“On a Mish” #377 Little Lyndon Hill (Part Two). Korowai / Torlesse Tussocklands Park. 13.6.2023. Hurting my hip might have changed my life in a negative way, however the ying that was my injury was counted with the yang in the form of a Wire-hair Jack Russel. A pet, in my case a little dog, can be as life changing as a major injury and I can say for sure that my little friend has brightened the dullness of coming to terms with what I can and can’t do at the moment. You would think my passion for camping in the wild combined with my new little buddy would make for a relaxed experience. At this stage I’m gonna say our outings together have made for ‘mostly’ stress free times…
Going on adventures was the way I would keep my head in the game of life. Tackling challenges in the wild would then transfer well to everyday life. I stressed less when my free time was spent climbing cliffs and battling bush. I believe my time in the mountains has helped me when I have had to deal with high stress situations like car crashes and broken bones.
With pack one on top of the hill I made my way down to grab pack two and it was on this downward match that I foolishly let Ernie get away from me.
Before getting my dog I had heard that Male Jack Russels are very cheeky but I thought my dog would be different. I was wrong. With one look back as if to say ‘You can’t catch me’ Erine was off on his own adventure. Normally this wouldn’t be such an issue, but Ernie was still attached to his lead. I had nightmares of him getting tangled in a bush and me not being able to find him. For some reason when Ernie gets into a tricky situation he goes quiet and finding him becomes a real mish!
Long story short, after roaming around for 45 minutes I headed back to my car to see a happy doggy wondering where I had been. Oh well I guess I can thank him for the exercise!
With the team reunited we went back to the job at hand and now we had less time to do it in. The sun was now behind Mt Lyndon(1489m) and it would be long before there would be stars twinkling above and frost twinkling underfoot.
Now with Ernie firmly attached to my waist bet I began my climb for the final time.
By the time I got to the top of the hill darkness was rapidly developing and I had to hurry to get everything ready before I lost the light. As I hurried around with my gear I gave the odd evil glares in Ernie’s direction knowing I wouldn’t have had to hurry if it wasn’t for his little side excursion to who knows where!
With the stars in full effect I finished setting up my camp and turned my attention to food for both dog and loyal servant of dog.
After sorting dinner I could finally relax (the idea of the trip was relaxation!) and as I kicked back I took in my surroundings. The little Lyndon Hill had views in all directions, best being the view down the Acheron Valley to the Mountains of Hakatere Conservation area. The tension from weeks of being housebound disappeared like the light around Lake Lyndon. And now, like the clear star filled sky above, any clouds of stress were long gone. This is me in my environment and with everything in order I began to get excited about my favourite part of a mish (with clear skies), and that is the sunrise…
