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Published: January 19th 2010
Happy and healthy
We are truly blessedSaturday, January 16th
A rainy morning greeted us, but lucky for us it turned into another sunny day. We headed to the shed and spent about 15mins cleaning the stray strands of fibreglass off the seams. Then we called it a day. Talita wasn’t feeling her happy self and we decided to take the day off and just relax. We sat out by the estuary for a while, then did the cleaning and had lunch.
We received the great news that Talita became an aunt for the third time. Jaco and Sarah had their son Elion Minty yesterday at 3pm UK time. He weighed in at 3.02 kg and has black hair. Congrats you guys! May God bless your family and may Elion be a blessing to you always.
After lunch Ferdi spent a while pickling his fish. He'd read up on a few methods, but in the end he used the technique close to the one that Bruce had showed him; fish, sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar, coconut milk, garlic and onion. Now it has to stand for three days before it's properly pickled.
We decided to go to the beach and drove into town to pick up
a few beers. Here we ran into the Guppy gang who were on their way to a different beach. We were invited to join them and we accepted. We got there before they did and walked along the estuary looking for driftwood. We’re planning to use some pieces of driftwood as inlays at the bow and stern of our canoe.
Ten minutes later the Guppy gang, along with Seth, Sena and little Fern arrived. While we played with the kids the grownups got to relax and have lunch. Julien was a little cautious of the water, but Fern, usually very quiet and reserved, came alive once her feet hit the water. Ferdi caught a crab and after a couple of good pinches was able to show it to the kids.
When the families headed off we decided to visit the beach we had intended initially. We took a beer each and some dried dates and found a big piece of driftwood where we made ourselves comfortable. Here we spent a while dozing with the sound of the surf in our ears.
Back home we had a shave and a shower, and after dinner we went to a
jam session at Saracens Bush Lounge. The Karamea Sound Machine had set up guitars, drums, bass guitars, piano, bongos, jembes, harmonicas, DJ-ing equipment and a few other instruments. Anyone could play and people would pick up the instruments and just jam together. We sat outside chatting with Abby and Brent and a few other people. We also met Shona, a lady originally from the UK. She spends six months of the year here in Karamea and the other six traveling. Later Rick showed up and we were delighted to find that he'd managed to bring up Paddy's surf-ski from Christchurch. We spent the rest of the evening chatting with Rick and Shona. We laughed a lot and really enjoyed the night out.
Today’s highlights:
1. Hanging with the kids.
2. A great night out.
3. Rick bringing up Paddy’s surf-ski.
Sunday, January 17th
Today was to be a day of tea. We started with two cups at home, then drove to Rick’s to pick up Paddy's surf-ski. Here we had another cuppa and a nice chat. Then we were off to Paddy’s to drop off his surf-ski. He had no idea we were coming and was very chuffed
with his new adventure toy. A surf-ski isn’t for beginners, but luckily Paddy once lived on the Australian coast and used to surf three times a day, every day.
We had two cups of tea while we chatted the morning away. Paddy made us sammies for lunch while we had a go at playing his cello. Paddy disappeared upstairs with the comment that he had something interesting. He came down carrying a medium sized instrument case. It turned out to contain a beautiful old Ukulele that Paddy said is an antique, made before he was even born (which was in 1941 by the way). It has 8-strings with a skin that Paddy decorated with a Celtic dog design. It’s almost like a Ukulele crossed with a banjo. It was out of tune but Ferdi gave it a go anyway. After the first few notes Paddy said that he doesn’t ever play it so Ferdi could have it! Needless to say, Ferdi was blown away and gladly accepted it! It’s a beauty!
Later, with many thanks to Paddy, we headed home where we had more tea with John and Margaret. Then Ferdi spent the rest of the day reading
Driftwood recliner
Ahhhh, now that's comfy up on Ukuleles and their various tunings and methods. It’s so close to a guitar, yet nothing like it, a completely foreign thing to someone who’ve only ever played guitar. Ferdi struggled to tune it because the machine-heads were hard to turn and the skin made it hard to get the tuning to stick. He removed the strings, took off the machine heads and gave them a much needed lubing, but before he could put the strings back up our growling bellies drove us to the kitchen where we cooked a beautiful curry dinner before crashing for the day.
Today’s highlights:
1. Getting the surf-ski to Paddy.
2. An antique Ukulele for Ferdi.
3. Yummy curry dinner.
Monday, January 18th
Having done virtually no work on the canoe all weekend we headed to the shed where we sanded down the bow and stern seams. While Ferdi was covering these with fiberglass, Talita sanded down the inside of the hull. We mixed up resin and painted the whole interior with the first of three resin coats. Afterward we had lunch and a shower. Then, while Talita packed our overnight bag, Ferdi rushed into town to get some fuel. Like
a true Boesman ours doesn't like to be rushed, but prefer a steady medium pace.
After getting the fuel and picking up Talita we drove out to Paddy’s. Here we had a cuppa then hopped in his truck and drove to Birchfield, a small community a few kilometers north of Westport. Kerry, a good friend of Paddy's and a fellow artist, had invited us for a BBQ. On the way we stopped by a spot that Paddy likes. We walked down to the beach, and before we knew it Paddy was in his knickers heading into the ocean. We stayed on the beach and scavenged for interesting stones.
Kerry was still at work when we finally arrived at his place, so Paddy and Talita started cooking right away while Ferdi enjoyed relaxing in Kerry’s favorite reading chair and exploring the yard. Kerry loves stones and drifwood and collects tons of these. There are heaps and heaps of the stuff all over his yard. He carves beautiful “Fish with Attitude” and lizards from the driftwood and semi-precious stones. He also carves these great faces from the round stones he collects from the beach. Kerry used to be a surfer
too, so Paddy has plans to get him onto a surfboard once more. It would be great to see those two old guys out there enjoying the surf!
When Kerry arrived home we had a beer while Paddy fired up the BBQ. Ferdi filleted one of his Kahawai and threw it on the BBQ along with the lamb and sausages. Ferdi mentioned that he liked the faces that Kerry makes and Kerry said he could choose one. Ferdi spent ten minutes finding the one that looks at him just right. Eventually he settled on one he called Scarface because of the scar running across the bridge of its nose. Less is more with these faces, but each is unique and has a certain look about it.
We enjoyed a great dinner and then took Kerry’s truck for a drive on the beach. The sun was setting behind us and it made for a beautiful drive. The two old guys would discuss the different pieces of driftwood; which has potential and which were rotten or useless. We stopped few times to look at stones and driftwood and Kerry found a few more to add to his collection. Back home
Paddy lit a fire and we chatted and laughed well into the next morning. On more than one occasion Paddy was laughing so hard that he almost fell off his chair. He can sometimes be very dark and moody, so it was great to hear him laugh with all of his being.
Today’s highlights:
1. Progress on the canoe.
2. Great dinner and night at Kerry’s.
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Leon & Melinda
non-member comment
FISH!!!!
Hi Daar!! Daai visse en die gesig is AWESOME! Maak dit mooi vlamme? hiehiehie...joking, pak vir ons paar in wanneer julle terug kom, sal baie mooi lyk by die maskers wat my ma van Croatia af gebring het. Gister 'n program gekyk oor die seadragons is Australie, julle al gedink om daar te gaan duik of wag julle dat ons saam kan kom? Bly julle speel lekker met die kiddies, ons kan nie wag vir Brian en Lindy-Ann se Emily-Jane nie, nog net 2 en 'n half weke!!!!! Sjoe die tyd vlieg! Eintlik net geskryf om te sê julle lyk baie happy en ons kan nie wag om daai smiles weer in lewende lywe te sien nie!