Thread: Lucy's first Kaweka adventure

I've been keen to get my 3 year old daughter up into the bush for a while now. Lucy is at that age where its all go, and shes been driving her mother crazy the last few days, so with a gap in the bad weather forecast for Sunday, i started priming her up for a walk in the bush.

After her dancing class on Sunday morning, i quickly packed up all the essential items for taking young ones into the hills, plenty of snacks, warm cloths etc, and a special surprise in daddy's pack.

Her excitement levels increased with every long winding kilometer we got closer to the snow capped mountains, which we could see not long after leaving Napier.

By the time we reached the Makahu carpark at the base of the makahu spur she was amping!



She was egar as to get going, and was giving me the hurry up as i pulled my boots on. We ventured off on the Ngahere loop track.



She loved the little wooden foot bridges crossing the creeks. We had a little stop for a snack, drink and a rest half way up the gentle climb to the ridge.



I pointed out some fresh deer marks on the track which she was quite interested in, she enjoyed the sound of the wind in the tree tops, and the sound of the creeks as we got within ear shot. We stopped often to check out all the unusual plants and mosses that you don't see in town, and get the odd interesting photo.



Once we got up onto the top of the ridge and it flattened out she picked up the pace, and it was a mission to stop her running off ahead, a couple of trips and falls later and lessons had been learned ;-)

Another rest and food stop was demanded, so it was time for the special surprise in dads pack. As i produced my cooker and pot i asked her if she'd like a mug of hot milo? She looked slightly puzzled and then asked "with choc sprinkles and a mellow" to which i answered "sure no problem". She was most impressed when i passed her a cup of milo complete with her choc sprinkles and a mash-mellow.




After looking at the time, i told her we had better pack up and head for the carpark, as i had told mum we would be home for dinner.



On arriving back at the car Lucy was a little tired, but asked if we could go back and do it again! Happy Daddy.

We only walked about 4.5km, but she did really well and I though that was a bloody good effort for her on the uneven ground with a couple of little climbs.

Needless to say she had a good sleep on the trip home ;-)



We are both looking forward to the next trip into the hills.