Well this weekend was supposed to be mountain time down in the Kawekas but we were feeling a bit tired on Friday night so decided on the lake alternative. We got up there about lunchtime on Sat, dropping Pennys bike off at one end and parking at the other....it was pouring with rain, but for once we didn't wuss out. 6 hours later stumbling along in the dark we made Waipaoa Hut.
While it was daylight it was a really pretty track, kind of scandinavian with bare rock sliding into the water, lots on inlets and islets and regular huts to keep the motivation levels high.
The hut we stayed in was real nice, a few hunters and trampers to spin yarns too and a nice warm fire, our basic rations of smoked chicked and bread rolls with camembert was sweet as for dinner, meant we didn't have to carry stove/plates etc
Sunday was a clearer day, which meant for good views from Panekiri Bluff high above the lake, nice goblin forest on the ridge top, moss swathed trees, with the howling wind smashing into the other side of the ridge metres away from our sheltered position.
Luckily I managed to hitchhike to the far end of the track, passing a happy Penny who still had an hour to bike, she was going well though. Great weekend
Yeah haven't done heaps of posting recently, so thought I would recount a little mission we did earlier in the year.
Penny and I and her workmate Max (who coincidentally went to school with Gemma) cruised up to the Coromandel and met up with Megan and Fred.
Highlights on the trip up were playing guitar and impovised singing (at the time I only knew A, C, D and G) and exploring Ohiwa estuary at dusk, with a stingray flapping in the sunset.
We arrived late to Tairua but found Megan and Fred, and had a nice weekend sifting around Cathedral Cove etc and a lovely run up in the hills somewhere...awesome part of the country.
One memorable moment was Fred standing on top of a watertank with the guitar giving us an impromtu performance...brilliant.
