Today we again planned to head down to the urban eels. But decided because of the wind and rain, it would be more fun, and less cold, to go bush. We headed to the Te Apiti Manawatu gorge. It was pretty rainy on the way there with a big downpour. We suited up - proper raincoats and a one piece rainsuit for Mr 1 - and everyone got a handful of jet planes to eat at their leisure. It truly helps minimise the complaints about the hill, the path, the air... and the inevitable "how much further?!"... To start, the rain was light but constant. Mr 1 enjoyed running between puddles. Everyone enjoyed walking under the road. The stream was running strong. A while back we visited and found a family exploring the streams and checking out some really big koura. The big girls scampered up the track to the fork. Honestly I never know what zone these two will be in - usually there is one or both who want to go home from the get go. But today, pleasantly, both eagerly participated. In fact, I and the little one hardly saw them. At the fork, we made the democratic decision to go left. Personally this is my favourite way up - quick but steep. Today it was unanimous, which is rare. We were swooped by a kererū who then watched us wandering from a branch a few metres above. We watched a tui crack open a seed pod not two metres in front of us. We also noticed piwakawka and tauhou dart through the trees and tui fluff themselves after a flight. Manu out in great numbers today. Mr 1 wandered up all the way to the rapids lookout. I offered the backpack at various points but he said "No way!". We explored the big tree around the corner and decided it would make an excellent sleeping spot. It was very dry inside despite the morning of rain. At the top we ate lunch. We brought the Jetboil for hot drinks which always feels like a little luxury when it's a rainy walk. Remember: there is a Kiwi Guardians medal password and a Passport to Play Palmy etching to collect up here. The rain started to become a bit heavier and we were in the clouds so we packed up and headed off down the loop.
Mr 1 wanted to run, which is always a little terrifying for me. But he had it all under control, navigating tree roots and slippy patches with ease. Maybe it's a skill ingrained in children from years past and we just need to step back and trust that they know their bodies and have (usually) got it under control? It was a little boggy and slippy in places but nothing too bad. My least favourite spot is the set of steep stairs. Fortunately by this time the babe was on my back so didn't have to help him navigate them. He napped while me and the eldest chatted about positive thinking and self belief. Deep but important. Before long we were back at the fork where Miss Tween informed us she had been waiting for-basically-ever before charging off again. Back at the carpark, which, by the way has moved slightly to the right and up the hill, the rain had eased so we could remove our jackets and jerseys before hopping into the car for the ride back to town. Today was a good adventure. It goes to show that the weather shouldn't be a factor in whether to venture out.
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Today I thought we would head down to the Urban Eels. I checked the weather forecast - some rain was forecast, heavy and showers later in the day. I decided we were still aiming for that, we would just chuck raincoats in the buggy and reassess later on. We wandered down to the Albert St swing to swing under a tree. It was balmy, sunny and warm. We carried on around the star path (Tini whetū ki te rangi, ko Rangitāne nui ki te whenua), playing "the grey is lava" and other games. We took turns sitting on the throne chair. We almost made it to the Esplanade before it rained. Big splotchy drops. Luckily we were prepared. Jackets out, rain pants on (little one). My firstborn suggested we turn back. I pointed out that shelter and snacks were far closer. We carried on. The rain stopped as we wandered through the bush tracks making a trail toward the café. It was fully loaded so I suggested ice cream at He Ara Kotahi. I promised it wasn't far. We stopped for stand up sandwiches and meandered back down to the river pathway and along to the New Bridge. Fortunately the rain hadn't scared off Scooptruck ice cream. It was devine - 10/10 recommend! We did another weather check - both on Metservice and by looking at the sky. It wasn't looking good so we decided to do eels another day and start heading home. We walked back along the other side of the river to the Fitzherbert bridge then crossed over to the lagoon. We took a short break to finish the snacks and drink some water. We braved walking straight through the army of swans, geese and ducks. It started to rain as we passed the canoe poloists (poloists? players? something else?). I am guessing rain makes no difference to them! We rejacketed and walked home. We were pretty dry as we had our jackets and it wasn't particularly cold. It's important to remember that "there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing" (Alfred Wainwright + others!). Rain provides another kind of adventure! You've probably heard there is a new plane in Palmy. A play plane. Right in the flight path of the actual planes too - great for our plane mad toddler. Linklater Reserve has been in development for a few years now. Read about that on the PNCC website. The most recent addition is a real plane and looks as though it's drifted over from its airport neighbour and come to rest in the field. We headed to Linklater as we wanted somewhere with a bit of a destination. None of my crew had seen the plane yet so we kept them in suspense - "let's go a bit further and see what we see"... The afternoon was brilliant sunshine and exceedingly warm. Mr 1 wasn't keen on crossing the bidget on his own but very interested in looking over the side. The older two made a beeline for the double flying fox while me and toddler toddled slowly up. A few runs later, it was another family's turn to fly (or would it be called foxing?). We headed over the rise and vowed to come back for Ultimate Frisbee. We timed our visit perfectly as the afternoon aeroplanes both came into land. Toddler was stunned at how close they were compared to his usual viewing spot (our deck). The plane slowly came into view. It took our aviator a bit of time to realise that it was a real life plane and he was quite timid in approaching. We'd taken turns exploring the plane and watched the skies slowly turn very dark and the winds pick up. The first drops of rain were sun showers. Then all of a sudden the sky opened.
Big fat wet rain began to fall. Toddler jumped on my back (I had the foresight to bring the Tula Toddler anticipating the long wander back to the car) and we rushed to find shelter. It got very very wet, very very quickly. The thunder rumbled, which added the the experience. We found shelter in the pergola and waited for the worst to pass. It was over as quickly as it began but we decided to head home as we were all wet through and the temperature had dropped significantly. Back home, clothes hung to dry, the sun came back out and it was like it hadn't happened. Except for the chatter from the girls of how they survived near hypothermia and a tremendous thunder and lightning storm. Tales from children are the best! |
AuthorI'm Kate. I have 3 children - 2 bios and a steppie, 1 under 5 and 2 tweenagers. I am determined to spend more time outside this year and share more of Palmy's wonderful places and free play activities. Categories
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