Matemateaonga
Something wonderful happened to Sean, Colt and I in the last fortnight. We were finally able to tramp across the Matemateaonga Range in Whanganui National Park.
We have been eyeing up this multi-day tramp for over a decade. As it was beyond Rory’s ability it has been beyond our reach. A few months ago I saw the trip advertised by the Stratford Tramping Club. Attending with club members took some of the hard work out of it. Carol and Dave from Eastern Taranaki Experience https://www.eastern-taranaki.co.nz organised the logistics and provided transport. It was too good an opportunity to turn down. Once we decided to go for it I completed a military amount of planning to ensure Rory had one-on-one support for the four days we would be away. Thank you to Sam and Caitlyn who provided Rory with a home away from home and Shaun and Shelley who provided assistance. We had never left Rory for more than two days and it was a bit frightening. I tried not to think of all the things which could go wrong. Thankfully it was reasonably plain sailing.
The tramp was incredible. We spent hours on foot moving through the green, largely disconnected from the modern world. Track markers every 1km (take or miss a few) helped us monitor our progress. We slept three nights at huts; Pouri, Ngapurua, Puketotara. We were accompanied by ancient northern rata and giant kanuka, bellbird and NI robin, and an array of colourful fungi. There were beautiful views of the central North Island mountains, especially at dawn and dusk. The early morning jet boat ride to Pipiriki was magic, watching mist rise off the Whanganui river under the towering banks topped by forest. Colt loved the 360 degree donut in the jet boat as we finished the journey.
I have been thinking a lot about how to learn from what I have been fortunate enough to experience this year and live a slower, simpler more peaceful life. I know this is unrealistic in a household with two careers, an adult with significant impairments, a teenager and parents who are high energy, pack plenty in kind of people. But on multiple occasions this year I have been reminded there is happiness in a different state. The question is how do I break the pattern we live in, more often and for longer periods, to improve all our health and wellbeing?
This fortnight Rory completed his final ACC Assessment. This compared his level of functionality to that of his peers to measure the long-term impact of cancer treatment. He had a visit from OT Dianne as we are still trying to sort a toilet frame for stabilisation and we booked a date to trial the Terrainhopper Overlander off-road wheelchair.
Happy Mother’s Day to Nana Honnor and Grannie Gardiner. We love you to the moon and back xox