Monday, December 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Midget Gang
It was great to have Darren Ashmore and Rebecca Smith stay a couple of times recently with their daughter Mia. Mia is very close to Mae in age and what she's into. Mia and Mae were hilarious, the beginnings of a real little midget gang. There is a serious rivalry underpinning this relationship though, Mae will be trained to smash Mia at orienteering to make up for my continued beating at the hands of her father for the last decade.
Spring 2013
Life as a house dad seems more attune, and dependant upon, the seasons than life as bus company manager. The working day is of course meaningless, fridays are when everyone else is more likely to want to drink a beer and weekends stick out only because of the extra company. Spring has brought more light, more rain and more weeds to the 1000 square metres fenced off enclosure of 70 Chamberlain Road.
The washing has been rotting on the line as the Cameila flowers rot on their stalks. The Rhododendron has had more of a prune so we can see more of the neighbours flowering magnolia and the concrete slabs of commercial Karori. The Tui's are so prolific that the other birds keep a very low profile, except for the odd bold kaka. The vegetable garden is fully planted with lots of pony shit added to the mix, and the old rat that used to live in our ceiling has departed this world courtesy of the DOC 200 trap by the compost heap.
Maebo continues to grow and amaze us. She is walking now, kind of, she does it best in the nude, but them when she falls without the padding of a nappy she gets a little angry. Our favourite trick at the moment is a family howl, like a pack of wolves. Maebo gets it, both the action and the feeling. She tilts her head back howls, makes eye contact and laughs.
Penny's challenge is work/life balance - too much of two good things, and to make the most of the time she gets with Mae, not to bring the days baggage to those moments. Mine has been the problem of having too much time to think, and too much time to regret some of the weak options I have taken. But mostly Mae brings us into the moment and plans for the future are very postive, if a little uncertain as we figure out how to manage having a family, 1.5 careers and some will to contribute to our communities.
We have enjoyed several great occasions recently with friends and family. Penny recently won the Mukamuka Munter mountain race and we are both getting fit for lots of orienteering, running, biking and tramping over summer. I got a little stale for a while with the outdoor life, but have come around to the conclusion that my first instincts in life were pretty good. There is not much more important that enjoying and preserving our outdoors.
The washing has been rotting on the line as the Cameila flowers rot on their stalks. The Rhododendron has had more of a prune so we can see more of the neighbours flowering magnolia and the concrete slabs of commercial Karori. The Tui's are so prolific that the other birds keep a very low profile, except for the odd bold kaka. The vegetable garden is fully planted with lots of pony shit added to the mix, and the old rat that used to live in our ceiling has departed this world courtesy of the DOC 200 trap by the compost heap.
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| The Beards gone now - it was slowing me down uphills. |
Maebo continues to grow and amaze us. She is walking now, kind of, she does it best in the nude, but them when she falls without the padding of a nappy she gets a little angry. Our favourite trick at the moment is a family howl, like a pack of wolves. Maebo gets it, both the action and the feeling. She tilts her head back howls, makes eye contact and laughs.
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| About a month ago we realised Mae was an all-terrain Baby. She now makes us proud by clocking the Ben Burn park playground and regularly summiting various stairways and dodgy banks |
Penny's challenge is work/life balance - too much of two good things, and to make the most of the time she gets with Mae, not to bring the days baggage to those moments. Mine has been the problem of having too much time to think, and too much time to regret some of the weak options I have taken. But mostly Mae brings us into the moment and plans for the future are very postive, if a little uncertain as we figure out how to manage having a family, 1.5 careers and some will to contribute to our communities.
We have enjoyed several great occasions recently with friends and family. Penny recently won the Mukamuka Munter mountain race and we are both getting fit for lots of orienteering, running, biking and tramping over summer. I got a little stale for a while with the outdoor life, but have come around to the conclusion that my first instincts in life were pretty good. There is not much more important that enjoying and preserving our outdoors.
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| Penny rushes past enroute to winning the Mukamuka Munter |
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| Mae and I take a stroll at Catchpool while waiting for Mum |
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
The end of Winter
It is raining now, on a quiet Thursday morning, but the end of winter has been awesome in Wellington. Balmy days spent running with the buggy, mucking around in the garden and having the odd adventure.
It hasn't been all about Mae. I even managed to get out for an inflatable mission down the lower Otaki Gorge with Liam Drew (good fun in about 20 cumecs). The surf-ski has also had the odd outing. There has also been orienteering recently on Wrights Hill and Maungakotukutuku, 20 years on I still love orienteering.
This week Penny turned 32. We organised with a wine and cheese evening/flash mob on Island Bay Beach. A beautiful sunset and the birthday girl made it just in time after been kept late at work. The 30 odd friends at the beach surprised her, she was expecting a cold and tired Jamie and Mae.
Mae and I have been doing a lot of buggy running. It makes you see tracks and roads in a whole new light. Options are more limited, but it is quite fun figuring out a good loop that is reasonable. Mae seems not to mind these explorations, and generally there is a playground somewhere along the way.
Coming up we have a camping weekend in the Tararuas, participation in the Mukamuka Munter Mountain Race, a heap of orienteering and at the end of Spring a trip to Tasmania with a group of friends. Life is good, touch wood.
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| Mae's statesman pose |
It hasn't been all about Mae. I even managed to get out for an inflatable mission down the lower Otaki Gorge with Liam Drew (good fun in about 20 cumecs). The surf-ski has also had the odd outing. There has also been orienteering recently on Wrights Hill and Maungakotukutuku, 20 years on I still love orienteering.
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| Getting a little bored of talking to granny |
This week Penny turned 32. We organised with a wine and cheese evening/flash mob on Island Bay Beach. A beautiful sunset and the birthday girl made it just in time after been kept late at work. The 30 odd friends at the beach surprised her, she was expecting a cold and tired Jamie and Mae.
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| Little friends: Madeline, Harvey and Mae |
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| Madeline and Harvey discussing the ownership of a rabbit |
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| Stockpiling |
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| Reading Fisk to figure out why Children are dying in Syria |
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| She actually fluked a couple for the camera |
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| See ya! |
Coming up we have a camping weekend in the Tararuas, participation in the Mukamuka Munter Mountain Race, a heap of orienteering and at the end of Spring a trip to Tasmania with a group of friends. Life is good, touch wood.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Gran and Grandad
I have had these photos tucked away for a while, and got around to getting them digitised the other day. They are of my Gran and Grandad (Jan and Brian Wilson) and Grandad's brother Evan. Young people having the time of their lives (well at least thats how I imagine it).
Evan Wilson (and brother Jim) were climbers active in Arthurs Pass in the 1930's. I have his map of the time framed on our wall with its many notations of first ascents and vagaries of travel. I love this photo, very much mountaineer/man at his peak, with a far sighted gaze. Celmisia in his pocket and holding his mates ice axe for the photo - you can't tell me they used two of these beasts.
Evan and Jim's best first ascent in my knowledge was that of Arrowsmith. I couldn't find an account of this scouring the internet, but I found an interesting story nonetheless. They were involved peripherally in a mountain tragedy in 1932 when three trampers were benighted on Whitehorn Pass on the three passes route. One froze to death during the night, the second took off and died after taking a fall in the Taipoiti river while the third headed back west over the Whitehorn and stumbled across prospectors in the vicinity of Park Morpeth Hut.
One of these prospectors was Jim Wilson, who hurried over to Bealey to raise the alarm. The subsequent CMC search party was led by his brother Evan! A clip from papers past below. I will add any further information I find about Evan and Jim's mountaineering time to this post.
(my illusions have been shattered;-) the first ascent of Arrowsmith was actually in 1912. Evan and Jim Wilson, along with Andy Anderson pioneered the south-west ridge in 1931
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| Grandad with a friend |
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| Gran with her friends, tramping somewhere |
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| Gran on a glacier |
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| Gran and Grandad, mid 1940's maybe |
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| Evan Wilson |
Evan Wilson (and brother Jim) were climbers active in Arthurs Pass in the 1930's. I have his map of the time framed on our wall with its many notations of first ascents and vagaries of travel. I love this photo, very much mountaineer/man at his peak, with a far sighted gaze. Celmisia in his pocket and holding his mates ice axe for the photo - you can't tell me they used two of these beasts.
Evan and Jim's best first ascent in my knowledge was that of Arrowsmith. I couldn't find an account of this scouring the internet, but I found an interesting story nonetheless. They were involved peripherally in a mountain tragedy in 1932 when three trampers were benighted on Whitehorn Pass on the three passes route. One froze to death during the night, the second took off and died after taking a fall in the Taipoiti river while the third headed back west over the Whitehorn and stumbled across prospectors in the vicinity of Park Morpeth Hut.
One of these prospectors was Jim Wilson, who hurried over to Bealey to raise the alarm. The subsequent CMC search party was led by his brother Evan! A clip from papers past below. I will add any further information I find about Evan and Jim's mountaineering time to this post.
(my illusions have been shattered;-) the first ascent of Arrowsmith was actually in 1912. Evan and Jim Wilson, along with Andy Anderson pioneered the south-west ridge in 1931
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Holdsworth Weekend
After a few hectic weekends in a row we were looking forward to heading into the foothills to relax. Mark Hooker had booked out (the much improved) Holdsworth Lodge and filled it up with an array of friends. Great to meet some new people.
The weather was beautiful and this roadend must be the most beautiful in the Tararuas, the forest is so magnificient and the river sparkles its way down the valley. As is habit, we only took photos of Mae. She is just getting to the age where we can put her down in the bush and she can crawl around and not look too vulnerable. In fact she looks quite happy in a garden gnome sort of a way.
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| Whats that... |
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Helmet Familiarisation
I decided it would be good to do some helmet familiarisation after the earthquake this morning. Maybe living on the ring of fire babies should all wear helmets at all times;-)
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