I'm sorry (as I always seem to be, lately) for the long gap between posts. I have had some terribly stressful things going on at work, which in addition to exhausting me during the day, are causing me recurring "stressmares" so that I don't get rested at night. The result is not pretty, although fortunately for me, J is a superhero and brings me tea, gives me hugs, and tells me everything will be alright. Which it will, of course. In addition, however, my year-long contract for my current job (a position opened up by someone on maternity leave) is up in three weeks. I know, it's hard to believe that it's been a year already! I still don't know whether the person is coming back, so I am in uncertain territory with the unsettling threat of unemployment hanging over me. While my job is currently horribly stress, I still love it overall, adore my children, and would rather not lose it, even aside from my total inability to be sane while unemployed.
The point of all this rambling is to explain that the combination of stress and fatigue is not conducive to writing blog posts, resulting in longer gaps between posts. I will try to rectify that, and I really believe that things will de-stress soon, so one way or another I should be back to weekly posts in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, I would love to share with you a truly wonderful afternoon I spent with J and one of his friends the other weekend. J is training to get in shape for a wilderness adventure and leadership course called Outward Bound, which is on the South Island in a beautiful, remote area, and is going to be amazing for him. Actually, he leaves the day after tomorrow, so it's very exciting!
Anyway, one thing he decided to do to train was to climb Paritutu, which is this huge rock right next to the ocean. I came with him and his friend for fun, and the views were absolutely incredibly stunning! I'll give you some background pictures beforehand, but be prepared for gorgeousness soon.
This is from the car, as we're driving up to Paritutu. See how it looks like someone just dropped a huge rock in the middle of flat land?
Looking up at Paritutu from the parking lot.
Yes, that's the path. It's hard to get perspective on the incline of this picture, but I thought I'd show you the jagged rockiness of it.
This one, thanks to the lovely J, gives you a better idea of the incline. In a word: steep! And as you can see from the parking lot straight below him, it is steep the whole way. You just climb straight up until you get to the top.
But man, oh man, is it worth it! Take a look at that view! I'm telling you, it was so beautiful I could barely stand it.
All seven of the little islands you can see from Paritutu are called the Sugarloaf Islands, according to J's friend who came on the hike and couldn't understand why I cared what the islands were called. Given his apathy, I did fact-check that, and discovered that he was correct, if not enthusiastic. I also discovered that the Sugarloaf Islands are the eroded stumps of an ancient volcanic crater. Pretty cool.
I don't know that I've ever been this high up and yet this close to the beach. It's cool to see the curve of the shoreline, and I love the waves from up above.
The water is such a mesmerizing colour!
Can you spot the amazing thing about this picture?
That's right - the mountain and the ocean in the same shot! Mount Taranaki looks a bit small, especially next to the big white cloud, but it's there, tantalizingly close to the gorgeous ocean. We live in such an amazing place!
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