As my millions of readers (okay-okay-my-four-readers) will no doubt remember .... Last November I hurt my heel and the doctor said it would take maybe a year to get better. And, then, I stepped off a stair into mid-air in January and ended up with a torn ligament on one ankle and a bad sprain on the other. I couldn't do my beloved hiking. I could hardly walk. My car never had so much use. I live a block away from the supermarket and I had to drive there; it was so embarrassing. I had to use my hiking stick as a walking stick.
About a month ago I started baby steps without my stick. I walked around the block. The next day I went a couple of blocks. Then, up a rise. Then, three blocks, and a rise. Then, a proper hill....
Success!
Two days ago, I went for a walk to the southern bays, past Lyall Bay and Princess Bay, over the Houghton Bay Hill to a track that leads down to behind the zoo (the apes seem to be happy and healthy), up and down another track that leads to the top of Kilbirnie, then back to Miramar. Whoopee, I was hiking real tracks. My walking stick had now magically transformed into an honest-to-goodness hiking stick. I was one proud hiker.
.Below is a photo taken from Princess Bay, looking across to Island Bay.
On the Houghton Bay Hill (which is just out of camera-shot, to the right of the photo) I came across a tsunami safe zone. There are a few of these dotted around the southern suburbs.
When a tsunami is imminent, we, the coastal inhabitants of Wellington, must run like mad up a hill to get behind the tsunami safety zone line. I know, for sure, I would not stand on the safety line assuming I was safe. I would run much further up the hill as fast as a rabbit. My Miramar house - about 500 metres from the sea - will apparently be underwater in a tsunami trice.
Nice post & good to hear you're back on your feet. :)
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