Sometimes there is no option but to accept that you cannot do something. So it was with me a few weeks ago. A neighbour had arranged a hike to the crater lake – almost the summit – on Mt Ruapehu, offering to act as lead for those who wanted to see the lake but weren’t […]
Tongariro Alpine Crossing: Part Two
8.30am. The shuttle driver warns of how hard the next few hours will be, briefly describes the challenges we’ll face, and asks us to use the toilets now available along the route and not just hop off the path as: you wouldn’t do it in your own home, please don’t do it in ours. He […]
Tongariro Alpine Crossing: Part One
In the seventies, travel guide Lonely Planet described the Tongariro Crossing as the best day walk in New Zealand. No one will argue much; it’s a walk through an amazing landscape with stunning views, amazing landforms and jewelled lakes. But there are a couple of caveats: one is a claim that limited time meant the […]
Bedtime Tales
A friend sent me this picture recently. This is what I’ve been doing today, painting the bedroom and a bed. It’s a low-impact day for a woman who owns her own dropsaw. The joke is that her husband has to darn his own socks because she’s too busy building furniture, and I understand he’s pretty […]
A Bridge to Nowhere
During and after World War I the New Zealand government offered land in the Mangapurua and Kaiwhakauka valleys to returning soldiers. Many took up the offer on the understanding they would soon have easier access via a new road, but the land was remote, untamed and hilly, and clearing it was challenging. Without its bush […]
Beasties: Part Two
WARNING: This post contains images and descriptions of pest animal trapping. If this distresses you, please do not read on. When the chunk of land that became the islands of New Zealand broke away from the great southern continent of Gondwana seventy million years ago, it wasn’t just the nasty beasties that stayed on the […]
Beasties: Part One
A friend sent me this picture the other day. The subject, one of its fangs clearly visible between two front legs, fell on her back whilst she was sunbathing. She claims the only reason it didn’t take a chunk out of her is that she was smothered in tanning oil rather than sun cream so […]
Reflections
One of our regular walks (Waitonga Falls: https://purplehippo.blog/2020/06/12/on-the-mountain-waitonga-falls/ ) provided us with a pleasant surprise on Christmas Eve. As it had the day before, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, so we left early for a quick walk before its heat made anything more than a snail’s pace unbearable. Within the trees it […]
Lost and Found
This is a photo Neil sent me this morning. The subject may look like ordinary sunglasses (although, being designed for cycling, they’re not glass at all but plastic, quite bendy and fairly indestructible – let’s face it, a good idea for me) but these glasses have a story. I bought them in France a couple […]
In Praise of the Practical
We paid a flying visit to Ohakune last weekend, a one night stay as we hired a van to take up the last pieces of furniture we’ve given up trying to fit in the new place in Wellington. The house felt stuffy, probably because it was lunchtime on a warm day and we’re unused to […]
