Merry Christmas

John, myself and the puppies send all our love for a very Merry Christmas. Although we are miles away, our thoughts are with all our family and friends over this holiday season. Miss you all. xx

A Good Day's Hunting

John went hunting yesterday on a friend's 500 acre block of land and came home with 2 goats. He's spent this morning skinning and boning the meat ready for them to go down to the butcher to be made into garlic and chilli salami, yum!

Ready for Summer!

We've just had our garden chairs back from the powder-coaters and they look fab. I think they look just stunning with my new oil cloth for the table. Can you believe that it was John's idea to paint them that colour!

Sewerage System

The whole of the Hamurana District, where we live, is having a new sewerage scheme installed to reduce run-off into the lakes from the septic tanks. Today was our turn to have the pump units dug into place at both Mum's cottage and next to our house.

Now we have to wait for the pipes to be laid both along the road and also up our drive. Should be all up and working by the middle of next year.

Sheep Pen

We decided that it would be a lot easier if we had the sheep pen up at the top of the land rather than in the bottom paddock. This would allow us to drive a car further into the bottom paddock when we're collecting chopped wood etc. So John's job for Sunday was to dismantle the pen, re-design and build it at the top paddock.

As you can see from the photos, he's done a wonderful job and I know we're going to be able to make a lot more use out of it, for docking moving and sheering the sheep.

Happy Birthday John!

For John's birthday I arranged for him to go black water rafting in the Waitomo Caves, about 2 hours drive from home.


We had a lovely early morning drive through the stunning New Zealand countryside over to Waitomo where John got kitted up and headed off deep underground.


Not only were there amazing formations within the cave and millions of glow-worms, but there was also some fun shooting down the water slide and squeezing through the rocks in a rubber tube.

After a quick relax at home, we're heading off out to dinner tonight to continue the celebrations.

Putting the Sheep to work

Rather than having to get out the strimmer and mower, we decided to put the sheep to work and graze down some of the ground. We fenced off the section of Mum's drive way up to the top paddock to allow them to graze the drive and banks on either side.

After 3 years we have also found a use for Millie. Whilst John and I were trying to work out if the electric fence was working, we heard a squeak behind us as Millie leapt into the air after making contact with it, question answered!

'Gone Fish'n' for the day

With the beautiful sunny day, John and I headed to Tauranga to go out fishing for the day with SeaTrek.
We motored out past Mt Maunganui for about 2 hours before dropping anchor and fishing at a depth of 84 meters.

















We had a great day's fishing catching, Perch, Taraki and Snapper to bring home in the chilli bin filled with ice.













The highlight for me was hooking a shark which I managed to bring to the surface but unfortunately broke free just as we tried to bring aboard. The guy next to us also managed to get one but he was able to get his landed with the help of 4 other people!




John expertly filleted our catch when we got home and we'll be enjoying fish suppers over the coming weeks.

Yay.....New Gates!

After alot of work and preparation, we finally have new solar powered gates at the bottom of the drive.



There was alot of digging up the drive, running cables and setting up but they are now working well, at the push of a button and with a very posh intercom system linking them with the house it will give us the added security to our home and stop the dogs from running on to the road.

The Benefits of Your Own Chickens

The country life with your own chickens can't get much better when you start your day with 2 double yokers!

Now you see it.....now you don't!

In our continuous effort to keep our trees in control and to make more light around the property, John has again been out with the chainsaw attacking the silver birch tree at the bottom of our drive.

At least half of it is still standing!

Proud to be a Kiwi

Could there be a better time to be a Kiwi? Rugby World Cup Champions 2011, the best in the World!

Such an intense match with final score New Zealand 8 - France 7!

Congratulations to the All Blacks.

A Late Spring Edition

Yesterday our second Ewe (who was one of our baby lambs from last year) had her lamb. Very tiny and wobbly but a very cute little boy. He's been basking in the spring sun shine today, feeding well and settling in nicely.

An Evening with Richard Branson

On Thursday John and I attended a star studded evening at the Viaduct Event Centre in Auckland to meet and learn a little more about Richard Branson. With more than 1000 people attending, including the Deputy Prime Minister, Rachael Hunter, Paul Henry, Dave Dobyn, to name a few.


It was a wonderful black-tie dinner with delicious food and copious amounts of wine.


Richard Branson was interviewed informally on a sofa on the stage, with a chance to ask questions and then sat at a table just across from us for the rest of the evening. They also held an auction to raise money for Outward Bound New Zealand.


A outstanding once-in-a-lifetime event, that we both thoroughly enjoyed.

Exhausted!

Two tired boys after a weekend of work!

Protecting the Strawberries

Now that my 60 strawberry plants are growing well and already producing some fruit, it was necessary to stop the pesky birds from trying to eat them, so John used his carpentry skills to erect a framework to cover the bed. Strawberry Pavlova's galore this summer!


I can still easily access them for picking but he's also made it high enough incase I decide to use the area for other crop in future years. What would I do without such a handy husband?!

Business Excellence Awards 2011

On Friday night we were given the excuse to discard the wellies and put on our black tie and evening attire for the Rotorua Business Awards 2011.






With an attendance of over 600 people in the Energy Events Centre it was quite an occasion.








I'm pleased to say that John's company won the Manufacturing award and him and his team went up to collect the trophy and certificate. John of course, wasn't phased by having to give an acceptance speech up on stage.


It was a fun night with free flowing wine, great food and came home with a prize.

Happy Birthday Mum!

It was just so wonderful to have Mum here with us in New Zealand to celebrate her birthday. We started the day with cards and pressies and then lunch up the gondolas looking down over Rotorua and the lake.









I cooked a meal in the evening so that John could be around to celebrate the day too, finishing off with cupcake birthday cake and candle.

With this being her 1st birthday in New Zealand, she's now got the excuse of hitting the terrible two's next year, that could be trouble!!

Rugby World Cup Fever!

The Rugby World Cup has hit New Zealand this 2011 and put our wonderful little country in the lime-light.

At the last minute we were very lucky to be given 2 grandstand tickets to attend the Fiji / Namibia game held in Rotorua. So yesterday, Mum and I donned our Rugby regalia and headed on down to the Stadium in the gorgeous Spring sunshine.


It was a fabulous day, getting completely swept up in the World Cup atmosphere and with the final result 49 - 20 to Fiji, brilliant!