Turkey and Tooks

It has been a while since we had our last update, its not that we have been really busy, it’s just that we haven’t done anything really crazy. It’s taken this long to accumulate enough info to make it worth a blog. Spring has definitely sprung, the sun shines between clouds and the rain has just been hosing down. When we get a chance on the odd nice day we try to get out for runs and on weekends we still manage to get the odd hike in. The rainy days in between are filled with movies, reading and Robert Harris (our new favourite cafe). We have watched 2 of the 3 Lord of the Rings movies (well Sarah has watched almost ½ of each) in preparation for our travels down south.

The kids have been keeping us busy. Matthew is getting ready for calf club day which is coming up on October 31st. We have made a pen in the front yard where the 4 pet calves receive special treatment. We have also set up a special course for them to practice walking with them. The calves are sure stubborn right now, when you put that halter on they don’t like being lead around. A few weeks ago we attended a school play, Robin the Good. Although neither of the kids were in it they were excited to go see their friends. It was a typical elementary school production with lots of singing and a few technical errors, but cute to watch none the less. They just finished 2 weeks of school holidays so we got to hang out with them everyday all day. It’s starting to feel more like we are their older brother and sisters the more we get to know each other. As a treat we took them to a place called Chipmunks, something like our Chuckie Cheese. We also recently attended one of their special assemblies that they held at the Whakapara Marae (a spiritual place for the Maori native people). It was neat to learn about some of the culture and see how they interact. One thing we found pretty cool was that they press each others noses against one another while giving a handshake.

We finally got around to spending a day at Whangarei Falls, the closest attraction to us. The weather was cloudy but it worked out as we were doing a good pace as we walked. Once you see these falls in person you would understand why people travel here to see them, you can definitely say it is one of the nicest sights in NZ. There is also a path that leads to another waterfall through the forest. Along the way there are lots of Kauri trees, which can have a 16 metre girth, Matt tried to give one a hug but his arms didn’t quite cut it.

On one of the rainy weekends we came across a food show, which included two things we both really like, food and wine. We tested every sample they gave, often returning for seconds. We were also part of a wine tasting competition in which we scored 2 out of 12 answers right. What can we say, we’re rookies - they say practice makes perfect so looks like we’ll have to keep trying. We ended up buying some really nice Turkish bread, Hokie Pokies, and a chicken and cranberry pizza (which was delicious). While on the topic of food - we’ve been cooking and baking a lot. Although it’s not good for the scale its good for the tummy. We’ve even made homemade pizza with the kids which was a lot of fun. 2 slices and you were stuffed because the dough was so big.

Thanksgiving weekend was not the same being in NZ since they don’t celebrate it. We spent the day on an awesome hike at Mount Manaia. Although it was slippery from the rain the day before we made it all the way to the summit where we saw some amazing views. We were so high it made us feel like we were spinning. You couldn’t get a better view, even The Boss looked like a Mini Boss. That night we had Thanksgiving dinner at Noel’s parent’s house, specially organized just for us. There was one problem, none of the supermarkets sell turkeys except during Christmas season. Chicken made due and we had a great time - they even had Canadian decorations all around.
The other day we took some back roads, a shortcut, to the Mimiwhangata costal park. Here we found many different hiking options but only had time to take a short one. We hiked around a peninsula, which only took us a couple hours but provided us with some great views of the ocean. We plan on heading back to do the rest of the hikes someday.

Things on the farm are definitly settling down and there are only two groups of calves to feed, once a day. The vets were here a little while ago to de-horn the poor little things. It was fairly entertaining watching a whole pen of calves fall asleep and making bets on who would be the last one standing. Its wierd seeing them all asleep when we are used to seeing them beg for milk. The calves fall asleep in some pretty funny positions, sometimes on each others heads. Some even leave their tongues out and some snore louder than dad.

For now we just hope the sun will shine for us as we have so much planned ahead of us.

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