Walking in the Hunua Ranges

Last weekend we decided to go out and enjoy some of the great countryside here. We headed off to the Hunua Ranges with a picnic and the intentions of a short walk and kicking a ball around. The countryside on the drive up there was so pretty. When we arrived we picked up a map showing the walking routes and decided to go for a short route for our first visit and picked the one and a half hour loop.

The start of the walk was through sub tropical forests and was really steep, after about a half hour walk up 'a mountain' my heart was racing faster than after a gym session. Although that's not saying too much I guess often my gym session would consist of quite a bit of time in the Sauna and spa pool! After another half hour steep walk we came across a sign post that didn't quite match where we thought we should be. After consulting our map again we realised the car park we'd set off from wasn't the one on the map and we were in an entirely different area of the forest! I must add here that I hadn't been in charge of the map reading, I left that to Darren - who should know better as a former scout!

The result of that meant we were on a three and a half hour walking loop! There was talk of turning back by the youngest member of the walking party but we decided to carry on. And I have to say it was well worth it the forest was beautiful, and about half way round it opened out to a picturesque dam - it reminded me a bit of Marsden (Huddersfield). We stopped there and ate our picnic, which included the most yummy bacon and egg pies.

At the end of the walk was a rock hop over a stream. It was a lovely place to go and reinforces some of the reasons why we came to New Zealand.

Every weekend feels like being on a holiday here, but just the same as being back at home Mondays come round so quickly!

photos taken on the walk - Rock hopping across the stream - Hunua Falls - A peek
of cossey Dam

More fun on Mount Ruapehu

Day 2 in the snow...

We woke up to another perfect day, brilliant blue sky no cloud and not a breath of wind. We decided to give snowboarding another go, to see if we could really master it. This time Kenny (our friend from Auckland) decided to give it a go as well, but without the lesson! I have to say he picked the going down the hill up really well, he was almost to the bottom of the slope before I'd even got going. The only thing was no-one had told him how to stop, so very painfully for him he had to fall to stop himself. He's been suffering ever since with sore ribs, its cruel to laugh at someone else's misfortune but it was one of the funniest sights ever - well so far that day!

After a couple of hours we decided our aching bodies could take no more of the snowboarding and headed much higher up the mountain on the ski lifts for some lunch and sight seeing. The views up there were amazing and the ski runs looked pretty scarey - not sure I'll ever be good enough to give them a go.

After lunch and a few photo opportunities we set off back down the ski lifts. I've never been too keen on travelling on the ski lifts, it makes me nervous having to jump off while the chairs are still moving. What happened next has made me even more scared of going on them. As we approached the bottom of the slope, a huge queue of people were waiting to go back up. I jumped off and tried to run to the side out of the way of the chair but got the toggle of my coat stuck in the chair. I shouted to the guy operating the chair that I was stuck but instead of stopping the chairs he asked if I could take my coat off, all this whilst I'm running alongside the chair in the snow. In a mad panic I managed to get my coat off doing a stunt man type roll in the snow at the same time. Much to the amusement of my family and friends and the huge queue of people waiting!

I did get a bit of an applause for my efforts and the guy helping people on to the chairs managed to get my coat for me. So apart from a bruised cheek all ended well!

After that we headed back up to Auckland. Its one week on now and I've only just stopped aching. Harry can't wait to try it again but the ski season is pretty much coming to an end so it will be next year before we go again. Unless we go to the indoor ski centre at Snow Planet - mmmm...i might just watch!

Fun in the snow!

My furniture and other posessions finally arrived I came home to a house full of boxes - 106 of them to be precise. We've just about finished unpacking them now and it feels much more like home having familiar things around us and pictures up on the wall.

One of the best things about having our things here is I can use the dishwasher now we have more than four plates, dishes, cups etc. I was really glad to get rid of the cardboard coffee table too! The spare bedroom is made up now ready for visitors from the UK. The first visit is from Jodie and Richard in thirteen weeks - I can't wait I'm hoping to talk them into staying!

Last weekend we decided to get away from the boxes for a while and head down to Mount Ruapehu. Its about a four hour drive down towards the middle of the North Island and is a ski resort in winter. We'd booked a fantastic house in Ohakune, when we arrived the log fire was burning it was really cosy.

Next day we got up to a perfect day brilliant blue sky with just a slight chill in the air. The views from the decking were fantastic. A beautiful running river and green trees to one side and the snow topped mountain to the other. We decided to head up to the mountain go and play in the snow for a while and see what the skiing and snowboarding was like.

It was pretty busy there but just so beautiful. You could see for miles and miles. Harry wanted to have a go at snowboarding so we hired a board and boots and booked him a lesson. Rather foolishly Darren and I decided to have a go too!

We (Darren and me) were by miles the oldest people having lessons. It was one of the hardest things I think I've ever done. My problem was I couldn't stay on my feet and when I fell I couldn't pull myself up from a sitting position without heading off down the hill! The only way I could get to my feet was from a kneeling position which meant I ended up facing up hill and started going down the hill backwards. After about my 20th fall I was ready to give up. But Chris, our instructor was so patient and between him and Darren they made me keep going.

I finally started to get the hang of it learnt to turn and managed to stop and steer myself down the hill. Harry picked it up pretty quickly and he was flying down the slopes and couldn't wait to have another go. The apres ski was my favourite bit of the day...to be continued.