Posh Pooch?

So for all you folks in the Northern Hemisphere who are enjoying the spring time weather, fresh may flowers and all that pollen, us kiwis down here in the Southern Hemisphere are gearing up for winter - such that it is.

This is our first winter in NZ and so far it is not all that bad. A LOT more rain - think Seattle - and the temps are a bit more chilly - upper 40s at night and lower 60s during the day.  It is truly amazing how the kiwis don't let any weather change modify their daily outdoor activities and routines.  Every morning we still see the same runners training - rain or shine.  It can be a downpour outside with 20mph winds and moms are still outside pushing their prams with rain covers and walking their dogs.  We must adjust...

Li'l Ella being the very pampered inside pooch that she is, has not really taken to the cooler temps and rainy days.  ESPECIALLY when Lee makes her ride in the bikini top jeep after a swim in the chilly Tasman Sea.... what to do?

We made a trip to Animates (kiwi Petsmart) to investigate how the Kiwis outfit their dogs for the drizzly winter and you would be amazed at the choices and the fact that dogs actually do get raincoats and winter warmers here - it's not just for chihuahuas anymore!  We hesitantly invested in two items for Li'l Ella:

     1.    ThunderShirt - think UnderArmour

thundershirt!

i think i like it.... i think i like it...

     2.     DrizaBone Jacket - think Australian Oilskin

drizabone - more my style!

room to pee... i mean breathe!

Saturday - rain or shine - we made plans to go for a tramp to get out of the house and a bit of exercise for the whole family.  The weather was a bit chilly in the upper 50s and drizzling rain.  Lee tried to pick a somewhat less aggressive trail for his 35-week preggo wife and we ended up selecting the Huia Dam Walk.   The description said that most of the hike is on a dirt road and most of it is pram/stroller accessible, so pretty easy, right?

huia dam track

The track can take you to two amazing dams and the water reservoirs created by the dams.  If you choose to do the entire track it is 6km one-way.  We were thinking, maybe just a short walk since it was  rainy and just see what the Lower Huia Dam had to offer.  

We suited up - all three of us!  Lee and I in multi-layers covered with our Kathmandu jackets and Li'l Ella with her DrizaBone coat.

The Lower Dam is pretty amazing.  It's just a short (uphill) walk from the carpark.  It was completed in 1929 and is one of the most crucial water supply areas for Auckland.  The dam has a grassy front for grazing animals instead of a typical concrete wall.  The water overflow pictured below is a pretty breathtaking concrete funnel that looks like something from a 007 movie!

lower huia dam with water overflow cyclone

It was just a bit misty so we decided to go ahead and hike a bit further.  Then I see a sign for a tunnel - uh oh, we MUST hike to the tunnel!  Of course there is no indication exactly how far this tunnel is... but we set off in good spirits enjoying the time outside and peacefulness of the day.

suspension bridge over the stream

nice peaceful track

The only part of the track that is really suitable for prams/strollers is the lower dam area.  Although it is a one-lane, gravel road most of the way, we encountered some pretty steep hills and rocky areas.  Getting the extra 15 pounds of baby I'm carrying around up the hills required a few stops for doubled over catch my breath time!

The tunnel is right before the Upper Huia Dam - about 1.5 hours into the hike...  I just had to see it right?  Definitely worth it.  The tunnel is about 65m long and carved into the mountain.  It was really beautiful and worth the trek to get there.

entrance to tunnel

look at my belly!

The Upper Huia Dam is a more typical exposed concrete dam - amazing in its remoteness that man completed this engineering structure in the 1929!

upper huia dam

Three hours and 12km later, we returned to the car park.  All three of us were warm AND dry although a little knackered after the tramp.  Li'l Ella's posh pooch poncho kept her nice and warm... Success!

High Above the Mucky-Muck

New Year's Day 2012!  (NYE 2011 in the USA)
Our first NYE in Auckland...  We decided to stay in as the weather was a bit dreary, but there's no ball drop or apple drop or peach drop over here!!!  Everyone waits for the US to do their thing - very disconcerting!  We did get to see a TON of fireworks from our deck.  It seems like kiwis are a bunch of pyromaniacs!  Everyone had the good fireworks over here and were setting them off like crazy for about an hour after midnight - pretty cool.


Thinking - let's start this NY off right - right?  Let's be athletic!  Do some exercise!  Get outside and breathe this fresh kiwi air!  OMG....


We picked one of the tramping tracks (hiking trails) in the Waitakere Ranges to tackle today - well, let's say Lee picked it after doing some research on the best tracks.  The one he picked is down near one of our favorite sites so far - Whatipu.  Here's the description of the track he picked:

Omanawanui Track is regarded by many as one of the secret jewels in the treasure trove of tracks in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. Despite a few sections of steep going the track rewards walkers with its sparkling water views out over the Manukau Bar and its mixed canopy forest. 

Ok - let's clarify here - "a few sections of steep going" - check out the elevation graph below!!!  How about straight up and down where you have to crawl on all fours and hold onto a rope?!?  No kidding, the going was a bit treacherous at times. If this track was in the USA, there would be guard rails everywhere or it would only be an option for true mountaineers.  

it took ALL of the 2 1/4 hours

we're going up yonder!

We parked the Chancellor at the first area to access the Omanawanui Track at the beginning and set off on our journey.  Thinking, yeah, 2 1/4 hours, no way, not us...  We always finish way before the estimated time!  Ha - not this time!  Round trip is about 6km, but the elevation changes make the going pretty slow.  It took 2 1/4 hours to hike the track and about 45 minutes to hike back up Whatipu Rd to our car.

happy dog

We took our trusty pseudo-mountain goat, Li'l Ella, along for the tramp and she had a grand ol' time.

I can't even begin to describe how beautiful this hike was.  You start off kinda slow and get to see some spectacular coastline views.  Then, as you keep going, you come out along the tops of these ridges where you can see Manukau Harbour, the Tasman Sea, Waitakere valley, and waterfalls all over the place.  There were waterfalls you could see across the mountains and waterfalls going down the ridges into the sea.  Simply breathtaking...  We were up in the clouds for a lot of the trail.

we climbed up and over that ridge

panorama from top of omanawanui track

waterfall bay

The Omanawanui Track is part of what's known as the Hillary Trail.  After hiking this part of it, we've decided to take on the entire Hillary Trail and complete parts of it over the next year.  If you are really adventurous, it's possible to do it over several days camping along the way, but I think we'll enjoy it more doing it in sections during favorable weather conditions :)

at the end in whatipu

For those of you who come and visit, this is a must see/do hike if you are up to it and have the inclination.  It would be great to do it with two cars - one at the top and one at the bottom with a picnic on Whatipu beach at the end.