Back from the precipice

We're back from New Zealand - a week of inspiration, the wildness of the mountains and eating out with friends.

We arrived home late Sunday night - four days ago - and I had ideas about writing for you straight away - well, actually in New Zealand I was going to write.

But the experiences were so intense, and the week-off so treasured, that writing fell by the wayside except for a couple of particular times that sparked a rush of creativity.

And now that I'm back I'm just so exhausted. For three days now I've felt like I'm near the bottom of a low, needing lots of sleep, forgetting things, struggling to be organised. I feel overwhelmed with inspiration and don't know where to start, or what to do about it. Something as magnificent as this last week away in the mountains of NZ surely deserves poetry, accolades and a pedestal from which to shine. And I'm the one graced with the task of doing that.

So for now, I include the writing I did while away, with lots of lovely pictures for you to get a sense of the adventures we had.

Kepler Track

We're on the Kepler Track - walking, caring, growing. It hasn't been as we've expected but we are taking our challenges in our stride, working together and facing our own inner voices of doubt.

We've walked in the rain and the sun and the wind. We were greeted by a rainbow in Te Anau as we made our final preparations.

We walked, at the beginning, through a happy, magical forest full of ferns and tall, tall trees. At each turn I had visions of fairies or gnomes that might peak from behind a tree stump or appear from a hole beneath a bush. I thought of Rosie and how she would love this fairyland.

And now we've spent a day in a lovely mountain hut near Mount Luxmore. Our injured Mama has flown out via helicopter, leaving the three of us remaining to enjoy the day's solitude in an empty hut and the camaraderie of the evening's trampers.

We sit together, at the end of the communal kitchen area, where the windows are large and the jagged peaks across the lake call to us 'come and explore, take our photo'.

We make silly jokes and greet new trampers as they enter from their day walking in the rain.

We clean the kitchen for the ranger and light the fire in return for him letting us stay another night, since its now too late to continue and complete the walk.

Its quieter with three of us here together instead of four, but we have a good time anyway.

Are we richer for this experience? Most certainly I think. Through our challenges - different for us all - we have grown. For some the walk itself - the physical exertion of it - was the precipice of which they danced. For others is was the mental challenge of changing circumstances, time away from little ones and the sound of snoring in huts full of people.

A bush adventure

This week we packed up our wonderful camper trailer, loaded up our adventure-mobile and set off for a mini-holiday camping in the Mitta valley. 

It wasn't far from home, and we spent only three days away, but somehow it felt much more refreshing than that. 

We swam. We walked. We painted pictures. We made a map of the camp. We homeschooled (travelschooled really) around our tent, in the campground and on our little camping table. We visited Dartmouth Dam and went for a kayak. We cooked bread and curried sausages on a campfire.

In the middle of all this Bethany fell off a camping chair and broke her collar bone, poor little mite. But you know, she's quite fine with it. We tied on a sling, gave lots of cuddles when it hurt, and she continued to play like it never happened. Amazing.

*sigh* such a lovely family time....

And so simple too. I'd forgotten what's it's like to camp in the bush without amenities, without the prompts of the media or the call of advertising. Without wants, and so it seems without needs also. We were quite content. And looking even forward even more to our trip around Australia in April.

I definitely recommend taking the risk and submersing yourself in the nothingness of a bush experience. At the very least you'll have a greater appreciation for home when you get back. At best you'll find an easy stillness within your family, a pulling-together and closeness.

May you share a bush adventure with your lovelies soon.

X x

Food from the garden to take camping...

Are you a Mountain Mama?

Fancy joining me for a tramp in New Zealand next March? I'm inviting all interested, like-minded mamas to come, walk, share and explore together.

See details on the 'mountain mamas' link above.

Lots of love,

Carolyn

A marvellous day

Its a powerful sort of thing, when like-minded friends get together to climb a mountain on a sunny day. There's a strength that comes from climbing together, from sharing food whilst sharing stories, from reaching the summit together and hugging for the joy of it all. And there's a special bond that begins to develop, as friendships deepen and expand and barriers are surpassed. There's a clarity that comes from being up high, looking to the horizon, thinking of loved ones far away.

That's how it was for this Mama and her mama-friends last weekend. We started early and finished later than we thought, but Mount Feathertop was summited by all. And after 24km and 10 hours, we all agree that it was a marvellous day.

Our early morning beginning was colder than this Mama expected and we walked quickly through the forest remains of last Summer's bushfire before the sun reached us and we began to shed our layers.

By the time we reached Federation Hut it was a warm and sunny day, as we'd expected, and lunch was lovely on the 'lawn' of grass around the shallow saddle where the hut is built.

The 'summit push' was short and sweet (relatively speaking), but still took our breath away, and we enjoyed our glimpses of the Snowy Mountains in the distance, ladybugs on the rocks and the remains of the snow just on the south side of the ridge.

Two false summits led us to the small top of the mountain where we stayed for a while and pondered and looked and thought and ate.

Then it was down again and a long(ish) but lovely walk along the south razorback to Diamantina Hut where cars and loved ones were waiting.

The bushfires have devastated a large area, much of which we walked through last weekend, but everywhere there was new growth, however small.

Here's to more long walks in the mountains my Mama-friends!

A week's inspiration on Father's Day

It's possibly the last ski of the season. On this Father's Day Ian has taken our two girls up for a kids cross country race and Bethany's first time on skis. Meanwhile I'm at work at the bakery...

Today's inspiration: day 3

Today's inspiration: Hoppet day

This moment

A photo from the week. No words. Just a moment in time.

Sea kayaking central

We just bought a single sea kayak (to add to the nine other kayaks we already have). It was a snap purchase in a way (we decided after 15mins in the shop), but to be fair it was something we had been talking about for quite a while. So our trip plans have changed slightly to find the best paddle sites in Tasmania.
First off was a day trip to the Tasman Peninsula for a kayak near the Tesselated Pavement, The Blowhole, Tasman Arch and the Devils Kitchen - the last two both 200m high rock outcrops into the sea. Spectacular, world-class paddling it was.
We're now off to Freycinet NP again for more time on the beach and a chance to kayak around the beautiful, rocky coastline there.

All together again

Ian is back with us again after completing his third Three Peaks Challenge in Hobart. While the little ones and I have been having a lovely time with Nana and Pop at Freycinet NP, Ian has run 133km and sailed down the East coast of Tassie. We saw him as he finished his run with fellow-runner Andrew at Freycinet, then we picked him up yesterday from Constitution dock in Hobart, sore but happy and ready to spend the next two weeks with his family.
So we've relocated to White Beach on the Tasman Peninsula and as I write am enjoying a nice coffee with my love overlooking the local bay :-)
Today I am very grateful for:
Time alone with my love!
Yellow Wattlebirds swooping over our tent
Rosie writing her travel diary
'I spy' in the car
A hot shower and a sleep in this morning