Up and down again.

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Nicky has had another three-day week with taking Monday and Tuesday as annual leave. She has really enjoyed her six-day break, and has spent most of her time sewing. Monday was our rain-date for going up Rangitoto with Jancis, and this time the weather was perfect - dry and cloudy so that it wasn’t too hot. 

We picked Jancis up at 7.45am and parked down in New Lynn before catching the train into town. The short walk from the Britomart to the Ferry Building helped us catch the 9.15 ferry with ease. The half hour journey across the Waitemata was fairly calm, though Nicky jared her foot, pulling a muscle, while coping with the undulating motion of the boat. The wharf at Rangitoto has been completely rebuilt since we were last there, and is now a long, modern, concrete affair. We had decided to go up the summit using the quick route (rated as an hours walk on the map and by the signs), and then come down one of the longer shallower paths to get a different view. Even though the path wasn’t as steep as I remember, it took us two hours as Jancis isn’t as young as she used to be and her knees and hips really slowed her down towards the end. Nicky’s foot was also giving her grief as we got to the top.

We sat and enjoyed all the views across Auckland and ate our lunch before being swamped by a school party. Leaving the summit we descended down the same path we had walked up as the last ferry leaves Rangitoto much earlier on a weekday than a weekend. This route made our decent comfortable time-wise, and minimised the time the joints and muscles were in pain. We caught the 2.30 ferry back to the CBD, got the train to New Lynn, and had a very welcome pot of tea and chocolate cheesecake at home. Inspite of the pain and the slow progress, we all felt the day had been good, and both Jancis and Nicky were very pleased to have got to the top under their own steam.

The rest of the week has been much less exciting, though we had two lovely warm sunny days on Thursday and Friday. The library has been steady with its usual peaks of borrowers, and Nicky had life group on Wednesday evening. I have had a reasonable amount of work this week, and went to another yoga session on Tuesday evening. Friday was slightly eventful as I knocked a glass of water over while at work, killing my iPhone. Fortunately, I have a spare (courtesy of Claire), which I can use while getting a replacement or repair sorted out with the insurance company.

It has been Nikcy’s busy weekend of the month, with BHB quilters yesterday, and prison this morning. We ate the last individual Christmas pudding that I made for us last night, and throughly enjoyed it. Today has been wet so I worked through the week’s ironing while listening to Harry Potter. Stella, Steve and Ros came over for Scrabble this afternoon, and the evening will be devoted to the tellybox.


Take care, Rick

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