Zita, I have a flower on my baby NZ Xmas bush! - pohutukawa by another name of course. I just have to share my delight with a New Zealander! I couldn't resist buying a couple of little plants a few months back and they are still only about 18 inches high. There has definitely been some special plant breeding done - I sure don't remember the NZ trees flowering like this when they are so tiny.

Oh, how very exciting!

It could be because they have been bred to be dwarf?

I am sure you are gong to really enjoy that flower. They are wonderful flowers in every way.

Happiness is knowing others are happy!

I have been up the Rapaki Track of late, and on thursday, noticed across the gully on the next track 2 lookouts had been built since i was up there recently.

They look really exciting to go and visit, one has this really nice carved wooden seat on it.

There is no track leading up to the lookouts, you have to become a goat to climb up to them.

I noticed a new lookout on another track nearby, but no access, and wondered, so now I know it's ok to go up to it as long as I can climb like a billy goat!

So many new things are happening all the time on our tracks with upgrading, extensions etc.I never know what I am going to discover next, and with there being so many tracks it take a few weeks before I can get back, therefore I always enjoy the suprise of something new.

Because I 2 recent wrist breaks, I was scheduled for a bone density scan which I had done last week.
The result showed that my hips were way above average in density. My spine is a different story. the point is, all the hiking I have been doing has paid off for my hips.

Now that I am back on track, I have been going to Scot's Reserve, which is above an old quarry. It is not actually an official track with markers, but it is an area where rock climbers to to practice on the sheer cliff drops.
the view is spectuclar, looking right over the city to the Southern Alps, which are still covered in snow.

Bird life is very prolific and varied. Sheep graze right up under the cliffs, as there is usually lush grass there, being a sheltered place.

Recently the council put up 2 information boards on the bird/plant life, asking the climbers to be careful about the vegetation growing in the cliffs.

Three of the species grow nowhere else in the world.
There are the Banks Peninsula Hebe, Blue Tussock, and Hebe Strictissima

I have been 3 times now, and not made it to the top road yet, as it is a 2 hour hike each way, and I run out of time!

I am also going to contact the Council and ask them to make it an official track, which would cut down the time if it were made easier.

Been really great to get back out hiking again, and good to be able to type, and to be here again sharing my love of nature.

May you all be blessed in your part of a wonderful world.

This hike took place the morning before I broke my 2nd wrist.

4th August 2002.
Time 6.30am

The moment I opened my eyes, I knew where my hike for that day would take me. Captain Thomas Track.

To get there, I drive 20 minutes around the coastline,then head inland a short distance.

I knew that it was imperative that I go, and not somewhere else, as I realized there was something special for me there that day.

The drive along the shoreline was spectacular with a sunrise, the pinks and blue-greys all swirling into one another, with a hint of red where the sun would appear at it's appointed time.

There is a new extended enterance to Cpt thomas track, and I park the car and head up the hill with my 2 dogs. The air is still with expectancy, quiet except for the odd call of a bird.
Halfway up the track I stop and turn, facing the sea, just in time to se the sun rise up with it's brilliant glow of colour.

My heart sings. It can't help but sing in the stillness, the absolute peacefulness, the glorious colour of the sky. This brand new moment, of the brand new day.

Still, still with Three, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee.
Fairer than the morning, lovelier than daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.

Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows,
The solomn hush of nature newly born;
Alone with thee,in breathless adoration,
In the calm dew and freshenss of the morn.

The tempo changes.........

The chorus of At the Cross swiftly follows................

At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light,
And the burdens of my heart rolled away.
It was there by night, I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day.

The invitation chorus Into my Heart, concluded my audable worship, and a lone bellbird in the nearby pine tree sang the amen.

Moving off up the track, I noticed a worm struggling in the dust of the track. Scooping it up to safety, I was reminded of those in my church congregation who are struggling with health issues, and I breathed a prayer.

It was at this point I decided to climb the main sheep track above the track I was on, and in doing so noticed that there were many sheep trails leading off, yet they all seemed to meet up somehow at various points on the hillside.

Just like our church family. Everyone different, walking different paths, yet on Sabbath we all come to meet together to worship our Creator God.

The rock near the end of the valley is inviting, so I sit and drink in the scene. The sun is on the land and sea, the day begun.................
Sheep grazing quietly down the valley -
Everything beautiful, peaceful, one cannot but be uplifted, strengthened and ready to face a new week.

I continue back down the track, lost in thought, praying for friends, when I notice the dogs tails wagging. Someone is coming, as by now it is 9am.

Sure enough, as we rounded the corner, an over 50 walking group approaches.
Oh, I thought, my church congregation has come to join me!
It was as if the congregation were there to share in the beautiful blessing I had received. We exchanged greetings, and I felt as if it were the benediction on one of my more special trips.

Things were quite different the next morning when I took a walk down to the local park, slipped and fell................

But it was the memory of my worship on the side of the hill that kept me going, and many of my other early morning hikes that kept me going for the next few weeks.

Praise and worship, particularly ou tin the great outdoors is a way of life that is everything to me.

I think Paticence Strong sums it up very well in one of her poems.

If you stand very still in the heart of a wood
You will hear many wonderful things - the snap of a twig, the wind in the trees, and the whirr of invisible things.

If you stand very still in the turmoil of life, and you wait for the voice from within.
You'll be led down the quiet ways of wisdom and peace
in a mad world of chaos and din.

If you stand very still and hold onto your faith
You will get all the help that you ask.
You will draw from the silence the things that you need
Hope, courage, and strength for your task.

I have just discovered a really exciting site at http://travel.nzoom.com/
There are some lovely views and interesting write up on our many walks in New Zealand.

The box underneath the NZ Hiking one called Tramping Korean style is written by a young man my son grew up with here in Christchurch.You might like to check it out too.

With the recent full moon, it has been a delight to go out on the tracks before daylight and hike under a canopy of stars.
This morning was no exception despite the fact that the moon is now 1/4 - I could still see without a torch. The track I went on is called the farm track, and it is on the hill opposite Rapaki Track, one I mentioned above.
I noticed Zac kept stopping and laying down, odd behaviour, and I was hoping it wasn't his heart playing up as he is a little overweight from being fed straight dogroll while my wrists healed.

I kept on going as it was such a perfect morning, not a breath of wind, and the stars seemed almost within reach. We made it to the top ok, and the trip back down seemed to be easier on him.
When we got to the lookout, and I sat down for my Bible reading, I noticed again that Zac was restless, and I realized the problem. He had eaten some old sheep bones the morning before on another track, and was blown up with gas.
Another trip to the Vet that I didn't need!
However, Zac is his old self tonight, those little white pills work wonders!

You may not be receiving any responses here to your last few posts, Zita, but I want you to know that I appreciate what you are posting here.

I would like others to share their hiking experiences in their part of the world.

As for me, I just bought myself a bicycle and rode to the store and back which took about 12 minutes each way. I didn't exactly enjoy the sites as I had hoped to considering I hadn't ridden a bicycle in almost 40 years.

I did notice a butterfly flying by, and some horses off to the side grazing in the green grassy field on this warm summer day on this part of the world. I also noticed some birds flying around.

It was a good time of exercise which I hope to do almost daily or as often as possible.

Hi Daryl, what a pity we can't go for a bike ride together somewhere!
I have been trying to get out on mine again after 2 years of not being able to ride, so I know the feeling of enjoyment and being able to see wonderful things we would otherwise miss.
40 years is a long time, but they say it's never too late. Would love to introduce you to our wonderful mountainbike tracks too that take you through the pine forest.

Now that my hands are much improved, I will be able to share more hiking treats that I experience.
I would love for others to share too, for the great outdoors cannot be beaten.
Today my hike took me along the beach in a 10 deg frost. Needles to say, I didn't make it a long one. When you go up high, you rise above the freezing level, I was very thrilled when I discovered that one after years of walking in the freezing frosts.

This week I have been going up in the hills by moonlight.It was almost as if I could reach up and pluck the stars. When you see them so close, so in place you realize that God has you just where He wants you, in your place in this world and shining like stars.

Because it is Winter here my early morning hikes are taken either by the light of the moon or torchlight.

Recently I hiked up a popular hiking/mountainbike track by the light of the moon. It was a glorious site all the way to the top road, and then over to the next hill and up to the top.A glorious view of clear sky and moon till finally daylight comes the moon fades, and the sheep stir in the early morning sunlight that creeps over the hill, sending long fingers of warmth over the surrounding hillside.

In the stillness of the early morn, Lord, enlighten me as this new day dawns. I give thanks for the glorious sunrise, the freshness of the new day, and the opportunity to Worship You in it's absolute stillness.