Hi,
I was very excited to finally get back to Mana Island for a visit after seeing it about 25 years ago with my mother, Vince and Sally and Andrew. This weekend was a day trip with me and Toby. But to see the changes and enjoy the island once more was a fabulous experience.
Toby and I left at 8.40am on Saturday in the Subaru and we navigated fairly easily to the Mana marina (ok, maybe a slight detour down to NgatiToa Domain first). We sat in the car as we were very early. Toby chilled to some music. I read.
At 9.40am we wandered out to meet the rest of the 30 punters. Jackie was co-organising it (she knows Mike) and she came over to say hello to us. We also chatted to Pam and Peter - and Dean who met us at the Endgame movie last week. I didn't know anyone else. Toby and I were kinda wishing we had Mike there to socialise.
The skipper of the boat asked us to empty our bags to check for rodents before we got on board. The boat trip out was smooth - left the marina at 10am and took about 20 mins. We went up onto the beach and all hopped off the gangplank off the bow. The ranger living on the island met us and took us to the woolshed where he explained about the island. About 13 km of track. Takehe on the island are breeding. Kiwi are there too. Rowi - I think (one of the rarest of kiwi). We heard plenty of birds. Kakariki flew overhead as he talked.
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| Getting off the boat |
Toby and I headed off clockwise around Tirohanga track while the rest of the punters went anti-clockwise. We enjoyed the track so much. Saw one other person before we headed up the hill. I think he was from the previous boat an hour ahead of us.
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| Walking up clockwise on Tirohanga track |
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| About halfway around Tirohanga track |
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| Beautiful feathers |
We didn't see any takahe on our walk (although other punters did once we compared notes at the end). But we had such a good walk. We got to the trig where the old lighthouse used to be at the same time as our group and had lunch there. Toby played with a kiwi conservation dog from DoC.
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| Toby stands like a sentinel |
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| View back to Mana on the mainland |
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| Walking, walking |
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| Toby looks cool |
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| Walking |
We got back to the beach with 2 hours to spare and enjoyed a rest on the beach, in a shallow gully to keep out of the wind. Even so, we ended up with all our spare clothes on to keep warm.
Bit more of a bumpy ride back - got some Maccas from Johnsonville for Toby on the way home - and in our house by 5.30pm.
I was pretty tired and asleep by about 9.30pm. Only to be woken by Toby doing housework at 11.30pm! He was putting a wash on and doing the luxing. Turns out the prospect of having Tessa come over the next morning was enough to make him tidy. I just wish it wasn't at midnight.
Mind you, he didn't keep me awake. After I shouted out the washing machines instructions, I was comatose once more.
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| Moxley reminds me to get up |
Sunday was lazy. Bit of laundry. Mike got home around 2pm and we went grocery shopping. He survived the weekend in fine style.
And that was our weekend. All good fun.
Hope your week ahead is a good one.
Love,
Angela
