Today we took a circuitous adventure. It started as a backyard sit while I destoned apricots and my little one tasted them and went on mini adventures with his penguin and a car. Then little one asked for a walk. No reason not to. My big one was immediately displeased to be removed from the couch so every few steps we would implore me "let's stop and sit down or go home". "Just a little bit further" I coaxed. Bearing in mind, we were only five minutes and about 200 metres from home at this point! We ventured slowly down to the river pathway and eventually made it home 4 hours later with both children full of joy, enthusiasm and a little bit of remaining energy. Here in Palmy, our river, Te Awa o Manawatu, provides a varied adventure. Today we headed down to a river bank clearing between Ruahine and Rumahanga. While my big one stripped off and read her book, my little one threw stones into the gently moving water. A little further down the river we heard a splash. We looked over to see bubbles wandering over the surface of the water. Then a splish-splash again. We ventured down to have a look. We spotted four fish - fish colour with some white tinges! We waded into the water a little for a closer look. We watched for a bit (mostly me as my little couldn't see them and big one wandered back to her book). My little guy decided he wasn't quite sure about the water continually moving over his feet so he happily accepted a pick up. Soon he was ready for more rock plopping. We moved back upstream and left our fishy mates to it. Our little one threw more stones and encouraged us to join him. We looked flat stones and tried to skim. We will keep practicing before we can tick this one off the list...
Snacks snacked, drinks drunk and many stones sploshed, we headed back up to the pathway. We took a long route home along busy Napier Road and via Pita Pit for an unexpected lunch out and the supermarket for dinner supplies. The quietness of the river pathway is so pleasant and the busyness of the road so noticeable. Still, I was in pleasant company. We stopped by two playgrounds on the way home for a "wee" aka swing. We would have stayed much longer but our little guy needed more food and I was keen for some shade and more water!
1 Comment
Back at work today so didn't manage anything more than a wander around the local streets. We have been trying to find a house we like the colour of and a house that has "cool numbers" on the fence. I don't know where either of these fabled places are so we are walking our various routes to find them.
I was in such a grump when I got home. The walk helped reset my mood. We stopped by the park so little one got his swing in for the day. 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! We had grand plans to kick off 2021. Think heading into the hills, packs laden, baby hoisted up, big girls carrying a small share of supplies. For a couple of reasons we decided to go small adventure style to start the year instead. Plenty of time for big adventures! We decided to head to Bledisloe Park and up the third steps to Atawhai Park. We packed a late lunch - or early dinner depending on where you stand on these things (it was 3pm when we headed out the door). Out smallest, almost two, was keen to walk. We took the Tula Toddler carrier for when he inevitably got tired legs. One of our big girls would have happily jumped on my back. Unfortunately she is taller than me so we wouldn't have got terribly far. There were plenty of folk relaxing on the stream edge under Bridge 2 and to the left of Bridge 3. We will save that adventure for another day. Mr 1 made it up the first three sets of stairs (with sounds effects showing just how much effort he was putting in) before we asked for a "pick". He wasn't too keen on getting in the carrier but I was! Once up, he was happy with the view. Our two house cats had become mountain lions and we didn't catch up with them till the top of the hill. It was wonderful to see them enjoying one another's company and supporting one another. Actually it was wonderful to see them outside if I am honest. They have been living up to their moniker lately... The pathway at the top of the hill isn't very shaded so it got warm pretty quickly. Fortunately it's not too far to the playground which has lots of shady trees. We ate, swung and played. Actually I sat under the tree and ate. The rest of our crew did the playing and swinging. We thought about wandering back along the streets to another of the stairways but it was still pretty warm. The mountain lions charged off down the hill again and we ambled down. Our biggest met us at the bottom of the stairs and commented how how much quicker the return trip was. We assumed Mountain Lion 2 had carried on to the car but we split up at the loop track just in case. Me and ML1 discussed goals and plans for 2021 at her request. If you know me you know I love a good goal chat! Back at the car our newly crowned mountain lion had reverted to house cat and was mewing to be let into the car. It will take more than a day for her to complete the mutation. I love Bledisloe Park, there are so many adventures to be had - wild water, the aboretum, hard walks, easy ambles, even tabata and 1k time trials. It's part of the Te Araroa trail too, which I think it a lovely example of the natural Palmy environment. Where will we head next? |
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
All
Archives |