Ben Lomond

With one day of rest after Routeburn, Meg was ready for the next thing on her Kiwi Bucket List. Ben Lomond without assistance from the local mountain rescue team. There was no driver required therefore no excuses for me. It’s a bit bigger then Ben Nevis at 1748m compared to Nevis’s 1345m. We didn’t start at sea level as you do at Ben Nevis, though we were not allowed to take a lift on the Gondola which she said would render the walk void.

Before the saddle

From the saddle

From the saddle to the summit

No big black Ravens at the top. Just this cheeky Kea. A woman dug her handbag out of her rucksack and sat it aside. The Kea grabbed it but she got it back before takeoff. Then it grabbed a mans pack of wraps and tried to fly with them. It looked like the man was going to run off the cliff rather than lose his lunch.
Lunch, life and limb all saved, thankfully.

Factor 50 is the protection of choice but I was very pleased with the lovely tan I’d accrued on my legs nevertheless……until I took my socks and shoes off.

The sand fly bites continue to taunt us with the itch you mustn’t scratch. There are no sand flies in Wanaka so I’d forgotten about their unique approach to lengthy torture. Meg and I have made good use of the Shakti mat to distract us.