Friday, April 27, 2007

Friday Night Update

We went back to school Monday and so tonight are all collapsing in a heap.
The holiday was just too much fun and just too relaxing, so it will take a few weeks to get back up to speed.
Margaret and Ian went back to the UK 2 weeks ago now and it seems like ages. We spent the last week pottering about, doing farm jobs such as making a new chicken coop in the veggie garden. We also culled 5 of the older hens to keep the numbers down over winter so that we are not feeding old hens that will not lay in the Spring. We also culled out 3 shavers so that our flock becomes a mix of bantam and barred rock. We like the characteristics of these breeds the best out of all the breeds that we have experience of so far.
We also did the Kaitaia Walkway as far as the lookout post! Those of you who pay attention to this blog will know that this is our third attempt at this bush walk. The first two times, we gave up before reaching the post because the track became too overgrown. Last week, we found a team of workers from DOC who were repairing a bridge over a washed out section of path. They had also cut down the regrowth and we were able to reach the look-out in less than an hour. It was nice for Chantelle and I to be behind the boys as they charged on ahead. Back in the old days we would be coaxing them along on walks and waiting for them to catch up. Now the boys are waiting for us. It was even better that Eric expressed an interest in coming back to do the full walk over to Digger's Valley. I think I would want to go prepared for that though as looking at the route on Google Earth, we would be going through a huge section of forest miles from any roads. I still haven't got used to the remoteness and wildness of this country.
We had a day trip up north on the last friday. It was a good combination of fishing and fun. Chantelle caught 2 good sized kahawai at Paua wharf and the boys watched 3 other fellas trying to hook one of the kingfish that was cruising underneath it. Then we went for a sand dune surf at Te Paki. A great place to build up strong calve muscles. We carried on to the wharf at Te Hapua to look at wader food in the sand and then finished with a mammoth ice-cream at Te Kao store.

This week was punctuated by Anzac day on Wednesday. It is a public holiday over here, taken to honour the war dead from the Gallipoli campaign in the first world war. Last year I went to the late morning service with my folks. This year I went to the dawn parade. Eric and Stuart both asked to go and got themselves out of bed at 5.30am. I was impressed by their enthusiasm and also by the number of other children there. It is a recent phenomenon in New Zealand that more and more young people are going to Anzac day parades. Captain Doug from the Salvation Army puts it down to young people's quest for justice in the world.

That will do for an update now. I might try and post some pictures as evidence of some of the activities described above.
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