Tag: mountain

Norefjord

Place 17 – May 18 2022 to May 20 2022: Norefjord – Back To The Farm!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Day 1


We drove to Nordfjord to visit our friends at the farm that we visited on our travels around 6 years ago! The drive was through snow as well as a lot of tunnels and we got to see a bunch of new places we hadn’t seen!

On the way, we stopped at a bakery in Rødberg for a cinnamon bun and then we carried on to the farm.

We arrived and had some lunch and some coffee, as is tradition, and we caught up with the family who now have an extra child than they did last time which was lovely to see and amazing to meet them.

We were chatting about badgers being a problem and of course, one appeared! We had to chase it down and trap it.

We walked through the forest and cleared it up, clearing up rubbish and also branches that are in the way. The plan is for them to make it into a field that can be used.

We ended the night with some food and a chat. We got to sleep in the cabin we slept in last time which we loved!

Day 2

We had some breakfast and then went down to where the lambs and sheep live to stack a bunch of firewood/logs so they can dry and are stored for the winter. We love doing this so this was great!

We had a coffee break, as you should, it was really nice to sit and chat with them whenever we had a chance.

We needed to move some wood planks from a trailer onto the floor so the trailer could be used again. There were a lot of planks but we worked with Martin to get it sorted.

We loved the opportunity to feed the lambs, too! Some had to be bottle fed, so it was a super nice experience and something new!

For dinner, we had a big roast with a big lamb/sheep leg which was slow cooked. Kim obviously didn’t eat it but Curtis did and it was excellent! The vegetables were a delicious side too.

We needed to make a fence to put around the new sheep field, so we helped to get that done after dinner, which was nice and relaxing.

Day 3

We started with breakfast, as expected and then right when we were getting ready for getting some work done, there was unfortunately a crazy incident with a stabbing in the local town.

This meant that we needed to be vigilant just in case and also the owners of the farm went to see if they could get their kids from school and to see if they can help at all.


The craziness went on for a while and once the evening hit, we walked around and checked all the old fences for holes or trees sitting on them before moving the sheep to their new field!

We had a beer in the sheep field once they’d moved and it was a very nice feeling to see our work come to fruition.

We finished our time there with a curry night! Martin made some really good homemade curry and we even had a visit from one of their friends who sat and had some food with us as well.

We had about 1/2 a day left after this, which will be covered in the next post!

We loved visiting the family again and we can’t wait to head back, see even more farm improvements and help them out.

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Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 385: Vancouver, BC – Grouse Grind, Bears & Dead Battery!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Grouse Grind

We were up at 08:30 and had some egg on toast for breakfast.

After breakfast, we got ready and then Curtis went down to the drug store to get Mars bars and Red Bull.

We then left the apartment and went down to the car to drive up to Grouse Mountain!

We got to the mountain and started making our way up. The Grouse Grind is notorious for being pretty tough, with its 2000+ stairs (plus rocks to climb up etc) & 2 hour completion time!

We started the hike and saw a squirrel right away, which was a great start!

The further up we got, the more challenging it became and we did have to stop quite a few times to regain our breath and stamina.

Towards the end, we got into the clouds and could even see them moving around us.

We eventually got to the top in just 1 hour 20 minutes, which we were very happy with!

Bears!

At the top, there are a few things to do, such as food, drink, disc golf and a bear enclosure!

We obviously had to go and see the bears, so we did just that.

We spent a while looking at the bears and they were pretty active. One of them even had a bath!

Once we were done with the bears, we walked to grab a quick beer before heading down on the gondola!

The beer was perfectly refreshing and just what we needed.

After such as awesome day, we got in the distanced gondola and made our way to the bottom of the mountain.

Once we got there, there was a Starbucks, so we grabbed a coffee and went to the car.

Dead Battery

Once we got in the car, we tried to start it and nothing happened!

Turns out, the battery had died, but we hadn’t left anything on so it must have been it’s time.

We eventually found a tow company that could come and help us, but after we scheduled with them, a couple said they would help jump start us and that worked perfectly, so we cancelled the tow truck and drove to Canadian Tire to get the battery changed!

We got that booked in and had to wait about 30/40 minutes for that to be swapped over, so we did a bit of shopping.

We got a wok which we’ve wanted for a while and then went to the liquor store to get some beer for tonight, which we needed for sure!

We got our car and headed back home.

First Ever Poutine!

We showered when we got home and then ordered some food.

We wanted to try poutine for the first time, so we ordered a burger each with a side ceasar salad each and a side of poutine and some sweet potato fries.

We watched the film ‘love Guaranteed’ which wasn’t great, but was something to watch.

We played some more Tony Hawk Skateboarding and watched a bit more TV but we were very tired after our long hike!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 343: Vancouver, BC – Mt Seymour Hike

Kim & Curtis Hale

Early Wake Up (For a Saturday)

We woke up at 09:00, which is early for us on a Saturday, and we got up and got ready for the long day!

We had french toast for breakfast with cheese!

Hiking!

We drove for 45 minutes up to Mt Seymour. The drive was super easy and there wasn’t much traffic.

We got parked up and the weather became very cold, as we were on a mountain, of course.

We walked to the first trail, which was to head to Mystery Lake. This was an easy hike, but with some good elevation!

We got to the lake after about an hour and sat down, just relaxing and looking at the scenery, which was a beautiful big lake!

We left here and walked up further, eventually hitting the top of a mountain! The views were stunning and we sat and had some lunch here. We had a sandwich we bought this morning from our favourite coffee shop. We managed to find snow on the way up too!

We walked down once we were done with lunch and found a small trail to go up which ended up joining the main trail. We then found out that it was a much, much longer hike to where we wanted to go, so we just hiked all the way back down to the car.

We were out for a long while, and we drove home, very warm and sweaty, but feeling accomplished.

We showered and relaxed when we got home, which was much needed!

We went up to the drug store and liquor store to get some things we needed and some drinks.

Dinner & Fire Trucks?

We put our dinner on (baked potatoes) when we got home and sat on the balcony with a beer!

We had a really nice time just relaxing outside, but it started to get a bit windy and cold, so we came back in and luckily, dinner was ready. We ate dinner and watched some TV and then for some reason, there were 4 fire trucks outside as well as 3 fire car things.

We aren’t sure what it was for as it seemed nothing really happened, but a little entertainment for us and it seemed that no-one got hurt which was good!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Rotorua

Place 60 – Day 5: Rotorua – Mountain Lunch, Impromptu Luge-Ing & Blue Lake

Kim & Curtis Hale

We had to be up at a pretty good time so we could get to the gondola for 12:30.

We met some friends of Kim’s parents there as they had booked a lunch in the restaurant at the top of the mountain.

Once we all arrived, we went on the cable car to the top and entered the restaurant. The food was a big buffet, with multiple areas including salads, curries, roast meat and vegetables and dessert.

We sat and chatted for a long while whilst ensuring we ate as much as we could!

Once we left the restaurant we eventually decided we wanted to do a quick luge run, so we did so. It was great fun and us two had a great battle in which Curtis came out on top .

We left there and drove to blue lake. Unsurprisingly by the name, this is a lake of which is blue. We walked in the water a little and then sat and chatted for a while in the very warm heat!

We said goodbye and drove back home. We were so warm, but we went to the supermarket just to get suncream as we were running out.

We chilled for the evening and had bacon, eggs, beans and toast for dinner.

Pretty early start tomorrow, with a very fun and scary day!

This time last year!

Poroporoaki!

– Mr & Mrs Hale

Oamaru, Queenstown

Place 63 & 64 – Day 3 & 1: Queenstown & Oamaru 🇳🇿 – 300m Swing, 134m Bungy, Seals & Blue Penguins!

Kim & Curtis Hale

We were up early(ish) today and ready to go out.

We had to drive to Kawarau Bungy Centre, but firstly we had some time to kill, so we went into the centre of Arrowtown for some walking around.

Whilst there, there was a small Sunday market going on, which we had to go and see! There was a Swedish food stand, so we got a cinnamon bun each.

We walked around a bit more and Tom got a pie, then we had to get back to the car and drive to where we needed to be.

We arrived and got checked in. This meant we had to get weighed, get our weight written on our hand and on the other hand we got a number written as well as an indication of what we were doing.

We eventually got onto a bus to take us up to Nevis Canyon. The ride was bumpy and down some tiny, tiny mountain roads, until we eventually reached the top.

Unfortunately, it was on a ‘wind break’ when we arrived, but we could still look around and see how incredibly high up we were!

This is where the swing went from

This is where the bungy went from

Eventually, after about 3 hours of waiting for the wind to die down and for them to get all other people completed, we got harnessed up and sent right out to the swing.

It became windy when we got there, so it was briefly delayed again, but a few people went and then it was our turn! We went together and then Kim went again but with her mum.

The swing is a very thin swing which you are clipped into and you then do a very sharp drop 70m downward and then swing 300m, before swinging back a little and then you get pulled back up.

Kim loved this and Curtis didn’t mind the actual swing but the drop was not too fun!

Kim went again with her mum and still loved it then! Maggie had a great time.

After our swings, we walked back up but Kim wasn’t done there. Right after, she had to go right to the bungy area where she was doing a 134m Bungy, which is the largest in New Zealand!

Kim had a briefing and then was taken across onto a suspended platform in a small cage with a few others, ready to jump.

Kim was all fine until right before her jump, where she struggled to wave and smile at the cameras whilst standing on the edge. Kim did a terrific swan dive off the ledge and bounced a few times!

We got the bus back to where our car was and then drove on up to Oamaru, with a stop on the way for some food.

Once we got to Oamaru, around 21:00, Kim read that there should be penguins near the harbour, so we went down to try and find some.

After an hour or so of waiting for penguins, we didn’t see any and were asked to move on from where we were standing. We were able to see some seals, though!

When walking back to the car, someone pointed out two penguins who were really close! We were unable to get photos as the lighting was awful, but they were tiny and cute!

We eventually got back and were all tired. We showered and then headed to bed. We are driving straight to Christchurch tomorrow.

This time last year!

Poroporoaki!

– Mr & Mrs Hale