Notes from the side of a volcano: Five on a Friday

1. I don't think we will ever get a summer as good as this again. Or maybe it's the start of a new climate pattern for Wellington ..... Anyway we have been making the most of it and grateful while it lasts. We have gone on many more walks down the hill to "our river" where Daughter-two has found a favourite spot. (It's as cold as it looks)

2. Daughter-Two and I caught the train out to Petone, where I enjoyed the op-shops (aka thrift stores) and she enjoyed the beach. It's so shallow it looked like she was trying to walk back to the city across the harbour.

3. I wasn't sure what to wear the day before yesterday.

After loving going down to "our" river at the bottom of the hill, Daughter-One said she wanted to go to Kaitoke where she could swim properly. So The Husband agreed to take an afternoon off so we could all drive out there. But first he wanted us to come into Parliament, visit his office in the press gallery (and show them my photo on the press gallery wall from many years ago!) and sit in the public gallery for the first parliamentary question time of the year. Obviously this required a certain standard of dress. We looked fine at parliament but no doubt a bit odd when we arrived at the riverbank in our posh clothes and started stripping off.

4. Kaitoke regional park was used as the set for Rivendell in the "Lord of the Rings" movies and is now actually sign-posed "Rivendell" which makes those of us who have known about it for years a bit sniffy.

Because it was so hot there were quite a few people there for a late afternoon weekday, and Daughter-Two met up with an older girl who jumped off rocks with her, swam across the deepest part of the river to a stony bank and explored. While The Husband ended up rescuing the girl's little sister who was swept into the deep part of the river screaming her head off, Daughter-One and I swam and had a wonderful time.