Henderson Tram Line tramp

On Sunday I went for a tramp in the bush up on the Kaimai Ranges. We were very pleased to be under the trees, so we were out of the heat most of the time. It was nice day out for out first tramp of the year. We did about 18 ks by the time we got back to the cars and I had no stiffness on Monday, which was a pleasant surprise when I got up in the morning.

The track is an old tram line that they used to take out timber back in the early 1920's. I tried to find out a bit of the history, but nothing would come up that was helpful. All I can say is they were very hardy blokes that worked up there. There is usually lots of mud and the streams can be running quite well, but because it has been dry, we had no mud or rushing streams to cross. Late summer is the time to go there. 

Below are the pictures that I took.

The logs across the track are the remains of the old tram line

The track

The track again

We went to see the Hurunui hut that is used mostly  by hunters. It doesn't seem very comfortable, but I guess they are used to it. There is even a dog kennel for the dogs which I thought was a nice touch. 

Inside the hut. The wine bottles have candles in them

The front door of the hut

We entered the walk via a farm and met with some of the locals who were quite friendly

The picture above is of the swimming hole by the carpark. If I had known it was there, I would have taken my swimming togs and a towel. It was the most water we saw all day.

The fridge continues to run well, so that's a win!

January whizzing by

 

Crikey crowbars we are nearly half way through January already! ( a little expression used by a friend).

The weather continues to be hot most days. Today is quite pleasant with 25 degrees and only 55% humidity. There is a nice breeze too.

We have our fridge back.  It has a new circuit board and another fan. It seems it was the circuit board all the time.  As luck would have it, Eddie had to take a truck across to Hamilton on Friday. Someone came in a ute to bring him back to Matamata, so they went and picked it up while they were there. Very convenient. It is working a lot more efficiently now. We set it on the old setting and it went down to -25. Just a little cold for the ice cream. We turned it down and wallah, just right. I think it might have been a bit dodgy from the start. It has been home for 5 days, so fingers crossed it is ok now.

We are back to reality this week. Eddie was back to work on Monday and I started on Tuesday. I have had my hours cut back a little. It's not too busy and very hot. This way, Graeme can keep us all working. (Graeme is my boss).

A few days away

 

Another hot day here in Waikato. We are going to go over 30 again. It is supposed to be thunderstorms today, but it is looking very unlikely. Yesterday we had 35 under the awning. Very toasty!

Last week, we camped for 3 days, beside the Waikato River at a spot called Horahora. The camp site is called AJ's and is a park over place.  It is a little bit north of Lake Karapiro. The skiing club are based here, so there is a bit of skiing entertainment. On Tuesday morning, they were doing a time trial around the little island. It started at 7 am with a hi di hi campers over the loud speakers. They do it early before, the wind gets up too much, but on Tuesday the wind beat them, so not many got around without falling of at one end of the island or the other.

AJ's Park over Place

We had a little girl staying in the tent next door to us. She is very funny and at only 2 ½ going on 10, we are glad we aren't her parents. We had visitors yesterday, so there was 6 of us in the awning and she sat on each of our knees for a cuddle. She never stops talking either. Our first day here, she ran up to Eddie, demanding a “tuddle”.

Janice and John and some friends of theirs came to see us on Wednesday. They came in John's 1939 Buick. It's rather classy.

Eddie brought home his truck he has been getting cleaned up for the new year and did some photos with it. I have attached the one I took and of Horahora.

It looks impressive, but it won't be happening.

On Wednesday, our fridge started to play up again with the freezer not freezing past -5. It was giving us the same fault numbers as before. We took it back to the agent in Hamilton, on Wednesday. Eddie had done some research and found that the circuit board had caused a few problems with other people. Eddie told the agent that we don't want it back unless it has a new circuit board and a new fan. They are coming from Auckland. We hope they send the right ones, as they got it wrong last time. Hopefully it will be back with us tomorrow. In the meantime, we are using a friend's camping fridge.