Child of the Planet

There are now three of us working under the direction of 'Steve the builder'. A nineteen year old student from England, a twenty-something French tool maker, and me. We've been ripping doors out of walls, and cutting holes in other walls, and stuffing those doors into the new holes, and filling the first holes we made with new doors. During the day there was a most excellent earthquake. I felt the building shudder and thought, 'that was a big gust of wind'! Then thought, 'hang on, there isn't any wind blowing'?!?! The power went out, and we still had a couple of hours left in the working day. We were fitting a new set of French doors to one of the rooms in the Wwoofer accommodation building. We borrowed a generator from a neighbour across the road, to finish the work. During the remainder of the day we plugged into it's socket, drills, circular saws, water jugs, and mobile phones. No power means no internet, so the only info we had on the earthquak...

Quick note to highlight a great travel blog... Tierras y Aire This blog details the travels of a couple from Uruguay, Sofia and Matias as they travel the world.

Click on these links for back story... sheep-story those-damn mysterious sheep The sheep have been shorn, and are supposed to be penned up in a neighbouring public stock yard. Some how they keep getting out of the yard, and our theory is one of the disgruntled locals is releasing them from the pens deliberately. This person is then calling up the council to complain about the sheep loose in the village. We're all getting pretty tired of the sheep antics. They were just too independently minded so they have been drenched in preparation for slaughter. Since their time on this earth is limited, we've been letting them do what they want. It's now that we see the full depth of their 'self possession'. Despite being allowed to wander about the village, they have decided that they now want to be back inside the property bounds. Have they picked up on our 'don't give a fuck what you do now' vibes? A couple of times we've noticed them strolli...

I was just over in Australia and needed to get a mobile phone SIM card. My last one was on Telstra and it had a limit of six months between recharges. Bit of a hassle as I lost my phone number. My mate clued me into a SIM deal at the German supermarket chain Aldi . $5 to get started. Active for 365 days on a single recharge (Telstra is 6 months). $15 minimum recharge. Uses 3g which Telstra recently cut me out of as i was on pre-paid. Uses Telstra's network which has the best coverage in Australia. Android App for tracking data and minutes left on account. Meny travellers in Sydney stay in the eastern suburbs and there is an Aldi in Bondi Junction.

Night air is filled with the sounds of Lambs bleating. They sound like human children?!?! Brushing up against trees releases swirling clouds of pollen, building up in crusts on the edges of water puddles. Blossoms squeezed out of branches Doves ate making whoop whoop noises and chasing each other around on the roof. Everything is coated in yellow pollen The peacock is flashing at anything that looks vaguely bird like. The air is filled with buzzing bees and wasps.

Bought some new boots recently at a Kathmandu sale here in New Zealand. Reduced by three hundred bucks! Crazy! This deal was available to Kathmandu club members, so I signed up at the checkout desk. My old ones were Land Rover branded and they lasted for years.

I've noticed during my time at the Timber Trail and Awhi farm, that folk like to leave their cups behind. Someone will make themselves a cuppa, walk out into the property, empty the cup while chatting or meditating on something. balanced on top of a post common. Being as these are rural locations, fences are common. If there is a camp fire, invariably there will be a couple of mugs strewn around the circumference of the ash pile in the morning. Folk have been sipping at hot beverages, or something a bit alcoholic. These cups usually spend a decent amount of time sitting where they have been forgotten, and they become little indicators of how much rain the area has had recently.

I'm in the process of making a path out of recycled chunks of concert. This is the second tool rack I've built. The other was at Awhi farm. I helped out with the construction of a 'bush bath'. We cut the stairs down into the gully, and sat the bath on trellis made of railway sleepers.

Considering what happened to the pigs, I thought I should get some photos of the animals that are left here on the property.

While I was lying in bed, we had an earthquake and the ancient iron bed I'm in starts to wobble about. Shifting reflection caught my eye in wobbling mirror. Rocking chair started to rock. Bang from out in the kitchen.

The boarding on an Air New Zealand flight was a bit different this time. Isles 'A' and 'F' were directed to the check point first. This went very smoothly despite several individuals that tried to board with seat assignments other then 'A' and 'F'. These people formed a little group at the boarding point while we filed past. After the window seats were filled, the middle seats were directed to board, and finally the isle. This innovative boarding policy was proceeding with much less kerfuffle then usually occurs when a plane is filled with passengers. The outside seats were filled with out having the complex 'seat dance'. Despite Air NZ efforts to efficiently seat a plane full of passengers the process was fouled by A silly couple who boarded with hand luggage much heavier the 7kg. The bags had to be loaded into the luggage hold, so the isle was blocked up while the steward reprimanded the couple, and then she had to struggle back down t...

Woke up and found cows and sheep in the front yard. Everyone was lying about under the trees, mouths grinding away on breakfast, or maybe they were re-processing last nights dinner? The Alpacas seem to be content to hang about in their field and keep to themselves. The cows left me lots of gifts all over the place. Can't believe how much they dropped over a single night. I'm happy to see that the sheep are now contained within the boundary of the property These sheep are all together too contrary and need to be eaten

Inserted posts to stop them squeezing through Found the sheep standing in the front of the gate this morning. They gave me that meaningful 'please open this gate' look. I shooed them back into their paddock. As I closed the gate behind them they trotted off to the far side of the field. The cows ignored the pair, and the alpaca munched mouthfuls of grass and watched them with glassy detachment. I spent half of the day trying to find out how they were getting out of their field. I'd be working in the compound, and randomly turn around to find the pair munching on grass or tree saplings. I herd them back into their field and then do a circuit of the fence to close off any exits I could find. The alpaca heads rotate on their tall necks watching the drama unfold. Curious to go out tomorrow and see if I've out smarted them? Leaving traces of their escape Attempt at keeping them in

Besides me, there are three other species of mammal living here. A trio of Alpacas who keep to themselves and stand about looking serene. Three young cows are friendly with an air of goofy adolescence. There are also a pair of sheep who are diabolical masters of escapology. Council reps arrived yesterday to chat about the sheep. These woolly troublemakers don't like being penned up so they regularly escape the property boundary. Though they never roam far, and generally sit about or chomp on green stuff, it seems that the locals have had enough.

Had a day off so I borrowed one of the 'electric assist' bikes that the property has. Martyn drove me out to the Piropiro camp site which sits about halfway along the length of the track. I set off in what I hoped was the direction of Ongarue. Weird sensation with electric assist. There is the normal resistance from the bike pedals when I push down, and launched my self up the track. The track began a slight incline and I haven’t been on a bike in a long time. It was hard going with the bike wobbling about a bit, and then the tech kicks in. It felt like someone had run up behind me, gripped the back of the bike, and pushed. I stopped pedalling and the bike slowed so I twisted the hand grip and the motor whined as it powered me up the hill. The track has several rope ridges which bounce and sway around me a bit as I concentrate on not hitting the sides. Plug keeps falling out of the battery and the loss of power is dramatic so I so quickly adapt...

Notice the level the floods got to on opposite bank Everyone has a fire to heat their home so every thing in the valley smells like carbon and coal, creosote and wood smoke. Sitting with back up against the pottery shed. Leaves falling heavily from a tree behind me. Heavy cloud sliding in from south. I've decided to go exploring down river. I was told that there were only goats in this field There is some land down by the river that is maintained by the Dept. of Conservation. Nice walk along the river, and there are a couple of beaches and a swimming spot.

Ex-pig The two pigs here on the property had a good life, and now sustain us with their flesh. I've been rubbing down these joints to create cured prosciutto, and my overalls are gritty with pork infused salt.  

The shed that I built the floor for ( click for previous post ) is now mostly completed but for some flashing that had to be run around the frame, just under where the iron sheeting ended.