Swimming, sorting, strolling and shooting

With Roger taking a break from running after his half marathon success and me off football with a out-of-joint big toe, we turned to an evening walk up Mount Victoria to stave off apartment fever. Apart from the fear of being mown down and/or blinded by hordes of night-mountain-bikers, it was a pleasant climb to view the lights of Wellington, and on the descent we remembered the existence of the Mt Vic Chippery and our 'Entertainment Book' discounts app. 2 hoki, 1 fancy batter and 1 kumara chips later, we waddled home.

Roger had his first swimming lesson on Thursday, where he discovered he swims entirely with his arms. Luckily he has four more sessions to utilise the legs that, let's not forget, were voted "best legs" in Year 12 at Penglais School. I signed up to free yoga and rock climbing at work, as part of our latest Health & Safety initiative.

It was back to summer times on Friday - we were out of work and stopping at pedestrian crossings on SH1 before you could say "plans for the weekend?" Destination: the Arbon farm, Pohangina, to see my aunt Helen and cousin Richard, and meet his wife Chanelle at last. Richard and Chanelle live in Darwin so it was a rare opportunity.

On arrival Richard and Chanelle were still at the cinema, so we settled down in front of the fire with red wine. Around 15 minutes after they got back, having agreed what a good film Hunt for the Wilderpeople is, we were heading out into the night on a possum shoot. Unfortunately the safety briefing must have been too long because the possums weren't hanging around to be shot, even when we scrambled up the steep hills of the farm to get to them. [NB New Zealand possums, unlike their cute Aussie cousins, are essentially rodents here and eat native birds eggs, small children, etc. So there is no moral concern (unless you are a Jain) in shooting them.]

Following a brilliant night's sleep we all set to clearing out a shed on the farm, Roger and I enjoying driving the four wheeler (GB: quadbike) with a trailer, both forwards (me) and in reverse (Roger). Richard enjoyed strimming a path for the motorbike and working out which bit of the farm he'd concrete next. Chanelle and I also had some practice being sheep dogs when three sheep escaped up a hill in all the excitement.

In the late afternoon we set out on the Fern walk (you may recall this from our short practice trail run in the summer), against the clock and the DOC timing of 3-4 hours. We did it in 1hr30 just in time to beat the dark. Uncharacteristically for winter, Richard had worn boots on the walk, and had a blister. He went back to bare feet, gumboots or croc-like sandals after that!

Possum shooting round two after another chilled dinner, with much more success! Which means one in the bag and several more seen and shot at. Perhaps the safety briefing had quelled trigger-happy tendencies or perhaps we were just enjoying the chase (also Richard missed one which almost fell on his head; I had a clear shot too but decided, health and safety top of mind, that Richard's head was probably a bit close).

The Arbon indoor cinema showed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire later that evening, which is actually quite good because they have to fit so much into one film you don't notice the adolescent acting difficulties.

Next morning we struck out into the cloud-laden Ruahines. Though the promised cloud lifting/sinking scenario never happened, we all had personal achievements: Richard got to point out the short dense alpine vegetation called leatherwood that he'd promised Chanelle; Helen got a headstart back to get the tea on; Roger located where we were on a topographical map on his phone; Chanelle continued her unlimited good humour and patience with us all; and I persuaded everyone that maybe 22km (there and back to an A-frame hut) was a little too much for a casual walk and that turning around having not reached "a point" did not constitute a lack of achievement.

Back in the kitchen we sat round the little wood burner with hot pies and hot chocolate feeling very warm and very pleased with ourselves. Roger and Richard set up some targets to shoot at, while Chanelle and I played cards in front of the fire. Rural 1950s bliss finally ended after an early dinner as we headed back to the big smoke.