Thursday 25 November 2021

Molesworth and a short Canterbury sit - Nov 2021

Wild child, wild country!

 We had booked a hunting block in the Molesworth for a week and were excited to get there.  We had planned to take the long road from the north, which we had never done before, but due to flooding during the previous winter we found out, at the last minute!, that the road was closed.  This meant we had to make our way to Hanmer and access the block via Jacks Pass.  No worries, this would give us an opportunity to indulge in a spot of sea fishing at Kaikoura.  In our previous experience fishing here, we had only ever caught sharks.  So James was not disappointed to catch this beauty.

We popped him back to live his best life and moved on, staying at a camp spot in Hanmer for a night before heading into Molesworth.  We set up camp the first couple of nights at the DoC campsite at Acheron Cottage.

That's us, all alone at this quiet time of year

The place was pretty deserted, and apart from the volunteer guy running the camp, we never spoke to another person the whole week.  But we weren't lonely.  We had these gals for company.

This cow in particular kept us amused for hours.  She was super friendly and wanted to get involved with everything we left out .... shoes, dishes, dishwater.

We moved onto our block and enjoyed a couple of walks up to the top of the ridge.  We saw a bit of sign but no animals at all.  To be fair, we didn't put much effort in.  We were more enjoying the peace and tranquility.

And really, the fishing was just tooooo goooood!




The week went by without much effort at all and it was soon time to head back to town. The weather had been great but on the night before we decided to leave we had quite a bit of rain.  On the way out the gravel road had deteriorated and softened a wee bit but fortunately the van performed well ... until we got a fair way out and discovered that someone was in the process of grading the road.  This caused a bit of consternation, the van not being quite as capable on these types of NZ roads as our AWD car, but we got out okay.  You really do just have to go for it and not 'kaffle', as James puts it.

When we got back out to Hanmer we discovered it had snowed. Huh!  So much for summer.  Very pretty though.

We stopped off at a previous house sit in Hanmer to visit with the elderly dog, Marmite.  He was full of beans and it was lovely to chat with his mum for a bit.

Next we were headed to a sit in West Melton, rural Christchurch.  Here we were to care for Roxy, a seven year old Lab cross, and Ace, a five month old Vizla Thai Ridgeback cross.


Both dogs were really well trained and such easy company.  Ace, in particular, kept us amused 24/7!  Puppies are so much fun.





Exhauted after playtime

Ace was also a very interactive cuddler ....

We planted out some vege plants for the homeowner.  Unfortunately, the next day, the garden got puppyfied during a moment of inattention from us both!!!

Not to worry, things were soon rectified.

There were plenty of buxom rabbits on the property and the owners were more than happy for us to help keep the population down.  Roxy also like to chase them but we were charged with not letting her teach Ace this habit so we distracted her with her favourite ball game everyday instead.  But we certainly enjoyed the fruits of James work harvesting and preparing the meat.

Rabbit Ragu

But most of our time was keeping these two happy and chill.  Just exactly what we consider our 'job' to be.

Sharing a joke ...................






Wednesday 24 November 2021

Toot Toot, Vanlife - Oct 2021

 

Finally the day had come!  Earlier in 2021 we had bought a van to afford us a bit more independence.  Our housesitting lifestyle had become a little unreliable since Covid took over the world.  There were either no housesits available because the country had gone in to lockdown or there were tons of them as the rules relaxed.  The uncertainty can be a little tricky to negotiate so we decided that Vanlife would give us a little flexibility.

We finished our renovations, packed all our belongings and headed for the South Island for the six months of summer.

We started out on a journey through Waikaremoana country expecting there to be plenty of places to stay in the wild and at least some fishing to be had.  Unfortunately we found everything closed.  We assumed that the recent lockdown had meant that things hadn't quite opened up yet but came to find out that the government had given control of the land back to Iwi. Nuff said.

But at least we were able to stop on the side of the road for James to get his legs out for the first time this spring.

So that first night we popped out on the coast near Mahia and decided to go for a hunt.  We got a goat and some hunters we met along the way gave us some venison backsteak.  We have a small fridge in the van but can't carry too much meat at one time.  We stopped on the side of the road on the way out to pick some watercress to go with our wild meat.

We also managed to score a turkey which was very tasty too.

We slowly made our way down the east coast revisiting a farm sit we did a few years ago.  It was great to see everyone again.  The puppy had become and adult in our absence!  Stopping in Wellington for a few days with Clare's sister and to visit her parents (for the first time since they moved into a retirement village).

We crossed over on the ferry without fuss.  We are required to wear facemasks on public transport and in shops or gathering places but everything else for us is pretty much normal.

We headed straight for Blenheim to embark of a journey neither of us had taken before ... the coast road back to Picton!  It was rugged and beautiful and very quiet.

So great to have the sand between our toes


Nice to meet this slimy bugga

Marlborough Sounds from on high

It was great to discover that our beloved sourdough crumpets turned out to be very van friendly.

We then made our way slowly toward family in Nelson, stopping in some wonderful camp spots along the way.

In Nelson we spent a few days with Clare's nephew and his wife.  It was great to meet young Elliott for the first time.  Also great that we were able to bore him to sleep so that his parents could get a few precious moments to themselves :-)

Next we headed toward Collingwood, detouring up the Cobb river for a night, catching and eating our first trout of the trip.  We don't eat many of the fish we catch and only ever take fish and animals for food when we need it.  We prefer to forage for our own food rather than eat meat from the supermarket, something we don't do a lot of.


We found this bbq in situe which was
damn handy

Feeding the eels at the same spot

Back on the coast we managed to forage some cockles and mussels and some really huge ones!  We enjoyed a fine laksa and a couple of batches of mussel fritters.




Next we headed for Collingwood and into the Aorere Valley.  The river was spectacularly clear.

 

Look! A river bath





We found this really cool shop in the middle of nowhere and bought some sour snakes.


Then we found this really cool waterfall at the end of the road.

Again, the water was unbelievably clear


It was way too windy in Collingwood on our way in and out or we would have liked to spin up some kahawai at the rivermouth, so we headed back to Motueka. We had attempted to make contact with two families we had housesat for in the area.  We like to call in and visit the pets again when we get the opportunity.  However, we found both of them had moved on to other places.  It is sobering to know that other people are on the move too, not just us!

Next leg of the journey was down the Motueka River.  This was a treat we weren't expecting. James also became reacquainted with his fly rod.




Sometimes James blends in so well with the background .....


Hitting the main road back to Blenheim we took a detour to visit the picturesque alpine town of St Arnaud.  It was bitterly cold and oh so windy.  We didn't stay long.

Lake Rotoiti, St Arnaud

We continued our journed up the Wairau River back to Blenheim.  We weren't as impressed by the Wairau as we were the Motueka but we did happen to find a very surprising jewel in the crown - Argyle Pond.  This is not only an awesome freedom camping spot but is a well stocked man-made lake at a hydroelectic dam.  Chatting with some fellow fishermen we were advised there were not only trout but also salmon in the lake.  We didn't really believe them until .....




It was time to head back to Blenheim and stock up for the next part of our adventure.