My Parent's Own Words.....

I asked my parents to write a bit about their visit and their thoughts on New Zealand. They didn't let me down! Great reading - I know where I got my love of writing from now!

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Our first visit to ‘Godzone’ was way back in 1990. We flew in to Auckland from Sydney, where George had spent 3 months installing and commissioning a flight simulator for Qantas Airlines, spent a week doing the ‘touristy’ things on North Island then over to Blenheim for a short stay with Ken and Margaret (Ken was best man at our wedding in 1967).

After a delightful time with them we wended our way over the next few days down the West coast road -- Westport, Punakaiki Rocks, Greymouth, Franz Josef and Fox glaciers then turning inland heading for Queenstown.

George decided that, rather than follow highway 6 for Queenstown from Wanaka, we could follow the ‘hypotenuse’ route via Cardrona and get the benefit of seeing some spectacular scenery at the same time. What we failed to realise at the time was that beyond Cardrona the pavement road ran out and the unmetalled road began!!

Not too bad to start with, nice and smooth and fairly level. Then came the descent into the back end of Queenstown – steep, winding and no safety barrier!! Definitely NOT to Vivien’s liking especially as she had a wonderful view of several hundred feet almost straight down on her side of the car!!!! “Stop the car for a mo.” she says. George dutifully stops the car thinking she wanted to take a snap!! Oh no! She then proceeds to walk down the road hugging the side furthest from the drop shouting over her shoulder “I’m not getting back in that ruddy car ‘til we hit level ground.”


She meant it too... still walking...


Needless to say we eventually got to Queenstown (without too much walking) and enjoyed it so much we stayed two days instead of the planned one.

The reason for this little tale is to put into perspective a little exploit, which yet again demonstrated George’s bravado (or should it be foolhardiness?!) during our recent visit last December.

Helen and Warren decided to let us loose on the roads in their Subby Legacy whilst they got ready for, and went to, Helen’s works bash (see Folks in the Boonies). Off we went, mid morning, to tour around the local area and take in the sights and sounds of the Canterbury area. Whilst cruising around Viv said “Oooh that should be interesting. D’you fancy driving over New Zealands longest road bridge?” Not one to turn down a new experience George says “You betcha doll” and off we set. To cut a long story short it was one of the most boring moments we had in NZ! The so called longest bridge was nothing but a raised piece of concrete road over the, admittedly very wide, Rakaia river.

Looking at the map we spotted a road which led down to the mouth of the river and decided to investigate. Half an hour later we had the magnificent Pacific Ocean in our sights. And what a sight, not a person to be seen for miles until George spots some figures in the distance fishing.


Now George isn’t a fisherman type, just a nosey Pom!! “Let’s go and have a look” he says and before Vivien could utter a word points the nose of the Subby towards what looks like a reasonable track (which other cars had obviously used) along the head of the beach.

A couple of hundred meters later it went strangely quiet in the Subby as both of us realised the Subby was struggling for traction. Beads of cold sweat broke out on George’s furrowed brow. Only one thing for it, pedal to the metal and pray. After all this car should be able to cope, it’s a four wheel drive. Scrabble, scrabble, scrabble. Cripes we’re slowing down!! Then suddenly a nice level firm patch with lots of tracks. Gotta turn back, mustn’t stop; give Viv impression I know what I’m doing. Spin the steering wheel, boot the gas pedal, throw up lots of dirt and point the nose at the first track that looks as if it’s the way back. Uh oh, there’s a six foot wall of loose sand and gravel straight ahead which a Land Rover would have been proud to conquer. A quick prayer with closed eyes. On opening eyes the windscreen was full of bright blue sky. Just then the Subby decided it wasn’t worth going into orbit and turned its nose earthwards landing in a commendably graceful fashion before scurrying off to the car park where we began. Phew, got away with that one. Turned to the still silent Vivien and said, nonchanently, in true Fred Dibnah fashion “Did ya like that?!!!” There was no comment!!!!

After that little excitement we decided to go for a stroll along the beach. On getting out of the car we were faced with the results of George’s sojourn into the wilderness, the car was FILTHY!! It was covered with a thick layer of what can only be described as powdered rock. It looked as if it had just survived driving through a volcanic dust cloud!!


Panic!! “We can’t take the car back in this state.” says Vivien. So after our stroll we set off to Ashburton to find a car wash not, as you’ve probably guessed, via metalled roads. Oh no, the scenic way via dusty dirt roads along the coast. Well at least the dust cloud was behind us all the time. At least I think it was because we couldn’t see out of the back window!! Got to a petrol station with a car wash and came away gleaming. Then we thought ‘hang on, the car is now cleaner than it was this morning, the kids are going to smell a rat and if we tell them what happened they’ll never trust us with the car again’.

The next hour or so was spent concocting excuses for the superclean Subby. We were concentrating so much on the excuses that we forgot about the fuel in the tank. Ooops, down to ¼ of a tank, never mind Methven is just up the road. What we didn’t realise, in rural Canterbury most things close at 5.30pm, it was now 6.15. Yup, everything sure is closed around here. Never mind we should be able to make it back home, we can get fuel tomorrow. “Oh no we can’t” says Vivien “we have to pick the kids up from Christchurch later tonight.” Nervous giggle from George!! Right, featherfoot the throttle, turn off the aircon, delay using headlamps for as long as legally possible, cut down the consumption as much as possible. Passing Sheffield and a glance at the fuel gauge, gulp, 1/8 full. Reduce speed to what is practically a crawl, more beads of cold sweat!! Kirwee, Aylesbury, rivers of sweat. The suspense is unbearable waiting for the first signs of fuel starvation. Then suddenly, salvation, the welcoming lights of West Melton and, more importantly, an open petrol station. That fuel tank took an awful lot of filling!!

The journey into Christchurch was a joyous one culminating in the best kebab we have tasted for a long time. About an hour later the mobile phone rang, we expected a call from Helen to say they needed taking home. It didn’t happen! Again, see Folks in the Boonies.

Nothing for it but to go back to Waddington to pack for our second trip to Queenstown.

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Nice one, folks!

The Folks in the Boonies...

Well, here it is - finally! The post you've all been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for... (sorry it's a bit tardy but I've been very busy, honest!).

So, three weeks with the folks - how did it go?

BRILLIANTLY!!

We had a fabulous time showing them around the area, our house, our friends and some distant locations such as Queenstown. The weather was really kind to us considering it's been an awful summer so far.

So hold on to your hats, here's a whistlestop tour of their 3 weeks in Godzone...

After a couple of days getting their bearings and chilling out, Mum and Dad's old friends , who live in Blenheim on the northern coast of the South Island, came to visit. We sat around on the deck with a few drinks and then went off to Oxford (19km's away) to Jo Seager's cafe for a lovely lunch in the scorching sun!



Later that evening we met up again in Christchurch and went to the Casino where Warren and I got in to a $1/$2 no limit game and came out on top, Mum and Margaret went on a trawl round the pokies and the boys sat and drank whiskey in the lounge!

A few days at home to get over the food and drink and then we were off to Queenstown. We'd booked an early morning flight from Christchurch so we were all tucked up in bed early, right?

Wrong!

My garage Christmas bash was to be the night before the flight. It was to be a dinner at a vineyard with the "Raise the Roof" barndance afterwards. We got all dresssed up and, armed with 5 wineglasses, boarded the minibus at our front gate (our boss, Dyland, was driving us all!). We were greeted by Rebecca, his wife, and quite a few bottles of fizz! We then proceeded to drive up roads I didn't even know existed, to houses that were out in the boonies, and picked up the rest of the staff members before heading to the vineyard.... we managed to drink a fair amount of the champers en route!

Arriving at the vineyard we all poured out and limbered up for some yee-haa'ing and dosey-doe'ing. But... it seems they had overbooked and here we were, all dressed up with nowhere to go, and half cut....

Not to be outdone Dylan pointed the van for Chch and Rebecca got on the mobile phone. Within minutes, and during the MOST popular evening for Christmas do's in the whole year, we'd managed to secure a table for 10 at Santorini's - a Greek restaurant.... uh oh!

Well, what an evening! Mum and Dad were due to pick us up at 10.30pm so that we'd been in good shape for the next day... but at 10pm we rang them and told them not to bother!! I believe it was shortly after that Woz and I were to be seen, and photographed, dancing on wooden barrels in a "drunk Greek-stylee" in front of the entire restaurant (not sure if that was before or after the huge conga line that went out in to the street and back in through the kitchens!!).

Ok, ok - there's a barrel pic coming!

I'll let Warren carry on from here as my memory gets a wee bit fuzzy!

...The restaurant empties by 10.30. We are the last to leave and head off for the minibus but there is a quick change of plan on route. The police have have set up a road block at the end of the one way street we are on and are breath testing the driver of EVERY car they see. Rebecca is our driver, she has a couple of drinks earlier in the evening but nothing for hours. She is SURE she is fine but we head off on foot to an irish pub just around the corner for an hour to make sure! The place is wall to wall people with a live rock band playing. We head to the pool tables and take over a table for an hour. We finally escape the pub around midnight.

Tick tick tick.... Midnight(ish) (Still not too late for our early flight)

We head back to the minibus only to find the roadblock still in effect. We notice we can get the minibus over the kerb in the carpark and so avoid the block. We are off at last and head around the top of Hagley Park only to find another roadblock, no escape this time. Rebecca will have to run the gauntlet of the breathalizer after all. The officer flags us down, smells the amount of booze in the air in the minibus and asks Rebecca out so he can get a clear reading. And... it's.....OK. We are finally on our way, it's half midnight.

(Turns out the roadblocks were part of a Christmas drink drive clampdown using a near lockdown over 3 days that resulted in 10'ss of thousands of drivers being stopped and tested.)

Tick tick tick.... 1am- ish (Still not too late)

We are about 20Km from Christchurch on the West Coast road and about to turn off to start the first of the drop offs when one of the others notices a car off the side of the road with flames licking the roof. The minibus stops and we pile out to see what is going on and if we can help. At first look it looked like a crash but we ascertain the car is empty. The flames become huge and pops and squeals so everyone moved back as a call is made to the fire brigade. While all this is going on a small read hot hatch with two "lads" in it comes from a gravel road at speed, doesn't stop and screams off. We stay with the car until the firebrigade turns up. We tell them all we know then continue onward.

Tick tick tick.... 1.45am - ish (Hmmmm, getting late)

That was the last of the "problems" we would encounter for the night but by the time we scoot around Canterbury's unmetalled roads, dropping people off, it's near 3am by the time we get home. We then sneak in to our own house like a couple of naughty kids so not to wake the parents!!!

We did manage the 6.30am wake up call!!

Handing back to Helen for the next chapter....

Yikes, it's almost December!

Well I've no idea where the time has gone. It's nearly the end of November. So what's been going on in the Leggatt household?

Woz has been busy in the garden and has almost finished constructing the Great Wall of Waddington. Well, ok, it's a wire fence around the chook paddock and yes, the gate was put back on upside down but for his first attempt at fencing I reckon it's pretty damn good!

The kitchen is almost finished - looks fab (well, we think so)! Will post pics when it's all done and, err, tidy!

I've managed to keep the veggie patch alive despite the crappy weather. Even the locals are moaning about the rain so it MUST be bad! Today, however, it's 23degs and bloomin' sweltering. There's no such thing as a happy medium here where the weather is concerned. It does seem to make the garden grow though.. check out this monster growing outside the lounge!




And meanwhile, as I sit here baking, 100 or so icebergs are currently floating off our coastline. The last time this happened was in the 1930's. All in all it has been a year of extremes - with temps hitting the 30's late winter, the snow dump early June, the amount of rain we've had in November. There have also been a lot of quakes in the last few weeks with one just 40km from here measuring 4.3. We didn't feel it - NOTHING wakes me up! Arthurs Pass (a few km up the road) was evacuated due to flooding last week and the Waimakariri Gorge 5 mins away is at it's highest in living memory! Now they're predicting droughts as bad as the one Australia is currently experiencing - again, the worst in living memory.

Waimakariri Gorge from the bridge - anyone who knows this spot will see the dramatic transformation from slow running cool turquoise water..... to this...





Some more exciting news... I've been taken on as a journalist by Bizreport - an internationally renowned online marketing and advertising portal. I write 3 bulletins a day for them, 5 days a week. I'm so chuffed, and despite working until 4am for the last 2 weeks (trying to establish my sources and faffing with submissions!) I am loving it. You can check out my work and my profile at http://www.bizreport.com/authors/helen_leggatt.html

Now all we need to do is sort out Woz. He's looking for a complete change from I.T - anyone got any suggestions? I think we can safely rule out fencing contractor!

Ohhh, there goes my tummy again - get butterflies every time I realise my parents are here in a little over 2 weeks!! Can't wait!

The Parents are Coming!!!

Only 6 weeks to go before my folks arrive - can't wait!! We're planning our itinerary as they've only got three weeks (only!!). Hopefully we'll get to visit Queenstown, Woz and I haven't been there yet.

The kitchen benchtops are fitted next week, the flooring the week after, so hopefully I'll have a fully functioning kitchen soon - it's been weeks and weeks with no running water in the kitchen and the carpet to the bathroom tap is wearing out!!

The weather has been atrocious, cold for Spring. However, they are forecasting droughts and high temps over Summer due to an El Nino season, so we'll probably be moaning it's too hot soon! Nothing a cold beer in the spa won't solve....

A Lot Can Happen in 2 Months...

I've finally found the mental strength to update the blog. It's only been 1.5 months since I last posted, but it feels like a lifetime. So much has happened and it all felt as if it was happening in slow motion - like a car crash.

I guess the big "event" (for want of a better word) was kicked off by a chance remark to the doc as I left a regular check up on 12th September. "Could you have a quick look at this Doc?" I asked as I went to leave his room. I showed him a small patch of skin on my chest that had become rough and raised and which had doubled in size over the last 2 weeks. Within 2 mins he had taken a look, mentioned the C word and booked an appointment to have it removed. I was shellshocked and ended up just nodding and leaving. Boy did I suddenly feel very alone and scared. My first thought was to call my Mum and Dad but it was only 5am in the UK so I called upon my forum friends at ENZ for support until such time as I could call my parents. The ENZ forum has been such a great help throughout the whole immigration period, and continues to be a source of friendship and advice even now.

To cut a long story short, I had two patches removed after showing the Doc another area on my arm that I'd had concerns about - to be safe he removed both. Then the waiting - an awful week passed slowly and the results came back. The arm biopsy was nothing more than a derma-fibroid and the chest patch had been sun damage but no signs of cancer. WHEW!

I've always been a sun worshipper, and have olive skin that tans at the mere whiff of sunlight, but since we've been in NZ I'm a total nag to people who don't put on suncream. But the damage I'm now seeing was probably done 10-20 yrs ago.

For a while I felt very conscious about being in the sun but now I'm back to normal again and just more vigilant in the shower! That was a scary time for us both, poor Woz didn't know what to think, but we're past it and boy did it give us a kick up the arse. We are mortal!

Since that day and my last post we've also had the kitchen ripped out and most of the new one is now in place. We are waiting for the granite tops to be cut and then the sink/taps/floor can go in and the finishing can be done. Hopefully it willbe finished by mid November! I hope so as I don't have any running water in the kitchen at the moment!

The whole house is in chaos with the kitchen in the lounge and the kitchen being half built!




So what else have we been up to? Well the vineyard has been totally pruned and the canes laid. We had a lady come in to tutor us and she'll come back every stage of the way to tutor us in the skills to keep the vineyard running and get the best from the vines.

The garden has sprung to life and is keeping us very busy at the weekends (keeps me out of the shops!!). I went all flower power last month and collected up some of the garden blooms...



We've started fencing the chooks in as they have taken to roaming the garden and managed to decimate my veggie patch within 20 mins of finding it! ARGH...

The spa area is being spruced up ready for summer (bring your togs folks!) and the BBQ is being overhauled. The grass is growing at a rate of knots and so are the weeds (bring your trowels too!).

Sheffield/Waddington now have a market committee and we hope to open the Malvern Market by the end of the year! Watch this space!

Oh, and the other news is that I have got a jobette at the local gas station in Sheffield!! I work from 4pm - 7pm every weekday and I shut up shop/garage! It's very laid back and pays better than the Library!!! I'm enjoying it so far. Only in my 3rd week!

It's Nor'wester season and the gales started this week - hot, dry winds from over the Alps - I quite like them but the locals say that divorce and suicide rates rise during the Nor'wester season!

I've also managed to find a sponsor for my column, so I'll get paid now! It's a local company called Malvern Glass.

Mum and Dad arrive on 10 December - can't wait! It'll whizz by and I've got soooo much housework to do!! Hah!

Well, that's stretched my writing muscles a bit, I'd better do some proper work now!

One for Gromit

Well I couldn't quite last the entire 6 weeks until tasting my first ever Cheddar - I succumbed with just 3 days to go!!

It's still young at 6 weeks but I needed to know that I had the basics right. It tastes lovely, albeit immature. Slightly zingy already and a really lovely aftertaste, almost goats-cheese like.

I have another one on the go which is only a week old and I'll be cloth wrapping that one in the traditional manner and saving it until December. I was very happy with the natural rind that I achieved on this one, just brine washing and turning every few days, so if the cloth wrapping is too fussy I'll go back to natural. In the next few weeks I'll be getting my first 10 litres of raw milk (unpasteurised) and shall be making another cheddar and a hopefully a blue, but I need to sort out some storage now that the house is heating up.

Unfortunately I shan't be able to sell my cheese until I can get in to a registered kitchen (bloomin' regs) so for now it's for family and friends only....

Mud Plug

Today was our first visit to a Mud Plug. Wendy, Dazza and Luke came over and we all headed off into Sheffield to try and find where the event was being held. Helen's first guess was the Show ground but all we found was a footy match. Dazza said he thought it was a few Km out of Sheffield so we headed back out of Sheffield towards Waddington only to find it was a stones throw from our front door!

By the time we got there we could already see a sea of parked cars, 4X4s and pickups, the local paper later reported that over 750 vehicles full of spectators turned up to watch the 50 vehicles that had entered. This was one of the biggest events to happen in Sheffield in a while.

A Mud Plug appears to run like a Motorbike trials event where you have to drive through sections without hitting posts/markers and you are scored on how well you do but to be honest, nobody we found knew for sure. We picked a spot near a steep bank that dropped off into a deep muddy swamp and waited for the first nutter to come through.

This part of the course did not look easy. Many failed to even get up the bank to the start of the section, more just sunk into the swamp needing to be pulled from the swamp by one of the huge tractors that were on hand. The odd few, highly customised monsters flew through with ease to great cheers from the crowds of people.

I was a great way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon; we will certainly be back for the next one.

It's Snow Fun

Warren here!! This weekend was the first weekend since we moved to New Zealand that I planned to venture onto the slopes for some fun in the snow. My board was treated to a full pamper earlier in the week, everything was set and ready to go.

Or was it?

The weather reports were getting worse as the week went on and now it looked like the resorts would be closed due to a massive Nor'Wester that was due to hit Saturday morning.

Saturday morning came, a quick glance out the window revealed clear blue sky and no wind. I checked the Mt Hutt webpage and it was still reporting the resort closed but said check back at 9am for an update. Tick... Tick... Tick... the page is updated and its good news, the resort is open.

Craig, a fellow Brit, and I load up and head the hour up the road to Mt Hutt. It’s the first time I have been along the access road to the resort but at least we could see the road, normally it’s covered in snow and ice. The Kiwi's are not big on crash barriers even when there is 14Km of road where the edge of the road is a drop 100's of feet. This is not a road for the squeamish.

The good news is that the slope is not packed, looks like the weather reports put many off.

After the short ride of the quad chair its time for the first run of the day, and also my first run in a few years. From the top of the slope you are greeted with a stunning view of the Canterbury planes with sprawling fields all the way to the sea and the Rakaia snaking its way to the coast. I am starting to remember why I love being in the mountains with views like this.

A quick look down the slope shows what looked fluffy from the chairlift is actually more like hard pack ice with a thin layer of sluff on top, bugger.

Time to start the first run... It appears that while your body does remember what it should be doing to snowboard it turns out that initially its more a caricature of what it should be doing... splat, nothing like a face plant on ice to wake you up.

After a few shaky turns and the face plant it is starting to come back to me and I feel more confident letting the board pick up speed. After a few hours the ice is starting to melt a little under the beating sun and the surface starts to soften up. By the end of the day I am back up to speed and even feel confident enough to hit a couple of jumps.

The day flew past and before we know it the sun was no longer on the slopes, the light went flat and another day on the hill is over. It's then just a short trip back to catch up with the girls to see how their day has been.

Meanwhile.. just one hour away, back down on the Canterbury Plains in Waddington...

Kate and I nursed our hangovers from the previous night whilst sat on the deck eating "frish iiggs" collected that day (they had all stayed the night before to ensure the boys got up the mountain early but, despite our best efforts (honest!), the boys didn't hit the sack until 1.30am and Kate and I, well.. err, Kate and I nearly saw 3am!!).

The weather was gorgeous and blooming hot - we grabbed the thermometer and stuck it on the table... 28 DEGREES and it was only 10.30am! And still winter!

Kate had bought the kids swimming cozzies and I dusted off my jandals and we hopped in the car and drove to the Waimakariri Gorge (2 mins down the road) so the girls, and Summer, could cool down in the river. It was at this point the girls found out just how cold the Waimak's water is!

A cold beer later we decided to go for lunch at Jo Seager's new cafe in Oxford - the kids had their own little "lunch plates" which were brilliant and consisted of little rabbit-shaped marmite sarnies, polenta fries, an iced bun, dried fruit, carrot sticks, little cheesey/bacony toasts and chocolate milk - all for $7 !! Iiigs Benedict for the ladies!

The boys returned home buzzing at 4.30pm and we sat down to lasagne and a pav! What a great day. And tomorrow is to be the Sheffield Mud Plug and Wendy, Dazza and Luke are coming over in their suped up Pajero (complete with new winch and snorkel - wahey!!).

No more blues....

What is it with Kiwi's and their love of blue paint? Every single house we've lived in or owned here (which is three) has had a room entirely painted in blue - a vivid, yet dark, blue. The sort of blue that makes your eyes bleed and blood freeze. The previous two houses we were in it was at least limited to the bathroom, but here they'd gone mad and decided the entire lounge should be blue. Yuk!

But that all changed this week, we are finally "Kiwi blue" free.

Our bedroom was a pukey pink and the kitchen-dining-mezzanine area was a funky 70's wallpaper which had been partly covered with another awful pastel colour so that had to be painted over too.

The painters were so old that I felt guilty that they were up and down ladders all day - sometimes stopping to warm their arthritic hands on the coal stove!! But they did a fabulous job and finished the lot in 2.5 days!

Say Cheese!

Well, this is my first attempt at making cheddar cheese! I spent about 4 hours yesterday making it from scratch (10 litres of farmhouse milk, rennet, culture, big pans and a lot of patience!). I removed it from the press today (above) and will brine it and store it. This one I intend to test/eat in 6 weeks time. I'm making two more this week - one I will leave to mature until when my folks arrive and the other I will (try) and keep for 18 months.

I learnt this craft on a one-day cheesemaking course run by NZ's famed cheesemaker and author, Katherine Mowbray. The course was held at Langdales Winery just down the road from us in West Melton. It was a great day and I met so many interesting ladies (no men turned up!) from all walks of life - there were geologists, food writers, artists, chefs, hoteliers and even a lady from Zambia who used to run a huge cheese factory there...

We learnt to make feta, cheddar, ricotta, haloumi and mascarpone! Now I need to find a local dairy farmer who can give me 10litres of raw milk at a time!

Can't wait to taste it along with our wines which have now been racked off and are clearing nicely!

Meet the New Gals...

Here's Queenie and Q-Tee! They're half Silkie, quarter Australorp and quarter Barred Rock pullets and are due to start laying in spring.

Why those names? Because I thought that with the others being the 3-P's (Penelope, Prudence and Priscilla) I could then say, when asked what I do, that I mind my P's and Q's....

.... well I thought it was funny!

Hola Padre!

Which, translated, means "Hi Dad". He is in Mexico City on business for a few weeks (he's only just back from Prague!) and big hugs to my Mum who's been left behind in sunny, and relatively sparsely populated, Findon! The figures? About 18.5 million people in Mexico City (2nd largest city in the world behind Tokyo at 25 million) and about 18 people in Findon... including cats.....

In the Bleak Midwinter...

What a lovely Sunday we're having. Our hens started laying again today - well, one of them did - perhaps they know we're picking up 3 more next week and think their days are numbered. We had a cooked brekkie on the deck, faffed around the house and I'm now about to settle down and do some writing, Warren is outside burning off the remainder of the garden rubbish in Oscar's amazing incinerator contraption and the two dogs, Bonnie and Summer, are belting round the grounds after each other. Bliss!



The Wintersweet tree (it's gone past being a shrub!) in the main garden area is flowering and the smell and sight is glorious, especially on a beautiful winters day like today!


Shame I can't post the perfume... or bottle it!

Not exactly a bleak midwinter.

For Flax Sake....

Today was the day. After a few weekends trying to save our flax-monsters we had to bite the bullet and have them removed - mechanically! My "bread knife and axe" method was working but would have taken me months and months to get them cut down - and I would still have been left with loads of tubers in the ground.

So, we called on Dave and his Bobcat to come and do the deed.

Here's a couple of "before" pics:

And here's what it's like now..... the pic below is the same location of the one above it (taken from different angle - I was standing by the round window when taking pic below).

The place looks like WW3 has begun, but we've re-landscaped in the past, and having seen the rubbish coming out from under the flax, plus the sheer weight and density of the plants, it's defintely been a task worth doing and it'll look fantastic once we've planted it all up again.

Little Brother is Watching Us...

My little bro, Mike, sent me a pic of our house, taken from Google Earth. They must have been doing some work on it since I last looked as we are now in high res!! Scary really - must remember to do my hair when I feed the chooks!

Here's how it looks on Google Earth (it's basically the whole triangular bit - you can even just make out the lines of the vines on the left and the grass tennis court)!

And whilst we have our heads in the clouds, here's a stunning shot taken on 12th June when nearly the entire South Island of New Zealand was covered in snow.

Busy in Brizzie

We have finally made the trip across the Tasman to Australia. The main reason for the trip was to see Coldplay in concert, but we fully intended to "do" Brisbane too and to thaw out after the previous weeks freezing temps.

Arriving at around 5pm it was pleasantly warm (more so because I was still wearing a scarf and a merino jumper seeing as it had been 5 degrees in Christchurch). The skyline prepared us for what Brisbane was... a big city. The third largest in Australia. Our pre-booked coach took us straight to our hotel - the Hotel Ibis right across the river from South Bank. We've stayed in Ibis hotels throughout Europe as they are cheap, have great locations and have all you need when you're on a city break, and this one was no exception.

We were the only people on our transfer coach, except for an older couple who had come in from up the coast a little to attend a 21st birthday party. They told us about their garden.. okay, their 100 acre "yard" and ohhh how they laughed as they told us of how they "lost" their cute resident possum and couldn't find it anywhere until they found a 2 metre snake under their shed with a possum-shaped lump in its "throat". Welcome to Oz! *gulp*

We dumped our bags and headed straight for Tukka in the West End where we had a booking for dinner. We had chosen this restaurant as it offered us a chance to savour lots of Australian wildlife (in Oz it's eat or be eaten!). We had the "Discovery Menu" with accompanying wines - it was a fantastic experience - the meal took 3 hours and we had to get a cab back as we were so full (and drunk!). I've copied out the feast we had below - it's not your average fayre.... and good that they give you an accomanying wine because it's really hard to know what goes well with possum!! Warren is now totally in love with a 2004 Shottesbrooke Merlot but we couldn't find it for sale in any wine stores - if anyone spots some for sale please let him know!

appetizer - smoked kangaroo and lilly pilly berries
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selection of native berries and smoked meats, home-made damper, macadamia oil & bush dukkah


2000 Logan “M” Cuvee Sparkling – Orange (NSW)
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seared north queensland crocodile, avocado and grapefruit salad, vanilla and grapefruit butter

2006 Fermoy Estate Sauvignon Blanc– Margaret River (WA)
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rare emu fillet, watermelon glaze, slow roasted baby turnips

2004 Shottesbrooke Merlot – McLaren Vale (SA)
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mandarin and rosella sorbet
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seared wallaby, celeriac purée, ginger and lemon aspen jus

2000 Campbells Bobbie Burns Shiraz - Rutherglen (VIC)

possum rillettes, grenadine and onion jam, mountain pepper brioche
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tukka’s chocolate assiette


2002 Sirromet Finito Rosso – Granite Belt (QLD)
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The next day, Friday 23rd, we headed straight for a dreaded mall to get some essential shopping - t-shirts! Thankfully it was the first and last mall we visited. Not our thing. The day was muggy and warm-ish (23 degs). Cities just aren't the place to be when it's warm and muggy. We did what we had to in the mall and quickly escaped down to the river and across to the South Bank area. This area of Brisbane is lovely, it's well set out with the culture centre, art gallery, museums, science centres, lovely walkways through tropical gardens, an inner city man-made beach and bars and restaurants along the banks of the Brisbane. We caught the City Cat and watched the city roll by as we cruised up the river as far as we could to Brett's Wharf. On the way back we stopped off at Eagle Street Pier, a very corporate area, and enjoyed lunch on the river at the Jade Buddha


That night we made our way to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre for the Coldplay concert, we got there by train and got talking to many others who were also heading out that way. What an amazing gig in a fantastic venue. We danced our socks off, screamed the lyrics to just about every song, embarrassed ourselves by knowing the words to Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and generally sweated away a few pints of Tooheys.... a fab evening. Although the huge cockroach squidged on the floor nearby didn't seem have enjoyed the concert quite as much as us. The upside being it was the only wildlife I saw in Oz that I didn't eat or view through 2 inch thick safety glass at the museum.

After the show we found ourselves queuing for a cab with a Scottish couple who now live in Perth - seems that those things that irk some Brits in New Zealand also apply to those in Oz - I mean, what sort of conversation starts with "can you get Hellmans over in NZ?" !! We chatted for ages about the differences in life in NZ/Oz/UK and generally whinged about whinging Poms (to the delight of the group behind us!). We shared a cab back into town and they were last seen heading for the Pig and Whistle - great couple! I think he'll be the first to post Coldplay's "f**k the Dutch" comment (in relation to their having invented Big Brother)... you'll have to Google and see if he has!

Saturday was spenting brunching, lunching and reading on the banks of the river with cappo's and salads (yes, salads in winter, it was warm!!). We went to the museum which was pretty much like any other museum except for the Aboriginal displays which were interactive and, quite frankly, hilarious. Being told to "rub it harder, rub it harder" and getting blisters whilst doing it, in front of fellow museum go-ers, is bound to give anyone the giggles (and me having the giggles in a shhhhhh'd museum just made it worse....). You know what, I'm not even going to tell you what I was rubbing, but it was fun and very hard work and eventually I had to get Woz to finish it off....

Early evening we made our way to Chinatown. Well, two streets that had lots of Chinese restaurants and supermarkets. We had a HUGE chinese meal for a piffling amount of $$ and very nice it was too - but portions were stupidly huge. I had the remains boxed up and took it with me in case I spotted any more homeless en route to the casino but we ended up in a cab and I binned it.

The casino was pretty crap. Sorry, but it was. Nice decor, lovely old building but awash with pokies and only a few select poker tables going so we decided to shove some dollars in the pokies, have a drink, and leave. Except we ended up on a winning spree on the 1cent machines (yes, the ONE CENT machines) and came away having doubled our initial $100 outlay! Woohoooo!

Sunday was the day we flew home. We spent all day in the Botanical Gardens, it's lovely and the cafe there has wonderful food. We sat and read by the river and the weather was lovely (in the shade!). We watched the Ibis birds - strange creatures and native to Oz. They were found near the riverside cafes and were a bit of a pest - a bit like seagulls except a lot bigger and with a beak that made Barry Manilow look button-nosed. Apart from some rather large ants, that's about all insects we saw (and yes, we were looking quite hard to find the ants!!).


Our flight home should have been a nightmare, but it was hilarious. We arrived at the airport to find almost an entire school lining up to check in... ON OUR FLIGHT! Oh joy. We decided we'd be very un-British and not queue - we went to the front and sneaked in saving us at least 2 hours queuing time. All the while dreading which one of us would have a spotty teen fidgeting next to us all the way home. But, all's well that ends well as, seeing as they were all 15-ish, it meant that we had the emergency exit seats with the legroom as they aren't allowed to seat anyone under 16 in them - hooray! And to top it all we sat next to an hilarious Aussie who we laughed with all the way back - I think the 4 bottles of wine I drank helped me on the way too as I don't actually remember anything after disembarking at Christchurch!

The house was as warm as a morgue when we arrived back and Woz couldn't go to work the next day as his fuel tank had frozen (or something technical like that). We think the Mini might be going to the big scrapheap in the sky soon. We collected Summer later that evening, she looked like she had enjoyed her stay at Bunny Lodge, it's a great place to put your pets.

So, would we go back to Brisbane? No. Why? Because we've "done it". There's really not very much to do there that you can't do in any other city. And we don't really like cities, within an hour or so we were fed up with the crowds, the traffic, the noise, the heat, the mugginess, the intermittent showers (yes, I know, it's tropical), the endless roads of shops, cafes and restaurants and tripping over homeless and drunks. It's also the first time we've seen a Big Issue seller since we left the UK.

Would we go back to Australia? Of course. Brisbane is but a speck on the continent and there's so much we want to explore. But the big cities aren't what we'll be returning to, unless Coldplay play there again - now THAT'S something worth putting up with a city break for...

Winter Wonderland...

A few more piccies taken on Monday and Tuesday. It's now Saturday and we're finally beginning to see the ground through the snow. Thankfully many plants are beginning to straighten out and the chooks have more space to scratch about. Discovered they love avocado!!

All piccies taken in Waddington.

We literally put the kettle on...

Summer was totally confused by the snow and would dig holes and roll in them - weird animal!

We're waiting to see what the next cold weather system due on Sunday night/Monday morning will bring - we've been told to expect more snow and that it could hang around until Thursday. I'd prefer it if it would go away on Wednesday as we fly out to Brisbane on Thursday!! And yes, Mike, ironically we'll be thawing out there before heading off to see Coldplay!! hehe

Here's hoping all our friends in Canterbury who are still stuck or without power are managing to keep warm and safe.

The big freeze

Wow, there is nothing like 36+ hours without power during one of the biggest storms in decades to shake up the routine a little. The sort of storm that can cover the South Island in a blanket of snow. The sort of day the Weather people should warn you about but somehow fail to see coming. Let me rewind a little to Monday morning.

I get out of bed and walk to the light switch in the dark. click... click... b^&&@r it, bulb's blown. Stumble... Stumble... click... b^&&@r it, power's gone. I stumble my way to the kitchen to re-load the stove with coal, its a cold morning. Summer is on my heels already demanding her morning walk. I open the kitchen door to let her outside, thud... I hit something solid?

After more stumbling in the dark I find the torch. What is going on... Snow? A lot of snow, 30cm already and coming down thick and fast. I wake Helen. We stand and watch the storm outside. There is a beauty to extreme weather, it has the power to mesmerise.

Reality hits. Its a huge storm, we are snowed in without power. To make matters worse the wood pile is covered in snow. To top it off a short trip outside to the coal bunker reminds me we really really need more coal.

We get the basics done. Get the chooks some food and lock them in. Get a big pile of wood indoors so it can start to dry. Fill the coal stove and refill the coal scuttle.

We have no internet because the router needs power but at least we have a phone line, an outside link. The Electricity company's phone system lets me know I have called during a busy period and should call back later. When I finally get through to a human they let me know we will have power up at 8.30. I really should have thought 12.5 hours and not 30 minutes when I heard this and with hindsight, even 12 hours was optimistic.

I call work to let them know I won't be in. We now know there is snow on the coast in Christchurch, a good 50Km away.

All that is left to do now is get the fire going, settle down and wait out the storm. In the end the storm kept going most of the day and dumped about 60cm of snow on us.

Spot the Mini

We ventured out at times bashing snow off trees and plants trying to minimise loss but the damage to the garden will be huge. We won't know the full extent until the thaw but many trees and plants are crushed and broken. At least the house has held up well.

The only thing that matters during situations like this are heat, food and shelter. We lived in front of the fire the first 24 hours. When you have no idea when you will get power back you just have to get on with the basics.

Tuesday was clear blue skys so we could get out. Do a stock take, clear snow and dig out the cars. Once the road outside had been cleared we could venture out and get some coal and more food. We then got the fire going and started to settle down for another night without power. We got power back about 7pm that night.

This was a massive storm. Some still don't have power and might not be connected until next week. There will be damage to property and lots of dead live stock but the Kiwi's are a hardy bunch.

Was it really that bad... Not really.

Once your mind accepts the situation you just get on with it. Time changes and loses meaning, similar to being on a long flight. We were mentally set for the second night without power so when it came back on it was a little while before we put on the TV to get the news.

The Big Cover Up....

Finally, the curtains have arrived!! Just how excited can one person be about the installation of curtains?! Hopefully they will help keep the place warm, with 50% of the exterior walls being glass it's a task keeping the heat in... but not for long with SEVEN sets installed today! They're all thermal lined AND have a duvet-like inner to keep drafts out and heat in... or so they claim! Time and toes will tell...

Full marks to Millers Homeworld in Christchurch for a job well done, even though the fabric took a wee while to import and cut, the end result is just what we wanted. Next task - telling Woz how much they cost!!

Brrrrrr'thday in the Boonies...

Another year gone!

My second birthday in NZ.

And I'm a misery guts and full of flu.

BUT... after sticking my head under the pillow until midday and feeling decidely sorry for myself I kicked myself up the butt (there's a knack to it!), got togged up and headed for the snowy mountains with Summer.

I quickly checked the Met Service site to make sure I wasn't heading into blizzards and bad driving conditions, heated the car up whilst it was parked in the drive and, once warm, headed towards Lake Lyndon which is about 20 mins drive up the road....

From Highway 73 (soon to be renamed The Great Alpine Highway), which is accessed from pretty much outside our front gate, I took a minute to see if the trip was going to be worthwhile (i.e. visibility). The mountains looked moody and it looked like it was still snowing at the peaks, but knowing I wasn't going to be climbing too far into them I took the decision to go for it...

Looking to the mountains from Highway 73, just a few metres from home....



Between Springfield and Lake Lyndon the road begins to climb.... and it get's slushy and ice/grit warnings appear everywhere... *gulp*


Not quite as much snow as we've encountered on previous drives around the world... how's this for snow at the side of the road - taken in 1998 in Yosemite (California) !

Back to NZ... once Summer and I arrived at Lake Lyndon the sun broke through and it was glorious - I munched on a sausage roll and warmed my hands with a cappo and Summer rushed straight into the lake ..brrrrrrrr!

And what does a m-m-mad 38 year old and her dog do at a snowy lake in the mountains of the South Island of NZ? Makes a snow pup of course !!! (It's the one on the left!!)

Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes and pressies and cards! Did well for an oldie!

Gotta dash - I think the postie just dropped off the committal papers.......