Happy New Year everyone! I hope you have had some exciting adventures over the break!
We planned to explore the Rainbow Station over the New Year with Rosa - 6 and Hazel - 4, tenting and checking out the hidden valleys and figuring how much we could carry and for how long. Unfortunately I injured my lower back (suspected herniated disc) two days before we were to leave. After day lying on the floor stretching and two days of ice and some excersies given by the neighbourhood physio, and the sun shining we headed up to the station. We arrived late the first evening, had dinner at the truck with the sandflies then walked in through swamp, river and armpit high grass with scary holes (child's perspective, it was pretty mellow) and made camp in the river valley.
We woke to a chilly morning on the second day, with Rosa freezing in a dress she had snuck in with a fluffy lamb (fashion first at age 6???). It warmed up and we battled the heat and explored the vast valley floor, wandering through a mix of wildflowers, green pastures and burbling creeks. The back was feeling a bit average towards the end of the day, so after the kids had had a siesta in the tent we back-tracked to a lovely wee campsite, where the kids played on a mini scree slope while we made dinner.
The third day the back was pretty bad, so Shane ended up carrying both tents out while I hobbled out on Grandmas walking sticks. Took a few days to be able to walk straight again and now focusing on recovering for more summer adventures. The kids loved the camping, the walking not so much. The flowers were lovely, like spring up there or the Colorado mountains in summer. Also many possums had been killed by the recent baiting effort which was great to see. We saw an average of 3 carcasses on each successful bait station.
A while ago I explored the Arthurs Pass area with my good friend Dulkara, we walked up the Taramaku River, bush bashed through the thick & steep bush up to the open tops where we spent three days traversing the ridges. On the second afternoon, after lots of up and down ridge-line scrambling we approached Lake Morgan...
Camp Stream Hut, a historic musterers hut on the Te Araroa trail near Tekapo with Roundhill in the background. A magical place to visit, especially in the late afternoon although once the sun falls it becomes bitterly cold. On this particular trip the walk out was sodden with snow melt and my feet lost feeling in the last main river. Brr…
Inspired by an almost dreamlike trip along ridge lines, past Lake Morgan and to the top of Mt O’Shanessy the painting is slowly taking shape. I really wanted to capture those warm, golden, summer West Coast rays that you...
