Rain!

Today I was doubly blessed. Not only was it raining when I got up, but I also had the whole morning off. So I quickly filled a shoulder bag with a few essentials (water bottle, mobile phone, wallet), slipped on my blue plastic poncho, and headed for the hills. The Cashmere Hills to be precise.

It was just after 9am when I left, and I started by following my old jogging route along the Heathcote River to Cashmere Road. I then commenced the climb up Hackthorne Road. This section of the walk was like a trip down memory lane. Or perhaps that should be a slog up memory hill. There on the left was the house where my old third form English teacher used to live (the one who owned the Norton Commando); further up, down a side street, was where my old girlfriend used to live; there on the right was where my ex-sister-in-law lived before she married my brother; up a bit further, on the corner, was the flat where my parents lived in the 1950s, just after they got married; and up a bit further still, on the left, was where as a kid of about seven or eight I nearly lost an eye when an errant firework flew into the side of my head one Guy Fawkes night (definitely not a damp squib, that one).

After a brief pause for a slug of water and to recover from all this reminiscing, I pushed on to the Sign of the Takahe, then headed back to the flat via Dyers Pass Road. I stopped off at the supermarket before finally making it home just after noon.

So, I know you're all dying to know how the poncho performed. Well, it performed about as well as you'd expect a cheap plastic poncho to perform, I guess. It kept the water off the top half of my body effectively enough, but my trousers got pretty wet below the knees. Adjusting the drawstring around the hood was a bit of a nuisance. Too loose and the hood would come off in the wind; too tight and it restricted my peripheral vision (even though the poncho is semi-transparent). Being very light, the poncho didn't perform too well in the wind either, flapping around like a loose spinnaker at times.

But perhaps the worst thing was the build up of moisture inside. This was especially bad during the uphill section. I got so hot I had to take off my vest. It was OK going downhill, but then when I stopped at the supermarket I felt really cold and had to put my vest back on.

On the plus side, the poncho was light and afforded great freedom of movement. It was also really easy to take on and off. But overall it wasn't a hugely satisfying experience. I think I'll try a rain suit next time and see how it compares.

The best thing about today's walk was the performance of my New Balance 748s. It wasn't pouring with rain, but it was steady enough that my shoes ended up getting completely soaked on the outside. However, when I got home and took them off my socks and feet were perfectly dry.

Distance walked today: 12.4km
Total distance walked since blog began: 58.7km
Maximum altitude reached: 206m