Saving Lives!

Addison with here consentrated look!

The Nikua Coopworth stud flock is in full force lambing mode, or saving lives as Kate calls it.

So we have been doing the rounds daily to tag the new lambs and check that everything is okay. I'm normally the babysitter so follow round with Addison on my back, really great fun and intresting to see the way they do it over here. We have had a few dry days for lambing, but there are showers most days.

Tea cup lamb and his giant sister.

From then till now.

So for the last few weeks I have done so much and looking back it is all a blur of so much fun and I have stupidly not written much in my sketch book from being too tiered in the evenings so can't remember everything, but will try and list a few highlighters and things I am getting up to.

1.Chuk garden- I have been given the task of de-weeding and cultivating the veg garden, named the chuck garden. Great fun and from there you can see all the hills around so hard to get bored!

Not a bad view to plant veges from

2.Cooking- I have been in and out of the cafe cooking up banana cakes, Anzac cookies, soups and Jane Symonds' malt loaf (although don't think I took your recipe down right, Jane as it is not working properly!). Made toad in the hole for dinner one night and no one had ever heard of it before!

3. Babysitting- been awesome fun looking after Mattias and Addison to give Catherine and Emily some time off. They are just hilarious together and crack me up every time!

4. Shepherding- I have been tagging along with Kate on her rounds of the sheep a few days, crazy watching her call round this dog from the opposite valley! Also had a go at being a rousie ("separating the dags from the shit" is how it was explained to me!) and filling up the pens for Sam and Emily Welsch. Emily being the women's world record holder for speed shearing, claim to faim!

5. Walks- In my spare time I have just walked around and really sussed out the whole farm. Some great bush walks to the waterfall and to the top of the farm where you can see right out to sea. 

The Kiwifruit vine/tree

Monday19th

After many ties to hold it all down!

Today and for many days to come starts the task of picking then pruning the Kiwifruit vine. Sounds lovely, well the Kiwifruit vine has not been pruned for over two years, so now looking much more of a tree than a vine. Plus someone kindly picked half the fruit of the tree but only round the edges! So hilariously fun climbing right into the top of this tangled web of vines picking the fruit, well hilarious till you drop the bag! Had to stop and to stop and pinch myself several times because of the whole irony of being in New Zealand, stuck up a Kiwifruit tree, eating Kiwi's, just bazaar. So there is now loads of fruit in the bamboo room, filling every laundry basket and box that is available. 

No TV or decent Internet connection at the farm so really cool just to sit and read books or do something different with my time rather than blob!

First day at the Woodwards

Sunday 18th July

Woke up to Tui's and sunlight through the curtains, there is an amazing view from out my bedroom window to the hills and rocks on the opposite hill. Really cooling round the garden remembering memories of previous trips to the Woodwards farm.

Went to the cafe and made a ribsticker soup, almost felt like an assessment to see if i could cook and to see if I could live up to the picture my mother had given them!(always something majorly exaggerated, so extra worrying for me!) Thankfully everything was great and it tasted good (phew!).

In the afternoon i took my first trip caving, made a stupid mistake of only going in shorts and a T-shirt, twas very cold, mind the sun was shining so soon warmed up hen walking back to the cafe.

The sky was super clear that night, you can see right up into the milkyway, with no light pollution to distract your eyes, just amazing!

To the wop wops

Saturday 17th July

Franks car had broken down a few days before so we had to drive to the woodwards farm in his little roadster. Really entertaining looking at the size of my suitcase then looking at the size of his boot! It didn't fit, we had to squeeze it in in lots of smaller bags leaving non-essentials behind.

But when we finally got on the road it was a glorious drive through the countryside Th.ere are so many hills that and unpredictable road surfaces that the road has to go on the top of all the hills following where they go. So some crazy cliffs either side of the road and very severe bends. Great feeling at some of the things on the journey reminding me of earlier trips to the farm. Turning into the cafe was really impressive, especially walking in and seeing all the great views from inside.

After meeting everyone at the cafe and having a cup of tea, Frank and I took the bush walk round the back of the cafe.

When we got back from the walk we came straight into a busy saturday lunchtime, so was put straight to work. Although it didn't feel like work because everything is so much fun and relaxed.

That evening we went to Emily and Sam's to watch the rugby. Addison was hilarious when watching the Hakka she sit up and gets so excited that she gets so excited that she looks like she is about to explode!

Funtimes

Week beginning 13th July

This week has been full of trips here, there and everywhere. I potted up loads of strawberries at Carol's nursery One day Carol and I walked along Muriwhai beech and investigated the dunes.

Crazy frosts some morning's, really reminding me of England, then sunny days, then some days when the rain falls so hard that everywhere is flooded in a matter of minutes! No Joke we went into a supermarket and it was wet but only misty rain, we came out of the supermarket and the car park was almost flooded! Just crazy! 

My Birthday

Monday 12th July

Woke up to find lots of people in the living room watching the World cup final. Rich had borrowed a projector from his work and put the game up on the wall.

Jan-Marie and Nicola bought me a packet of pineapple lumps, a bottle of L&P and a apron with a map of New Zealand on it. All awesome, but the food did not make the trip home. I got a lift in with Rich to work then got a train back into Britomart, then caught the train to Swanson, where I met Carol. We stopped at the train station and had lunch, a really quaint little cafe dressed up as a train station. 

On the way home we took a crazy detour to the Wikato ranges visitors centre. Really awesome views out onto the native bush and reservoir. Super sunny day! Got home to lots of cards and presents from England.

Later on Frank, Carol and I went out for meal, but it being Monday everything was shut! We ended up buying a cooked chicken from Woolworths and took it home and ate it with some fancy dips and Kiwi cider.

Very memorable day!