Taranaki Falls Walk, Tongariro National Park

As many of you know, J and I enjoy snowboarding as often as we can in the winter. We have to make hotel reservations several weeks in advance, as every accommodation anywhere near the mountain fills up. This means that we can't pick weekends based on weather, and we just enjoy snowboarding in whatever conditions we end up with. Unfortunately, it is often rainy or windy, and last time we went it was pouring rain, which we were okay with until my waterproof coat failed, and I got soaked. Oh well. This time, as we drove up the mountain, we were delighted to see that it was sunny, not windy, and just all-around stunning. Wow, finally some good luck!

See? This is on the way, and you just couldn't imagine a more snowboarding-ready mountain.

Well... perhaps our good luck was too good to be true. Apparently, lots of people do choose to come to the mountain at the last minute based on the weather, and all of them and all their friends noticed that it was the perfect weekend. As we got closer to the ski field, we saw a big sign saying that the carparks were full, so you'd have to take the shuttle. No problem. We got in line for the shuttle, and then were told that no more shuttles would be taking people up, as the mountain was too crowded. So... no snowboarding for us. Unbelievable. We learned later that this often happens on the first nice weekend of the snowboarding season, but after that even sunny days are more reasonable, so that's encouraging.

In any case, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful day in a different way, and did the Taranaki Falls Walk. I'd done part of it with Aunt Susan when she was there, but such amazing experiences don't get old, and it was a fantastic time. J is not as enthusiastic about stunning scenery and lovely hikes as I am, but he did have a delightful time teaching me about the lichen we saw as we walked. Who knew lichen was so fascinating? (Well, J did, obviously, but now I do too). 

This is at the beginning of the walk.

I'm not sure why exactly, but I find this picture intensely striking. That's Mount Ngaurahoe with the snow on it, and Mount Tongariro next to it.

This will be a repeated feature of these pictures: Check out the amazing colours in the grasses!

I love walking next to a stream, as the sounds are so peaceful and invigorating at the same time. (Incidentally, I just learned that the smell of oranges is like that too).

At first, I thought this was Taranaki Falls. I was quite pleased with it, as it is a huge, beautiful waterfall, but there were bigger things to come.

The grasses aren't the only things with fabulous colours. The rocks contribute as well. 

Even on a tiny scale, there are just so many fascinating colours, shapes, and patterns.

This is Taranaki Falls, for real.

And up closer.

Looking back along the river at the bottom of the falls.

This is looking towards Mount Ruapehu (where we would have been snowboarding) but you can't see it as well as the others.

I've made this picture extra big, because what I love about this view are the many layers of hills as you approach the horizon. Unfortunately, they're quite hard to see in the picture.

This is my favourite picture to illustrate the colours I keep going on about.

This is getting towards the end of the walk, which is a loop. It only takes about 2 hours, and doesn't have too many steep climbs, which is good. I still have a sore knee, and 2 hours is about 1 hour and 45 minutes longer than I've been walking lately, as I'm trying to help it heal. However, I've been encouraged to try some walking in my new orthopedic shoes, and I'm pleased to report that the pain in my knee, which is constant, stayed stable during the whole walk, which is very impressive and a major improvement over the intense pain I have been getting after just a few minute walking.

We did get to snowboard the next day (after getting up very early and still getting stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way up), and it was glorious. I'll post some pictures soon. On a related note, since we're spending a lot of weekends out of town, and since I'm finding it hard to make time to write blog posts (as evidenced by the lack of one last weekend), I think I'll shoot for posting every second weekend for a while. I still enjoy posting, but I am short on "free" time, and I am trying not to overcommit myself any more than I already have.

Our Prime Minister

This post is going to be short, sweet, and not actually written by me. I almost never share "viral" pictures or articles, but this one came to my attention on Facebook, and it made me really proud, and I wanted to pass it on. I am so honoured to live in this country for so many reasons, and this is now definitely one of them. I highly recommend that you Google Jacinda, because she's doing lots of great things.

"This is The Prime Minister Of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern. She's 37. She's the youngest female Head of Government in the world. She's also the first western woman to give birth while in this position of power. 2 days after the baby was born - with midwives, standard in NZ hospitals - she introduced her to the country during a press conference on the nightly news. It was really lovely. She named her Neve Te Aroha. Te Aroha means "The Love" in Māori. It represents ALL the names that were submitted (upon her request) from various tribes throughout the country, and was her attempt at capturing them all.

This is her and her partner, no, he's NOT her husband (gasp!), walking to the press conference. He's TV fishing show Host Clarke Gayford, and HE will be staying at home with baby Neve when his lady goes back to running the country in 6 weeks. Clarke sports a snazzy sweater he picked up at the op-shop (second-hand store) in Gisborne, and thinks its just kinda logical and he gives up his day job to stay home and look after the baby.

A week after the birth on July 1st Jacinda introduced a $5billion Families Package that she'd drafted on the floor of her friends house in Hastings - long before her pregnancy. It's based on the knowledge that the first few years of a babies life are the most important. The package gives an extra $60 a week to families with new babies, and an extra $700 to families for winter heating costs as well (it's cold as hell down there in the winter). It also increases the Paid Leave for new parents from 18 weeks to 22 weeks. She announced the details via Facebook live, from her couch, right after she'd finished breastfeeding the baby. Because Kiwis. Some of the most down-to-earth, no-drama-having, just-do-it kind of people you'll ever meet.

And because Women. We really do know how to lead, and to do it well."