Unseasonable Cold and a Reunion

Last Thursday here in Palmerston North was just Freeeezing. The temperature was low enough at 9am and just dropped from there. We seemed to spend a large part of the day hovering around 4C. Plus it rained and rained...... It didn't seem like much consolation to say "It must be snowing in the Ranges."(Actually, it felt about as cold as it was on the day I walked across the Aubrac Plateau in France which is at a much higher altitude.)But come Friday morning there were these tempting glimpses of snow on the Tararuas....

It was well worth enduring the cold of Thursday to see these views on Friday morning.

Just as well the rain stopped, as I was due to drive north for the Sacred Heart reunion in New Plymouth, 125th Jubilee. (For my overseas readers, believe it or not, that is quite 'old' in New Zealand terms!!!)And it was a great weekend. Lots of my former classmates were there, and the decibel rating was high throughout!!! We are already planning the next reunion...

Road trip to Tekapo

One of the reasons I took my car south was that I was hoping the weather might be suitable for a road trip closer to the winter mountains. I was not to be disappointed on this occasion!
Friday morning I escaped Christchurch city, heading for the inland tourist route south, quickly discovering that the frost was much heavier inland. There were glimpses of the mountains at this stage, but they were largely draped in mist, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be lucky or not. However, somewhere around the region of Mt Hutt, the mist all cleared. I headed southwards with the sight of glorious snow-covered mountains to my right.

At Geraldine I turned inland again in the direction of the Alps. I loved this drive, seeing the white of the mountains ahead of me, and already I was in heaven.

Then heaven got even better. I know I have driven over Burke's Pass before in the summertime, but didn't find it at all remarkable. It lies at about 700m. As I came to the Pass this day, I entered a winter wonderland, where the snow had obviously covered the road a few days before. Snow was still covering the fields right down to the roadside.

It was all so bewitching that I decided I might even drive on as far as Mt Cook, even though that would make a very long driving day. However, somewhere not too far west of Tekapo, I could see cloud draping the bottom of the mountains, and soon I entered thick fog.

After 15 minutes in the fog, I decided that it was time to be sensible and retreat, and I later heard that this fog extended all the way down to Queenstown.

I drove back into the sunshine. Here you can see just a wisp of the fog, a hint of what lay ahead on the route south.
Instead of driving south I enjoyed a relaxed lunch by the lakeside at Tekapo, walking over frozen snow to get to the lake edge.

The views were just magnificent. What bliss!!

And the historic church at Tekapo had quite a backdrop. What a beautiful road trip it was, a truly magical day.

Christchurch and the seaside

I had been told that Christchurch had seen hardly any sunshine at all during June, so I had packed all my thermals. But luckily the sunshine arrived about the same time as I did, and stuck around for the whole week! My friend had somewhat of a family laundry backlog to catch up on though as a result of the recent inclement weather.......

One of the things I love when in Christchurch is the chance to walk along some long beaches. Tuesday saw three of us embark on the walk from Spencer Park to the Waimakariri River mouth, sometimes walking along the sand beside the beach, and sometimes slightly inland amongst the dunes closer to the lagoon. The sunshine lulled me into leaving my good windjacket behind, just taking my raincoat in case of need, but the risk paid off, and I enjoyed walking in the gentle winter sunlight in calm conditions. Once we reached the lagoon at the estuary end, we spotted some spoonbills and shags hanging out. It was quite muddy in places walking back on the inland track, which had unfortunately been rather torn up by some recent 4WD activity. It was sad to see the damage inflicted on areas where crabs etc clearly abounded.
Two days later I had another beach walk with some other friends. We started by the Waimakariri rivermouth this time, but on the opposite bank. Another lovely day for another great beach walk. Winter heaven.

Heading to the South Island

School holidays! And I decided this time that I would head south and hopefully catch sight of both friends, family, and some snowy mountains.

First though there was a performance of Starlight Express to see in Wellington. I knew little about the musical, but Georgia, who was one of our young Sound of Music stars, was having her debut into professional theatre so I was hoping to catch sight of her. And catch sight of her we did: turns out there was some illness in the cast, and she was performing the role of Ashlea. And didn't she do well!! I loved the show- it was such a vibrant spectacle. The cast were incredibly well drilled and energetic, tearing around on skates for the whole show. The costumes were stunning, and the lighting was really effective. The songs, that were of various 'pop' styles, gave me plenty to laugh about, and there was all the melodrama of cheering for the underdog! We all loved it.

Next morning it was time to rise earlyish for the ferry across Cook Strait. I have to say, I quite liked watching all the commuter car lights stream by, knowing that I was heading off on a wee adventure rather than to work.
Given some of the weather recently, I was hoping it wouldn't be too rough.... and as it turned out, the Strait was almost like a millpond.

Before I knew it, we were sailing in past the treacherous looking bits of land at the edge of the Sounds
and we were soon sailing through Tory Channel where we saw the other Interislander ferry heading northwards.
Hardly any time later we had docked at Picton, and the ferry doors opened ready for us to drive off.....

Kinship and compassion

From the commencement address for Creighton University Graduation
by Fr Greg Boyle, SJ

"And you go from here to create a community of kinship, such that God might recognize it. You go from here to bend the world to grace. You imagine a circle of compassion. And, then you imagine nobody standing outside that circle. And, to that end, you walk to the edges of the circle and you walk with those on the margins. And, you stand with the poor and the powerless and the voice-less. You stand with the easily despised and the readily left out. You stand with those whose burdens are more than they can bear. You stand, in fact, with the demonized, so that the demonizing will stop. You stand with the disposable, so the day will come when we stop throwing people away. You seek, as you leave this place, a kind of compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have to carry, rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it. And, a great many people will look at you, standing at the margins and will accuse you of wasting your time.

The Prophet Isaiah writes, “In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste,’ there will be heard, again, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voices of those who sing.” You go from Creighton University to make those voices heard – in a sense new belonging and kinship. "

The Lilac Fairies

Recently I had the opportunity to become a Lilac Fairy. Surely not, you say? Weeeellllll, I guess not really. But we all found the chalkboard description on our dressing room door so delightful, nobody wanted to replace it....
This is actually how I looked in full regalia. Yes indeed, I entered the convent. Well, er um, briefly, just for a few weeks.
And here are some of my companions in crime in the alto seconds. Yes, of course, we were involved in a very famous musical. And I am certain you can probably guess which one. (No, not Sister Act.)

And here are some wee miniature versions made by a couple of my fellow nuns in 'recreation time' in the dressing room.
Regretfully we have now all left the convent, miniatures included. But I am sure if an opportunity for a reunion came along, eg Sister Act.... we'd all take up the habit again in a flash!!!

What we Love

“The things that we love tell us what we are.”
~St Thomas Aquinas

Western Ruahines - Heritage Lodge

This summer, Forest & Bird have been running a series of walks to various parts of the region. Today the bus trip was taking us to Heritage Lodge in the Western Ruahines, run by the Deerstalkers Association. We were met at the carpark by a member who told us that there are not so many (exotic) deer by the river flats in this area these days. It seems that many of the deerstalkers are just as interested in preserving other wildlife, especially the endangered blue duck which is found in upper reaches of the river. The deerstalkers are heavily involved in a scheme in which trap lines are being laid to catch stoats and rats, in the hope that blue duck will be able to extend their range.

It was a gorgeous summer's day, sunny but not too hot. The first part of the walk was over farmland on which quite a lot of bush regeneration is happening, and we had beautiful views of the ranges in all their rugged beauty.

Here is one of the traps, a DOC approved design, that obviously caught something if you look at the tail. If you are horrified by trapping, I am sure you will get over that if you read a little about the impact these introduced animals, especially stoats, are having on our endemic birds.

There is a wonderful little humped bridge to cross once you reach the bush area.

We were warmly welcomed into Heritage Lodge and people ate their lunch there. Well, at least most people ate their lunch there: I had got my wires crossed and thought I was on a half day trip so had just brought a snack with me. Then we had the options of relaxing in the hut, taking a 'hard' walk down to the river and back up, or taking an 'easy' walk along the ridge line. I opted for the easy walk!

We arrived back in town at about 4:45. Fortunately for the others involved in my Sound of Music rehearsal, this did give me time to whizz home and have a shower first!!

For those who would like to know more about the Oroua valley stoat trapping project, there is a pdf file you can access part way down this DOC volunteers page, under the "Oroua Valley Stoat trapping project" heading. Actually, I found this whole page quite enlightening... I had no idea I could volunteer to do some of these things!!

Beehive Creek

Today I joined PNTMC for a family walk on the Beehive Creek walkway, up in the Pohangina Valley.

Lovely views were had across the valley to the Ruahine Ranges behind as we started off. The forecast was for plenty of warm sunshine, and it certainly felt warm as we first headed up the road so we could make a circuit.

We weren't the only ones out enjoying the day: we were passed by quite a few vintage cars out on a rural rally. It came time to head off the road and up the hill on farmland. Felt very warm making that climb, and I was the slowest...... I am always the slowest up the hills.....but I don't think I was as slow as last time I made this climb two years ago.

I was reminded as I climbed of the lovely walker from the mountains of Grenoble, who passed me heading up the steep road out of Montbonnet last April. She was sticking with me, but I told her to go ahead, as I knew I was holding her up. She kindly replied with the French understanding that 'each person has their own rhythm' that always makes you feel better when you are the slowest!

Once we had descended the hill we all gathered under a shady tree for a rest and drinks of water. Someone produced some "Buzz Bars" since we were on the Beehive Creek track.... And here Doug demonstrates the only kind of snake you get in New Zealand - edible ones!!

It was a great day out, with all ages on the tramp. Here a very young tramper descends from the stile. Who knows where this young one will choose to go in the future?!

Much of the last part of the walk was down the stream itself. It was just heaven splashing through the water, which was actually quite low, and warm. I caught sight of this native koura in the stream bed. Maybe it wasn't in the best condition, being out in the daytime, and with the water temperature as it was. If you want to know more about koura though, here are some links, from DOC, RSNZ, NZ freshwater org, and a photo from the Rimutaka Trust.

After the big splash-along, we collected our lunch and found a shady spot to enjoy our lunch in the nearby picnic ground. Then we headed home, but not before the tramper's traditional cone icecream treat from the Ashhurst shop ;-)

Out on my old 'training' route in the sunshine

This has been an awfully lazy holiday. And I haven't exactly been up early often. So when I decided that today was the day I would walk my old 'training' circuit, Old West-Turitea-Greens-Kahuterawa Rds, I knew I would have to set the alarm to get up early enough to beat the heat at the end of my walk.

The alarm came as an awful shock before 6am. I had prepared my day pack yesterday evening, so somewhere in my befuddled brain I knew I was off out walking, but somehow I forgot I was at home, and in my confused state I was trying to work out exactly which village in France or Spain I was in, and what day it was....etc.....

I set off with the early morning sunshine, and after an hour or so I met the traffic on Turitea Rd starting the journey to work. And shortly after that I became desperate for a cafe in the next local village where I could get a cola kao con leche. No such luck on the rural New Zealand route I was on of course!!
I was glad to reach upper Turitea then Greens Rd, where I got to climb. I had forgotten quite how steep some of these climbs were. But I see now why they stood me in good stead when I had to climb up and down so much in the early days from Le Puy.
The first part of the climbing was in lovely shady bush, but later on the walk became more exposed to the sunshine.

After three hours walking I felt quite tired!! But a circuit is a circuit, and I was only just over halfway. I sat down on the grass verge for a snack, enjoying the hill view. At least I didn't have to worry about snakes in the grass here at home, just the odd cowpat or two.

After four hours walking I received my 'reward': at the high point along Greens Rd you suddenly emerge to this view over the Manawatu Plains. I remembered walking here not too long after I arrived home one winter's day, when it was bitterly cold, wet and windy along here, and I needed to don all my warm layers. Today by comparison, it was obvious from the outset I had much more need of sunscreen and a sunhat and plenty of water to drink.

Lovely blue skies, and warm and calm today.

I thought I caught sight of the red under-feathers of a kaka swooping by.
And finally I was into the home stretch down Kahuterawa Rd. We used to have a Camino saying that the last four kms is the hardest, no matter whether you walk 14km or 28km. Today I walked about 20km at a guess. And the last four kms did feel like the hardest! The soles of my feet are not quite as accustomed to walking as they were just a few months ago!!
But ahhhhhh........ it was a lovely summer's day!

Postscript: Next day: I didn't wake before 6am today- without benefit of the alarm I was back in holiday mode and it was nearly 8am. My muscles are also a bit stiff, unaccustomed as I am to regular long walks now!!!

Happy New Year 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL!!!!!
OK just cos we are 'early' here to welcome in the New Year.... here are some photos from how we rocked in New Year 2009 in Palmerston North Square.

There was a great party in the Square in downtown Palmie, and the crowd had a really good vibe. Lots of families, lots of people of all ages. First photo is of the two 'vocalists' from Abba Addiction who started singing soon after I arrived, about the same time as a shower of rain arrived at about quarter to eleven. Fortunately, the rain never came to anything much.
By the way, all these performance shots are taken via the wonderful big screen.....I couldn't see the stage for all the young ones dancing;-)

With about twenty minutes to go before midnight, the act shifted to a group called Sound Workshop from Hamilton. They'd performed earlier in the evening as well I gather, before I arrived, and were back on stage by popular demand. They rocked!

They were really energetic and a whole lot of fun to watch and listen to.
Their drummer enjoyed turning on a show.
And this vocalist seemed to really enjoy what she was doing.

It seemed no time before the countdown clock was whirring it over for the last minute of 2009 in our part of the world.
And then the fireworks began from the top of the Council Building. Such an ugly building usually...... nice to see it can look attractive for once.



And then when the fireworks were done, Sound Workshop took to the stage again so everyone could rock on!