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| Bailey riding shotgun |
During our three weeks in the Twizel area we were mostly freedom camping in our van. We are extremely happy in our van! However, we had advertised on the Twizel Community FB page our availability to housesit while in the area. A lovely family contacted us and engaged our service for a long weekend.
We arrived to be greeted by 12week old Bailey
And her cat sisters Mika (the mummy) and Bear & Lola, her grown up babies
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| Bear playing silly pants in the trees |
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| Mika became addicted to the salmon scraps |
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| Lola having evening snuggles |
Bailey was such a good wee girl for being so young and exuberant! And the cats were surprisingly patient with her.
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| Teaching Bailey to be gentle |
They were all a happy little family and Bailey kept us entertained and on our toes.
We are pretty sure it is impossible not to love a puppy!
As a short interlude, we moved onto Dunedin for a family Christmas, staying with family, happy to be able to provide lots of fresh and smoked salmon for all. Clare's brother and wife had recently immigraated from the US. We hadn't seen them for a number of years. Also, Clare's Mum & Dad flew down from the North Island to spend the holiday season with us. It was lots of fun to be around 4 generations of the family.
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| Two of the youngest generation, Jack (1yr) and Ben (3yrs) |
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| Great Grandpa supervising |
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| Feeding the ducks at the park |
Next, we were due at a housesit in rural Wanaka. What a fabulous and fascinating area. Here we were kept company by Buster, the German Shorthaired Pointer
And Boo, the ginger ninja
These two were super comfortable in each other's company, which always makes our job easier.
They also quickly became very comfortable in our company. Which was just as well, as James spent a large part of our evenings grooming Boo's coat of all the biddy bids he had gathered from his adventures.
We quickly came to realise that Buddy required a lot of exercise each day. Not to worry. We were situated not far from the Upper Clyde walkway. Each morning we ventured out for a couple of hours, Clare and Buddy on an extended walk, James stopping along the way for a spot of fishing.
The scenery was out of this world.
These two mad little mates even enjoyed the odd swim. The weathe was rather lovely.
Meanwhile, back on the ranch, this one was holding the home fort.
Then again, there was always time to take a chill pill and relax.
Oh, and we were lucky enough that the lupins were in fine form whilst we were here.
Sublime ....
Dang, we love our life!
Soon it was time to move onto another sit in Lake Hayes near Queenstown. We hadn't even moved into the house when we got a visit from this wee cutie from next door ....
But really we were here to hang out with this bundle of fun ....
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| Fred, the 1yr old lab |
Fred has a wonderful family with young children who absolutely love him to bits. So life is pretty busy for Fred, with lots of brothers and sisters to play with. Fred's challenge is that he has a degenerative bone disorder , the likes of which he has already had extensive surgery. His prognosis is not great so the family have resolved to give him his best life no matter how long or short it will be. We were up for the challenge too.
Because Fred cannot be exercised to the full extent that normally suits a young dog well, our job was to keep his mind engaged in between a couple of short 20min lead walks a day.
This could be as easy as providing a cardboard carton to rip to shreds
To playing the 'Wait' game ... he is so well trained for his age.
Fred was lots of fun.
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| Dancing around with his water bowl |
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| Learning to be a good boy |
Because Fred needed a bit of downtime/rest each day, we found time to get our Covid booster shots.
And pop to the lake for a spot of fishing.
It was always a joy to head home to this guy ....
Who could say no to this face!
Whilst we always hate saying goodbye, at least we know we are always leaving them with the people who love them most (besides us!).
