2011/01/01 - Waiting for the right conditions

I still intend to go around Ruapehu [ 72km ] in less than 24 hours . Based on my previous attempt I can do it with 14 hours of walking and 4 X 15 minute rest stops at the huts along the way . A total of 15 hours this time of the year means that I could leave at 5:00 am and be back by 8:00 pm while it is still light . Last Monday I was ready to go but the weather forecast mentioned rain and extreme gale force winds for the afternoon - not gonna happen . I headed back home  , loaded up my photovan and headed for Napier with a possible trip to Wellington . At Napier I checked the weather report and it mentioned 'fine weather' for the central North Island so I headed straight back to Ruapehu - all this in gale force winds which almost resulted in my van being blown in front of a truck - good fun.
Tuesday night I set my alarm for 4:30 am , got all my gear ready and felt my foot start throbbing inside from the cold . A 10 year old injury was woken up when I carried a 25 kg log for 3 hours on the beach last Saturday - not going to happen once again !
So today I drove out to Te Toto gorge near Raglan where I live and took in some scenery .

 

 After heading back into town I took a kayak for a paddle in the harbour - I usually avoid anything that could damage the camera but decided to compromise and use my Gopro helmet camera . It got a bit foggy inside but gives the general idea of what went on .
On the 'town' side of the harbour , I headed across to the other side and battled against an outgoing tide .

Te Akau bay 

Then I headed 'upstream' toward an interesting piece of land and did some exploring - I get motion sickness very easily and wasn't feeling too good from all the 'bobbing around '

 

From here I headed back across to the wharf - waves pounding from the side and  a stronger current coming in . It was tiring and after getting to the other side the water was moving too quickly to paddle back so I dragged the kayak up the beach and ran back to collect my van . Not much of a story but the best I can do for now - maybe next week my foot will be feeling better for "Round 2' of Ruapehu in a day :) .