Emily brought her three week old baby Piper, who behaved admirably and let the oldies and youngsters practise their grandparenting/parenting skills. Just to alarm their mothers, here are Sophie and Sam with the bairn.
And I was allowed a go as well.
and looking a bit puffed as the ground levels off near the summit.
Andy was checking where he was.
Although it was a bit misty and breezy there were good views from the top. This is looking south at one of the Cook Strait ferries nearing home.
A helpful couple of fellow-walkers took this shot of the three of us. Then it was home for hot coffee and Danish pastries.
Last Tuesday they played Paraguay in Wellington, a rematch of one of the World Cup games.
The crowd wasn’t great but 16,000 is not bad for a friendly on a weekday night. Here is the White Noise section.
Pre-game bonding and pep talk.
Paraguay scored the first goal from a penalty half way through the first half
and then another one five minutes later to seal the match. But it was an entertaining game and New Zealand didn’t disgrace themselves.
In the spirit of balanced reporting here are the South Americans.
We made most of the running in the second half and had lots of chances but couldn’t convert anything. Here Elliot prepares for a corner.
It was a treat to see such good football in our rugby loving country and we did well against the team currently ranked 17th.
but the views are worth it, across the city and harbour
north to the Hutt Valley
and west to the wind turbines and South Island.
This temporary seat caught our eye on the way down a new path that has just been cut. The undergrorth has been cleared to give a view of the pines in Karori Cemetery.
Battle Hill is a regional park which runs a farm and has lots of walking, cycling and horse riding tracks.
The battle referred to was in 1846, one of the last in the area as Maori resisted european occupation. Our old friend Te Rangihaeata, the Maori leader of Ngati Toa, was resisting the colonial forces of Governer Grey who had kidnapped Te Raupararaha and imprisoned him on a warship. Some of the British casualties are buried near the farm.
The walk starts off by the stream through bush. We had a big storm on Thursday and you can see evidence that the stream was a raging torrent, flattening the surrounding vegetation.
Here we are on a bridge that crosses the stream.
Where the battle was is now clear of vegetation (apart from gorse) and it is difficult to imagine the scene on that long ago day. Here is an artist’s impression.
A large boulder at the top of the hill commemorates the event. It was quite breezy.
From here there is a good view looking down across the peaceful countryside to the Orongorongos in the background. There are plans to build a motorway up the valley. We do not approve.
Far better for it to be left so sheep can safely graze.
