I was happy when the weekend came to finally have a couple of days off to go out and do something, as I only really get the chance to go on proper days out somewhere when Joss is round his Dad's at the weekend. I therefore decided I would finally get over and visit the Wairarapa, focusing on the southern parts. I in particular wanted to visit Cape Palliser Lighthouse and the Putangirua Pinnacles so getting there effectively required hitchhiking. I therefore caught the train out to Featherston which only operates twice a day on a weekend, before catching the bus down to Martinborough. It was interesting going through the tunnel through the Rimutakas which reminded me of the alternative route from the doing Rimutaka Rail Trail a few weeks previous.
When arriving in Martinborough which was particularly busy due to the Toast Martinborough event scheduled for the Sunday, something I hoped to visit, I walked for a little bit down the road to try and get a good spot to hitch a ride down to Cape Palliser. I knew it would be particularly easy to get a ride as bar a couple of turn offs to some small settlements the road only went to Cape Palliser. In the end it was easy and I was picked up by a local which meant I practically got a free guided tour on the way down there, the scenery en route pretty special. In the end I got dropped off in the small village of Ngawi about 5km before Cape Palliser as I wanted to check out the bulldozers. Ngawi is known for having the highest ratio of bulldozers to people in the world and they aren't wrong!
After leaving Ngawi I walked the rest of the way to Cape Palliser, stopping en route at various points for photos of the dramatic coastline and black sand beaches. A particularly interesting feature included Kupes Sail which is a geological landform formed through plate tectonics and literally looks like the ground is sticking up in the air. There were also plenty of spots en route to spot seals which were particularly active and in high numbers. I eventually reached Cape Palliser Lighthouse which is the southern most point of the North Island. The lighthouse itself was red and white stripes and lonely planet rank in the top 10 lighthouses in the world to visit. Getting up to the lighthouse required climbing 258 steps, although I did climb some rocks to get a better view too!
When leaving the lighthouse I headed back the same way back towards Kupes Sail and Mangatoetoe which I passed on my way to the lighthouse. From here I started heading inland into the Aorangi Forest. I knew doing Ngawi, the Lighthouse, and the Pinnacles in a day would be ambitious in terms of getting back to Eastbourne as the train passes through Featherston late afternoon, so I instead planned to do a walk from Mangatoetoe to the Pinnacles which happened to pass 4 DoC huts en route, allowing me to stay out somewhere overnight.
The walk followed the Mangatoetoe stream through a valley to the first hut which was pretty. After arriving at the first hut I decided to continue to the second hut as I still had a good couple of hours of daylight to play with. I continued to follow the stream which narrowed before heading up into the forest with a few decent viewpoints, before dropping down into the Kawakawa valley where I followed that stream to the second hut. It felt very remote and when reaching the second hut I decided to base myself there for the night as I didn't want to be in what was basically absolute wilderness at night which would have been the case if I continued. It was nice to relax and have a fire going before it got dark so I think I made the right choice staying at the second hut.
On the Sunday I was up pretty early as the sunlight woke me up, although I didn't have a great nights sleep because I thought it was going to be a cold night but by the time I got in my sleeping bag and left the fire to die down it was really hot inside the hut. After breakfast I pressed on through the forest, initially following the stream before climbing up an incredibly steep path through the forest before dropping down an equally steep path to the third hut by another stream. The terrain was very challenging with loose sediment and many tree roots, and in a navigation sense I had to be on the ball the whole time as animal tracks and hunters trails made following the correct route a challenge. After the third hut the path once again climbed up in an incredibly steep manner before following a ridge line and dropping down into another valley to the fourth hut.
After the fourth hut came the most challenging climb which was practically a scramble to reach the ridge line although I was rewarded with the best views yet and could finally see the coastline again. I followed the ridge line for a while before decending this time at a more gradual gradient towards the pinnacles, which by the end of the path was a 4wd track so easy terrain. The Putangirua Pinnacles are an example badlands erosion. When the Aorangi Range was an island, 7 to 9 million years ago, screes poured gravels onto the coast. The Putangirua Stream which runs through the valley has exposed this ancient layer of gravels to the erosive forces of rain and floods. Where cemented silts or rocks within the gravel beds prove more resistant than the underlying sediments, spectacular individual pinnacles or “hoodoos” are formed. The eerie scenes in The Return of the King as Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli ride along the Dimholt Road to meet the Army of the Dead were also filmed here.
After checking out a couple of lookouts above the pinnacles, I decended into the valley to explore the fascinating landform from below. There were several little paths leading up into the rock structures and I spent a while exploring before following the stream through the valley back towards the coastline and the end of the hike. The coastline itself here was stunning with views across to the Rimutakas in the distance. From here I hitched a ride into Martinborough where I was literally picked up by the first car that passed me. It was fun though as the couple who picked me up had a truck so I sat outside on the trailer bit which was slightly illegal but a great way to see the scenery!
When in Martinborough I checked out the toast event. The Wairarapa is particularly famous for its vineyards and this event takes people out to some of the surrounding vineyards for wine tasting. I didn't do that although I did explore Martinborough itself which had lots going on in the way of food and music in the square for the festival. It is tempting to return to Martinborough at some point with a bike and visit some of the vineyards when it's a little less busy. From here I hitched a ride to Featherston which I had a little look round, before hitching a ride to Wellington, ironically with the same guy I met in the pinnacles. When making it to Wellington I had dinner by the harbour before heading back to York Bay later that evening.
It was nice Joss was round his Dad's Sunday night as this meant I could have a much needed lie in on Monday morning and a relaxing day before he came from school. The following day Joss went swimming which is something weather dependent he will be doing every Tuesday and Thursday morning. As he obviously can't swim unaided I have to go in the pool and swim with him. It's a nice little swimming pool located in Eastbourne only open during the summer as it's outdoors, and Joss seems to enjoy it so it should be a nice little thing to do with him. After school Joss had conductive so after that he was pretty tired having done swimming in the morning, and all his stretches and walking in the afternoon!
On the Wednesday it was sailing once again, and despite it being pretty windy was surprisingly still on. This made it look fun though as the boats were going really fast although Liz was having an absolute heart attack at the speed and tilting of the boats! Joss seemed to enjoy it though. Joss went round his Dad's for dinner after school which gave me the afternoon off, so I just walked into Eastbourne and found a couple of geocaches and chilled on the beach. The following day was swimming once again in the morning, and it was another really nice day. The school even messaged Thursday evening to say that there would be a one off swimming session the following day too.
On Friday we therefore took Joss swimming in the morning although it was only short swim compared to the previous days. When we got back instead of doing the housework I was asked to wash the cars instead which a nice change. It was Black Friday though so after lunch Liza went out in her nice and clean car and came home with a load of stuff rammed inside it! After school Joss was only home for a couple of hours before his Dad came to pick him up for the weekend. In the evening there was some twilight Christmas parade thing in Petone which I thought I'd check out which was basically a parade followed by someone turning the Christmas lights on. There was quite a lot of people out for it so it was worth seeing.
Monday, 27 November 2017
Monday, 20 November 2017
Eastbourne Week 10
Originally Joss was meant to be round his Dad's for the weekend, although this changed last minute due to a misunderstanding in communication. This meant we had the weekend with Joss which was nice but a little frustrating as I had planned to go to the football in Wellington to see the NZ v Peru game. Luckily Liza still allowed me to go so I didn't totally miss out on my plans for the weekend. The morning was spent with Joss while Liza and Liz went out and sorted out a few things, and I then headed into Wellington for the match in the afternoon while they stayed at home and did some baking with Joss.
The match against Peru was the first leg of a play off for a place at the world cup. Peru ranked 10th in the world were no mugs finishing above Chile to secure this match and until the last round of fixtures were above Argentina! There were a lot of Peruvian fans in town and there were an estimated 5000 in the ground and they made a lot of noise. It was great to see a haka live before the game and the national anthems were good. The game finished 0 0 although NZ absolutely defended for their lives so it was an exciting game. I headed back after the game to put Joss to bed, although I wished I was going out in town after the game as there were Peruvians everywhere and they were very lively so it would have been fun!
The following day we had a more chilled out morning, watching the All Blacks game against France which was actually quite exciting as despite destroying France in the first half the French came back in the second half before finally losing. After the game we headed into Wellington to go to the market which was a lot bigger than the one in Lower Hutt. We got a few groceries before grabbing some lunch which had a pretty infinite selection of cuisines. I went for Chilean in the end which brought back some good memories! We then headed back to Eastbourne, where Joss spent a couple of hours with his Dad later in the afternoon. I spent this free time taking Max out as he hadn't been walked all weekend.
On the Monday I just had a chilled out day as the weather wasn't too clever with showers all throughout the day. The following day was a bit nicer so I decided to take Max out for a long walk once again, this time along the coast to Eastbourne, and then up into bush via Hawtrey Trig and down to Days Bay. Max was exhausted by the end though as it was quite a steep path and the kind of track not walked very often so some pretty uneven terrain. It was good to get out though.
Under normal circumstances it would have been the week Joss goes round his Dad's on Wednesday and Thursday night with the weekend at home, however after what happened at the weekend Liza decided to change this as it would have meant if we swapped weekends with his Dad he would have been been staying round there for 5 nights. Instead it meant he just went round his Dad's for dinner on the Wednesday after school, to then go round his Dad's for the weekend before the routine returned to normal the following week. This effectively gives me two consecutive weekends off which is good. Joss had sailing in the morning although it was a very still day which isn't ideal conditions for sailing. After lunch I had a few hours spare so I decided to go into Petone down the beach as it was a nice afternoon.
Thursday was another nice day, so I popped into Eastbourne during the day where I went to the library to read a couple of travel books for inspiration. I even found a pretty exciting multi geocache here which was hidden inside one of the books on the shelf! In the evening we had a firework display in the garden although the fireworks were more small and pretty than impressive. The following day Joss went round his Dad's for the weekend, which meant after doing the housework and looking after Joss after school before his Dad picked him up, I went out in the evening. I just popped to Queensgate and looked round, stopping via the pub on the way home.
The match against Peru was the first leg of a play off for a place at the world cup. Peru ranked 10th in the world were no mugs finishing above Chile to secure this match and until the last round of fixtures were above Argentina! There were a lot of Peruvian fans in town and there were an estimated 5000 in the ground and they made a lot of noise. It was great to see a haka live before the game and the national anthems were good. The game finished 0 0 although NZ absolutely defended for their lives so it was an exciting game. I headed back after the game to put Joss to bed, although I wished I was going out in town after the game as there were Peruvians everywhere and they were very lively so it would have been fun!
The following day we had a more chilled out morning, watching the All Blacks game against France which was actually quite exciting as despite destroying France in the first half the French came back in the second half before finally losing. After the game we headed into Wellington to go to the market which was a lot bigger than the one in Lower Hutt. We got a few groceries before grabbing some lunch which had a pretty infinite selection of cuisines. I went for Chilean in the end which brought back some good memories! We then headed back to Eastbourne, where Joss spent a couple of hours with his Dad later in the afternoon. I spent this free time taking Max out as he hadn't been walked all weekend.
On the Monday I just had a chilled out day as the weather wasn't too clever with showers all throughout the day. The following day was a bit nicer so I decided to take Max out for a long walk once again, this time along the coast to Eastbourne, and then up into bush via Hawtrey Trig and down to Days Bay. Max was exhausted by the end though as it was quite a steep path and the kind of track not walked very often so some pretty uneven terrain. It was good to get out though.
Under normal circumstances it would have been the week Joss goes round his Dad's on Wednesday and Thursday night with the weekend at home, however after what happened at the weekend Liza decided to change this as it would have meant if we swapped weekends with his Dad he would have been been staying round there for 5 nights. Instead it meant he just went round his Dad's for dinner on the Wednesday after school, to then go round his Dad's for the weekend before the routine returned to normal the following week. This effectively gives me two consecutive weekends off which is good. Joss had sailing in the morning although it was a very still day which isn't ideal conditions for sailing. After lunch I had a few hours spare so I decided to go into Petone down the beach as it was a nice afternoon.
Thursday was another nice day, so I popped into Eastbourne during the day where I went to the library to read a couple of travel books for inspiration. I even found a pretty exciting multi geocache here which was hidden inside one of the books on the shelf! In the evening we had a firework display in the garden although the fireworks were more small and pretty than impressive. The following day Joss went round his Dad's for the weekend, which meant after doing the housework and looking after Joss after school before his Dad picked him up, I went out in the evening. I just popped to Queensgate and looked round, stopping via the pub on the way home.
Monday, 13 November 2017
Eastbourne Week 9
The weather forecast was great for the weekend and we were originally going go make the most of this and go out with Jossy but Liz was under strict instructions to rest her leg to help it heal so we couldn't go very far. To ensure this was the case me and Liza took Joss out to the market in Lower Hutt to allow her to rest, before coming home to pick up Max where we took him down the beach which he liked while we sat and a couple of drinks in the pub. We were out for a fair amount of time in the end and even bought some fireworks on the way home. In the evening we were originally going to go out to this reggae thing in Wellington before watching the fireworks in the evening although there were very high winds and Joss threw a tantrum to not go so we didn't go in the end. We could still see the fireworks from the balcony though. Apparently it's the last year they're having bonfire night in New Zealand though because they say Guy Fawkes is nothing to do with the country and should instead have fireworks to celebrate Matariki which is the Maori new year. It's seems a bit stupid though considering Maori are just 25% of the population and many white people here are of British descent.
The following day was another nice day, although Joss wasn't feeling very well so we decided to do a bit more work out in the garden, chopping up all the wood we brought down to make a wood pile. This cleared lots of space in the garden and we were able to plant some more strawberries, this time with a netting over the top as Max dug up the last load. I also filled in many of the holes round the garden he's dug so we'll see how long that stays like that. It looked a lot tidier when we were finished. When we came in we did a bit of cooking where Liza taught me how to falafels. We had a bbq as well for dinner which was nice. By bedtime Joss had a really bad cough though and really wasn't well so fingers crossed that doesn't get spread around!
On Monday we couldn't send Joss to school as he was unwell, so this meant a day at home with him. He was also originally meant to have a hospital appointment too but was too unwell for that too. By the end of the day he was a little bit better, and we still had a good day making some cookies and playing out in the garden as it was a nice day. The following day he went back to school, although I couldn't go very far during the day just in case he was sent home. Luckily he wasn't although it was nice to relax after quite a full on previous few days! We did have a hospital appointment with the guy Joss goes to conductive with after school though.
Wednesday was meant to be sailing although that was cancelled due to the weather, with it deemed too windy. With respect it was pretty bad as I found out when walking Max as I could barely put one foot in front of another and the waves were crashing into the road which made it pretty sketchy. As sailing was cancelled I decided to head into Lower Hutt, as I needed to go to the post office and the bank to sort out a couple of things. I also went into the library which I hadn't visited yet, with it being much bigger than the one in Eastbourne. Under normal circumstances Joss would go round his Dad's for dinner on a Wednesday although he couldn't this week which meant I had to be home for after school. He was happy about that although his illness had spread to Liz and Liza who were both pretty ill, with Joss not 100% still himself.
On Thursday I took Max out for a long walk in the woods behind the house, finding a few geocaches in the process. He seemed to like it and it's quite a good workout for me too climbing the hill onto the ridge! The following day was housework day once again which kept me nice and busy. When Joss got home from school we thought we only had him for a couple of hours before his Dad picked him up for the weekend. This wasn't the case however as he didn't turn up, which we didn't think much of it to start with as he is bad at communication and the time he picks him up varies every week. When after a couple of hours he still hadn't turned up and wasn't answering his phone we started to get a little worried, so gave Joss his dinner. We knew something had to be up as he is always really good with Joss, so me and Liz ended up going round his house where there was no sign of him. In the end Liza came home as we didn't know what to do, and was not happy with his Dad so we put Joss to bed. In the end he messaged us saying that he wanted to swap weekends, something apparently Liza hadn't agreed to, so it was all very confusing.
The following day was another nice day, although Joss wasn't feeling very well so we decided to do a bit more work out in the garden, chopping up all the wood we brought down to make a wood pile. This cleared lots of space in the garden and we were able to plant some more strawberries, this time with a netting over the top as Max dug up the last load. I also filled in many of the holes round the garden he's dug so we'll see how long that stays like that. It looked a lot tidier when we were finished. When we came in we did a bit of cooking where Liza taught me how to falafels. We had a bbq as well for dinner which was nice. By bedtime Joss had a really bad cough though and really wasn't well so fingers crossed that doesn't get spread around!
On Monday we couldn't send Joss to school as he was unwell, so this meant a day at home with him. He was also originally meant to have a hospital appointment too but was too unwell for that too. By the end of the day he was a little bit better, and we still had a good day making some cookies and playing out in the garden as it was a nice day. The following day he went back to school, although I couldn't go very far during the day just in case he was sent home. Luckily he wasn't although it was nice to relax after quite a full on previous few days! We did have a hospital appointment with the guy Joss goes to conductive with after school though.
Wednesday was meant to be sailing although that was cancelled due to the weather, with it deemed too windy. With respect it was pretty bad as I found out when walking Max as I could barely put one foot in front of another and the waves were crashing into the road which made it pretty sketchy. As sailing was cancelled I decided to head into Lower Hutt, as I needed to go to the post office and the bank to sort out a couple of things. I also went into the library which I hadn't visited yet, with it being much bigger than the one in Eastbourne. Under normal circumstances Joss would go round his Dad's for dinner on a Wednesday although he couldn't this week which meant I had to be home for after school. He was happy about that although his illness had spread to Liz and Liza who were both pretty ill, with Joss not 100% still himself.
On Thursday I took Max out for a long walk in the woods behind the house, finding a few geocaches in the process. He seemed to like it and it's quite a good workout for me too climbing the hill onto the ridge! The following day was housework day once again which kept me nice and busy. When Joss got home from school we thought we only had him for a couple of hours before his Dad picked him up for the weekend. This wasn't the case however as he didn't turn up, which we didn't think much of it to start with as he is bad at communication and the time he picks him up varies every week. When after a couple of hours he still hadn't turned up and wasn't answering his phone we started to get a little worried, so gave Joss his dinner. We knew something had to be up as he is always really good with Joss, so me and Liz ended up going round his house where there was no sign of him. In the end Liza came home as we didn't know what to do, and was not happy with his Dad so we put Joss to bed. In the end he messaged us saying that he wanted to swap weekends, something apparently Liza hadn't agreed to, so it was all very confusing.
Monday, 6 November 2017
Eastbourne Week 8
Joss was round his Dad's for the weekend which gave me a couple of days with a great weather forecast to do as I pleased. I keep meaning to go out over to the Wairarapa but with just 2 trains a day over there on the weekend, 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening, and no public transport to get to the areas I particularly want to visit I would realistically have to hitchhike or cycle, or go on a weekday when trains are more frequent. I therefore decided to save that for another time where I could perhaps stay somewhere overnight with a bit of planning. In the end I decided to go and try out the Rimutaka Rail Trail which I was going to do the other week on the bike. I left pretty early and made a more successful bus journey over to Tunnel Gully than before.
The Rimutaka Rail Trail is an old railway line which linked Wellington and Hutt Valley settlements to the Wairarapa over the Rimutaka mountain range. A long tunnel was constructed underneath the Rimutakas in 1955 however and this remains today as both a commuter and freight railway. The trail is particularly popular with cyclists although I decided to walk it, starting at Tunnel Gully. The first section was through the forest before doing a bit of road walking to reach the official start of the trail. When reaching the start it started to get more of about old railway line feel and the path soon followed the Pakuratahi River and over the Munitions Bend bridge into a valley which was pretty.
I eventually made it to the Pakuratahi tunnel, the first of 4 tunnels en route and the shortest one before crossing a couple of old railway bridges over the river, a particular highlight the one at Ladles Bend which had a great view of the river and Rimutaka mountains behind. The path eventually got to a point known as the summit which was the highest point of the track and an old workers settlement and yard for the trains. There were a few old locomotives up here and a nice picnic area. I then continued on through the summit tunnel which at 584m was the longest tunnel en route before the path decended at the other end along a section called the incline which is the steepest section at an average of 60% gradient. On the descent I passed through the Siberia tunnel which at the other side had the remains of an old viaduct known as Horseshoe Gully, as well as Prices tunnel, eventually decending down to the Cross Creek yard which was another former workers settlement which is where I stopped for lunch.
On the way back I headed back up to the summit the same way through the tunnels, getting some great views of the Rimutakas around me. Apparently the journey up the summit took about 50 minutes by train and bearing in mind I walked up quicker it shows how steep and slow the train would have been. When reaching the summit I primarily followed the same route back over Ladles Bend and the Pakuratahi bridges, before diverging off an alternative route back to Tunnel Gully via Goat rock which was a shortcut all be it up and over a hill instead of round it. It was a pretty solid walk in the end and I covered a fair bit of distance, but it was worth it. When getting the bus I headed straight back to Petone where I sat and watched the sunset and had dinner before going down the pub for a few well earned pints.
The following day was another great day although I had a bit of a lie in as it was a long day before. In the end I decided to go and do a bit of geocaching as I hadn't been since July, tieing it in with going over to Wainuiomata which is the other side of the hills. Geographically Wainuiomata is actually closer to York Bay than Eastbourne, there's just a big hill in the way and on my way over I found a few geocaches, the highlight being this multi where I had to find this plane wreckage. When getting to Wainuiomata I had lunch before continuing to the Wainuiomata Recreation Area which was home to an old dam and wetland area, as well as several swimming holes which were tempting to get in! I then headed back up and over the hill to Eastbourne, finding a few more caches before dropping down into Days Bay. It was very humid inside the trees so I was glad when I reached the coast again!
After a busy weekend it was back to school on Monday, although they had sports day which meant we went down to watch for a bit in the morning. It was probably pretty boring for Joss though as he primarily had to watch everyone else, although I did help him in one of the throwing events. The afternoon was pretty chilled out, and when he got home from school he was pretty tired being out in the sun all day as well as being in his bike. The next day was a normal school day although it was conductive after school, and after dropping him off we went to a small garden centre to look round before picking him up. We even had a bbq in the evening as was such nice weather, fingers crossed summer has now well and truly begun.
On Wednesday it was Joss's week where he goes round his Dad's for a couple of nights, so after taking him sailing I had the afternoon to myself. I therefore decided to pop over to Paraparaumu to visit Melva. It took ages to get there though as public transport in NZ is a joke which I've said many times but it was a lovely day by any means. It was nice to catch up and I even stayed for dinner, not getting back until late. It was a warm evening though, finding a few geocaches on the way back. The following day Joss came home after school for a couple of hours before his Dad picked him up, and after he went I popped into Lower Hutt for the evening as it was another great evening for a few beers down the pub, finding a few more geocaches in the process!
Friday was housework day again and I've got a pretty solid routine now to get it done more quickly. In the afternoon we popped out to Mitre 10 and the supermarket to buy a few things for the house, although all the recent good weather ended and it was horrible outside. In the evening we were going to go out but the weather put us off, although Liz had an accident and cut her leg open on Joss's walker which meant we had to go to A&E which meant our evening was spent there instead. In the end after a few hours waiting Joss's Dad came to pick me and Joss up and took us home so he could have dinner and go to bed. In the end it was a late night as the cut was so deep it needed an x-ray in case of bone damage and then needed stitches, so I had to keep an eye out for Jossy at home while Liza looked after Liz at the hospital. They didn't end up getting home until gone midnight but luckily she was OK!
The Rimutaka Rail Trail is an old railway line which linked Wellington and Hutt Valley settlements to the Wairarapa over the Rimutaka mountain range. A long tunnel was constructed underneath the Rimutakas in 1955 however and this remains today as both a commuter and freight railway. The trail is particularly popular with cyclists although I decided to walk it, starting at Tunnel Gully. The first section was through the forest before doing a bit of road walking to reach the official start of the trail. When reaching the start it started to get more of about old railway line feel and the path soon followed the Pakuratahi River and over the Munitions Bend bridge into a valley which was pretty.
I eventually made it to the Pakuratahi tunnel, the first of 4 tunnels en route and the shortest one before crossing a couple of old railway bridges over the river, a particular highlight the one at Ladles Bend which had a great view of the river and Rimutaka mountains behind. The path eventually got to a point known as the summit which was the highest point of the track and an old workers settlement and yard for the trains. There were a few old locomotives up here and a nice picnic area. I then continued on through the summit tunnel which at 584m was the longest tunnel en route before the path decended at the other end along a section called the incline which is the steepest section at an average of 60% gradient. On the descent I passed through the Siberia tunnel which at the other side had the remains of an old viaduct known as Horseshoe Gully, as well as Prices tunnel, eventually decending down to the Cross Creek yard which was another former workers settlement which is where I stopped for lunch.
On the way back I headed back up to the summit the same way through the tunnels, getting some great views of the Rimutakas around me. Apparently the journey up the summit took about 50 minutes by train and bearing in mind I walked up quicker it shows how steep and slow the train would have been. When reaching the summit I primarily followed the same route back over Ladles Bend and the Pakuratahi bridges, before diverging off an alternative route back to Tunnel Gully via Goat rock which was a shortcut all be it up and over a hill instead of round it. It was a pretty solid walk in the end and I covered a fair bit of distance, but it was worth it. When getting the bus I headed straight back to Petone where I sat and watched the sunset and had dinner before going down the pub for a few well earned pints.
The following day was another great day although I had a bit of a lie in as it was a long day before. In the end I decided to go and do a bit of geocaching as I hadn't been since July, tieing it in with going over to Wainuiomata which is the other side of the hills. Geographically Wainuiomata is actually closer to York Bay than Eastbourne, there's just a big hill in the way and on my way over I found a few geocaches, the highlight being this multi where I had to find this plane wreckage. When getting to Wainuiomata I had lunch before continuing to the Wainuiomata Recreation Area which was home to an old dam and wetland area, as well as several swimming holes which were tempting to get in! I then headed back up and over the hill to Eastbourne, finding a few more caches before dropping down into Days Bay. It was very humid inside the trees so I was glad when I reached the coast again!
After a busy weekend it was back to school on Monday, although they had sports day which meant we went down to watch for a bit in the morning. It was probably pretty boring for Joss though as he primarily had to watch everyone else, although I did help him in one of the throwing events. The afternoon was pretty chilled out, and when he got home from school he was pretty tired being out in the sun all day as well as being in his bike. The next day was a normal school day although it was conductive after school, and after dropping him off we went to a small garden centre to look round before picking him up. We even had a bbq in the evening as was such nice weather, fingers crossed summer has now well and truly begun.
On Wednesday it was Joss's week where he goes round his Dad's for a couple of nights, so after taking him sailing I had the afternoon to myself. I therefore decided to pop over to Paraparaumu to visit Melva. It took ages to get there though as public transport in NZ is a joke which I've said many times but it was a lovely day by any means. It was nice to catch up and I even stayed for dinner, not getting back until late. It was a warm evening though, finding a few geocaches on the way back. The following day Joss came home after school for a couple of hours before his Dad picked him up, and after he went I popped into Lower Hutt for the evening as it was another great evening for a few beers down the pub, finding a few more geocaches in the process!
Friday was housework day again and I've got a pretty solid routine now to get it done more quickly. In the afternoon we popped out to Mitre 10 and the supermarket to buy a few things for the house, although all the recent good weather ended and it was horrible outside. In the evening we were going to go out but the weather put us off, although Liz had an accident and cut her leg open on Joss's walker which meant we had to go to A&E which meant our evening was spent there instead. In the end after a few hours waiting Joss's Dad came to pick me and Joss up and took us home so he could have dinner and go to bed. In the end it was a late night as the cut was so deep it needed an x-ray in case of bone damage and then needed stitches, so I had to keep an eye out for Jossy at home while Liza looked after Liz at the hospital. They didn't end up getting home until gone midnight but luckily she was OK!
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