The Long Weekend

Friday was Waitangi Day here in New Zealand so we had the day off work... which was great! Myself, Dave and Amanda did a day tramp (hike to folk outside of NZ) up to Mt Kapakapanui. Apparently there are great views from the summit (1100m) so I had my camera packed up in my day pack. As we drove to the road end I got a fairly good hint that I might not be taking any photos from the summit as I saw lots of cloud cover over the mountains. Not to worry I still brought the camera... you never know :) In typical Kiwi style the track kept switching sides of the same river which required walking through it a number of times! Thanks to gaiters and luck I guess I got nothing more than damp heels to start with and actually that was due to my splashing while trying to get across relatively fast!

I admit that I found the initial steep climb relatively tough going but at least I managed to keep going... most of the time :) After lunch at Kapakapanui Hut there was one more steep portion before we reached the top... where there was a bit of a wind and lots of mist/cloud. Definitely no views! But worth the climb anyway. After all that, it was the rather steep descent (first 600m of the 900m descent is pretty steep) that has put the muscles on the front of my thighs in to a state of shock! I was fine getting down but yesterday those muscles were a little tight but today... well today I'm not sure they're working! Well, pilates tomorrow evening so they'd better fix themselves up pretty fast.

We've had a really lovely weekend weather wise. In the low to mid twenties in Wellington here today. A few friends came up from Christchurch for the Rugby Sevens so we met up this afternoon for a relaxing lunch at the Lido and then a visit to see the Colossal Squid in Te Papa. I know that one of it's eyes is missing, but the other one is meant to be there and I couldn't see it. Oh, if you're wondering, the reason I was looking for it is that it's apparently the size of a football! After the guys left for the airport I headed back to the waterfront with my book for a bit of sun and a taste boysenberry gelato (well passionfruit is my favourite but there was none left... which is not surprising considering the queues outside Kaffee Eis all day!)

Oh, and another wonderful gift I got this weekend were two sandfly bites which I can only assume I got on Friday afternoon when I was taking off gaiters, socks and boots after the tramp. Itching is driving me nuts!!