The Broadwood show - about 50K from Kaitaia over the Mangamuka Gorge 

Shearing (novice section) and tranfixed crowd 

Ruth with a cat in her hat 

Ruth's award winning pot 

Stu takes Pat for a spin 

Stephan shows us how to shear a sheep, who needs a tv? (Stuart does ... silly question) 

Patrick feeds the sheep as they wait to be shorn 

Stuart decides that this car still has some salvageable parts 

Eric decides he wants to be a farmer 

Another week of firsts!

It has gotten around to Saturday night again and so it is time for a weekly update. I am finding that my time during the week is pnched by all the planning I am doing. So blog updates and lengthy emails are having to wait for the weekend. Thanks for all the nice emails people have sent. It is nice to hear from you all. It does make C and I a little unsure about how to deal with your weather news. It rained tonight but it is so warm that the humidity after the rain has shot up. It can be 100% humid here at this time of year, unpleasant if we have to be very active, but easily remedied by taking a dip.

Anyway the news. chantelle started helping out at a special school in town this week and has been enjoying the work. Not surprisingly they have also been happy to have an extra pair of competent hands as they are shrt-staffed.

Sorry about the typos in this piece, the blogger editor is in overwrite mode, so it is difficult to correct mistakes. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

As for the other firsts .... our first hangi (steamed group feed roots and meat all wrapped up and steamed for several hours), my first te reo Maori lesson ( lots of singing and dancing - the teachers must have trained at St Martins) , our first NZ agricultural show at Broadwood, complete with sheep shearing and log splitting competitions. Thanks to Les over the road, Eric and I had our first NZ bike ride. Awesome as they say over here.

til next week then, eh?