RELIABILITY

 PLANNING

PREPARATION

ACTION

FOLLOW UP.

It was disappointing today to see that Richard failed on several of these essential requirements for a successful adventure. He had forgotten his school trip skills and could have left The Curmudgeon in the lurch leaving him alone on Wellington's wharves surrounded by wild schoolchildren and even more feral old ladies.

At the crack of dawn The Curmudgeon sent a text message  to Richard, inviting him on a trip to Matiu/Somes Island in Wellington Harbour. The Curmudgeon showed expert planning by including the ferry departure time - 10AM - in the message and made his way to Queen's Wharf to arrive well in advance of this time. Imagine his surprise and consternation  on receiving a message from Richard saying that he had missed the train to Wellington. HE HAD MISSED THE TRAIN! Out of the five essentials above this was a failure of four of them - planning, preparation, action and of course, reliability. This put the adventure in extreme jeopardy. The Curmudgeon spent many restless minutes at the gangplank WITH THE FERRY READY TO LEAVE waiting for Richard to arrive, 'purchase' his ticket (free to Gold Card holders) and make his way to the ferry. Richard and The Curmudgeon were THE LAST TO BOARD!

Richard to be fair was contrite. He was also red-faced, puffing and wheezing doing an excellent impression of a steam engine.*

On the short trip to Matiu/Somes Island it became apparent that Richard had further failed on planning and preparation. He had not brought a backpack so didn't have water, lunch, thermal blanket, sleeping bag, sunscreen or a hat. HE DID NOT BRING ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES! This was a poor show and set a bad example to the schoolchildren and the little old ladies who had boarded (timely) before us. Reliability? No way.

************

The trip, apart from the inauspicious beginning turned out to be successful with only a few minor glitches.

On arrival The Curmudgeon and Richard failed to follow the main body of visitors and made their own way along the shoreline, past  aggressive and wheeling black-backed gulls and encountered a pair of terrifying black creatures.

The more observant reader will notice the sign at the top right of this image that states: "Do not proceed past this point".

Fortunately The Curmudgeon saw this and stopped Richard from proceeding. He also apologised to the very noisy and upset black birds and withdrew back along the path. A very dangerous situation defused.

Another issue was Richard discovering that the building The Curmudgeon had told him, from the ferry trip, was a cafe that served coffees and toasted sandwiches, was in fact a lighthouse.

The Curmudgeon had been playing a little trick on him.

While the walk was generally easy and 5.4 kilometers were covered, there were some steep bits and some parts of the track went close - VERY CLOSE - to some vertical drops down to the rocks below.

The Curmudgeon, being aware that Richard feels uncomfortable with heights (and cows, planes, flying fish, banjoes, Hawkes Bay chardonnay and the concept of Hell) decided to tell him a few stories to keep his spirits up. These stories were from The Curmudgeon's personal experiences and followed various themes like: The Rimutakas, Cape Palliser, the Tararuas, gun emplacements, World War One prisoners of war, Alcatraz and many other very interesting topics that may become future blog posts.

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The stroll around the island took in the aforementioned lighthouse, WW2 gun emplacements, rain, a visitor centre, an abandoned tennis court, and various gates where entry was clearly stated to be prohibited.

I'm sorry to report that Richard failed to observe the very clear instruction in this regard and was caught trying to enter a prohibited area.

Luckily The Curmudgeon was able to intervene and stop a possible catastrophe.

***UNRELIABILITY***

* Note - the railcars in Wellington are electric and are not pulled by steam or diesel engines.