Frustrated...

Now that Naomi is out of the 'baby' stage and the other two kids have demonstrated the ability to walk reasonable distances (through their overnight walks with Peter), my motivation/interest in going bush walking as a family has been rekindled strongly.

So I've been sourcing some decent, but cheap 2nd hand hiking boots for the kids off TradeMe (Ben has a pair now and so does Naomi - not that she will be doing much walking on tracks just yet) and also looking out for some decent, cheap 2nd hand waterproof jackets (not as necessary, but helpful for those days where it is just drizzling very lightly or there are short light showers, so still pretty decent walking weather, as long as you can keep dry).

The kids are quite keen on bush walking too, they enjoy exploring new places and especially sleeping in huts. Our calendar we bought for this year happens to be a 'Tramping in New Zealand' themed one (it has cool pictures) and each month they want to know where the picture is (the calendar also includes a little map each month showing where the bush walking track is that the picture was taken on) which is soon followed by the comment 'I want to go there'.

We are planning a trip to the northern end of the South Island early next year and are staying in Deparment of Conservation (they manage the bushwalking stuff/bush camping stuff) campsites and are planning to do a few walks (including one that is currently this months picture on the calendar!).

Now back to the reason I've titled this post 'Frustrated'...

The reason is because although I am excited/motivated to get out bush walking with the family, it isn't possible while I continue to be perpetually sick at the moment. Another frustration is the weather - winter in Waikato involves a lot of rainy days. It's not rainy all day everyday (today is a nice fine sunny day), but the number of Saturdays suitable for bush walking is small. And the final frustration is 'cost'. Just walking along the track doesn't cost anything, but it costs (petrol) to drive to the walk and with the cost of petrol here at the moment (I paid $2.09/L this week), the extra petrol used to go bush walking is significant.