30 January 2011 25 Km (on Foot) I am looking at my watch, noting the position of the hands for at least the sixth time in the past 27 minutes. They are not moving round the face fast enough. I need them to read 5:30 pm and it’s now only 3:08 pm. Why do they …
29 January 2011 151 Km – Hey Hey Lucy Drive On We are sitting in a junk yard. Or, some might call it the Marahau Beach Camp. Sadly, the closest thing to a beach at this motor park is the sand bucket our neighbor to one side is using for his cigarette butts. We’re hoping …
28 January 2011 170 Km – A Semi-Long Day in Lucy There is an emu in my present moment. Three of them, actually. I take note of this as I’m being lectured by Gina on staying in the Now. I’d be more okay with this if the Now wasn’t another dumpy kitchen block arrived at …
27 January 2011 13 Km (by Foot) Okay, so I was a little harsh in yesterday’s blog entry, for this Punakaiki isn’t as bad as initially thought. Although not a place we would necessarily recommend one take the time to visit should they be on a tight schedule, we are not on such a schedule …
26 January 2011 220 Km (by Lucy) The skeleton key rattled in the keyhole while Gina chanted “Please don’t be a dump. Please don’t be a dump.” We are at the Beachside Holiday Park in the roadside blip of Punakaiki, entering the $41 cabin we rented for the night, hopeful that after sleeping the past …
25 January 2011 3 Km (by foot) “Emergency Situation!” I yelled. “Emergency Situation!” I hollered again. This is my standard call when (a) trying to pitch the tent during high winds and needing a certain Someone who is off OCDing over something in the van to come hold down our house while I plant the …
24 January 2011 17 Km (6.5 hours) Hiking Our feet were aching and knees were throbbing, which meant what it usually means, that Gina had us on the return from a 10 mile, 3000 foot elevation gain hike. The Alex Knob track was knobby indeed, from the rooty, rocky trail surface to the peak we …
[This blog posted out of order because Someone got behind] 12 to 20 January 2011 I am writing this from our dumpy campground kitchen in Wanaka. It’s a luxury problem to be sure, given that we are on holiday, but one that bears mention nonetheless. I guess when you are the only camping game in …
23 January 2011 2 Hours of Hiking 2 Hours of Biking A wee songbird pooped in our van. For those familiar with our Kauai bird story, this one isn’t nearly as dramatic – no endangered species involved nor any R-rated language. This was simply a case of an opportunistic swallow finding an open door, looking …
22 January 2011 3 Hours of Hiking 3 Hours of Beach Time Last night we went on the hunt for glow-worms. These are critters that glow in the dark. But then again, “critter” may not be the best way to explain them. Rather than try, let’s just borrow a definition from the Rough Guide: A …