A trek up Baldwin Street, Dunedin

Baldwin Street is the steepest street in the world. 

On Saturday a small group of us walked up it at granddaughter's request. She has set herself a monthly  challenge and the January one was this walk. She invited people to go with her and nine of us set off from the bottom. Seven of us made it to the top.

 

Looking up from the corner. The bottom is tar seal, the top concrete so vehicle tyres have something to grip. Someone tried to get up on a motor scooter while we were there but never made it.

Not one of our team making hard work of it. Some walked on the road and others, like me, took the steps.

We noticed that the locals were in tee shirts and the tourists were all in sweatshirts, jackets or hoodies. Too warm and muggy for that.

Pausing for a breather and looking back at where we'd come.

A not very flattering shot of Jacqui, me and Vanessa at the top with Arlo. 😄 Contemplating the downward journey. It was very steep, I saw one older man having trouble and trying to go down sideways but he decided the steps were the best bet. 

I decided I wanted to walk down the opposite side to what I came up so had to cross the road. I'd slipped near the top on a little patch of gravel so Vanessa took my hand. I thought I was well past having to hold hands to cross the road but apparently not. 😏

We'd been promised drinks and protein bars when we reached the bottom and here we are gathered around with them. It was fun. I think her next challenge is to donate blood but I can't do that due to the medications I'm on unfortunately. Still I'll join in where I can. 

 One of my sisters in Aussie has decided she'll try and do the equivalent with us. She walked up to their local lookout, not as steep but a greater distance.

Here is a link to a Wikipedia article about Baldwin Street if you'd like to read a bit about it. I think it makes an interesting read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_Street

That's it for today, stay safe, stay well and enjoy life, 

until next time,

Diana

Ettrick tearooms, then and now

I mentioned in my last post that we always used to visit the little tea rooms at Ettrick when we went through to Central Otago. We stopped when it became quite rundown and we were pleasantly surprised when we stopped in on this trip through to buy fruit.

I have one or two photos that we've taken at different times and thought I 'd show you the contrast. I thought I had one or two more but alas, I can't find them.

Above is the front entrance as it used to be, some Kiwi's may recognise it from a tv ad a couple of years back, I think for ice cream, and below as it is now. 

It is much more modern looking with it's dark facade and the food is much more upmarket but you can still get a cup of tea or coffee with a sandwich or scone if that's what you prefer.

And above is the outside seating from previous days, unless you managed a table under a tree it wasn't very pleasant in the heat as  umbrellas were few and far between.

Below are pictures of the outside seating area as it is today. Much more pleasant with tables under trees as well as in a beautiful big gazebo with hanging baskets.

 This is where we sat. The only fault we could find was the tables were more  suited for larger groups and we felt one or two smaller ones would have been nice. We sat at a table that could probably have seated eight to ten people.

There's also a nice little play area for the smaller people

 where once there was just a slide and a swing.

The grounds are well maintained and there is a bird aviary down the back. My GKB said some of the birds were flying free but I didn't see any.

A couple of pics of the shrubs and trees in the outdoor area. 

Nice for a short stroll to the rest rooms :)

That is me for today. Just a little peek at our once more favourite stop on the way through to Central Otago.

Have a good week, Keep well.

Diana

Road trippin'

On a blue sky day.

We had a couple of messages to do up the street before we left but were still away by 10:45am as we had planned. Whilst up the street I decided to change my clothes as I was already too hot and it was going to be hotter where we were going. No I didn't change while I was out, we went back home and my GKB also picked up a light jacket - just in case. Luckily going home was in the same direction as we were going so no time lost really.

We were on our way through the Manuka Gorge when I thought maybe I should take some pictures. So below is part way through. It gets quite rugged in places with a bit of bush overarching the road but the road itself is well maintained.

Coming out of the gorge into farming country.

Lawrence is a gold mining town and very proud of it's heritage buildings and mining equipment from back in the day. They hold an annual Heritage carnival which I've been to once. A family day with family friendly activities.

We were to have met up with Jacqui's partner for lunch but he never arrived. He was away working and we're guessing he just plain forgot :) We sat outside Bellview Wetlands, ate chips (crisps) and  had a bottle of ginger beer each then went on our way.

But not before we headed up to the Gabriel Read memorial. Gabriel Read was the man who discovered gold in the gully and so started the Otago gold rush.

On the road again until we arrived in Ettrick and stopped at what used to be our favourite wee cafe until it began to get rundown. It has new owners now so we thought we'd drop in for lunch and have a looksee. This is where we sat. It is so nice now and we'll definitely be making it our stop once again when we're up that way.

After lunch we were back on the road again. We were looking for a fruit stall selling peaches, we'd already stopped and bought plums, cherries and apricots from another roadside stall. We were in Fruitlands, orchard country. Stone fruit and berries in the summer, apple and pears later in the year. We bought a box of peaches that had been on the tree while we were eating our lunch - they were still warm from the sun.

Heading home again, sheep on one side of the road

and cattle on the other, not sure whether they're beef or dairy

 but look quite young.

There weren't a lot of campervans on the road, most people 

travelled home at the weekend I imagine, but we sat behind

 this one for a mile or two.

Crossing the new Beaumont bridge over the Clutha River.

Two horses looking hot in the mid afternoon sun in 

a paddock beside the river.

Look closely and you can see both the old bridge and the new one. The new bridge is only about a year old.

Back through Lawrence, the road heading home :)

A stop at Milton for ice cream, a family tradition when travelling from Central Otago, and only about half an hour from home.

The fruits of our trip. Some still in the fridge and some shared with a friend. Most family have just recently been through so didn't want any.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day out and I hope it's not too long before we do it again :)

That's all for now.

Until next time

Diana

Trimmed

My GKB was getting worried about how he was going to get the hedges trimmed as they were getting rather overgrown and shaggy. Just recently we changed from our old rubbish bin collector, which we paid a fee for, to the city council one which was covered in our rates. This meant swapping some of our old bins for the council ones. 

The council green waste bin was quite a bit smaller than the old one and meant we were only able to mow half the lawn at a time and get the clippings in the bin. The other half was done the following week. No way were we getting garden weeds in let alone hedge clippings. 

But the kids must have been discussing it as this weekend eldest daughter, Jacqui, and her partner arrived with all the right gear on the back of the ute and got stuck in.  Well the men got stuck in, Jacqui and I drank tea, gossiped and kept out of their way.

The growth was quite prolific as it has been a warmish (🙄) 

summer (??) as well as a wet one. So everything is very lush.

Even after being trimmed back it's still looking nice, thick and green, and all the cuttings have been taken away on the back of the ute.

We ordered a new bin, but they won't swap them over, just deliver the larger one so that we now have two green bins and an extra fee to pay once a year. Never mind though, we now have more than enough green bins for our needs, 😄

And that's it from me today.

Have a nice weekend, keep well, keep safe, especially those of you in the fire or snow affected states in the US.

Prayers are being said for all.

Diana

Bookended

We had another wonderful day yesterday. It started with my GKB bringing me a fat envelope he had found in the letterbox. It was a lovely wee notepad and a Christmas card with a thankyou note from Friday Light, the outreach I cook for every now and then 

In the afternoon I went over to grand daughter's house. She's going away for a few days and we've volunteered to feed the cats. We had a nice chat over a cold drink and she showed me where everything is, and yes, I remembered to come away with a key to the house.

And finally our Christmas Eve dinner was going to happen, nine days late, but who's counting. I spent quite a bit of time in the morning preparing the fruit salad for dessert, mostly fresh fruit, yum.

Finally it was time to head over to Aaron's place for our meal where we sat out on the deck in the late afternoon sun and waited for the hostess to appear. She'd gone to visit a neighbour and lost track of the time. But it didn't matter, we enjoyed each other's company over nibbles and a drink. She was a bit embarrassed when she finally arrived back but we just had a good laugh.

Aaron had spent the day preparing a roast meal, lamb from a friend's farm accompanied by new potatoes, roast pumpkin, carrots and parsnip with gravy. It was delicious and I ate far too much. DIL then brought out a fresh cheese board and crackers while we were sitting letting our meal settle. You don't need this, I thought, but that didn't stop me from indulging. I should have known better, I knew there was still dessert to come.

After dessert, which I also ate too much of, we blobbed inside in front of the telly and did some karaoke. It was a lot of fun. Some of us performed beautifully, some of us just looked on and enjoyed - and laughed.

And as we were leaving we were given another Christmas gift. A gift box of barbecue sauces, rubs and nibbles. Another lovely surprise. You could say the day was bookended with gifts. 😄

When we arrived home I said to my GKB that really I should go for a run around the block after all that food but of course I was only kidding. I had a cup of tea and went to bed instead.

I did go for a walk this afternoon though, albeit a short one.

Keep well and keep enjoying the holiday season.

Diana