9.1.13

Run in the morning on my own, then we headed into town for some shopping. Sophie and I found some cooler running gear. After lunch we decided to head inland and walk up the across island walking track to the Needle. This is a steep walk that is advised to have sturdy walking or running shoes for, not jandals said the sign. We only had jandals on more than half of the feet in our crew. We thought we would have a look anyway. The Mosquito population kept us moving steadily and we enjoyed the bush/jungle scenery for a change. The track took a right hand turn and headed up the ridge steeply. It was a relatively slippery and tree rooted track going fairly steeply up the terrain, which reflected the step topography of the inner island. Olivia started to loose interest and so Di and Olivia headed back down while the other kids and I continued for a bit. We got to a point where we could see the Needle, which is a rock pinnacle at the peak of this part of the island, and is presumably a volcanic core that has become exposed with erosion over the millennia. Eventually we got to the final push up to the top and the kids were very pleased to make the top but left us in the predicament of being at the top of some pretty steep country in jandals. After a bit of gazing at the view and taking photos, I instructed the kids to hand over the Jandals and proceed bare footed, which I figured would be safer. Luckily they are all pretty accustomed to being bare footed and have tough feet, so it was no drama. Saw some interesting lizards on the way down. Back to the car after some territorial disputes over the camera. Di looked pleased to see us as she had spent a fair while fighting off mozzies. Headed home for a quiet night in. Sophie and I went for a run in the evening with the new cool clothes, which are helping with the major challenge for me in this climate – thermoregulation.