To insanity and beyond ...: Mountain Goats and Kangaroos .... and all those DARN stairs!

The view from the house.

Mangawhai .... it's magical, marvelous, mountainous
... and not JUST the waves.
It's madness ... other Carol NOT me
... and miles and miles of sandy beaches.
In other words, it's MAGNIFICENT!

... and let me not forget those STAIRS .... HUNDREDS of them!!

Ready and raring to go!

Just a FEW superlatives to describe where we spent the weekend.

The view from the view-site

Let me begin at the beginning. The hound was invited to spend the weekend with her Number One Buddy, Sam the Man at his ‘other’ abode.. We were invited along as chaperones.

Mountains on one side, ocean on the other!

Sam’s ‘other’ abode is on a farm in the Mangawhai Heads and what an awesome place it is. It’s remote and wild with the most magnificent views. Views come at a price ... obviously ... and access to the beach is one of them. There’s a rather steep track down with several flights of stairs but the beach below is worth it .... it’s huge and magnificent and hound friendly.

It has a swimming pool too ... perfect for cooling down after the walk back up from the beach!

Those stairs, up and down to Sam’s ‘other’ abode were a pleasure compared to the ones we inadvertently tackled on Sunday morning.

The Mangawhai Walkway is visible from the house

Just as an aside ... my friend Carol, the ‘other’ Carol is supremely fit .... annoyingly so for those of us YOUNGER than her. She can outwalk and out-climb any of us and still TALK nineteen-to-the-dozen whilst doing it! She is amaZing!

Looking back up at the house as we head down to the beach

But back to the story of THE stairs!

Early on Sunday morning Gav and I headed off for a walk with the hounds on the Mangawhai Walkway along the top of the cliffs, leaving Carol and Pete at the house. We weren’t aware of how far we’d walked until we came to the top of what looked like several flights of stairs. By this time Gav’s stomach was grumbling so we turned round and headed back to the house.

Just after this sign is the beginning of the 300 odd stairs!

Carol and Pete had thought I’d gone to take photos so had made coffee and sat down to wait for our return. When we didn’t return they headed out on the trail to find us. We were about halfway back when we met up with them so turned round to show them how far we’d gone. When we arrived at the top of the stairs Carol assured us the climb down would be worth it.

I don't usually DO lots of stairs ... my left knee and stairs have a conflict of interest.
Stairs are my downfall .... no pun intended.
We were at the top of the stairs though, and the promise of what was down below was enticing so down we went .... down the first bank of stairs .... 147 of them to be precise.

There they go .... the mountain goat and Pete ... I'm sure she has springs in her feet!

When the path leveled out I thought we were done and dusted with stairs but NOPE
... there were MORE .... another 150 odd of them!!!!

And we still had to walk back up!

One very tired hound!

Even Sam with his kangaroo blood was tired when we got back to the house but it HAD been an amazing walk!
Mountain goat Carol led the way back up with the hounds running back and forth between us to ensure we weren't getting lost!
We polished off a delicious breakfast ... made by Pete ... of french toast and fried banana with a few extras.
it was YUM!

'Kangaroo' Sam

Talking of Sam, he finally managed to KILL the hound’s ball. He's been chewing holes in the side of it for a while now and the inside bladder's been visible. On Sunday he totally deflated it by pulling the bladder out. RIP my rugby ball.
Hmmmm ..... I think Sam might have to make do with the South African ball
when he rambles with us in future.