Monday, May 16, 2011

Winters coming

The hail stones that fell through the night are still frozen on the ground this afternoon.  The weather forecast says we should get a high of 11degrees but the temperature display in the car says 1 and in town says zero so it’s a bit chilly!
It’s raining and the locals say if you wait for the weather to be good you will never get out and do anything so yesterday we donned warm clothes and rain coat to go for an afternoon walk on the South coast. The whole idea was to support Peter who has just had his varicose vein surgery and needs to walk.   It was a good walk along the coast and back via a forest road and the hot coffee afterwards was great.   On Friday Warren and I packed our tent and walking shoes and headed out to Hauroko Lake. We had a good walk along the lake edge and part way up to the lookout but we’ve still got a bit of the north in us and we decided late in the afternoon to pack up the tent and head for home, largely due to the rain and cold.
There is still a lot for us to do here and we have plans to head up to Queenstown next weekend for Warren’s big birthday and then the following weekend we are going over to Stewart Island taking advantage of a locals discounted fare offer on the ferry.  We had quite a list of things to do while here and surprisingly we have been here for three and a half months already so we can’t let the moss grow. Having said that DREEEM catcher might not be going far for a while as the ground between us and the road, which is probably 50 metres across the lawn from us, is very wet and soft from the rain. Our house could be settled here til it dries out.
Work is going really well and I am enjoying both the organisation and the people. It is much less stressful and being part time is great. 
Apologies to all who think we have vanished from contact. Our internet coverage is very limited. We find our phone connection variable and of course need the 3G for internet access.  We can still pick up emails and text on the iphone so long as we wait for the signal to come in so you can still get us.  I also check the emails from work but don’t tell them.

1 comment:

  1. Almost long trouser weather then!

    Nice to hear that you are enjoying your new lifestyle in the Mack.

    Too true about letting the weather stopping you doing stuff. It does require quite a shift in attitude though I think.

    Personally a whiff of rain or cold and I am quite happy to find something inside to do but Norwegians are out in all weathers starting in kindy!

    People even work in the rain which I find incredible. I watched a guy spend the whole day in pouring rain cutting down two trees in the neighbours garden. He was lathered in muck by the end of then day. Stupid and not to mention dangerous IMHO!

    Still, a walk in the rain can be quite refreshing...in the right clothes!

    Oh, and ref packing up the tent.....It says in the 'about us' bit that you will "see NZ in a leisurely and comfortable way", so you were only being true to your plan..... :-)

    Stay well guys

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