Christmas Time in Kaitoke Forest

25 March 2007

The superfly is back and trying his best to catch up on some history... To be totally honest I'm like 3 months behind on this blog! :o(

Anyhow, this is a bit of a postmortem of Christmas 2006... Enjoy!

28 December 2006

It's happy season again! Before we knew it the year was on it's back and 2007 is upon us. I look back on the year past and find my mind awash with emotion. What a year it's been! This time last year (2005) I was enjoying the Christmas time with my family on my parent's farm. This year however I'm celebrating in a rainforest. There's only one thing missing in this picture, the family! John, Annelize and I were sharing this predicament and decided not too spend the day with other expats who are missing their family and friends. Instead, we decided we were going to have a HAPPY Christmas and do something fun.

We got together on Christmas eve, gave each other a few cool presents and went out for a lovely steak dinner. On Christmas day Wellington was clothed in a cloudy blanket and it was one of those days where the city really did need a blanket! Only problem was it needed a raincoat too. The day's forecast seemed a bit grim but this wasn't going to get us down! And so, at precisely half past sparrow fart (very early), the three happy expats (musketeers, stooges, not so blind mice pick one... hehe) set off for a joyride. We knew we were going to have a monster picnic but we had no Idea where. John set us on a general northerly course, all systems go! We passed the Northern suburbs of Petone, Lower Hutt and as we were passing through Upper hutt something really odd happened. It was like God himself pulled that leaky grey cloak away and let the sun shine... It was the weirdest thing, one moment wet and cold, the next pure blue sunny skies! Whoa, game on! We still had no idea where we were going though but North we went! The weather was finally playing along, it was destined to be a great day.

After driving down a few trails John made an impulsive turn in the direction of Kaitoke forest, which none of us had heard of before but I have to tell you, this little hidden piece of forest is a real gem! Apart from being absolutely breathtaking with massive trees, crystal clean rivers and streams, it was also the film location for "Rivendell", the Elf city in Lord of the Rings. We practically stormed the riverside and were dumbfounded by the cleanness of the water and surroundings. This is a popular picnic and camping site with the locals, yet there was no rubbish spoiling the scene, and what a scene it was. We stood on a white stony riverbed with azure skies covering the massive trees towering overhead. I felt small, really really small. The best thing was that the whole forest was alive with the song of sun-beetles (Cicadas) and birds. Paradise. The picture before us was a patchwork quilt of memories from our lovely South Africa. The sun-beetles reminded me of the African bush, as did the sweet smell of the forest... The trees and landscape seemed transported from Sabie, the stream was a baby version of the Tugela river in the Southern Drakensberg... The only thing that blows by mind is all of this was a mere 30 minute drive from my bed.

At this point it the day had heated up to about 27 degrees, enough to literally start melting our parking lot's tar - no jokes! I remembered seeing this same thing happen as a child when we lived in Skukuza. The tar in Skukuza only started melting at 40 degrees though... Anyhow, what was even more amusing is how unbearably hot this 27 degrees felt! (Ons het soos 'n spul softies gevoel hoor!) We had a little look around and settled down in a shady spot to have our picnic, and in good South African fashion ate till we were to full to speak! hehe But speak we did! We shared good memories, times with friends and family, and even though we missed them greatly, these memories were a great source of joy. As daylight started to retreat we returned to Wellington and found the heavens still leaking gently over her. The harbour seemed even more pretty than usual, the misty hills surrounding the city were strangely welcoming. We were home.

Please click on the photo's below to see the full version. The blog site seems to cut off the right side 1/3rd of pictures is shown here in full size, so I had to resize them a little!

This is the view that greets you as you leave the car park...

On the swing bridge...

Good friends, good food, awesome location - Now this is a picnic!

Looks like a movie scene doesn't it!?

This is the gateway the world of faeries hehe

And we cooled off a little...

Still to come... Our January road trip to the infamous coromandel, Levin River Festival, Dragon boat races and whatever else we get up to in meantime... Just a hint, Peter and I are doing another roadtrip from Auckland to Wellington next weekend!

That's all for now (The wind is blowing and I have a windsurfing itch to go scratch, check back soon for more!

Superfly