (Dad was at work when we got there).  Swimming was on the agenda every day.  As was eating.  And shopping.

Just Dance moves.  Toby shows how it's done.  And gets the high score, much to Abby and Tyler's surprise

Second Christmas at Peregian Springs

Lots of swimming

Out for dinner

Hot work, sleeping in Queensland

We went into Noosa for a walk and brunch.  I had a great iced coffee at Gaston.  Very good.  The next day we came back for a surf lesson.  Me, Toby, Tyler and Abby.  I was possibly the most hopeless.  But I had such a great time.  The sea was as warm as a bath.

Great Iced Coffee at Gaston in Noosa

Noosa beach

On our walk

Aussie World highlight for me - Ben and Jerry's ice cream

We also got to Aussie World.  On a really hot day.  I was happy to find Ben and Jerry's ice cream there.  A coffee flavoured tub hit the spot.

Aussie World

We're about to eat chocolate!

After a week, it was time to come home.  Toby and I left with Karen and Scott (Tyler and Abby were staying longer with Mum and Dad).  We drove to the airport and got there super early.  It was so relaxing!

Toby at the airport coming home

Andrew looking pensive

Mike collected us from the airport and even at 1am I could tell the front garden was incredible.  Mike and his mother had wrestled it into a lovely garden again.  Thank you so much! What a lovely surprise.  By the time I fell asleep it was 2am Wellington time. Made getting up tricky business. But we had to get up for another family celebration at Sally and Andrew's place.  This time it was for Helen's 80th birthday.  What a great day!  Speeches, food, loads of family to talk to.  People I had only seen in photos.  I loved it.

Col and I have no idea where the camera lens is.  In our defense, it is dark.  In my defense, I have none.  It's my camera!

I wore a dress

Next day was another day of excitement.  I had my spa appointment with Aidan.  We got our toes done and the massage on my feet was delicious.  We went for lunch to Yum Cha and drove around a bit in the car.  Nice weather for a drive in the convertible.  Took some photos of my toes.  Aidan stomped on my toes to flatten them for the photo.  I often stand with my toes up - not sure why.  She didn't think it was how they should look for the toe photo.

Aidan stomping on my toes.  

My toes match my outfit perfectly

Driving in the wee green car was fun in the sun!

Toby was invited for a sleepover to the Tabor household.  So Mike and I got grocery shopping out of the way and dropped and collected bikes.  Home to eat and then ironing and then bed.

This morning was hard to drag myself out of bed and to work.  Ooooo.  The shock of it all.

2015.  Ooossshhh!  Here it comes.

Have a fantastic year.

Love,
Angela

New Years was cancelled this year

One thing I've kept up since high school is having New Years in a different place every year, and being there to see the new year in.

Neither happened this year.  I'm asserting that there was no New Years in 2015.  If people can seamlessly move from being aged 39 to aged 31, why can't I do the same with New Years holidays?

It all started with my organising Open Lodge again this year.  The theory is that if we have a Lodge Leader at the WTMC lodge, then people can just turn up when they feel like it with no booking no hassle, which means summer use and PROFIT.  In practice you also need a Lodge Leader to be there.  Easier said than done.  A hole turned up on Dec 31, which was the most popular day of the year last year, so I felt obliged to fill it.  Angela and Toby were off to Sunshine Coast, I stayed behind to sort my Mum out, but she headed back to Dunedin early leaving me at a loose end.  So north I headed to provide cover and see the new year in.

I needn't have bothered.  In a delight of how sample sizes of one are not great for prediction, we had a total of six people in the lodge.  I got to hear how the club is run completely wrong and should be catering for people who were active members in the 1980s and refuse to use the internet and use club facilities regularly every 5 years, rather than being run for active members in the 2010s who actually go tramping, come to club nights and offer their services to make the club work.

Then somewhat bafflingly, everyone went to bed at 9pm.  I now had limited options.  I could sit up for three hours, staring at the walls with my no-mates just to be awake at 12am.  I could walk through the murky, swirling mist and soaking rain to my car, and drive down to the Tussock Pub to drink ginger beer, pretend I knew people, and half heartedly cheer as the clock ran over.  Or I could go to bed.

I chose the latter.  Far as I'm concerned I had no conscious sight of any time between 31/12/2014 21:00 and 1/1/2015 7:00 so those times did not happen.