The weekend down at Mt Hutt

 Hi,

What a mega weekend. We left Thursday afternoon from Wellington after driving to the airport in our car with our ski gear. We worked from home so it was easier to get away.

Gilberts wearing shades of grey hoodies

Picked up our RAV4 Avis rental car in Chc airport and went to Toby and Tessa's flat for a bit. Chilled there before going to Pomeroy's for tea. Khemry and Kyle arrived and we had a great dinner. As usual.

We said goodbye briefly to Toby and Tessa as they headed back home for their gear and a blow up bed. And I drove the rest of us to Methven.

We got to our wee house just after 8pm. 2 bedroom and pretty small. But very clean and tidy. Such a good wee house. We squeezed Toby and Tessa in when they arrived on their blow up bed in the lounge. Tessa got the fire going and they were toasty warm.

Next morning we were all up and ready. Ana arrived from Chc for the day. Fresh pow. But the road was closed until 11am! So we sat in the car in the car park for a while.

Then there was a delay getting the lifts running. But it was worth it. Flat light for a lot of the day. But soft snow. Mike reckons he skied his best run with Ana in 25 years!

Off to Mt Hutt

Snow through the clouds

Maybe it is clear?

Mike's best run. Look at that snow, top to bottom like this.

Nice

After a good half day of skiing we headed back down. Took the chains off in a muddy area and Mike was very dirty by the end of that. As was the car.

Washing off in the snow, after a messy chain removal

Me!

Everyone!

Mike in my goggles

Dinner out at Blue Pub. And then karaoke at Brown Pub where Mike and Toby wowed the crowd. Beastie Boys duet. Obscure fan-focussed Bruce Springsteen song. Hahah. It was brilliant.

Saturday I chilled with Toby and Tessa. We skimmed stones at Rakaia Gorge and then went to Primo Secundo for brunch.

Saturday with these two

Primo cafe

Rakaia feet

Enchanted forest walk

Toby

Tessa

We also did the Enchanted Forest walk. So good. Lovely rural and mountain views. Almost 5k by the time we got back to the wee house.

Two of them

Water trough

Toby just waved at Mike skiing on Mt Hutt.
Mike has to swim across this canal next month!

Beautiful views

Nice seat

Cute wee lambs

Salt lick

Chicken waffles

Another Blue Pub dinner. And around 8pm we said goodbye to Toby and Tessa as they drove back home for Toby's work early Sunday morning.

Khemry and Kyle decided not to ski Sunday. Kyle was a bit sick and Khemry kept him company in the cafe. But I skied with Mike and had a great day! Snow still really good.

Sunday ski

Where are you, Mike?

There you are

On top of the world

Back to the car at 2.15pm and waited while a helicopter took some poor person away (he screamed in pain a fair bit) because we were parked very close to the landing pad.

Back to Chc airport and dropped the car off. We didn't have time to see Toby and Tessa properly but they drove through the drop off zone and we gave them our leftover food.

Khemry met her friend that lives in Chc as we had some tea. Then through security for our flight home. Them on Jetstar and us in Air NZ. Only 5 mins apart, waving to each other since we were parked on adjacent gates. It all worked well.

Filthy car

Wonderful sunset

Back to Wellington and into our car via the Z carwash because the car was covered in salt. And home to feed the cats and put a wash on and to bed. I slept so well. 9 hours I reckon. First time I have done that for a while.

Up for work. Busy.

Have a great week.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with work stuff

 Hi,

Mike and I talked ourselves out of a post work run along the waterfront. Sigh. We bussed home together and had some tea and packed for the ski weekend.

Second loaf out of the oven

Not too bad

Good holes and chewy

Lots of buttery goodness there, Mike

I also did my second sourdough loaf. This was a wee bit different. Prepped it last night with the starter and flour and stretchy folding for 2 hours. Then into the fridge. And when we got home tonight, I took it out. Heated the dutch over at some scalding temperatures in the oven. Added the dough and two ice cubes (ta Anne) and an hour later...

Pretty delicious.

Right. Half day today. We will see Toby. And I think Tessa is coming to Methven. That is choice!

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with my first run and a walk home with Barb

 Hi,

Beyond excited to get back to normal levels of exercise. At lunch time I went to buy trail running shoes - mainly for the Spring Challenge. Shoe Clinic were their usual good selves. And I wanted to basically get the same shoes as Mike because he loves his.

Asics - very nice

Janine came after work and we all went for a run. I did 3k - first run since the flu. And it was absolutely fine. yay!

Snow glinting in the sunset up on the Tararuas

Then I walked home with Barb to really try out the shoes on the steep tracks. They worked so well. I am very happy.

City views

Moon and... Venus?

Barb glowing

Barb took us up over the Te Ahumairangi hill, and we went towards Huntingdon St. But veered off the track, down some unmarked steps to the right - very close to the road end. And came out in a driveway up Monmouth Way. Wow! Cool.

Welcome back, Dave

And hello Sam

Home to prep my sourdough for another loaf. And have some quick tea. Mike got home after his dinner with Janine. And we had a bath to warm up and relax.

Then bed. No earthquake to rudely wake us up. Good sleep. Up for bus ride in and gym for me. 70kg deads. 4 reps x 4 sets. And some lat pull downs and rows.

Iced latte date with Dave - he has been working from home for a while. So good to see him. Sam joined us too.

Run after work again today. Callan will join us. I will do 3k again - nice and slow. Then home to pack for the weekend away.

Take care.

Love,

Angela

The Monday back at work and with my first sourdough attempt

 Hi,

Well, the sourdough turned out pretty good, to be honest. A bit peely-wally on top. Apparently solved with more water spray as it bakes. So I will try that.

Yes, it was a process. But once you get it, it is not hard. I am sure I will get some failures as I get to know this process more and experiment. But also - might just nail it! Delicious with butter over it. I got out some goat burger patties for tea. And we ate that when Mike got home inside two halves of the sourdough. Mike loved it! I am chuffed.

It worked

Tui in the kowhai outside our kitchen

Singing its wee head off

Tried my pannier on the new carrier

Went to try out my pannier bag on the newly-fitted Aeroe rack. And fail. It does not work. But investigating it further, it turns out I have put it on upside down. or backwards. So I will attempt to re-fit it tonight and see if the pannier works.

Moxley enjoying the heat of the day - and our airing sleeping bags

Smudge on our ski gear suitcase soaking up the sun

Had a good sleep until 23:00 when an earthquake shook us awake. 4.8 and shallow, under Cook Strait. That was a bit rude - made Moxley flee from under the duvet. Hahah. And after that I seemed to have a bit of a fitful sleep. My alarm at 5:45am was quite the shock.

Geonet comes through with all the details

But, off to the gym on the 6.35am bus. It dropped me at 230 The Terrace at 6.55. And I ran. I ran so far away. Well, to the gym. And got there at 6.59am. So if I run from the bus, I can get there on time.

Lewis Road iced coffee at work courtesy of Mike

It was bench day. And I am weak. Weak! 35kg. 4 sets x 4 reps. And 1 set of 6 reps. Then a whole bunch of accessories. Shoulder press. Arm raises. Front raises. Triceps. Flys. Bicep curls. And 50 push ups.

OMG.

At work. Busy. And I hope to walk home with Barb tonight. She is calling it the jungle path. Oohhh.

Have a great day.

Love,
Angela

The weekend up at Ohakune

 Hi,

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.

Rose overnight

Is this a tight ball?

Scored and ready to bake

Let's see what happens to the bread. If it works.

Hope your week is a good one.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with after work things

 Hi,

What a long day. Early meeting and then some of us attended Mike's architect meetup group because a friend from work was presenting. So it was around 19:45 before Mike and I got home. Cats were happy to see us. Becasue... food and heat pumps. We smart kittens know how to open cans and turn on the heat. If they could do that, we would never see them.

Work colleague did a great presentation

Our friend nailed the remit. Got lots of post-talk engagement. Always the best indicator of a well executed presentation. Well done! Met a few people. Ate some nibblies.

Home and not long out of bed. My cold seems to be hanging around. I thought it would be totally gone by now, Gah!

Up for porridge this morning and into work with Mike on the bus. Quentin is in Queenstown about ready to ski in this huge dump of snow we are all copping. Lucky him and Courtney.

Weekend beckons. Hopefully the first ski trip of the season for us. Turoa. Fingers crossed. 

Take care of yourselves.

Love,

Angela