Flagstaff for the first time

There was some debate as to what we would be spending the afternoon doing: Nick wanted to do the Lemon Valley hike and then swim in the sea, but I need to really psyche myself into doing something like that for a few days…in the end Flagstaff won, which proved to be a good choice. We left home shortly after 2, stopped off at the shop for drinks and chocolates (a chocolate bar gives you energy to walk for an hour) and then drove as far as we could along the Flagstaff road before the path got too bumpy. We happened upon a couple we know who were waiting for some friends before going up Flagstaff, and when the friends arrived, whom we hadn’t yet met, we chatted for a short while before heading up (just the four of us; they stayed chatting for some time). It was a beautiful walk up a gently sloping grassy hill.

Eventually the others caught up as they drove a lot of the path in their little 4x4 and then only walked the last bit, so we all summited together. The other family had three small children – two girls the age of our boys, and a younger son aged 4. The kids played wonderfully at the top, collecting big clumps of moss which were actually fudge or pasta, depending on which stage of the game they were in. The top of Flagstaff is a wood, shady and cool, with spectacular views.


We stayed up for about half an hour, and then our plan was to go swimming in the late afternoon so we didn’t want to dilly dally too long. The four older kids, Nick and I ran the whole way down to the cars (it was a considerable jog) while the other four adults and little Luka took a very slow drive down. We waited a long time for them to arrive!

So, we had to wait with the kids anyway, and then it was discovered that Craig had three kites in his boot, so when the others came down we all kited. They were light-weight trick kites which could be made to swoop and dive, so it was really awesome. The kids also had a go, but there was some concern that Libby might have been pulled off her feet by the strong winds taking the kite up – a legitimate concern, because I was staggering a bit trying to keep a hold on it. We left at about ten past five, too late to go swimming, so came home and had hamburgers for supper.