James & Clare, Coddiwomplers Inc: Molesworth and a short Canterbury sit

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.