Page 7 of Ferdi and Talita Travel Blog Posts


Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Karamea December 8th 2009

Saturday, December 5th We woke to another wet morning. After a shower and breakfast we posted a blog and found some plans for building a canoe, a kayak and a dingy. We’ve already got the tools and the plywood, so we decided to build our own canoe over the next month or so. It looks like a big-ish project, so we’ll just take it one step at a time. We did some washing and read a bit. After lunch we headed into town to see Rick and drop off some stuff that Bruce had borrowed. We had a nice long chat then headed home. We opened a bottle of wine (we’ve had enough of cheap, bad, box wine) and had some seriously blue cheese and chips while sitting at a picnic table near our van. We ... read more
Weka booty
Cool driftwood in the estuary
At high tide only the top of this log is visable

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Karamea December 4th 2009

Wednesday, December 2nd Happy birthday boeda Dewald! Hope you had an amazing day an even better year. My God bless you and keep you and make all your dreams come true. Our alarm woke us early. We'd not been up that late in a long time. After breakfast we drove to the medical centre to have chest x-rays taken. Because we're from SA and want to stay in NZ for more than six months they want to make sure we're not infected with TB. The x-rays came back clear (we could’ve told them that) but left a proper dent in our savings. We drove to Immigration NZ on Cathedral Square and filed our application. With that, our job in Christchurch was done. We left the east coast and headed back to the west coast, stopping for ... read more
Just a pic of Talita in case you've forgotten what she looks like
Wrecks rusting away at the bottom of a gully
Cool erosion patterns

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 4th 2009

Sunday, November 29th We woke to a beautiful sunny day. It’s hard to believe that the rivers flooded yesterday. Oh the fickle New Zealand weather! We weren’t complaining though. We wanted our van finished and packed before the end of the day. We made tasty apple and cinnamon oats for breakfast, then Ferdi set about finishing the last bits of the van while Talita tried her hand at Beer Bread. It was a complete success and we devoured half of it for lunch. Ferdi fixed the wonky cupboard doors and we started packing all our belongings back into the van. We have space for Africa now. So much space in fact that there are these vast empty spaces where we imagine tumbleweeds roll by to the sound of a western tune. Along with the pride and ... read more
What could be better than beer and bread all mixed together?
The Boesmans cockpit
The Boesmans back-side

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast » Karamea November 26th 2009

Thursday, November 26th The Bus-Rat was back for a visit last night, but ran off when we got up to see if we could spot him. After breakfast we put on some music and started working on the van with a vengeance. We needed it done by Saturday morning because we still have to clear the rest of the building site and cut up the remaining logs for fire wood. It was a blisteringly hot day, but we made great progress on the van. At tea time Talita baked delicious sweet-corn bread that we enjoyed for lunch. We called it a day around 8pm. We were knackered and our lower backs were killing us from all the bending over. We had a shower, cooked a yummy dinner, had a glass or two of wine and headed ... read more
Sweet-corn bread in the making
It's getting there
Rocks to weigh down  the table top so that the glue binds better

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island November 26th 2009

Monday, November 23rd We spent the morning visiting the friendly people at the Karamea Holiday Park. We’d planned to say hi while we did our washing, but we ended up chatting till well past lunch time. While the washing was going (and between chatting sessions) we quickly popped into town to pick up a few supplies at the grocery store. We returned home with heaps of clean clothing and Talita made yummy cheese and mushroom toasted sammies. We washed down this delicious feed (what the Kiwis in this part of the world call a meal) with a beer which made us sleepy, so we took a nap. After the nap Ferdi continued working on the van. It’s a lesson in patience for him, seeing that he’s not exactly the most patient person on earth. Things move ... read more
Unbelievable
Three Sisters and a strange cluster near the big tree

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island November 23rd 2009

Friday, November 20th Living out here in the bush is great. At night the only sounds are the crashing of the waves in the distance and the occasional call of a Weka. The sun brings electricity and the rain brings water to our lives. We love it here. It already feels like home. Unfortunately the bus is also home to “The Bus-Rat”. In the early hours of the morning he woke us again with his loud gnawing (so technically the only sounds at night are the crashing of the waves in the distance, the occasional call of a Weka and the gnawing of “The Bus-Rat”). Ferdi decided to try and catch him and commandeered Talita to be his partner in crime. We got our headlamps and when we shone the lights behind the fridge we ... read more
This is where our electricity comes from
The Boesman taking shape
Finally some progress

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island November 20th 2009

Tuesday, November 17th We woke to a beautiful morning in the peaceful country side. Ferdi went to feed the chickens and in return they kindly left us two eggs. We made tea and enjoyed Talita’s rusks while sitting on the veranda. What a way to live! We feel right at home here. Dave and Deborah might be in for a surprise when they return; a couple of bus-sitters with no intention of leaving. Ferdi also took care of the plants in the greenhouse. It’s a great feeling to take care of a living thing. It’s strange how he’s come almost full-circle; having grown up on a small-holding with veggies and chickens to tend, a few sheep, a cow and some horses, the quiet of nature and the peace of not living on your neighbour’s doorstep. We ... read more
Houdini
Taking our chainsaw for a 'spin'
Back breaking work

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island November 16th 2009

Saturday, November 14th We woke the morning very eager and continued working on the van. Neither of us had done this kind of thing before, so found it hard to make decisions. What’s right and what’s wrong? Common sense seemed to be our only guide. Also, in theory everything is easy. In practice, however, it’s really hard. For example, it’s impossible to cut a straight line with a jigsaw. We got a few tips from the net, but they didn’t help because the moment the blade got hot it would start veering off course. Hence we made much slower progress than we had originally anticipated (it’s always like that, isn’t it?). We spent most of our time thinking, planning, eyeballing and thinking some more. We managed to make some progress and there was no rain to ... read more
Bus-sitting is awesome!
View from the veranda
The throne

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island November 16th 2009

Wednesday, November 11th We slept late again, only crawling out of bed after 9:30. After breakfast we drove into town to help Bruce move. We found Bruce and Paddy sitting outside the shop on the public picnic benches. Bruce was in his element. His son, Matai Kiran Hallewell-Smith was born just before midnight last night. He was beaming and very proud. He was able to watch the birth on Skype and spent two hours afterward watching Amber and Matai. We packed his boat and the rest of his gear and drove out to Paddy’s, who’d offered Bruce his “guest house truck” to live in. Wobbles was riding with us. Initially she was mewling the whole time, but Talita coaxed her into the cabin area where she spent some time on Talita’s lap and later gave Ferdi ... read more
Wobbles sailing in the dinghy
Nap time in Ferdi's lap
Getting saved by the red Landie

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island November 12th 2009

Sunday, November 8th We hadn’t seen Wobbles in two days and we were really worried about her. Bruce walked down to the building site mewing and calling her. When we arrived down there we were very relieved to hear that he’d found her. She was very scared and skittish, having spent two nights out in the wild. At least we knew she was safe and still around. We continued with the structure, but the going was slow because today we only had one chainsaw. Even so we were still happy with our progress. We felt confident and enjoyed applying the thinking pattern. Late in the afternoon when all was quiet on site Bruce got Wobbles to come near. Slowly and cautiously she explored the area and got more and more confident. Soon she was playing with ... read more
Grooving
More grooving
Chamfering




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