Monday, October 02, 2006

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Link to Stuart's play

Having trouble getting the link posted up! Attempt no. 8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHQRjCb8nVc


or try this:

Drama King

If you have a fast connection, you might want to check out part of Stuart's debut to local acting:...
He has been rehearsing every Wednesday night for the last few terms and on Thursday night we trooped down to the Little Theatre to watch him perform.
We were treated to a smorgasbord of dramatic pieces, ranging from classical Macbeth to a modern play on the 3 little pigs - where the pigs have got a scam going where they lure wolves to their death for regular food. Stuart had bit parts in several pieces and played Evilus Ploticus in a Playlet called "Evil Plots".
He did the part well and got some laughs from the audience.
More soon ...">

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Sheeps revenge

No update last weekend as it rained all weekend, were all fighting off illness and feeling a bit fed up given that it had been sunny all week and then the rains descended on Friday night and it remained wet all weekend. Don'tya just hate it when that happens? Eric and I were up at first light on Sunday to despatch 3 of the ducklings. We ate 2 of them for tea and they made a good feed. What with all the hens eggs we are getting, we are doing pretty well for produce at the mo. The veggy garden is coming on slowly, peas have come through and we had the first broad beans with the duck. We bought seed potatoes and I sowed lots of tomatoes, courgettes and pumpkin today.

We have been busy today doing some outside spring cleaning. gave the lawns their first shave of the year, more than anything else just to pick up all the detritus that has been sat there for months. The back lawn has taken a battering from where the ducks and chickens have been crapping all over it. It will recover, but it will be a while before it resembles a Cambridge College lawn.

I sheared Shania the goatess last week. Using hand shears. It took ages and my hand still aches a week later. She looks better now without all the long gorsey hair. She is a bit emaciated, but whenever we think that she is going into terminal decline, she pulls out and starts springing about the place. I don't have many very sentimental feelings towards any of the animals we have, the cats aren't too bad but I could happily live without them. I have to admit to quite liking Shania though, she is quite tame an will eat maize from my hand, plus she is pretty independent and disappears when I am looking for her sometimes. She is also co-operative in her attitude towards treatment, is easily caught when she needs her feet doing or is being shorn etc. I guess that she is a pet and I have no plans to eat her as she came with the house and has slaughter immunity. Well there you go.

The same cannot be said for the sheep! I have no feelings of sentimentality towards the sheep at all. Our friend Mike says that he does not have the patience to deal with sheep and that he would finish up shooting them all. (Which is what he did to the 2 the other week!) I can sympathise with that. Sheep are reckoned by some people to be determined to kill themselves. Let me give you and example. Independence and No14 have been limping slightly for a week now. They obviously have a problem with their feet that needs addressing. So this afternoon all the boys were rounded up and kicked out of the house to get the sheep into the yards. The yard was prepared, the holding gate strengthened to stop them from busting out and breaking the poor sod's hand who is holding it shut at the time. The foot shears, spray, drenching liquid and hand shears gathered together. Then we went down to bring the 4 animals up. 3/4 of an hour later we gave up, having chased them 5 times round the middle field. They were determined not to head up the hill. If they had done so they would now be able to walk without discomfort, their tummies would be free of parasitic worms and one of them might even have had a haircut. Instead the stubborn little woolies are wandering round even more footsore than they were before!

We shall have another go tomorrow....

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Cardsharp

A few pictures for you. We have been extending the boys education by teaching them about the perils of gambling. We started with Pontoon and as you can see by the size of Paddy's pile, he is a natural. He has got the game well sussed as you can see from my worried expression. We will learn poker when I can wean them all off pontoon.

Been nice and dry this w/e. NZ Father's Day so I got breakfast and bed and was indulged by having a non-whinging trip to the garden centre. I have been getting the veg garden ready. as you can see from the picture, it is a very heavy, sickly looking clay and so we got 4 bags of soil conditioner and with Paddy's help, planted some peas, beans and radish and carrots this afternoon.
The other picture is of a peach tree in the garden which is now in flower. I do not hold out too much hope of us getting any peaches, but we live in hope.
I spent Friday night at Te Hapua marae with the school trip. It is the northermost settlement in NZ, rich in natural beauty and steeped in history. We got a locals view being shown round the cemetery by Bundy Waitai and the school by the Y9 pupils. We all embarked on some boats that looked like WWII landing craft and that had powerful motors but no rails. We went to an oyster farm and ate oysters fresh from the sea, then on for a fish. Despite several combined centuries of fishing experience and about 30 lines being dipped in the water, we caught nothing big enough to take home, but it was lovely out there.
All in all an amazing stay and difficult to convey in words, so i'll stop there.



Saturday, August 26, 2006

Mutton on the menu

Well we finally got around to killing 2 of our ewes today. We chose No19 and No 55 because they were the wildest ones who always hung back when I fed them every day. They are the most difficult sheep to yard and given that we do need to get the sheep in for a check regularly, it was fair enough that we should cull out those ewes that were least cooperative.
The starter plan was to get all the sheep up to the yard and then pop the 2 chosen ones in the race. It all started off well as they were the only 2 that headed up to the race. the other 4 stayed in a tight flock under the totara tree. So mike and I steered them up the hill very gently towards the race. Our race is set at quite an obtuse angle that apparently does not encourage entry and the 2 girls decided to make a break for it after all.
Plan 2 was to drop them in the field. Using the bins to read the ear tags and with Mike using the .22, the ewes were shot cleanly in the head from 20 feet away whilst they stood next to their mates.
The living sheep only ran off when we started to approach the carcases. Their throats were cut to drain the blood and we left them for a bit.
The next job was to gut them. The boys took a keen interest in this, especially Stuart, who did his best to identify the internal organs. We found that each ewe had 8 teeth the 4th pair of which were fairly small relative to the others.
We kept the heart and lungs for school dissections and the liver and kidneys for our own consumption.
We took the carcases up to the garden to be skinned. This was quite fiddly and time consuming but working as a team we got the job done - just like Bob the Builder!
We had thought about butchering ourselves, but decided to use a professional for this first time.
Stuart and eric have commandeered the fleeces and Stuart has been trying to spin some of the wool.
Tea was liver and fried bread - very tasty. We have asked the butcher to turn the rest into roasts, chops, mince and sausages.

The other pictures are of a trip Eric and I took last week to the gumfields above Ahipara. They used to dig up Kauri gum here many years ago, now it is a vast expanse of low growing bush and scrub.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

My family and other animals





Some of us are coming out of illness, Chan and nyself, while Stuart is going down with the lurgey. All 3 boys took part in their school's cross country races yesterday which took place at Pukepoto School. They are all a bit achy today.

Not a lot of news this week. The chickens have started to lay much better and we are getting more eggs now than we have had since the Autumn. That gives us something to barter with. Our neighbour gave us a long roll of instant fencing that was surplus to her needs and so we installed it as the veggy garden fence last weekend. I also started to dig a drainage ditch along the edge of the wire. The plan is that each veggy bed will be raised and the water will drain down into the stream. I might be able to use the same channels to irrigate in the summer if I can rig a pipe up from the water trough to the garden.

The pictures are of assorted animals and eric. The centipede was about 6 inches long and was found by Mike in a manuka stump. They have a nasty nip apparently, but I did not try it out.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

London Visit.






During the next few weeks i shall start to add photo's of our journey to the UK.
As well as meeting up with lovely family and friends ,we also had a small cahnce to visit some great places.
Here follows some photo's of Eric's trip to the big smoke. The smoke was this time caused by the heat as well as fumes.
As you can see the weather was great and so were the views.
Visit to London courtesy of Grandad Ely.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

It is still raining and now we are ill!

Well we could be in Lancashire the way the weather has been this week. Cold winds and heavy showers. Last w/e there was so much rain that the river that flows past the start of Church road ad risen by 6 metres. I did wonder if it would go over the top before I got back from school. Fortunately it did not. In fact the council are pleased that the drains coped with such a lot of rain as they have been removing silt and obstructions over the past year and this was the first dbig test of how well they had done their work.
The dampness took its toll and whilst the rest of the family soldiered on, I took thursday and Friday off work. It was very quiet and restful being at home with just the animals for company all day. I am over the worst of it and hope to get back to things on Monday.
Other news: Eric has started working out 3x a week at a local gym. Chantelle is going as well, so they are spending quite a bit of time inspecting muscles in front of the mirror for early signs of swelling. Myself I don't see what's wrong with taking an axe to the pampas when you want an upper body workout, but I guess it is not the same.
There are some signs of spring in the air. The nights are slowly but surely getting shorter. Being a nerd through and through I have marked the outline of Kaitaia Heights onto our kitchen window and I am marking the position of the setting sun every week. it is good to see it heading back towards Ahipara and getting later by a few minutes each night. Early on in the week I was able to go down to the dam and cut scrub for an hour in the light after work. The chucks have started laying again, production began within 2 days of my increasing their rations and giving them layers mash.
Pictures may follow when I take some.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Its raining



The forecast was for a weekend of rain and so far that is what we have got. Hence the logburner picture.
We have spent the week recovering from journeys. Chantelle was back at school on Monday, but were both under par with a bout of the virus that is doing the rounds.

The sheep is called Independence which is not a very appropriate name for a wether who jumped 2 fences to get back to his girls rather than go off a solo journey back to the farm on which he was born. The 2 most awkward ewes got a week's reprieve because the homekill butcher we were going to use is busy today.

Meanwhile we are feeding increased rations to the hens as we havent had a single egg for a fortnight and no more than 1 a day for the last 4 months. i am starting to wonder if they have either a) all gone on strike b) are not getting enough food or c) are actually all cocks in disguise.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

They are back

Just a quickie to let you all know that Chantelle and Eric are now back at the official residence in cloudy Kaitaia.
The short version is that the plane they were travelling on (Emirates) was steadily delayed as the journey proceeded. They ended up landing in Auckland at 8.30pm on a Saturday night with no flights north until Sunday at 9. So I nipped down to the airport to pick them up.
We got home at 3.30 am. Eric is still sleeping off his jet lag, Chantelle is communicating with her mother by phone, Stuart and Paddy were acommodated at Mike and Rissy's which is where I will be heading shortly.
More later, maybe with some pictures of Blighty ...

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Very ,very hot ,believe it or not!!!






It's been cracking weather over here. My goodness, it's been between 34-36c here. Mind you see people on the beach in the full with nothing more than a small bottle of factor 2 next to them.
All this means that since arriving in blightly ,Eric and myself haven't really slept at all well. Never mind.
Some photo's that follow are of Eric with Great Grandad and Great Grandma. We had a smashing time with both Greats , and hope to able to see them again . GG took us to Southampton to see some sights of the city and them onto a rather nice restaurant next to the yachts. Whilst Eric went with GG to the forest , I went with GGM to Shirley for some girly shopping.
Then off up to Lancashire, first stop , Mike and Joy. Joy is looking really well despite having a broken femur. Mike being well as well.
Then up to Lancaster. Here we bumped into loads of people, and enjoyed many a glass of wine too.
Peterbough was the next stop at Alexes. Here I had a chuckle.
So now i am at Stretham, sweating.
So that's just a potted run through. More to come.
P.S Matty is cute.

Start of Term 3

Back to the routine with a difference of having half of the family not here.
We started off well getting up bright and early and getting to the bus-stop early. It got more and more difficult as the week went on, so it was a relief to get through to this morning's lie in.

The weather has been pretty wet for much of this week, but we were back to strong sun today. There was a chilly wind and Patrick complained of feeling cold as he set off for town wearing nothing but a tee shirt. (Don't worry Chan, he had a coat but hadn't put it on!)

There has not been much earth shattering news. We watched our various vids last night. Stuart enjoyed The Motorcycle Diaries with me picking up on the comic moments if not the subtitles and strong socialist message. I had only seen this film on the plane coming over here so it was good to see it under more comfortable circumstances.

We did the Saturday morning trip into town to get food and fruit and animal feed.

This afternoon one of Paddy's friends from school came overto play with lego. I made them go out for a fresh air braek after an hour and suggested that they feed the animals. I got a funny look when I suggested that they wear gumboots as they trotted off down the hill into the mud and manure wearing no shoes. It is quite a struggle to get Patrick to wear anything on his feet and even though I send him to school wearing a coat and shoes, he rarely comes home wearing either "They are in my bag!"

I made the most of the peace by planting 2 of the apple trees bought in the holiday. Someone suggested that you should dig a $100 hole for a $20 dollar tree. That made sense, looking at how some trees I just bunged in last year are not doing particularly well. We now have well planted Lobo and Ballarat on the hillside next to the dam.

It was great to be able to sit down in the sunshine and enjoy the peace. I remember being on the allotments and never feeling very relaxed about sitting down because of all the other people about.

There have been several wild ducks on the dam this week. 3 male mallard this morning. The harriers seem to be displaying at the moment as well. I saw a pair high up over the Matthews reserve during the week, making big swoops round in the sky and calling to each other. I remember seeing marsh harriers doing a similar display in the UK where they passed food to each other whilst in flight.

I let the chicken run chucks out for some freedom this afternoon. Rocky was first out followed by his six hens. They were reluctant to come out. Rocky was soon up by the goat pen checking out Stony and sh**ing all the hens he has not had access to in the last week. When it came time to get them in we managed to get Rocky and 3 hens back in.

Been having a think about sheep this week and am interested in the wiltshire breed. They shed their fleece in the spring by themselves so do not need to be sheared or dagged. Their feet are better than the Romneys we have got, and they supposedly have 2 lambs each that put on meat quickly. I am looking into places that might be able to sell us a few.

This time next week Chantelle and Eric will be back - yippee. How about sticking up some pictures of Blighty?

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Pirates


Paddy did this pic of a pirate using Tux paint.
We were supposed to be having a day out 1:1 father son bonding sort of day, but it has not gone too well. It was rainy and cold so we decided to go to the pictures at the Swamp Palace rather than drive for several hours down to see Tane Mahuta. We were late setting off because someone could not find any shoes to wear, then when we arrived the place was sold-out. Paddy has told me that he hates me at regular intervals and that he would like another dad! My main crime has been to say that he cannot have $60 from his savings to buy (another) Lego set. This after he has spent $50 of bithday money in a fortnight. We have come to a truce whereby he saves $30 of pocket money and then matches it with his savings.
Stuart come back tomorrow from his camp.
Eric and Chan have just phoned and are off to the Titanic museum with (great) Granddad Ronald this morning

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Back at the ranch


Meanwhile back at the ranch, Mike and paddy soldier on keeping the home fires burning. We have just stacked a ute load of firewood to keep said fires burning. Its pretty cold at times and having a warm house helps to dry the mound of washing.
This is an abbreviated version of the post I wrote this morning that was several paragraphs long, full of witty comments about the soap opera that is our life - who needs to watch corrie?
Anyway I was about to add a picture and publish my offering to the world when the screen went blank and the music stopped and the fridge stopped. For those people looking for a downside to this idyllic life that we are leading - one of those is the power-cuts that we suffer here in Northland. NZ is struggling to generate enough electricity to meet peak demand and most generation happens south of Auckland. Up here we are the first to lose power. A few weeks there was a major cut that lasted for several hours. The kids were sent home from rural primary schools as the sewage and heating all need electric. Auckland came to a stand-still. It was all caused by a rusted piece of metal at a sub-station apparently. Gave us a wake-up call about the need to be able to cope on our own. Mind you we all moaned up here where it is quite mild even in the depths of winter. There were farmers down in South Island who were cut off for 2 weeks by a heavy snowstorm that brought down their lines.
Anyway the blog entry disappeared into he ether and this is the replacement.
The picture shows the new chicken run that houses Rocky and 6 wives, it is an artistic representation of reality. Chantelle has the camera in the uk, so I shall be illustrating my blog entries in alternative ways!

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

We are here!!




Despite getting very little sleep on the plane from Auckland via Melbourne to Dubai curtoursy of the little lad in front of us screaming for 12 of the 14 hour- we are both feeling rather chipper.
We were greeted at gatwick buy mum and dad / grandma and grandad, then on arrival to Ely ,we had a quick bath and then to nick and Karla's for a barbie. Very enjoyable , made even more funny by my jetlagged state of mund that made me feel rather spaced out and feeling that i had earlier taken some drugs of some sort- which i certainally did not.
During our stop in Dubai ,Eric and myself had a shower, and we paid 88 whatever it was, and i have no idea of the exchange rate ,but as Eric said , "I feel so much better now", so it was worth every bit of dubai currentcy.

The second leg , which was 7 and a half hours was so much better , i could even cross my legs on this plane, and i think just for being half the flight time of the first.

Anyway , E and I have just returned from Ely ,with trips to boots and Wilko's.

Off to Southapton tommorrow ,so shall post on our return.

Photo's of Our arrival and the airbus and 777 we travelled on.

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Look out England, 2/5ths of them are coming back!!

Yes! As we speak/write/read Chantelle and Eric are winging their way across the planet back to the UK. We went down en masse to see them off at the airport and to have a mini-break in Auckland as well.
We stayed at Waiwera on Friday and Saturday night in a tiny cabin right on the shore. It was pretty much the cheapest place that Chantelle could find, but was quite adequate for our needs: a bed each, a light and a couple of electric sockets to plug a jug and a lappie into. Toilets a stones throw away and a kitchen to cook a meal in. Lovely view out into the Hibiscus coast and only half an hour into Auckland.
We all trotted off to MOTAT on Saturday. A quaint NZ style museum full of intersting pieces, but also som good hands-on interactive stuff for the boys. The pull was the robot activities which sounded pretty good, design your own and program bots. The reality was not as impressive, but well organised by friendly staff. The boys and C all enjoyed a tour of the tactile dome. I stayed out to look after the passports and air-tickets. It was some sort of adventure circuit all done in the dark and judging by the great grins on everyones' faces as they left, it must have been fun.
Eric was getting increasingly twitchy by this point even though it was T-5 hours, so we meandered our way to the airport. Said our goodbyes and tried to find the motorway back to Waiwera.
Paddy was oblivious to the fact that Mum and Eric were't there as he had picked up a fantastic Pirate Lego boat using the remains of his birthday money. He spent most of the next 24 hours building it, keeping us informed of his progress and only requesting help for the really tricky bits. It has now been demolished in a fit of pique after it got slightly damaged on the way back from Mike and Rissy's.
Stuart was in floods of tears 5 minutes after leaving the airport. He is apparently not going to smile for the next 3 weeks until they return.
We went to the flash Waiwera infinity Hot pools to take our mind off things/ have fun/ have a bath. At $30 for 1 adult and 2 kids after a discount, I don't think we'll be going there every week, but it was hot, there were lots of different pools and the boys enjoyed it.
Had a good trip back up north this morning stopping off at Koanga Gardens on the way. Just like so many places in the UK, but perhaps less aloof and more friendly. I could have spent a fortune on seeds, books, tools etc, but confined myself to a few packets of heirloom seeds including Ponsonby Red tomatoes and Black popcorn. Look out for the harvest pictures in 9 months time.
The house was still here when we got home ( a relief), with no obvious signs of cat diarrhoea (an even greater relief). Still no lambs and I am resigning myself to a lambless spring and a need to be better organised next year.
Stuart is away on his camp tomorrow and then it will just be Paddy and myself keeping the place ticking over.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Are these ewes pregnant?





We rounded up 4 of our 5 ewes yesterday and checked their undercarriages for signs of pregnancy. They had been together with a ram up until February 12th and one of them was brought to us apparently pregnant. Those people reading this please advise us if these look like the teats of pregnant ewes or are we hoping for the impossible?

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Watch a video

We have been enjoying the website www.youtube.com where you can watch all manner of videos that people have made. There are lots of music videos of bands ranging from the Beatles to the latest hits. We have even made our own for your "enjoyment". Thursday is TV free day in our house so today we made our own tv.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7dyfILwn2c

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Sponge-bob Patrick and muddy fields



Well it was a close run contest but after 24 hours the votes have been counted, the pictures taken and here are the results. With one vote each, we have spong-bob Patrick surrounded by Lego and "pregnant" sheep surrounded by muddy fields.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

In the bleak mid-winter

The shortest day has passed in a howling gale of cold southerlies, with chilly showers. The ground is sodden after weeks of regular heavy showers. BRRRR!! it's cold.
We are all in various stages of illness. The bug going round makes you shiver and ache and gives you a nasty head and ear-ache.
To lift the spirits, 3 of us went to a Christmas Party at the College last night, complete with tree. decorations and Santa.
Paddy was seven on Tuesday and had a small party last Saturday. He asked for a Subway for his birthday tea, and was very happy with Sponge-bob and Pirate lego presents.
Still no lambs! Are these ewes actually pregnant? Having said all that, the lambs are probably better off inside their mums than out in the wet and cold.
My head is banging every time the boys talk at the moment, so I am going to tactically retreat from the computer to my sanctuary, with a hot Lemsip. Pictures may follow, put in your votes now:
Do you want pictures of:
a) Patrick in his Sponge-bob cape
b) a muddy field
c) dying duckling sat in box by fire with suspected cancer, stroke etc.
d) other - specify
Vote now and the winning option will be posted.
(Competition outcome subject to suitability of picture requested!)

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Three Lions



Thanks to Grandma and Granddad Cambridge for the parcel of patriotic goodies.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Weekend before Winter Solstice

Howsit Folks!
Another Friday and in another week we will be heading back towards Spring and warmth and light. It has been wet again with a hailstorm and thunder and lightning here tonight. At the same time the top temp in the country was 18C here in Kaitaia. There seems to be a greater extreme of temperature here.

It has been a quiet week, it feels like time to hibernate until the days get longer. We are all finding it a bit tricky to get out of bed in the mornings, even Eric who sets his alarm at 5.30 am!

Farm news: one of the hens has started laying again down the bottom. That is welcome news as even Mrs Chicken has gone off lay. We are hatching plans to confine the chucks into a number of pens as they are all congregating in the garden, roosting in the wood shed and crapping all over the wood. I am getting a bucket of chicken sh*t every week to put on the veggie garden, so I shouldn't complain. We managed to vaccinate all the ewes with 5 in 1 vaccine last Saturday. This should protect them and all their lambs (if they ever pop!) against a whole host of nasty diseases. Apparently without this vaccination, one can lose an entire crop of lambs to diseases with strange names like "pulpy kidney".

England have got through to the second round of the World Cup! An audience watched the first game here last Sunday morning at 1am. Eric watched it all along with mum. Stuart and Patrick were woken up but were snoring after 10 minutes. Dad could not be roused! Chantelle got up this morning at 4am to watch us beat T&T by 2 goals to nil. It is a bit weird to be supporting from so far away.

Pictures will follow tomorrow hopefully. That is when I have taken some suitable ones.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

England v Paraguay



Been a funny w/e so far.
Watched Germany v Costa Rica at 4 am this morning, then went to look for Matariki (Pleidaes) in the pre-dawn sky.
The kids are all asleep now at 9pm (or are supposed to be) and will be awoken at 1am to watch England play Paraguay.
More later ...
I wrote a huge post a few hours ago and the computer froze so I lost it all.
It was better than this post ... honestly it was.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Fishing Story


We have good weather this week, despite the forecast telling us we would have showers, I don't think we have had any at all. Lots of clear crisp days with good views of the distant hills to taunt me as I go to work each day.
Last Saturday was shaping up to be a fine day after a lot of rain in the week. I did not go to town as I normally do but opted to stay at home and do the cleaning. I received an invitation to go fishing with Pat at Scot's Point that was too good to refuse. He has told me about this mythical place where you climb down a cliff and catch huge fish.

It is at the top end of 90 mile beach and was reached by driving down Te Paki stream onto the beach. We walked round the sand and cliffs most of the way because the tide was out when we arrived. It was still a tricky walk, carrying all the gear, including a big sack of ice. My legs were wobbly by the time we arrived. It was encouraging to see another group on the way who had caught a 4 foot kingfish.

Our spot was on a narrow shelf at the mouth of a smallish bay. Big waves going past as the tide came in. A steep cliff behind. We got the burley bomb out ( groundbait of minced up fish) and I was instructed to chuck in pichard heads. Soon we could see large fish swirling through the water to snatch the offerings. What a sense of anticipation! Pat has the best tackle and I picked up some good hints on how to thread a pichard on to maximum effect. Pat had caught a trevally before I had even cast in. As is the custom in these parts the first fish went back in to Tangaroa (the god of the sea). It was not difficult to get bites, the trick was getting the fish in. trevally are reckoned to be the best fighting fish pound for pound. They don't want to be caught and will head off into the weeds, or round the corner to try and throw out the hook. It was an effort to bring in each one. I caught 3 ood sized ones and Pat got 4. The odd kahawai that we got seemed like tiddlers in comparison and they were not that small.

We called it a day when we reckoned we could carry out no more and started the walk back going straight up the cliff this time. It was a feww 100m vertical climb carrying all the gear plus all the fish. Lots of stops for breathers. It was a relief to get onto the main path at the top of the cliffs and to get back to the car.

My eggs ached hard the next day, but it was a good ache. The sort of ache that reminds you of a good experience. We distributed our catch amongst friends and had a lovely fish soup for Sunday tea.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Pictures? Maybe!




I have tried about 5 times to upload these pictures. Here's hoping...

Pictures



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