We set out today to find a mountain to hike. With the help of the woman at the front desk, we planned a route that had a taxi dropping us at the trailhead so we could hike to the top. Then back down, walk up the road to a restaurant where we could hire a boat to take us across the lake, where we could pick up the cable car that would return us to within a few kilometers of the city.
Other than not managing to find the trail up the mountain, and there being no boats, everything worked great.
In fact, we had a gorgeous 2 hour ramble through the countryside, skirting the edges of several smaller hills and admiring the farms carved out of the hillside. The foliage is mostly pine trees, with grass and rhodies underneath. Large butterflies flitted around the wetter areas. After this lovely meandering walk, we returned to the road, and headed to where the boats were supposed to be. Unfortunately, they can't be hired there. But we were able to eat our sandwiches while watching the lake, and then the nice folks at the restaurant called a taxi for us. 15 minutes later, a driver showed up, and drove us around the lake to the top of the cable car. The 2.6km long ride was stunning. It was amazing to be over the tops of the pine trees and see the hills all spread out around us. (The cable car was built in the mid-1990s, and felt clean, modern, and most important of all, safe and well maintained.) From the other end, it was a quick taxi back to our hotel. I'm now sipping tea and the boys are doing homework.
As an aside, we are reveling in the weather here. It is between 75 and 80, with very low humidity (except during the late afternoon downpours). We are wearing long pants and fleece jackets, and loving the strange sensation of walking inside to be warm, rather than to find air con.
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