More holidays

We are just over half way through the mid-winter break. No posts for a whole term since last holiday! Why? Busy, busy , busy during term-time. In fact that was a really busy term. Busier than usual, though teachers rarely get much down-time during term. Lots of good things happened at work. The new course we have been developing has taken off and we took 3 days off school to go possum trapping, 1 day off to learn quad riding skills, plus 3 afternoons of bush walking around a local nature reserve where we have started to trap pests. Each day out takes organisation in itself with a lot of paperwork to take kids out of school. Plus you have to set lessons for all your classes who are staying at school. It is a major pain and it does put one off leaving the "safety" of the establishment. But the minute you drive out of school with a van load of escaping students it feels exactly like that .... you have escaped from some kind of prison. I think that a large portion of students would learn more and faster and without the tensions that arise in school, if those children were taken out of the institution of school. There are echoes of previous work in learning disability services in that last paragraph. Normalisation is just as important for mainstream kids as for those with disabilities. It is cheaper and more "efficient" to herd large numbers of them into one class room with a teacher ratio of 1 to 25 pupils, than it is to allow pupils to learn in more life like contexts. Just as it is cheaper to stick all the disabled kids into a special centre with the minimum number of staff that you can operate the place with and say that you are meeting their needs. Anyway, after that little digression you will be wanting pictures of the children I suppose. I shall hunt through the hard drive and post some up.

Found some pictures atken during the term. Stephan turned 60 and he had a birthday bash. Good food and company. Been trapping in the garden to get the hang of the traps we are setting in the bush. Here is a rat caught in a fenn trap. They are pretty effective and my favourite trap so far out of the ones that I have set. Stuart and I spent an enjoyable evening on Moturoa Island counting calling kiwis. We went over on a Saturday afternoon and were sent to a bush edge towards the end of the island. We had to listen out for and record any kiwi on a large map. We heard 2 males calling. Overall the survey estimated an island population of about 60. Very healthy. We were posing for the pictures!

Work

The following posts show some of the fun things that we have been up to this holiday. We have also had lots of jobs to do so the boys have been lending a hand. One big job was cutting the firewood into stove sized lengths. We used a circular saw to do this with appropraite safety gear. Some of the fish was filleted and smoked in our homemade smoker. We salt it first and then coat in a brown sugar glaze. Smoking is done with ti tree wood from the firewood. It takes about 4 hours but the result is delicious. We have also been planting trees in the fields. Boys have been digging holes and then I pop a tree in. So far we have planted 6 olives, 2 cherimoyas, 2 karos, a persimmon and 2 cranberries. There are plenty more trees that need planting and so we still need plenty more holes.

More fishing

Walter has been with us this holiday. He arrived in Auckland a week ago and has been getting used to New Zealand. One day last week we went out fishing with Merv on his big boat. The forecast was not too bright - a 20 knot South easter. That is supposed to be the worst direction for fishing and I was tempted to postpone the trip. It was our last chance of the holiday so we went for it. Sadly Chantelle had to work that day and we left her in town. Paddy was not interested and went off with Rissy and Reuben. The forecast was very wrong. It was calm as a mill pond for most of the day. We had a great day fishing, birdwatching and generally chatting as we went up the harbour asthe tide went out and then came back down the harbour as it came back in again. Merv favours longlining and uses what seems like ridiculously long traces with 2 hooks baited with a small mount of mullet. A weight is put on after about 15 metres of line has gone out with the trace. The system worked and we caught a mixed bag of mostly kahawai with some snapper. Nothing very huge but a serious amount of fish to keep us and some friends fed for quite a few meals. I also like spinning off the boat. There were little schools of kahawai drifting past the boat at regular intervals slurping small fish and flies off the surface. As each school passed we cast the lure over the top of them and then pulled it through the school. It was not easy but that made the occasional successful hook-up and even rarer landing a real thrill.

Fishing

We went collecting firewood at Ruth and Stephan's place one day. Chantelle and I escaped way up north to Paua for a night in a tent. The wind was freshwhen we arrived but we caught a good haul of kahawai. The next morning, the wind dropped to othing and we had a good paddle about the harbour. A good paddle but only one fish that time. Paddy is holding the first decent watermelon that we have managed to grow here. They do not seem to like the wet soil, but this one survived and fruited and even ripened. It was eaten in a matter of hours by the watermelon addict.

Easter holiday

Uploading some pictures from the last couple of weeks. We have been on Easter holidays and have been blessed by some very fine weather. The first Saturday I went exploring a huge waterfall with a teacher from school. Easter Sunday saw us up at Puwheke beach camping long-lining and having a paddle. Stuart let off a rocket in memeory of his Grand dad who dies last year. It went about 1000 feet into the sky with a great whoosh and landed far out to sea.

New lawn mowers

We got rid of the sheep a few years back, partly because they were very time consuming, but mainly because they kept on beating the fences and ate the fruit trees I was trying to establish. With no mouths to eat the grass it just kept on growing and growing. Scything keeps it down, but I do not have the physique, time or inclination to keep 3 acres under control. The trees wille ventually grow tall and dense enough to shade out some grass, but there will always be some areas of more open orchard.

Hence the geese. Research told me that they are good at converting grass into meat. They are good guard birds and produce goslings that can be eaten and manure the ground. So I sourced a trio of birds living on a farm in the South Hokianga and Eric and I spent most of last Saturday preparing a vehicle, a pen and then picking them up. That was an adventure in itself as the goose pen was down a very steep loosely metalled farm track on a north facing slope with great views over the harbour. Very nice on the way down. Geese were loaded into the back of the Capella and then we said our good byes to the owners. First problem was the stench of goose s@#t emanating from the boot. Quite distinctive and penetrating. Eric claimed to have a cold and he could not smell it. Solution: drive with windows open and be thankful that I had had the foresight to lay a tarp over the back. Second problem: the car would not go up the hill. Not in low gear. Not when going slowly. Not when taking a run up and flooring it. And not when Eric got out and observed from the roadside. NZ/ life continues to throw up these little challenges. The solution we adopted was to get towed up by the farmers in their 4WD van. Talking to people later on I discovered that my car is a front wheel drive. As it was trying to go up a steep hill, most of the weight was resting on the rear wheels and the front wheels were just spinning. If you ever find yourself facing the same problem, try one of these solutions: 1. Reverse up hill or 2. Put a couple of heavy (and risk loving) people on the bonnet while you drive forward.

So, once we got going we headed for home. Past the car that had crashed into a ditch in the morning and was having some crude bodywork repairs done by a bloke with a lump hammer so that he could drive it home. Past the family of semi-domesticated pigs that were running all over the road. Through Kaikohe and home over the Mangamukas to the accompaniment of the geese chattering away in the back and with the windows wound down.

Nearly a week later and they are finding their way around the property. They did not think much of their original enclosure and soon hopped over the sheep fence into the veggy garden. They took up residence on my newly planted broccoli bed and proceeded to liberally fertilise all the plants, trample over them and then have little exploratory nibbles. They say that what doesnt kill you makes you stronger, so if the broccoli survive they will be great eating.

My next plan was to lure them out of the veggy garden into the middle field which has a large pond (called a dam over here). So at chicken feeding time I would stand by the pond and call them over. They would start making aracket and slowly waddle up the path from the veggy garden. They would take about 5 minutes to make this journey. I threw corn in the grass right next to the pond for them to eat. They ate it and then turned round and walked all the way back to the veggy garden. This little pantomine played out for a few days but they seem to have decided to stay on the dam now. It is great to see them preening themselves and squawking away. The 2 white ones are males. The one with the fluffy feathers is a Sebastopol (who shall obviously be called Sebastian). The other male is a Pilgrim - any ideas for names? I like "Father". The grey one always walks behind the males and she is a female Pilgrim. What should we call her?

Other news: Walter has landed in Auckland and is finding his feet in the city there. He thought it was going to be cold and wintry and was surprised to get sunburnt on a day trip to Waiheke Island. He will be travelling north for Easter.

The pictures from last week show Paddy spending his Saturday exploring some caves near Whangarei. This was his second trip out with the school caving club.

Stuart continues to build and launch rockets. We watched the DVD of October Sky last week. This was his original inspiration.

Eric continues to rid our local bit of bush of its invasive possums.

Chantelle is knitting. Pictures to come.

Paddy goes underground

Happy birthday to me!

Cannot believe that it is a month since the last update. Sounds like the start of confession ... bless me father etc.
Busy busy busy little bunnies we have been and continue to be. The school weeks get faster and faster and the weekends have to be packed to get everything done. At what point do we stop to smell the roses?
We have started eating our dinner out on the deck. That is a god move in the right direction. We had slipped into TV dinner mode. Generally timed to co-incide with the 6pm news. Eating in a bucket seat is not particularly comfortable and results in sloppage down the front. Worse than that we do not converse except in the ad breaks. Increasingly the news just makes me angry - either on account of people around the world getting shafted in one way or another, or because some editor thinks that I am interested in the trivia of some "personality's" private life. Simple solution, don't watch it it. Sit out on the deck in the cool evening air listening to the cicadas. Thoreau had a good line about the news in his wildly utopian "Walden". He said that if you wanted to know the news then stick your head out of the door and see what is happening. Similarly for the weather. Watch the sky! I will say that my meals are less stressful - I do not rant as I eat. Chantelle and I get to talk. The boys join us twice a week at the table. That is a different experience!

So it was my birthday on Monday. Thanks for the online greetings. My immediate family spoiled me rotten with breakfast in bed, a lovely tea and presents. Then I went to school!

Maitai Bay Camp

We went camping on the last weekend of the school holiday. We went to a campsite about 50km away at Maitai Bay. It is very popular at Xmas and New year but there were still lots of people when we went. One look in the water explained why. It was crystal clear, full of interesting creatures and fairly warm. We only stayed one night, slept very poorly on account of an air bed that was punctured!

Chantelle and Phil went for a kayak. The rest of us swam, dived or dreamed of new projects in the sand. Long live holidays. Back to work next week!

 

 

 

 

Field hair cut

Without grazing animals to keep it in check, the grass grows long and fast, especially when we have a good dose of rain around Christmas. We could not walk through the middle field or the top field and so Bob wa scalled in with his 160HP slasher to give the 2 main fields a scalp. Bob got me up in the air conditioned cab whilst he negotiated the small trees planted in these fields.

The result is shown in the third picture. We can walk across the fields. More usefully, I was able to put poles in to show where the new trees will go this winter. We used rakes to pile up the cut grass into mounds to start getting the soil ready for planting. That will make the job a bit easier when the trees arrive. The plan is to have an avenue of trees running parallel to the small valley that goes through the middle field. Natives will go on the South side of the path , then a row of figs to the right, with apples in the next row.

 

 

 

This is why we shoot pukekos

We came back from our little jaunt at Oakura hoping to harvest the corn crop. Ever since watching Bob Flowerdew running his hands suggestively through the tassels of corn plants on Sophie Grigson's vegetable show many years ago, I have wanted to grow good crops of corn. It needs rich soil and it was given prime location where the chickens had been shitting for a few months. Corn needs to be started under cover from seed. I did this in the polytunnel by the house. It needs protection from slugs when it is planted out. It got this in the form of many a morning inspection, slug pellet applications and evening a night time check when it was drizzling. Corn likes the sun to grow, and large amounts of water. Our crop got its own drainage channel and was even hand watered with buckets when it was dry. Finally as those tassels form and the female flowers develop into cobs, it needs watching for the moment of harvest. Leave it too late and the rats move in (like they did last year). Pick it too soon and it is pale and white and inedible. Get it just right and rush it to the kitchen where you have put the pot on to boil. It can be eaten within the hour of cooking to appreciate all the gorgeous juicy sugars.

What happened was that we came back from holiday just after or as it was at its perfection. The pukekos were enjoying almost unlimited acces to the garden as our friends came once a day to feed the chooks and there was no dog or anyone else around the rest of the time. So they systematically had the lot. In case you doubt my identification of the thief, thinking that I have something against to beautiful pukeko, the evidence was all around on the ground. Picture below.

The only thing that I could think of to feel better about having lost another whole corn crop was the vision of crock pot corn fed pukeko this winter.

 

 

 

Oakura holiday 4

Lots of pictures below. We are almost at an end of the summer holiday and we have had a ball. We left our own bit of paradise last week and went down the east coast for a couple of hours to a settlement called Oakura. We found the bach on a website and it was very reasonable. The view from the deck was fantastic, out over a sheltered bay along the beach. There was always something going on: fishing boats going out, people hooning around on sea-bicuits, paddle boarders, kayakers, walkers, swimmers. The tide went in and out - as it does. We had the time to watch it and plan our activities around its movement. We all had goes at fishing, swimming, diving.

My own favourite kayak was the one on the very last morning. Chantelle got up at 0515, had a coffee and were on the water before sunrise. The water was very calm. We paddled into a perfect sunrise with the Poor Knight Islands as a backdrop. We caught no fish big enough to bring home, but we could see them shoaling about in the clear water below the boat.

We also drove to a DOC reserve 1/2 hour down the coast at Mimiwhangata. Even more beautiful beach. We had a go at snorkelling in the rock pools.

We took all our boys plus a friend. They are all pretty much living on planet teenage, where the conversation is crude, film-based and inconsequential. The activities are based around sugar and staying up until the small hours. The years of our family holidays may be coming to an end.

 

 

 

 

Oakura holiday 3