First Curry

There are many important mile-stones in a baby's life and at the weekend, Lily passed one of the most important. At the age of nine and three quarter months, watched by her proud parents, she ate her first aloo gobi.

Of course there's lots going on at this age and every day is different. But this event stands out amongst her daily progress. As it happens, on the same day, she also crawled tentatively for the first time, but this news has been drowned out by the other memorable acheivements.

Obsessed with Paint

I spend half my evenings painting at the moment, which is probably not unusual for someone whose just bought a house. In the absence of anything more interesting to write about, I offer you this observation for your consideration.

There's something special about a new pot of paint. Maybe it's the crisp label, unblemished and unfrayed. Maybe it's the absence of drips running down the side of the can. Perhaps its the perfect unbent shiny lid and the clean rim, unspoilt by stray dribbles of paint. Whatever it is, like a new book, the effect only lasts until it's opened, after which it never looks so immaculate again.

Now that I'm a father-of-one with a mortgage, I haven't got the time or money for books, so it looks like my bookowning obsession has transferred itself to paint, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as I have to buy it anyway. Or possibly I'm developing an obsessive compulsive disorder in the style of David Beckham and I'll soon be arranging the beer bottles in my fridge in perfect lines, labels forward. I've already done it with the pots of paint.

Life in New Zealand then, carries on uneventfully.

Baby Trekking

We've been avoiding the Tararua Forest Park ever since we got stuck in the mud with two dogs and a baby. But being able to tramp through the forests is one of the main reasons we came to live down here and it is a shame we've allowed ourselves to be put off.

To be fair, we have to consider Lily and whether its sensible to venture into the mountains with a nine-month old baby. And then there are the dogs to worry about. Thay are allowed in, but they are also guarenteed to be a constant nuisance, wondering off the paths and quite possibly slipping or falling down the slopes where I don't want to have to follow them. So when we've been out walking, we've gone elsewhere. But for new year, we had a visitor; Nick, who is on a round the world trip and determined to make the most of it. Time for us to take the park out of the too difficult bin.

As with our last visit, we were filled with a sense of dread on the way in, mostly due to the sign erected by the killjoys of the Levin Rotary Club, to warn about the dangers within. Don't come in here without full military style preparations or you'll probably die drowning in freezing mud is essentially what it says. It's perhaps a bit over the top.

There is a lot of mud though. More rain falls on the Tararua Ranges than you would ever believe possible and its not been especially dry recently. And to reach the forest you have to negotiate a mile or so of mud. Not being properly equipped with boots, I danced across the fields, leaping from stones to dry patches until the inevitable happened and found myself ankle deep in mud which was probably a blessing because from that point on I could relax.

As it turned out, the forest is well worth the effort. The paths are narrow, muddy and often difficult to negotiate, but the woods are cool and untouched, with lots of different trees, ferns and that sort of thing.

And Lily had a whale of a time, strapped to my front in a sling. She whooped and wriggled with excitement as we climbed up the slippery paths, and tried to grab loose branches when we went past them. When I got tired, Nick took over which only added to the excitement as far as she was concerned. It just shows that having a baby is no bar to adventurous activities and if you have one, I urge you to carry them into the mountains whenever you get the chance. As far as I am concerned, the Levin Rotary Club and their sign can both get stuffed.