In the second week of the school holidays it looked like we only had a small weather window to make one more adventure happen before jumping back into reality.
 
Joining one of our mountain adventure buddy family we decided to keep it local to maximize what little time the weather looked to be providing. Mt Starveall was the ideal direction to go. Once again I failed to take any photos as we walked up the incredibly lush Hackett Track. Having sat out a full week of big rain the greens were very green.. and the river crossings were very wet. Big people dropping packs to carry little people through the numerous crossings made for slow progress. It was pretty amazing watching our crew take the slog for what it was chatting and giggling as we went. It was only once we were well clear of the river and making the final assent that the youngest member started to fade. Making a stop to fill up on nuts and chocolate she managed to perk up by the time we made it to our destination.

Amazing how once the packs come off there always seems to be gas left in the tank for a crazy game of tag. Lots of giggling and games as we set up basecamp. Pretty amazing spot with fantastic views. We could not have asked for a nicer venue to take in all of the colours of the sunset.

Once again enjoying the feeling of sitting on top of the world. There were so many different shapes and colours as the cloud put on its final performance. 

When things finally turned too dark to play outside the kids climbed into the big tent and played and laughed through several hands of UNO by torch light before we decided it was time to call it a night.

The following morning sunrise did not disappoint. I have always been a huge fan of atmospheric depth of field... and seeing layers upon layers of rolling hills or mountains disappear into the distance. I will have to say seeing this effect dressed up in all colours of morning sunshine takes the experience to an entirely new level of amazing. 

Just as the sunrise the week previous.. every colour seemed to pass so quickly as the light started to round out the edges and draw in all of the details of the tree covered ridges in the foreground.

When everyone was up and we started the day.. it was becoming apparent that our window of fine weather had just opened its gap. We had a big team meeting.. throwing all of our food supplied into the middle. It was unanimous. Everyone agreed that we would ration all of our supplies to stretch our adventure so we could have one more night before making our journey down.

It was one of the smallest budgets of calories I have committed to... but we all knew that getting out was all down hill. We spent the remainder of that day exploring the ridge up to the summit. Watched lots of goats and deer grazing around the open stretches of tussock and along the bush line. 

Yes, we did each have our moment of making note how we were looking forward to having something big and gloriously tasty to eat. But we also experienced a new level of knowing what we can do if we put our minds to it. I believe one of the best experiences we can give our kids is having manageable times of adversity and discomfort. Sleeping on the hard ground in a tent is absolute bliss after spending a solid 6+ hours carrying it up a mountain. Dehydrated food and powdered milk never tastes as sweet when experienced in the comfort of your own home. 

The last evening was amazingly good considering what we had managed in the day. 

Our base camp views on the last night were obstructed by low moving clouds. It is just as well that the splendor of the sunset and sunrise from the night before had drained the battery in my camera. 
 

Even running on fumes.. our amazing crew of kids managed to maintain chatty high spirits as we made our way off the mountain and home to hot meals and hot showers.

 

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