Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Moosie's Mountain Journey

Moosie had been begging and begging for me to take him on a hike up the mountain so finally I did on December 17.

He watched a freighter docking and hoped to someday work on a tugboat.


He took a rest on the picnic table at the top of the Mount.


and posed for a picture (good thing he didn't see what was behind him!)


he enjoyed the view...

more posing, he wanted to make sure grandpa saw what fun he was having

enjoying the view again

OH NO!!!   Moosie sees the guy in the sky and now he wants to fly too!!




I distracted him with a beer...

don't tell Moosie... Ginger Beer is non-alcoholic..


He took a snooze while I watched the guys in the sky


In the above picture, on the mountainside you can see a few people.  This is the point where the guys strap on their para-sailing gear and step off into the air.   I wanted to get closer so I picked up Moosie and carried him...  He squirmed and I set him down for a picture and to look at the view.


I put him back in the pack (a "moosie pack") and went along to where the para-sailers took flight.  I saw one take off.  A guy was tandem flying with another guy (assume a tourist or friend).

The one with the blue chute has 2 guys, and the yellow chute is 1 guy.




Moosie was squirming too much, he wanted to fly.  Since I could not let him, we moved along and he enjoyed more of the scenery.



He enjoyed the pretty Pohutukawa trees on the way down the Mountain.


Back on flat ground at Pilot Bay, Moosie enjoyed watching the boats being put into and taken out of the water (of course, he squirmed because he wanted to go sailing too).



But he was tired from his journey so I took him home for a nice nap.



Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Flowers at Christmas

In the US, the traditional Christmas flower is the Poinsettia.
In New Zealand we have the flowering Pohutukawa trees.  These trees can get really large like the one behind my apartment building.  There are a lot of Pohutukawa trees where I am.  The trees hold a place in NZ history as well.

I was told to make sure I walked around the mount to enjoy the trees when they bloom before Christmas.  I walked around the mount on Dec 15:

a blossoming tree

 a blossom up close


 and more views from the walk, it was a lovely day.