Walking the new escarpment track

A few weeks ago a new section of the Te Araroa (the track that goes the length of New Zealand) along the Kapiti Coast opened. It traverses along the coastal range with great views out over the Tasman sea and Kapiti Island. With great weather forecast, we decided it was time to check it out before the end of summer and before Freya gets too heavy to carry, and wants to walk for herself and not sit in a backpack for several hours. The nice thing about the track is that this particular section starts and finishes at a train station. So the logistics of doing a through walk were easy. 

On the train causing mischief 

As a result of this the track starts and finishes along the train lines, personally I didn't find this particularly exciting. But in the middle it climbs up the steep escarpment, well above the road and rail below, with great views. Lots of steps going up and down, and a few token swing bridges were fun. I quite liked the short sections through the bush which gave you a bit of shade and change from the exposed track. 

Walking down lots of steps

One of the swing bridges

Aaron and I took it in turns to carry Freya as it was hard work carrying the pack. While Freya enjoys riding in the pack she did get a little bored and frustrated just before we stopped for lunch at the top. Freya certainly enjoyed the bus and train rides, as well as watching the trains and people go by on the walk. Not sure she paid much attention to the scenery! 

A nice day out from wellington and big adventure for our little one. 

1 year

Well we made it to the 1 year milestone. 366 days, 2 mothers days and 2 Christmases and a round the world tour. So Freya has crammed a lot in to her 1st year. She also took her first independent steps a week before her birthday. Since then she has been practising, but mostly takes a couple of steps and then dives for mum or dad or a piece of furniture. She unfortunately missed the side of the doorframe with her hand and hit it with her head, so is currently sporting a massive lump and scar on her forehead. Learning to fall😢 she has also now got the hang of both her tricycles, the indoor plastic one and the outdoor one. So she scoots around the house to get places, or uses her trolley, which she can now steer where she wants to go. She is in to everything....so some serious baby proofing has been needed. 

Climbing into and pulling everything out of cupboards! 

We had a nice little afternoon tea for Freya on Sunday before her birthday (Mother's Day). She didn't quite know what to make of it. But she cruised around and enjoyed herself. Between us we made her a pretty cool bear cake...I baked the cake and Aaron made the vanilla cloud frosting and built and decorated it. A pretty impressive effort for our first attempt at a children's birthday cake. 

Bear cake 

Family Birthday photo

She got lots of lovely birthday gifts from family and friends.  Books, clothes, a couple of sets of crockery and cutlery, and a few toys, including a digger and an 80litre tub of duplo, on loan from our neighbours for the next few years. So we are looking forward to lots of hours of fun reading books and playing with diggers and duplo!  Thankyou for all the gifts! 

Birthday girl in her party dress with a balloon.