A Farmers Wife and Life

Walk (or run) with me as I share our story.

Time to Go Home May 7, 2012

Filed under: Bruce,Nanette,New Zealand,Scenery,Travel,Uncategorized — cntryrose @ 4:52 pm
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As it always happens, time marches on and we find ourselves enjoying our last day of New Zealand in Queenstown. In the afternoon we will board a jet to fly up out of this beautiful mountain town to Auckland where we will board a bigger jet to fly back to Los Angeles where our little “family” will split up and head our separate ways, back into the “real” world.

Queenstown is a very picturesque town, nestled in between mountains and resting alongside a gorgeous lake. The evening that we arrived we were treated to a stunning sunset.

The View From Our Hotel Room

Looking out our room window the other direction.

The sunset that evening develops into stunning colors all around us.


It may be summer, but there was snow on the mountains when we woke up.

The morning of the day we are to leave we wake up, in the middle of summer remember, with SNOW on the mountain tops! 

And while the locals, and some tourists too I suppose who were caught unaware, are walking about in sandals and shorts… we bundled up to walk down by the lake and enjoy our last few hours of New Zealand.

Bruce enjoying a very tasty pot pie.

Reflecting back on our various stops during this trip we sat by a crackling fire in one of the local pubs and enjoyed a warm pot pie meal together. 

Bruce & I both feel so blessed to have been able to take this trip, and doubly blessed to have the wonderful traveling companions that we found ourselves sharing those two weeks with.

Our group, plus the owner of the sheep station we were visiting.

But that’s part of farming I believe, there is so much camaraderie whenever a group of farmers get together. It’s always just been a wholesome fun time when I’ve been with any group of farmers, whether for business or for pleasure and this trip was a prime example of that.

Our trip to New Zealand was exhilarating, and gave us a look at a country that both Bruce & I came to love and hope to visit again. We have memories of the steadfastness of the Christchurch people rebuilding their town building by building, of the beautiful aqua colored lakes of the South Island, of the Maori and their traditions that live on so richly today, of various farms that we’ve seen; cattle, sheep, kiwi’s, grapes, deer and forage crops. Then there are always the people… friendly, outgoing and curious as to what our lives are like. And you know what… we’re all pretty much the same, they just speak funny! LOL Actually I like the way the Kiwi’s speak, but I just can’t figure out why they could always know we were from America because of our “accent”!

Looking down upon Queenstown from the Skyline Restaurant after riding a gondola up the mountain.

Walking alongside Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown New Zealand

 

Jet Boats….??? May 6, 2012

Filed under: Bruce,Nanette,New Zealand,Travel — cntryrose @ 2:49 pm
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Jet Boats?

Yes…. while in New Zealand we rode on JET BOATS!!! And, Oh. My. Goodness. are they FUN!!! WooHoo!!! While in Queenstown we had an afternoon to ourselves, so Richard & Deanne, Jim, Jon & Anna, myself & Bruce decided that this was a “must do” while it was available. And did we enjoy our time on the boats!

Driving into the canyon we could see the river peaking between boulders… teasing us. “Is this where we’re going to be on a boat?” we wonder. The river looked very shallow and flowed very, very close to the boulders; in fact, it flowed right up to the edge of said boulders. And yes, it was where we were going to be.

Our ride started with getting into our life jackets… which, some had never worn. It was interesting to see the bewilderment on faces in trying to figure out the straps and fit. But, patience prevailed and soon we were all set to go.

 

We boarded the boat and listened to a brief safety talk. Then we proceed to pull away from the dock and suddenly we are flying down the river. Flying down the river headed right for those BIG boulders I mentioned! But no fear… we didn’t hit them. Actually, as my husband explained later, the water that the jet boat is pushing away from itself becomes a bumper between the boat and the boulder, so unless the boat loses momentum it just doesn’t hit the boulders… the water pushes it away from them and you proceed on down the river.

As I mentioned the river was shallow… very shallow, sometimes only 3 or 4 inches deep. The boats bottom is flat and meant to take a beating and that it did as we skimmed over the river rocks below us. Bumpity, bumpity, bump as we crossed over rocks worn smooth by the river and then SPLASH as we do a quick 360° turn in the middle of the river. Laughter, shrieks and great big smiles as we do several more on our altogether too short of a trip.

Yes, jet boating was thrilling. Something that I do want to do again (and again?) and feel so privileged to have experienced it in such a place of beauty as Shotover Canyon.

 

The Milford Sound April 6, 2012

Filed under: Bruce,Nanette,New Zealand,Scenery,Travel — cntryrose @ 8:54 am
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Beauty… what does “beauty” mean to you? I think it comes in many ways… a new-born baby, a pretty face, a sunset that just takes your breath away, or maybe the first time you gaze down into the Grand Canyon or look HIGH up into the tops of the tall, tall redwoods of the northwestern coastline.

Beauty… we saw a lot of it in New Zealand.

Then we saw the Milford Sound.

It is beyond my meager words to describe what we saw. Picturesque. Stunning. Beautiful. Huge. Serene. Vertical.

It was a warm dry day when our group went out on our ship The Milford Wanderer to see the Sound. And although we were told that during a rainy day there were hundreds of waterfalls, we were glad it was bright blue skies and didn’t miss the waterfalls that “weren’t there” as there were plenty that were there. Glistening, dropping, flirting with the wind, falling water almost everywhere we gazed.

The wind was brisk and cold once we were out upon the water, but that didn’t send us downstairs into the warmth of the cabin. No, we stayed on the deck where we watched the scenery as it went by, and where we tried hard to impress the beauty of the surroundings into our memories to last a lifetime.

The Milford Sound is an incredibly beautiful fjord. Located on the southern west end of the South Island it leads out to the Tasman Sea and on your journey you will marvel at the straight up cliffs, the water cascading down the crevasses and enjoy the occasional seal sunning on rocks. If you are very lucky, we weren’t, you’ll see a whale, dolphin or penguin. But, none-the-less, whether we did or didn’t see some of the aquatic wildlife on our trip what we did see was….. beautiful.

Beauty

 

Let’s Visit Some Worms… Who Glow? April 1, 2012

Filed under: Bruce,Nanette,New Zealand,Travel — cntryrose @ 9:14 am
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Worms who glow, rushing water cascading down into dark caverns, a darker than dark cave, with an unworldly beautiful green glow shining down from the ceilings. That’s what you’ll see, and hear, when you visit the Glow Worm Caves of Te Anau, New Zealand.

A magical place that came with, for me, an eerily scary feel as you climb into your motor-less boat, trust your guide to keep a hold of the rope as he silently pulls you along the caves passage. Along this journey you listen to water rushing…. rushing where? You can’t see it, you just hear it… roaring somewhere in the utter darkness… causing you to wonder… if he (the guide) lets go, will we all tumble down some deep dark waterfall? But that’s my “control” side getting a hold of me. We stop, all is utterly still and quiet except the roaring of water. We turn around and that’s when I breathe deep, take my husband’s hand, and look up….

Wow! Just an oh my gosh WOW! Resembling thousands of small fiber optic light tubes the emerald “lights” emitting from the worms shine down from above us. There is just enough light that you may catch a glimpse of your fellow explorers craning their heads to look above at this extraordinary sight. We sit silently utterly amazed at this incredible sight. Rushing water is forgotten as we take in the other worldly glow above us.

Creation is a wondrous thing… these worms have been occupants of this cave for untold centuries, a Maori legend for years. In 1948 the cave was discovered by Lawson Burrows and has since become a major attraction for the area. The limestone caves that contain these magnificent creatures are still relatively young – 12,000 years – and are constantly being carved by the water that endlessly rushes through. All the while the little glow worm goes about his industrious day… dangling up to 70 sticky gooey fishing lines down from the ceiling hoping to entrap a clueless moth or flying insect who has been drawn by the green light above.

Since we could not take photos while in the caves all photos shown here are courtesy of  NZ real Journeys – http://www.realjourneys.co.nz/Main/GlowwormCaves/ and were included in the package of photos we purchased.

 

Te Anau March 10, 2012

Filed under: Bruce,New Zealand,Scenery,Travel — cntryrose @ 9:46 pm
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Another of my favorite areas of New Zealand is the town of Te Anau which sits along the eastern shore of Lake Te Anau. Te Anau is internationally known as the “Sightseeing Walking Capital of the World” as it is located near the main southern walking tracks of New Zealand. We stayed here for two nights and enjoyed seeing the sites of this picturesque town. While out exploring the area we came across several “different” modes of transportation. And although we did not partake in these particular three I thought it would be fun to share pictures of them with you.

This first picture is of a motorhome, we did not see many motorhomes in New Zealand, in fact we saw very few of them; and most that we did see were smaller, trimmer models. This is the largest of the ones seen, and we have to wonder also if it were “homemade”.

Homemade? We honestly do not know... but it definitely was unique!

Sea planes are not that unusual… unless you come from the desert area of So. Cali! Yes, we’ve seen them before… on TV or in movies. But for both Bruce & I this seaplane was honestly the first we’d seen “in real life” and it was really rather beautiful as it flew by us.

Yes, it's a plane... but for So. Cali. high desert folks it was unusual to see a "sea plane" and therefore worthy of a picture. :)

And then there was this contraption… as you can see Bruce was fascinated by it, and studied it for quite some time. Both of us agreed that we would not want to be the guy going backwards, trusting our fate to the driver. But we also both agreed that if we’d been able to gather up our other tour participants this would have been fun to try! :) Unfortunately we had all scattered for the day, going different directions in doing exploring on our own.

Now this one... it's odd! A bicycle built for SEVEN!

While in Te Anau we partook of two lake adventures. Our first, a boat trip on Lake Te Anau to the Glow Worm Caves… and then the following day we’re off to see the Milford Sound. Stay tuned… both deserve their own posting and pictures… and those will be forthcoming soon.

 

Mother Nature’s Soccer Balls March 6, 2012

Filed under: Bruce,Nanette,New Zealand,Ocean,Scenery,Travel — cntryrose @ 10:09 am
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Mother Nature’s Soccer Balls? Well… they look like they could have been soccer balls!

One of the more unusual sights that we enjoyed on our trip was the Moeraki Boulders. Strewn upon Koekohe Beach south of Oamaru on New Zealand’s Otago Coastline they look as if Mother Nature grew tired of playing soccer. The boulders draw crowds that climb upon them, gaze upon and wonder about just “how” these spherical stones came to be.

These large stone spheres are approximately 60 million years old and were formed in ancient sea sediments by a process known as concretion and are made of mud, fine silt and clay, which is cemented by calcite. In more recent time the stones are now being exposed due to erosion of the shoreline cliffs along the coast. Several of these stones can boast that they weigh up to several tons and have a diameter of 7 feet.

A Maori legend tells that the stones are made from the remains of various baskets washed upon the shore after the canoe Araiteuru became wrecked at nearby Shag Point.

For more information on these fascinating works of Mother Nature please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moeraki_Boulders

 

Lets Enjoy Some Agricultural Scenery March 4, 2012

Filed under: Animals,Dairy,New Zealand,Scenery,Travel — cntryrose @ 10:10 am
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As we were driving to our next stop, the Moeraki Boulders in Central Otago we drove through some outstanding agricultural scenery… so green, so beautiful and so vast!

 

Relaxing In Oamaru

Filed under: Flowers,New Zealand,Scenery,Travel — cntryrose @ 8:58 am
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After touring Oamaru with Jock Webster we traveled to his home to enjoy a wonderful bar-b-que out-of-doors in he and his wife Helen’s delightful front yard. What a beautiful oasis they have created among the trees, grasses and fields.

I was enchanted with the birds that Helen made and placed in her garden, ,made of wrapped wire they were a graceful addition to their beautiful yard. And yes, I will admit, a twinge of jealousy for her beautiful hot house and the scrumptious tomatoes we enjoyed that she had grown there. No matter where we wandered that day, inside their beautifully restored “old” home or throughout their gardens we were met with pockets and vast expanses of beauty. Truly a home to relax in and we felt as welcomed as longtime friends would be, both Bruce & I will always have fond memories of our hours spent with Jock & Helen.

 

An Unscheduled Stop ~~ A Beautiful Chuch February 26, 2012

Filed under: New Zealand,Travel — cntryrose @ 9:18 am
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While on our tour of Oamaru we made an unscheduled stop to view St. Patrick’s Basilica. This church is beyond beautiful, just stunning, standing high above and looking down over the main road and out over the ocean far below. Made of the indigenous Oamaru limestone with its creamy white colors the church beckoned us to enter and see what was inside.

When we entered the first thing you notice is the peacefulness of the interior. The statuary of Jesus and Mary are breathtaking, and while the alter is massive, it is simple in its design. St. Patrick’s was envisioned by Father John Mackay, who, in March of 1890 became the Parish Priest of Oamaru. Wishing to build a church for the needs of his congregation he began to build his fundraising efforts. Francis Petre, an architect who had already designed buildings for the Catholic Church of Dunedin, was hired to take Mackay’s thoughts and dreams and put them into a practical design.


Laying the foundation stone on Trinity Sunday in 1893 the church became a reality. The laying of the stone coincided with the silver jubilee of the ordination of Father (later Monsignor) John Mackay, who was the parish priest of Oamaru for 36 years. On November 18th, 1894 the Basilica opened, but the complete building was not fully accomplished until 1918. Two days after the official opening Petre, the architect, died.

 

I fall in love… with Oamaru February 25, 2012

Filed under: Nanette,New Zealand,Ocean,Scenery,Travel,Uncategorized — cntryrose @ 10:16 am
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(I want to apologize for the “look” of this post… I am learning how to set up still… and for whatever reason I cannot seem to get the words and the pictures to “set” where I want them to, side by side, instead of one long column… I will be researching this to figure out how to come back and hopefully fix this posting).

On our way to Oamaru we picked up a hitchhiker! <grin> I’m sorry Jock… I just couldn’t resist saying that. J  Ok, in all seriousness, Jock Webster of Topflite Birdseed graciously volunteered to drive across the hills to meet up with us before we reached our next destination and then he toured with us to and through Oamaru showing us some of the sights of his area. This is where I fell in love (again), with Oamaru. Oamaru is truly a beautiful part of the South Island and is the one area that we (Bruce & I) personally hope to come back to, soon and more than just once. In fact… I do believe that we two could easily make this area a “winter” home (which would be summer there ~ a win win as Bruce would say!).

As we drive we see rolling green hills dotted with cattle, and around a corner we see a very unique way to show your farms name… Altavady ~ which, I have since found out,  is visible from Google Earth and has several mentions on the internet if you “google” it.

With Jock we visit a boy’s high school ~ the Waitaki Boys School. Oh my goodness… what a beautiful place to study. This magnificent school was founded in 1883 and the main buildings are built of the indigenous stone of the area, the Oamaru limestone.


This limestone is quarried near Omaru in Weston and while we did not get a chance to visit the quarry we did drive by some of the stone in its natural setting as well as many beautiful buildings built in this creamy colour.

One stop in particular that we all enjoyed was the Farmers Market. Down near the harbor the area was filled with Kiwi’s out shopping for fresh produce or handmade items to display in their homes. Some stalls are in the older buildings (shown below) of this area, while others are braving the bracing breeze off the ocean outdoors. Oamaru’s Old Towne was a young town in the late 1900′s and its population rivaled that of Los Angeles. At the time it’s economy was driven by wool, grain, and refrigerated meat. Please click on the link to read more of Oamaru’s history and see pictures of these magnificent buildings when they were new.


Bruce & I took a walk out to the bay and then looked back towards the town. Gorgeous! The old granary buildings with the back-set of the homes climbing the hills spoke of a town who’s history and current residents were well loved and cared for.

Yes, I left a bit of my heart in Oamaru, but so did Bruce. This area almost at the bottom of the globe calls to us… whispers still… “come home”… and time will tell if we listen to that whisper… or if it will blow away in the breeze.

 

 
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