Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
End of holiday - boo hoo
Kia ora koutou
The holiday is almost at an end. Term 1 2009 starts lumbering off on Monday, though it will take over a week for College to really get going. It will take more than a week for us all to readjust to getting up early, being in structured classrooms all day and then returning home in the evenings.
This has been a most excellent holiday in terms of chilling out.
We have had a good mix of being at home and pottering about, combined with a couple of trips away and with Richard’s visit thrown in and a whole lot of little day-trips. The boys claim to have been bored, proving that they are teenagers!
Our main holiday to Rotorua and Leigh was not really what I had expected. I thought that Rotorua would be full of casinos and be really tacky, smelly and touristy as I remembered it from my visit 20 years ago. Not a bit of it. We stayed 10km out of town in a pleasant holiday park Ngongotaha Holiday Park if you want a recommendation. We had a little 2 bed unit that was art deco in style but really comfortable and functional. Good well-equipped kitchen, was a stones throw from the lake, with an on-site swim pool and nearby park for the boys to disappear to. All for about $75 a night. While there we realised that our budget would not allow for trips to the major Rotorua sights, so we spent on good food and found activities for free from an excellent book called New Zealand for Free.
The picture below shows one such place – Kerosine Creek. Way up a metalled road, with no signs until you got there, but what a find. Steaming hot water as a river runs through forestry. The pool itself was shaded by huge trees so fine for bathing even in the heat of summer. It would be even more amazing in the winter with snow on the ground.
We also enjoyed the Ngongotaha Trout Hatchery – free and very interesting, looking at the different sized trout and talking to one of the workers there. They strip trout of their eggs and grow them to a size that they can be released into streams and lakes for people to catch.
We also delighted in the takeaway from The Indian Star in Rotorua, yumm mango lassi, butter chicken, lamb madras mmmmm….
Rotorua itself was huge compared to Kaitaia and we enjoyed window shopping. The boys were not that exciting in making a beeline for the Wharehouse, but they were also quite taken with a FairTrade shop and Eric and Patrick spent some cash there. It was quite warming to hear them explaining to me the importance of Fair Trade!
Then we hot footed it up to Leigh, just North of Auckland. We stopped en route at Candyland - a shop and museum full of sweets and really quite unwelcoming.
I had expected Leigh to be the best part of the trip. The accommodation was $155 a night at the Cottage of the Leigh Motel. The owners were friendly and the views of Little Barrier and Great barrier Island were pretty stunning. The mozzies were fierce and kitchen not as good as the Rotorua place. No park or pool. Otherwise fine.
Leigh is an old fishing village that sits on top of a cliff with a grid of suburban type villas. A road leads down to the harbour where commercial and private boats moor and refuel. We enjoyed the night time fishing using handlines, catching mostly small snapper. We got one that was legal and had it for tea.
Spent one morning at Goat Island marine reserve and enjoyed a trip on the glass bottom boat, looking at all the fish swimming about.
The fish and chip shop in Leigh is one of the best I have ever visited in the world. Cool sounds and the cleanest tasting batter you could imagine.
The Saw-mill was another cool place. An old Saw-mill (who’d have thought it!) that had been converted into a music venue that attracts some big names – Billy Bragg plus some NZ groups that are big … Plus there is a micro-brewery making several beers. I sampled "The Doctor" in the bar 6.5% and unlike any NZ beer I have tasted in its complexity and nutrition – like a liquid meal! Not like Complan.
The other place I really liked was Matakana - a small village between Leigh and the Main highway. Not sure how the place has evolved into what it is, but what a place. Good shops, including a fantastic delicatessen selling really good breads, cheeses and proscuttio which all tasted even better than the Indian takeaway! There was also a cinema there doing about 4 different films a day, including Arthouse and World Cinema. It was like a small piece of the best bits of Cambridge UK dropped into NZ. Not cheap, but very good.
We lost 2 chucks when we got home, probably to Salmonella transferred by wild birds. The water pump also packed up, so that needed fixing, and the water tank had not been replenished by some good rain storms while we were away, so we are now on extreme water conservation measures and considering buying in 10,000L for the first time since we moved here.
A few days later I took the boys camping at Diggers Valley at Ruth and Stephan’s farm. Hence the pic of Eric with his first rabbit. We lived in a field for 4 nights this time, cooking over a wood fire and sleeping under a tarp. Just trees and grass to look at all day, plus our hosts and some cows.
Stepan took us on a trap run high into the bush. I lugged an old .303 rifle round in case we came across wild pigs. There were signs of them high up in the bush, but none of them showed. It wa s arelief in a way as I did not have the strength in my legs at the end of the walk to be carrying out a dead pig!
The rest of the time has been spent getting the garden straight. It is cropping well on account of the irrigation it receives. The sun has been relentless and so lots of photosynthesis is going on. The pumpkins are swelling and we have made pasta sauce and soup out of them. We have even had a few meals of corn from plants that are as tall as me. Beans and peas are good, toms getting ripe. I screwed up with the water melons by giving them a too strong soup of rotted fish guts – killed them within 24 hours.
Eric and I killed the Pitt Island ram lamb last night, so we have just 5 sheep walking round now, and we are planning to re-home these as soon as we can. I have realised finally that sheep and trees do not mix. While at Diggers I had left a gate open allowing them access to the orchard. They stripped apple tress to the bark, that had spent 2 years recovering from the last sheep attack! Curses – the only solution is to get rid of the sheep and concentrate on having just trees. I will get a scythe and use that and chickens to control the grass.
So that’s about it. One summer holiday almost over. Back to the mad rush. Til next year!
The holiday is almost at an end. Term 1 2009 starts lumbering off on Monday, though it will take over a week for College to really get going. It will take more than a week for us all to readjust to getting up early, being in structured classrooms all day and then returning home in the evenings.
This has been a most excellent holiday in terms of chilling out.
We have had a good mix of being at home and pottering about, combined with a couple of trips away and with Richard’s visit thrown in and a whole lot of little day-trips. The boys claim to have been bored, proving that they are teenagers!
Our main holiday to Rotorua and Leigh was not really what I had expected. I thought that Rotorua would be full of casinos and be really tacky, smelly and touristy as I remembered it from my visit 20 years ago. Not a bit of it. We stayed 10km out of town in a pleasant holiday park Ngongotaha Holiday Park if you want a recommendation. We had a little 2 bed unit that was art deco in style but really comfortable and functional. Good well-equipped kitchen, was a stones throw from the lake, with an on-site swim pool and nearby park for the boys to disappear to. All for about $75 a night. While there we realised that our budget would not allow for trips to the major Rotorua sights, so we spent on good food and found activities for free from an excellent book called New Zealand for Free.
The picture below shows one such place – Kerosine Creek. Way up a metalled road, with no signs until you got there, but what a find. Steaming hot water as a river runs through forestry. The pool itself was shaded by huge trees so fine for bathing even in the heat of summer. It would be even more amazing in the winter with snow on the ground.
We also enjoyed the Ngongotaha Trout Hatchery – free and very interesting, looking at the different sized trout and talking to one of the workers there. They strip trout of their eggs and grow them to a size that they can be released into streams and lakes for people to catch.
We also delighted in the takeaway from The Indian Star in Rotorua, yumm mango lassi, butter chicken, lamb madras mmmmm….
Rotorua itself was huge compared to Kaitaia and we enjoyed window shopping. The boys were not that exciting in making a beeline for the Wharehouse, but they were also quite taken with a FairTrade shop and Eric and Patrick spent some cash there. It was quite warming to hear them explaining to me the importance of Fair Trade!
Then we hot footed it up to Leigh, just North of Auckland. We stopped en route at Candyland - a shop and museum full of sweets and really quite unwelcoming.
I had expected Leigh to be the best part of the trip. The accommodation was $155 a night at the Cottage of the Leigh Motel. The owners were friendly and the views of Little Barrier and Great barrier Island were pretty stunning. The mozzies were fierce and kitchen not as good as the Rotorua place. No park or pool. Otherwise fine.
Leigh is an old fishing village that sits on top of a cliff with a grid of suburban type villas. A road leads down to the harbour where commercial and private boats moor and refuel. We enjoyed the night time fishing using handlines, catching mostly small snapper. We got one that was legal and had it for tea.
Spent one morning at Goat Island marine reserve and enjoyed a trip on the glass bottom boat, looking at all the fish swimming about.
The fish and chip shop in Leigh is one of the best I have ever visited in the world. Cool sounds and the cleanest tasting batter you could imagine.
The Saw-mill was another cool place. An old Saw-mill (who’d have thought it!) that had been converted into a music venue that attracts some big names – Billy Bragg plus some NZ groups that are big … Plus there is a micro-brewery making several beers. I sampled "The Doctor" in the bar 6.5% and unlike any NZ beer I have tasted in its complexity and nutrition – like a liquid meal! Not like Complan.
The other place I really liked was Matakana - a small village between Leigh and the Main highway. Not sure how the place has evolved into what it is, but what a place. Good shops, including a fantastic delicatessen selling really good breads, cheeses and proscuttio which all tasted even better than the Indian takeaway! There was also a cinema there doing about 4 different films a day, including Arthouse and World Cinema. It was like a small piece of the best bits of Cambridge UK dropped into NZ. Not cheap, but very good.
We lost 2 chucks when we got home, probably to Salmonella transferred by wild birds. The water pump also packed up, so that needed fixing, and the water tank had not been replenished by some good rain storms while we were away, so we are now on extreme water conservation measures and considering buying in 10,000L for the first time since we moved here.
A few days later I took the boys camping at Diggers Valley at Ruth and Stephan’s farm. Hence the pic of Eric with his first rabbit. We lived in a field for 4 nights this time, cooking over a wood fire and sleeping under a tarp. Just trees and grass to look at all day, plus our hosts and some cows.
Stepan took us on a trap run high into the bush. I lugged an old .303 rifle round in case we came across wild pigs. There were signs of them high up in the bush, but none of them showed. It wa s arelief in a way as I did not have the strength in my legs at the end of the walk to be carrying out a dead pig!
The rest of the time has been spent getting the garden straight. It is cropping well on account of the irrigation it receives. The sun has been relentless and so lots of photosynthesis is going on. The pumpkins are swelling and we have made pasta sauce and soup out of them. We have even had a few meals of corn from plants that are as tall as me. Beans and peas are good, toms getting ripe. I screwed up with the water melons by giving them a too strong soup of rotted fish guts – killed them within 24 hours.
Eric and I killed the Pitt Island ram lamb last night, so we have just 5 sheep walking round now, and we are planning to re-home these as soon as we can. I have realised finally that sheep and trees do not mix. While at Diggers I had left a gate open allowing them access to the orchard. They stripped apple tress to the bark, that had spent 2 years recovering from the last sheep attack! Curses – the only solution is to get rid of the sheep and concentrate on having just trees. I will get a scythe and use that and chickens to control the grass.
So that’s about it. One summer holiday almost over. Back to the mad rush. Til next year!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
My first rabbit
After three years of watching the rabbits run around once a year in a field armed with a powerless air gun I was more than looking forward to be hunting with a .22. On Friday the 24th of January at 7:30 pm, I finally bagged one. Dad took me to a spot were he had seen plenty of rabbits the night before. Dad stayed way behind me while I took my position, and the waiting game started.
Finally after 20 minutes one came out of the woods. I had positioned myself under a fence and leaned my gun on a horizontal piece of wood. I was 60 yards away. I'll spare you the gory details, but shortly afterwards, I was holding a dead rabbit. And what a perfect breakfast it made.
By ERIC
Finally after 20 minutes one came out of the woods. I had positioned myself under a fence and leaned my gun on a horizontal piece of wood. I was 60 yards away. I'll spare you the gory details, but shortly afterwards, I was holding a dead rabbit. And what a perfect breakfast it made.
By ERIC
Friday, January 23, 2009
Just a few snaps
Well even though we are on holiday, we have been busy, -well as busy as you can be in the hot weather.
Here are a few snaps to start with.
The first couple include Richard. We had a smashing time with him. One is at cape Reinga and the other was as he was about to depart Kaitaia airport.
Then there are a few of Rotarua. We stayed off the "tourist trip" and found a creek, that was steaming hot. You could only stay in for a couple of mins before feeling unwell.
And there is a nice one of Eric and stuart out infront of the lake Rotarua.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Google's "up your street"catches our house
Really bizarre!!!! They do church road Kaitaia, but not area's of families home in the UK. I reackoned NZ bagzed the camera first.
So if you have google earth , you must select inthe left hand drop down menu "street view"
you can enter 190 Church Road Kaitaia and see our house from various views, you can see sheep from one direction and the beehive from another.
I "think" when you have look stright on the house from the road ,if you spot a blurr, i"think" is our ever ready "zephyr " our lovely dog.
Have fun - we did, we even went up to 640 and saw Rissy and Mike house. SSSSOOO cooool.
So if you have google earth , you must select inthe left hand drop down menu "street view"
you can enter 190 Church Road Kaitaia and see our house from various views, you can see sheep from one direction and the beehive from another.
I "think" when you have look stright on the house from the road ,if you spot a blurr, i"think" is our ever ready "zephyr " our lovely dog.
Have fun - we did, we even went up to 640 and saw Rissy and Mike house. SSSSOOO cooool.
Friday, January 02, 2009
End of year, start of 2009
I have not done an update for a while – the more time I have the less I do!
It is January 2nd and very hot. The computer temp clock was showing 29C. We are all spaced out from our trip fishing last night, but more of that later.
The non-fishing photos show a few things that have been going on here since we finished at school ages ago. The 3 original Pitt Island sheep have gone to live even further north on a larger block of land. They are joining the second pig that we used to have here. He has been re-named Henry and is loving the freedom to roam and forage with other pigs.
Chantelle is very shy about displaying her mosaic talents. There has been a constant stream of plates and pots flowing from her table.
The two Charles Dickens type urchins were first-footing on new Years Eve. They knocked on the back door after midnight and carried into the house wood for warmth, money for prosperity, salt for flavour, bread for food and a brandy for cheer. We had a very pleasant evening with Mike and Rissy etc. eating for about 4 hours then sitting around a fire in the back garden. There was some discussion about when 2009 started as all our watches were different and the fireworks in town started going off at about 8pm. Our 3 left-over fireworks woke up our neighbours safely into the New Year (sorrrrrry!) and that was that.
On New Year’s Day we were all a bit bushed and the boys very dutifully declared that it was TV free day. They then made up for the lack of entertainment by sparking off each other in various combinations. Chantelle wanted to go fishing and some-one had the bright idea at 4.30pm that we should stay over on Puketu Island as the tide came in overnight. That is a measure of how the times change as the kids grow up … we were ready to go in about half an hour.
The other pictures show some of what happened. We did get cut off by the tide. We caught fish and had fresh kahawai for a late supper. We slept for varying amounts of time on sloping basalt. We were surrounded by squeaking rodents that kept me awake most of the night. Paddy and Stu found an octopus in a rock pool. The fishing was hot about an hour before dark, with snapper, kahawai, small trevally, kingfish and rock cod all caught.
We were up at dawn this morning and had a less successful fish before walking out at 7 am, though Eric did catch another keeping snapper. Stuart is posing in front of a Pohutakawa aka Christmas tree on account of its time of flowering.
The countdown to the arrival of Uncle Richard is nearly over.
Our thoughts have been with our Italian relatives over the last few weeks.
It is January 2nd and very hot. The computer temp clock was showing 29C. We are all spaced out from our trip fishing last night, but more of that later.
The non-fishing photos show a few things that have been going on here since we finished at school ages ago. The 3 original Pitt Island sheep have gone to live even further north on a larger block of land. They are joining the second pig that we used to have here. He has been re-named Henry and is loving the freedom to roam and forage with other pigs.
Chantelle is very shy about displaying her mosaic talents. There has been a constant stream of plates and pots flowing from her table.
The two Charles Dickens type urchins were first-footing on new Years Eve. They knocked on the back door after midnight and carried into the house wood for warmth, money for prosperity, salt for flavour, bread for food and a brandy for cheer. We had a very pleasant evening with Mike and Rissy etc. eating for about 4 hours then sitting around a fire in the back garden. There was some discussion about when 2009 started as all our watches were different and the fireworks in town started going off at about 8pm. Our 3 left-over fireworks woke up our neighbours safely into the New Year (sorrrrrry!) and that was that.
On New Year’s Day we were all a bit bushed and the boys very dutifully declared that it was TV free day. They then made up for the lack of entertainment by sparking off each other in various combinations. Chantelle wanted to go fishing and some-one had the bright idea at 4.30pm that we should stay over on Puketu Island as the tide came in overnight. That is a measure of how the times change as the kids grow up … we were ready to go in about half an hour.
The other pictures show some of what happened. We did get cut off by the tide. We caught fish and had fresh kahawai for a late supper. We slept for varying amounts of time on sloping basalt. We were surrounded by squeaking rodents that kept me awake most of the night. Paddy and Stu found an octopus in a rock pool. The fishing was hot about an hour before dark, with snapper, kahawai, small trevally, kingfish and rock cod all caught.
We were up at dawn this morning and had a less successful fish before walking out at 7 am, though Eric did catch another keeping snapper. Stuart is posing in front of a Pohutakawa aka Christmas tree on account of its time of flowering.
The countdown to the arrival of Uncle Richard is nearly over.
Our thoughts have been with our Italian relatives over the last few weeks.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas Day!!
We had a relaxing start to our Christmas day, and that theme carried on during the entire day! Called Italy to send our regards, and will be doing the same tonight to other family members .
We had the Newman family over for a BBQ and a float around on the pond.( As seen on the photo)
The weather came out to play which was a relief as it had been raining for about 2 days preivous. But it turned out to be a steamer.
We also viewed the Queens speach after one news, at around 6.50pm, which made a change from the British time of 3pm.
So all i have to say now is have a cracking , peaceful Christmas!!!!!!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
End of year awards
Well it's that time of year when schools, colleges and other organisations give out their annual awards.
and this year we are proud to announce that all the boy's received various awards in different areas.
Eric received 3 awards- one was for being the best turned out air cadet over the year, one was for outstanding conduct , and services to the school.
Stuart also was awarded an award for outstanding conduct, and Patrick was awarded an achievement in mathematics award ,at his prize giving at the primary school.
It's getting nearer to Christmas, and it still feels strange being summer during the yuletide instead of being freezing. It jut doesn't feel right!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Text for pictures
I spent half an hour writing a humorous entry for the blog last night. It gave all the news and the low-down on all the pictures. I pressed the button to publish and the delightful machine informed me that there had been a malfunction. About 1 millisecond later I remembered that it is a really good idea to save your work regularly.
Anyway I am not going to recreate the same entry, the time has passed.
You will see 5 new pictures have been posted. 2 of them relate to Chantelle’s birthday meal at The Bushman’s Hut in Kaitaia. Good food, much appreciated by us all especially on a Tuesday night. Chantelle has a new hobby that is keeping her out of mischief. She has been coating boards, plant-pots, wine bottles, even a new post box in mosaic. It looks good, kind of Hundertwasser style. You have to be careful, if you leave something long enough it ends up coated in mosaic. Chantelle is typically modest about her creations, and has not taken any pictures herself, so I shall have to go round and take a load of shots.
Stuart is pictured just before going to his school disco. It was an 80’s theme night, so he went as a Beatle! His rabbit lives on, though it did escape for a few hours when we had a BBQ for some friends a few weeks back. Fortunately it came back to food and the safety of its hutch when the party had finished.
Paddy is shown waiting for his food. He was quite hungry. He has spent today back at Action world in Paihia swinging about like a monkey. He has a couple of friends round tonight and they are currently making a bivvy tent in the back garden.
Eric is still wearing the mouth metal, and will be doing so for another 18 months. He went on school camp to Houhora Heads again, camping and swimming and fishing. It seemed to go well. He has spent the day helping me dispatch the pig. It took quite a while compared to a sheep. Eric shot it with his .22 and then we heaved it up to the back garden where we put it in an old bath with a fire underneath to loosen the skin and bristles. Once these were off we hung it off the clothes line and removed its guts, lungs and heart. Then we hung it up in the shed covered in wet muslin to set overnight. We will get up at dawn tomorrow while it is still cool and cut it up. We will have a go at making some bacon from the belly flaps. The rest will go into roasts, ribs and random bits of meat. The head and trotters will get boiled up and turned into brawn. We had the liver for tea – very tender. The lungs and heart will be duly be dissected at school.
We did have 2 pigs; the other one has gone to live at Debby’s small-holding until it is a lot bigger. I have to say that I am relieved that they are gone. They are funny animals in a way that I cannot quite put my finger on. Much more demanding than sheep. If they don’t get what they need they squeal loudly. If they are scared they scream so loud that it is painful to listen to them. In fact they do seem not far removed from humans in some ways. I was spending a large proportion of my veg and animal time each day tending to their needs, so it will free up a lot of my time now that they have gone.
The chicks are a bit of good news. They prove that Sidney the expensive rooster from Russell is not in fact infertile as we were starting to think. Their hatching on Wednesday has saved Sidders from the slow-cooker.
Lets see if I can get this on the blog.
Anyway I am not going to recreate the same entry, the time has passed.
You will see 5 new pictures have been posted. 2 of them relate to Chantelle’s birthday meal at The Bushman’s Hut in Kaitaia. Good food, much appreciated by us all especially on a Tuesday night. Chantelle has a new hobby that is keeping her out of mischief. She has been coating boards, plant-pots, wine bottles, even a new post box in mosaic. It looks good, kind of Hundertwasser style. You have to be careful, if you leave something long enough it ends up coated in mosaic. Chantelle is typically modest about her creations, and has not taken any pictures herself, so I shall have to go round and take a load of shots.
Stuart is pictured just before going to his school disco. It was an 80’s theme night, so he went as a Beatle! His rabbit lives on, though it did escape for a few hours when we had a BBQ for some friends a few weeks back. Fortunately it came back to food and the safety of its hutch when the party had finished.
Paddy is shown waiting for his food. He was quite hungry. He has spent today back at Action world in Paihia swinging about like a monkey. He has a couple of friends round tonight and they are currently making a bivvy tent in the back garden.
Eric is still wearing the mouth metal, and will be doing so for another 18 months. He went on school camp to Houhora Heads again, camping and swimming and fishing. It seemed to go well. He has spent the day helping me dispatch the pig. It took quite a while compared to a sheep. Eric shot it with his .22 and then we heaved it up to the back garden where we put it in an old bath with a fire underneath to loosen the skin and bristles. Once these were off we hung it off the clothes line and removed its guts, lungs and heart. Then we hung it up in the shed covered in wet muslin to set overnight. We will get up at dawn tomorrow while it is still cool and cut it up. We will have a go at making some bacon from the belly flaps. The rest will go into roasts, ribs and random bits of meat. The head and trotters will get boiled up and turned into brawn. We had the liver for tea – very tender. The lungs and heart will be duly be dissected at school.
We did have 2 pigs; the other one has gone to live at Debby’s small-holding until it is a lot bigger. I have to say that I am relieved that they are gone. They are funny animals in a way that I cannot quite put my finger on. Much more demanding than sheep. If they don’t get what they need they squeal loudly. If they are scared they scream so loud that it is painful to listen to them. In fact they do seem not far removed from humans in some ways. I was spending a large proportion of my veg and animal time each day tending to their needs, so it will free up a lot of my time now that they have gone.
The chicks are a bit of good news. They prove that Sidney the expensive rooster from Russell is not in fact infertile as we were starting to think. Their hatching on Wednesday has saved Sidders from the slow-cooker.
Lets see if I can get this on the blog.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Democracy
In amongst all the elections taking place world-wide, people are asking me where is the bryans2nz comment on these momentous events. So having had my lunch, a cup of tea and a couple of nice biscuits, here it is.
Firstly the big one. Shawn Murray was elected as the student rep on the Board of Trustees election at Kaitaia College. His campaign was based on that old electoral favorite "time for a change", and he was greeted around school with the slogan "Shawn for change". I am sure that he will make a competent Board Rep and will learn a lot about how organisations change during his period of office.
More recently we had the House Captains election and Trigg house had to choose from 4 candidates. The whole house assembled in the Hall last Friday to hear their speeches and to make their choice. Sven Wright was one of the duly elected and will continue the family tradition of school leadership - his older brother Shay was Head Boy last year. His speech was witty and well rehearsed and must have contributed to his success.
Obama took a leaf out of Shawn's book and capaigned on a platform of change. I was not alone in expecting hime to be shot when he stepped out in Chicago to greet his supporters after having trounced McCain and co. What a speech! What a task he has in front of him, and yet I feel hopeful that he might be able to do it. If McCain had got in, I would not have been surprised at the American electorate, but it would have made for a deeply depressing global situation. Every time he spoke, all I heard was the word fight.
And then finally last night we had the result of New Zealand's election. Not a world shaking event, but momentous none-the-less given that Labour were kicked out after 9 years and national got in with a sizeable majority. Last time I was most concerned that national would win because their leader was openly divisive. I feared for race relations in this npart of the country where Maori and Pakeha live closely together and mostly get along with each other. National's new leader John Key is a more slippery character. He has a permanent smug grin and to me gives off that aora (?) of slipperiness. We shall see what happens.
Firstly the big one. Shawn Murray was elected as the student rep on the Board of Trustees election at Kaitaia College. His campaign was based on that old electoral favorite "time for a change", and he was greeted around school with the slogan "Shawn for change". I am sure that he will make a competent Board Rep and will learn a lot about how organisations change during his period of office.
More recently we had the House Captains election and Trigg house had to choose from 4 candidates. The whole house assembled in the Hall last Friday to hear their speeches and to make their choice. Sven Wright was one of the duly elected and will continue the family tradition of school leadership - his older brother Shay was Head Boy last year. His speech was witty and well rehearsed and must have contributed to his success.
Obama took a leaf out of Shawn's book and capaigned on a platform of change. I was not alone in expecting hime to be shot when he stepped out in Chicago to greet his supporters after having trounced McCain and co. What a speech! What a task he has in front of him, and yet I feel hopeful that he might be able to do it. If McCain had got in, I would not have been surprised at the American electorate, but it would have made for a deeply depressing global situation. Every time he spoke, all I heard was the word fight.
And then finally last night we had the result of New Zealand's election. Not a world shaking event, but momentous none-the-less given that Labour were kicked out after 9 years and national got in with a sizeable majority. Last time I was most concerned that national would win because their leader was openly divisive. I feared for race relations in this npart of the country where Maori and Pakeha live closely together and mostly get along with each other. National's new leader John Key is a more slippery character. He has a permanent smug grin and to me gives off that aora (?) of slipperiness. We shall see what happens.
Monday, November 03, 2008
NEWSFLASH
NEWSFLASH**** After 13 years and 4 months Eric has now passed his mother and is at least 2 inches taller. It must have been something ate ,as itseemed to happen over the space of fortnight.Here he is with stuart who is not far behind
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Milk and teeth
Mike took a trip over to see Ruth and Stephen and their house cow. Soon the boy's were given a milking lesson, Stuart managed well.
And so did the cow, what a patient beast.
Eric went down to Whangerei to have his brace fitted. Apparently , according to kids at school, they are the "cool braces", called Gritts or something. They will be on for 18 months ,then the top ones comes off and a clip on /off retainer fitted ,then 6 months later, the bottom ones come off.
The plate of seafood ,are a little taster of the seafood that we picked up at one of our fav fishing spots.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Bush Camp
Here we are agian. Friday night at the end of week one Term Four. It is light outside at 7.30 pm as our clocks went forward an hour a couple of weeks ago. We are exactly 12 hours ahead of our friends in the UK.
We went on a bush camp in the holiday. It was one of the more notable events, as we did not go away this time. The plan was that the boys had to cope with 2 tarps for a shelter and they were given basic rations - a small bag of rice, oats, lentils, sugar, tea - plus a large bar of chocolate. No meat. If they wanted meat they had to shoot it themselves. Our patient and accommodating hosts were Ruth and Stephan and we based ourselves in a paddock next to the water hole and the hill where we have been very slowly cutting down trees over the winter.
In the end we took one small tent with us as well as the tarps, because we had a small reliable tent and it seemed silly to buy tarps when we could take one tent. Eric and Stuart elected to take the first night iunder the tarp, while paddy and I got the tent. Paddy and I had also thought to bring sleeping bags (plus a Karrimat for my old bones!). Eric and Stuart scoffed at the need for such trappings of civilisation with Eric taking very little in the way of clothes and Stuart taking a thin fleece blanket.
Day one was spent setting up camp, getting a fire going, having a swim (Paddy only) and trying to shoot the elusive rabbits. Zero result, so we had rice and lentils for tea, all cooked in the same pot. Filling, but bland. That night we went out to try and get a possum. Eric tripped over a tree root and bruised his arm and leg quite badly, so the hunting was postponed. We went back and turned in.
3 hours later I awoke in my snug sleeping bag to the sounds of boys trying to stoke the fire up. Eric and Stuart were frozen! What a surprise. I got up and helped them get the fire going well. Stuart and I decided to head off for another hunt, leaving Eric to keep the fire going. We walked a fair way aroung the farm lanes. Possum hunting involves shining a bright torch at large paddock trees. The possum's eyes reflect the light and they generally freeze when they are lit up making an easy target. We were having no joy and I was resigning myself to a meatless breakfast when we heard male possums screaming at each other. We carried on in the direction and found one out in the open in the grass. It was an easy shot.
Back at camp, I left the boys to it and went back to my tent. In the morning I awoke to a pot of possum stew. Stuart had spent the night skinning, gutting and then cooking the beast. It tasted OK. Gamey, a bit stronger than chicken, not far off rabbit.
We spent the morning pottering around camp. Making brews, visiting the house, putting on a bread mix so that we could make camp-bread.
In the afternoon, Stephan took us on one of his trap runs. The animal shown in the trap is a weasel. These are introduced predators that have a devastating effect on native birds including kiwis. He was using potassium cyanide as a poison bait in specially constructed hoppers.
After another tea of .... rice and lentils again with fried bread dough - we called them chapattis, I had another go at the rabbits. There are small numbers of rabbits about the farm and I was very keen to shoot one to eat. They are several orders more difficult to shoot than possums as they are very shy and tak off at the first sign of danger. I had one decent shot during our visit - and missed. Still, it was nice to get away from the incessant chatter of camp and sit hidden in the undergrowth, waiting. Rabbits took ages to appear, but in the meantime alsorts of other wildlife would appear - quail, tomtit, grey warbler etc.
Later on we went to the river to try and catch an eel. Eric pulled a good sized one out. Ruth and Stephan feed them when people come to visit, so it was a bit like taking a pet. Eel is very tasty and we did eat it all....
Paddy and I were under the tarp on night 2. Eric and Stuart slept abit better in the tent. I liked having the openess to the fire and the stars. It was a lot colder than the tent.
On Day 3 we had smoked eel for breakfast. Split down the middle and rubbed with salt and brown sugar. Very tasty. We slowly took the tent down and cleared the area and made our way back to civilisation. Showers were nice, boiling a kettle was convenient, Eric slept like a very tired person for a couple of days until he had caught up on his 2 nights lost sleep. But .... I felt like I had left a part of me back in the woods. The part that dreams of living a simpler life, that read Walden, that finds much of the distraction of modern living to be ultimately unsatisfactory. I resolved to go back and have a longer camp in the summer. We could go for 5 days, do some tree felling, get really dirty, run out of food and go completely feral. At the moment, the boys are not that enthusiastic!
We went on a bush camp in the holiday. It was one of the more notable events, as we did not go away this time. The plan was that the boys had to cope with 2 tarps for a shelter and they were given basic rations - a small bag of rice, oats, lentils, sugar, tea - plus a large bar of chocolate. No meat. If they wanted meat they had to shoot it themselves. Our patient and accommodating hosts were Ruth and Stephan and we based ourselves in a paddock next to the water hole and the hill where we have been very slowly cutting down trees over the winter.
In the end we took one small tent with us as well as the tarps, because we had a small reliable tent and it seemed silly to buy tarps when we could take one tent. Eric and Stuart elected to take the first night iunder the tarp, while paddy and I got the tent. Paddy and I had also thought to bring sleeping bags (plus a Karrimat for my old bones!). Eric and Stuart scoffed at the need for such trappings of civilisation with Eric taking very little in the way of clothes and Stuart taking a thin fleece blanket.
Day one was spent setting up camp, getting a fire going, having a swim (Paddy only) and trying to shoot the elusive rabbits. Zero result, so we had rice and lentils for tea, all cooked in the same pot. Filling, but bland. That night we went out to try and get a possum. Eric tripped over a tree root and bruised his arm and leg quite badly, so the hunting was postponed. We went back and turned in.
3 hours later I awoke in my snug sleeping bag to the sounds of boys trying to stoke the fire up. Eric and Stuart were frozen! What a surprise. I got up and helped them get the fire going well. Stuart and I decided to head off for another hunt, leaving Eric to keep the fire going. We walked a fair way aroung the farm lanes. Possum hunting involves shining a bright torch at large paddock trees. The possum's eyes reflect the light and they generally freeze when they are lit up making an easy target. We were having no joy and I was resigning myself to a meatless breakfast when we heard male possums screaming at each other. We carried on in the direction and found one out in the open in the grass. It was an easy shot.
Back at camp, I left the boys to it and went back to my tent. In the morning I awoke to a pot of possum stew. Stuart had spent the night skinning, gutting and then cooking the beast. It tasted OK. Gamey, a bit stronger than chicken, not far off rabbit.
We spent the morning pottering around camp. Making brews, visiting the house, putting on a bread mix so that we could make camp-bread.
In the afternoon, Stephan took us on one of his trap runs. The animal shown in the trap is a weasel. These are introduced predators that have a devastating effect on native birds including kiwis. He was using potassium cyanide as a poison bait in specially constructed hoppers.
After another tea of .... rice and lentils again with fried bread dough - we called them chapattis, I had another go at the rabbits. There are small numbers of rabbits about the farm and I was very keen to shoot one to eat. They are several orders more difficult to shoot than possums as they are very shy and tak off at the first sign of danger. I had one decent shot during our visit - and missed. Still, it was nice to get away from the incessant chatter of camp and sit hidden in the undergrowth, waiting. Rabbits took ages to appear, but in the meantime alsorts of other wildlife would appear - quail, tomtit, grey warbler etc.
Later on we went to the river to try and catch an eel. Eric pulled a good sized one out. Ruth and Stephan feed them when people come to visit, so it was a bit like taking a pet. Eel is very tasty and we did eat it all....
Paddy and I were under the tarp on night 2. Eric and Stuart slept abit better in the tent. I liked having the openess to the fire and the stars. It was a lot colder than the tent.
On Day 3 we had smoked eel for breakfast. Split down the middle and rubbed with salt and brown sugar. Very tasty. We slowly took the tent down and cleared the area and made our way back to civilisation. Showers were nice, boiling a kettle was convenient, Eric slept like a very tired person for a couple of days until he had caught up on his 2 nights lost sleep. But .... I felt like I had left a part of me back in the woods. The part that dreams of living a simpler life, that read Walden, that finds much of the distraction of modern living to be ultimately unsatisfactory. I resolved to go back and have a longer camp in the summer. We could go for 5 days, do some tree felling, get really dirty, run out of food and go completely feral. At the moment, the boys are not that enthusiastic!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Fishing at Aurere by Patrick
10.9.08
We went fishing at Aureri me and stuart went crab fishing in the rock pools with
our hands sticks and boots.
While eric mum and dad went fishing we found hundreds in a crack but we couldent get them.
We got about 9 crabs but we couldent eat them because they were too warm and there was a sewage thingy magig.
we went home and on the way I got a raspberry tree and an ice-cream i got banana-berry type.
The End
We went fishing at Aureri me and stuart went crab fishing in the rock pools with
our hands sticks and boots.
While eric mum and dad went fishing we found hundreds in a crack but we couldent get them.
We got about 9 crabs but we couldent eat them because they were too warm and there was a sewage thingy magig.
we went home and on the way I got a raspberry tree and an ice-cream i got banana-berry type.
The End
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
End of Term 3
Here we are at the end of term 3.
It has been a long wet one but the weather has started to come right just in the last week. Back in the last holidays, 10 weeks ago, I said to the boys that we would be leaving the car at home a few times a week and cycling to school. That has not been an option on more than a few days, so we have not got into the habit. Next Term will be different .... maybe.
Pictures are of our piggies first. They are friendly but nervous. The girl is the more friendly of the pair and she quite likes having her back scratched. The boy is still wary and squeals blue murder if you touch him. We gave them fresh grass 2 weeks ago just after the last entry and it has been thoroughly dug over now. I give them 2 sacks of weeds a day so that they get their greens. To my amazement they seem to love carrotweed which is an umbelliferous weed. They scoff it enthusiastically slapping their lips and making more noise than I do eating which is saying something.
The other pic is of the spoonbills at Awanui Wharf, where we went for a fish and a gawp last weekend. It was very still and calm and our fishing was accompanied by a family playing guitar while they fished. We didn't catch much in the way of fish, but we had a nice time.
I went to Auckland on Monday and Tuesday with 2 other teachers and 30 Year 10 boys. They were visiting the main tertiary providers, to get a taste of the possibilities of post-school life. We had talks from Auckland University of Technology, The University of Auckland and Unitec which offers practical based courses. Lots of good messages for the boys on the importance of carrying on at school. One speaker at Unitec quoted Malcolm X who apparently said that "Education is the passport to the future". It was hard to work out how much of the message was going in as most of the participants on the trip are going through that stage in life when a grunt or monosyllable is the maximum response that it is deemed necessary to give to any adult question. We got them all back to Kaitaia safely and breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Family news: Eric was off sick for most of last week, there has been a nasty bug going round. Chantelle has been on a mosaic course today, so guess what you will be getting for Xmas pressies? Stuart wants to build - nothing new there. He took part in his school speech competition last week, talking on the subject of the damaging effects of Playstations. Paddy has been doing a space project and was pleased to get 19/20 which was a big improvement on his Skunk project!
Farm news: The ground has gone from mud to grey dusty clay. I have been planting spuds into the beds where the chicken coop was last winter. The ground is a lovely chocolate colour and looks pretty fertile. We had our first broad beans last week. Priority jobs this holiday are sowing more veggies and finishing the sheep race. That has actually been a priority for most of this year, but I can see it happening this time, fingers crossed.
Til next time.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Signs of spring
Howdy reader(s)! It is with great pleasure that I can declare that spring has sprung upon us. It arrived on September the first technically, but there is a change in the air to back up the dates as well. It stays light until about 6.30pm. That makes it almost light eough to go out and play after tea. It has been a bit warmer as well and I swear that the grass looks a bit happier. It still showers heavily most days, but we cannot have everything.
So the farm pootles along. The pigs are growing and show their displeasure at having turned their entire area into a mud-bath by escaping under the wire every day. They are high on the list for getting fresh pasture tomorrow.
The picture shows the results of a fast and furious fish last weekend. With a low due in on saturday night and a low tide at dusk, Eric and I went for a late afternoon fish at our favourite spot. We had action from start to finish and put smaller fish back to grow bigger. We pulled 6 fish home and smoked some fillets with manuka honey on Sunday. Also did some as sushi and smoked some whole fish with brown sugar and salt. Eric is displaying the fillets. They tasted very good for our tea.
Donna the rabbit escaped while we were all at school and we found her later on in a deceased condition. Stuart was bereft as she was his first pet.
The lambs are all doing well. We had some fun last w/e trying to catch 82, the ram lamb. If humans could run that well at a week old, primary sports day would be like the Olympics! After finally running him down on stewart Island, a ring was applied to his tail to keep it short.
Not much home news really. We are hanging out for the end of term in 2 weeks time.
Helen Clark (the PM) announced that the election would be on November 8th. Could be a close race this time. The opposition is provided by National who are keeping their cards close to their chests, because people are not going to be happy to hear that public services are going to take a hammering. We shall see.
Til next time.
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