My Left Foot

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Well, I'll just start by saying that ive committed myself by buying a 6 month pass at the local climbing wall, and as a Yorkshireman, its now going to make it difficult (as a matter of principal) to leave Auckland before my pass has expired..

Its also going to make it difficult to leave the country after running up a considerable amount purchases on my westpac 'gold card', because of my rapidly growing collection of outdoor gear, the last purchase, a pair of sturdy boots, set me back almost as much as much as the cost of my mazda 626 (it did'nt actually cost that much), but bye eck', after a solid weekend with a full pack on my back hurling myself down snowy ravines, I can safely say that ive not even got a blister to show for it, so as my dad would say, you do actually pay for what you get. (And at 19.8%APR, you also pay a fair bit more)

What i did'nt pay for was my left foot, a should i say left ankle. I seem to have picked up a number of 'ghost injuries' as time as ticked by, not only do i now have "the case of the mysterious disjointing right knee", but I now i can safely add to it "the case of the unbelievably painful left ankle". Both these injuries seem to randomly manifest themselves, but partcularly when i'm half way up a craggy cliff, beyond the reach of rescue helicopters with a full pack on', after telling anyone who'll listen that i have'nt had a 'sports' injury in the last 5 years. (I'm good at digging myself into these things).

Anyway, so ive been spending the last couple of weekends on tramping expeditions down in the National Park Area of the North Island. Two weekends ago, i was down on the slopes of Ruapehu in the Whakapapa Ski Fields with the Auckland Tramping Club snowcraft course. We travelled down on friday night, in the back of what can only be described as a converted bread truck. From unglamorous beginnings, we had a fantastic weekend. Learning how to cut steps with boots, with ice axes, moving on different graded slopes, self arresting techniques as well as basic navigation skills, it was huge amount of fun and we had fantsatic weather.

Last weeked was quieter, as i was once again flat hunting, but ive just returned from doing the tongariro crossing with a couple of friends ive made through course, we had pretty good conditions to start off on saturday morning, but this soon turned to whiteout as the day went on (for those who dont know, this is when you cant distinguish the sky from the ground, and is very disorientating). Anyway, we managed to get to the hut on saturday night, managing to slide most of the way down the latter part of the route (pretty awesome), the hut even had a gas heater (such luxury), and as i'd remembered to bring some red wine with me, as well as lamingtons (flavoured coconut sponge) and custard for dessert, it was a very pleasant end to the day.

Anyway, ive just come out of the cinema 'Colour Me Kubrick' which was great, and just thought i'd quickly fill you in, I must now go home and prepare myself for another day of battle, I think its Living Room Extension vs. the people of Auckland again tomorrow........

Enjoy the photos....

Take Care Everyone , Steve

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Comments

[Ginge]

nice weather
Hi Steve and friend glad you are having the time of your life, well its been too hot in Halifax . take care of your self see you when ever you get back . bye 4 no Ginge.