Election next week

Hi there

It's all go....  Our big political elections are next Saturday.  The two main parties - Labour and National - and a bunch of smaller parties are wearing themselves out, racing up and down the country, visiting schools, factories, farms, outdoor markets, etc.  The present prime minister came down with covid and had to stay confined at home for five days - what, no electioneering?; is there some sort of conspiracy theory here?

There's been lots of back-biting.  I remember times, in the past, when no one party would lower themselves to sling off so horribly about another party.  Nowadays ...  the gloves are off.  

One thing that I can never understand is why so many people vote in advance of official election day.  I would never do this.  What if, between my vote and election day, there was some giant scandal to do with the person or party I'd voted for?  I couldn't claw back my vote ...

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I went for a return walk from Lyall Bay to Island Bay last week.  The sky was so beautiful.

 

zig-zag walkways

About ten years' ago I went on a Wellington City Council guided walk entitled "Zig-zags of the Miramar Peninsula'.  I've been on many strenuous bush-hikes in my life (the worst one being the 'straight-up the hill' hike behind Akaroa in the South Island, with a 28c temp), but this "zig-zag path" walk totally scrubbed out all  my get-up-and-go.  I mean, it was pure hell.  By the end of about our tenth zig-zag, we were all crying for mercy. Up and down ... Up and down ... Up and down ...
Since this time, I have become quite acclimatised to Miramar zig-zags and force myself when I'm out walking, to include several at a time (but never as many as I did on that infamous day with the WCC guide).
My zig-zag nemisis is the Houghton Tce zig-zag to the west of Lyall Bay Beach (you can see it from the beach road).  I used to have to stop every now and then as I forced myself to traverse it, cursing all the time.  Now, proudly, I can climb up without stopping, the supreme test on any zig-zagger.
Here's my challenge: -  retirees, just do it!   Younger fitter folk, you can do and 'up', and a 'down', and an 'up' again... without stopping.
In the photos of the Lyall Bay Houghton Tce zig-zag below, I've missed out several of the zigs and the zags.  Adjacent to the steps at the beginning of the climb, you can see a private 'cable car' put in by the owners who live beside the steps.  The last photo is at the top of the zig-zag.

1st swim for July - darn cold afterwards!

We did our first swim for July today.  It was cold and to make matters worse I had a sore throat and a bit of a cough;  I didn't feel I could go to 'gym' because of it and so I stayed home.  However ......     Yeah, yeah, I shouldn't have hopped out of bed to go for the swim but J and I had to get it out of our systems and once we say those fatal words, "let's go and look at the water", the deal is all but set in stone.
And talking about 'stone', I think I've broken a tooth on a jelly baby - they should be called concrete babies!  Dentist on the agenda.
I was warm after a half an hour or so of getting home from my swim, but after eating about a full litre of ice cream (sore throat, remember?), I suddenly became so cold I took to bed in socks, tights, nightie, sweater and the heater on full blast.

Changing subjects:  I truly love the Miramar Peninsular (I've noticed that shops around the 'peninsula' spell the word in different ways).  I adore walking around it,  The peninsula starts at Miramar Wharf opposite the 'All Blacks' sign put up on the hill by Weta Workshop,  passes Scorching Bay, cuts across Seatoun village to the Pass of Branda,  goes through Breaker Bay, and finishes at Lyall Bay.   There are also lots of tracks and zig-zags, but more about them in a future blog.