Matiri Lake hut

(Van/lena/violet) We are going on a hike! It was a big hike. It was so long.

I was playing with sand a little bit.

(meg-van's turn to decide not to walk)

Magda wanted to go so fast because something was buzzing around and it was a bee I think.

(meg-there seriously were a crazy amount of bumblebees around-they would come and land on you to see if you were a flower)

We were eating a bar and mommy schooched me over so Lucy could fit. Goodbye!

The hike was beautiful.

It was a beautiful day and Frankie had her walking stick. It is very straight.

We are on top of a hill. It was a big hill. Daddy carried me up, up, up.

(meg-you can't quite tell here, but this was quite the incline-josh is pretty amazing!)

We were eating snacks again. Skittles!!

It was so fun traveling that I wanted to go faster. We saw lots and lots of rock and big trees and a giant pipe that we saw, it was big and huge and really really tough.

(Meg-'The Lake Matiri power scheme uses a series of weirs to take water from the lake exit and pipe it 2.4km downstream to a small automated power station before returning the water to the river.' A weir is a type of damn. had to look it up. The giant pipe that we saw was about 6 feet in diameter! I should have taken a picture.)

Can we be done? I'm tired.

That was a really tall tree and it was really mossy.

That was a really tough hut. It rained really hard and it didn't break in. None rain!

(Meg-it did rain on and off for a few hours that evening-we played pass the pigs and uno and chatted with one of the guys that was at the hut-he was at the end of his 9 day hike!)

Swans! on the lake. They were black. And some had grey babies.

I love sleeping on the bunk!

It's a toilet. You can go poop in it.

There was a lot of mountains that we saw. And a rainbow. But we did know where the treasure was. Cause I love treasure. If it is shining by the rainbow you can lift up the rainbow and dig it up. Maybe the treasure is a unicorn horn.

Swans!

Lucy!

Van/violet had nothing to say here. (Have I already mentioned that she has decided that she wants to go by her middle name Violet? Thats what she told her teacher, so everything is labeled Violet! ha.) We are on the hike out. It was a gorgeous day!

We were eating ice cream and I picked raspberry. It was really yummy. and I even got to try Frankie's. And I even got to try mommy's.

(Meg- ice cream is a great end to a fun tramping trip! The sign said real fruit ice cream, and I assumed it was 'real fruit' like how commercials say real fruit in yogurt or something. but this was actual fruit, each serving of ice cream mixed up for you!)