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Published: January 9th 2010
Thursday, January 7th
The good times didn’t last. The sun got a few glimpses of Karamea today, but these were few and far between. The rest of the day was overcast and rainy. Talita woke with a sore throat, and she was slow getting out of bed. Ferdi could hardly keep his pants on, because we’d finished fiberglassing the top panels and were ready to stitch them to the hull. While Talita was still in bed, Ferdi went for an inspection. The panels were fine, but the paddles delaminated easily. It seems that resin isn’t a good replacement for glue.
After serving breakfast in bed, Ferdi dragged Talita to the shed where we stitched the last of the panels to the hull. Our canoe is finally starting to look like one! We found a fairly large bubble under the fibreglass at one of the seams, so we cut it out and patched it with a new piece. We were seriously chuffed with our progress!
We had tea and a snack, then did the cleaning and had lunch. We spent a few hours indoors, but soon Ferdi left Talita reading in bed and headed back to the shed. He put
masking tape on the inside of all the seams in preparation for the “tack welding” we’ll be doing soon. “Tack welding” is the filling of all the seams with a mixture of resin and sawdust. This will transfer any stresses to the fibreglass which in turn will spread the stresses over the wood, making for a very strong seam once it’s finished.
Halfway through the masking procedure John came by and invited Ferdi for tea. They sat chatting for the better part of an hour before Ferdi could go back to masking the rest of the seams. With that done he returned to the cabin to find Talita snoozing in our warm and cosy bed. We threw together a dinner, then spent the rest of the evening reading in bed.
Today’s highlights:
1. Stitching the top panels to our canoe.
Friday, January 8th
Our tickets back to SA have been canceled. In the end the choice was an easy one. We’re nowhere near ready to return, even though we miss our people back home very much indeed. There’s a bit more growing and a few more adventures left in NZ and we’re committed to finishing what we’d
started.
The day didn’t look promising when we peaked out the window this morning, but after a few early morning showers the skies cleared up beautifully. With breakfast in our bellies we flipped the canoe over to inspect the seams and look for any twist in the hull. She sat beautifully, but needed a few adjustments to get every panel sitting just right. After a cuppa we mixed up some resin and saw-dust and started “welding” the seams. With three quarters of the seams “welded” we took a break from all the fumes, had lunch and did the cleaning. Then it was back to filling the rest of the empty seams as well as filling any gaps in the previously “welded” seams formed by the curing process.
Having done as much as we could on the “welding” front, we headed into town to pick up some supplies and spent the rest of the afternoon baking four milk-tarts. It was Talita’s first attempt and it was a great success, even though the filling was more yellow, like custard, than we remember it from back home. We made dinner and Talita took one of the tarts to John and Margaret
and gave half of another one to a couple we’d met in the kitchen. After a shower we spent the rest of the evening reading in bed.
Today’s highlights:
1. “Welding” the seams.
2. Baking Milk Tarts.
Saturday, January 9th
We expected rain, but got a fabulously sunny day instead! Talita’s Milk Tart was a big hit among the lucky few who got to taste it, and she got lots of compliments. We continued with the welding on the canoe, and when we stopped for a tea break Paddy came charging in. He never drives in normally; he always comes charging in like a hooligan. It’s very funny! We had a cuppa, gave him a taste of the milk tart (which he loved) and showed him the progress on the canoe. He was very impressed, ooh-ing and aah-ing all around it. We then jumped into his 4x4 and headed to the beach. He needed to get some sea water because he loves to drink it; says it’s the best medicine in the world. We have our doubts…
We walked around the beach, admiring the drift-wood and collecting shells. It’s always an educational hanging out with Paddy; he
just looks at things so differently. We wandered around trying to see what he sees hiding in the wood. Before we knew it Paddy was in his knickers and headed into the ocean to collect his water. He’s in much better shape than we expected. When he had his clothes back on, we hopped back in his truck and drove to a different part of the beach. Here we found a cool looking drift-wood shelter with a cow scull keeping watch over it.
On the way through town we stopped at the Last Resort and Paddy bought us fish and chips with a cup of tea/coffee. It was divine and we ate until we almost burst. Back home we had tea with John and Margaret, and after Paddy left (with his own milk tart riding shotgun) we waddled away to do the cleaning. With that done Talita was ecstatic to work on the phone booth again; helping John to do the wood-filling work. Ferdi needed a break from people so he went to try and laminate the paddles together for the third time. This time he used wood glue in the hopes of getting better results. Then, after checking
that the welds were strong, he removed the stitches from the bottom panel. Talita joined in, and after masking off all the gaps we “welded” these shut too. It’s amazing how much pleasure we get from building this canoe and we’ve already decided on our next boat. This could become a hobby!
With bellies still full from the fish and chips lunch, we could no bear the thought of cooking dinner. We had a cuppa and a tangerine each, followed by a shower and reading in bed.
Today’s highlights:
1. Great progress on the canoe.
2. A trip to the beach with Paddy.
3. More progress on the phone booth.
Thought for the day:
We realized today that our outlook on life is completely backward. As time went by we’ve started to look at this trip as a pause until we go back to “real life”, meaning work and debts and TV and stress and all that “real” stuff. But we are more alive now than we ever were doing all the “real life” things! Author John Eldridge said that one should find what makes one come alive, then find a way to do that, and don’t worry about what you’re “supposed” to do. That sounds like good advice to us.
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thetravelbugtribe
The travel bug tribe
Glad you made the decision to stay here and enjoy your current life for a while longer. You seem to be having fun, and am sure are making a of people jealous. And you might have to start posting some of these recipes soon Talita!