MOUNT COOK II: MY EVERYDAY LIFE

Ready for some full bore? Here you are.

What does our common day look like? We get up at 7 (provided that I am nice and let us all have a nice sleep-in), mum and dad have a cup of coffee and breakfast (mum does actually, dad claims he is not hungry), I play with my toys for a bit and then it´s 8 and dad leaves to work. That´s when mum stays alone with me and when I – from some reason - usually get grumpy and have to go back to sleep for another 30-50 minutes.

What happens next depends a lot on the day of the week.

On Monday in Twizel (the town 55 km from where we live, remember?) there is a thing called Mainly music and it is organized by church. No, it is not really religious. And yes, we sing nursery songs, play some musical instruments and move our little bodies. After half an hour of this activity kids get morning tea (last few weeks mum finally let me eat my cracker, yay!), mums grab coffee, chit chat some and that´s it. For most of them at least, I still have 55 km in the car seat ahead.

Or 150 km. Mum registered us for a baby massage course so every Monday after the music instead of going back home we head off to Wanaka and spend a night or two at Susan´s place. The massage comes on Tuesday afternoon... definitely interesting enough to have its own blog post (see WANAKA I: HOW TO MASSAGE A CRAWLER).

Wednesday in Mount Cook is boring, nothing is going on. But when we are in Wanaka, we go to the library for kids books reading. Mum reckons that it is never too early to start reading to kids and at least 30 % of my toys are already books. A bit annoying sometimes, having bookworm parents. Anyway, it´s Thursday and we are back in Mount Cook where a playgroup has just started.

And here come Friday, Saturday and Sunday which for normal people are the days they are most looking forward to. Not for us – nothing is happening anywhere.

Well, generally speaking of course because sometimes dad gets his days off (which doesn´t necessarily mean something exciting is on the agenda) and sometimes we do some cool stuff with mum. Go for a splash to the hot pools in Tekapo for example (if there is a special deal on a website mum is proud to know about). Or camping. Camping is something I just LOVE doing (read more about in the blog post NEW ZEALAND: WHEN I GO CAMPING) and something which completely change my daily routine you might actually think I have after you finish reading this post.

Anyway, a significant part of the activities mentioned involves driving – a lot of driving. I don´t drive yet and that fact places me to the car seat that I quite used to like when I was little but now I honestly hate and this state of mind loudly express, which mum doesn´t really seem to appreciate.

Every day however, rain or sun, we go for a walk. Sometimes just a short one – the Governor´s bush track -, sometimes a bit longer – the track to Hooker Lake with icebergs and nice views of Mount Cook or Red tarns with pretty small lakes and some more vistas. The chance is quite high that on our way back home we grab a nice coffee in the Old Moutaineer´s Cafe.

When we come home mum cooks dinner, tidies the house, does the washing... just kidding - she does it sometimes but speaking about it in relation with our everyday activities would be a bit of an exaggeration, sorry mum :-).

When the weather is good, dad usually has a long day and comes home at 5.30. Then he makes dinner, tidies the house, does the washing... kidding around again. Although he cooks more often than mum, that is for sure.

At about 5 pm I start to have almost enough. The more my body wants to move during the day the earlier comes the moment I get cranky again. So I go for a short afternoon nap, get a quick splash with my duck, balloon and a watering can, eat my dinner and that is about it for a day.

Nights are pretty standard if you don´t insist on any kind of routine. I basically wake up when and as often as I want. If some days I take a few nice hours in a row, then the next day I get up every two hours – I have to prevent my parents from starting to think they can have a nice night´s sleep, right?

Your Annie

Some facts

When: various dates Where: Aoraki Mount Cook Village - Twizel/Wanaka (New Zealand)

How: car

How long: looong hours How far: many km