A brief comment on my age...and a Christmas present!

I'm happy to report that I am constantly misjudged when it comes to my age.  I don't care to ask if this is a comment on how old I look or how old I act, but everyone assumes I'm younger than I am.  This is all very well and good and keeps me in high spirits as I approach 30, except I just recently discovered another white hair.  Not gray.  White.  Alas, I fear that people will soon begin to judge my age as much closer to what it is if I continue to not pluck my non-black hairs...

Email from my family on Christmas Day

However, all these feelings of "old" have since been eclipsed by the arrival of my new tramping backpack!  I've never owned a full on hiking/tramping backpack and until I moved to NZ I never felt the need to.  After Nicky and I hiked the Milford Track, I felt that need. I got in touch with Aarn and tried out one of their packs.  When the family back home asked what I wanted for Christmas I mentioned the backpack not thinking they would actually all band together to get it for me.  My family never ceases to amaze me with their support!  Now I'm the proud owner of an Aarn Featherlite Freedom pack, and I'm in love with it :)

Our friend K, who lives down the way from No. 7, was doing all my family's busy-work running around to stores in Dunedin to order this pack.  This past Friday she texted me announcing her acquisition of a certain Christmas present for me.  I told her when I was working and suddenly, partway through our mid-afternoon coffee rush, I saw her walk through the door with a hot pink package and my celebratory dance ensued. Post coffee production, I ripped open the package, donned the crinkly bow on my head, and tried on the pack for all in the restaurant to see.  Fortunately there weren't too many people in the restaurant to witness my ridiculous display of joy, or the spectacle of me in a skirt and an apron and a tramping pack.  I've since calmed down, regained some dignity, but the crinkly bow stayed in my hair all night and now adorns Hedwig's rear-view mirror.

I have plans to christen my backpack on the Hollyford Track with Nicky, Tom and Jenny at the beginning of March.  It should be amazing and I'm totally stoked to get my new piece of tramping equipment wet, so to speak.  Granted, Hollyford is in Fiordland so my new pack will almost certainly meet with some rain.  Excitement aside, here's some pics of my new baby!!

me - the back - the front - heaps of space inside - and me again