Blogs from West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 8

Monday, February 15th After our morning exercise we started to work on the seats for our canoe. We had bought two camp-chairs for the canvas and seat-backs and proceeded to build two wooden frames that fit into the canoe at the correct height and position. It look some planning and problem solving to get the shape and position just right, but by the end of the day we had the two frames pretty much sorted. Just before noon we drove to the medical centre. Ferdi had to see the doctor so that he could get a refill on his prescription. It’s a total money making scheme. We had to part with $100, more than double what we paid on our last visit to the same centre and the same doctor! Makes no sense, but we had ... read more

Tuesday, February 9th We got up feeling very deflated. Last night’s documentary had awoken the old feelings of watchful insecurity and fear that we call “normal” in South Africa. It is shocking to realize that we live the way we do back home when there are places like NZ (and we suppose that Australia, most of the US and Europe are similar) where people enjoy freedoms that we can only dream of in SA. Even so, we made it all the way to the top of the track without taking a break, and all the way down in about 20mins (as apposed to the 1h30 the signs indicate). Back home we sanded down the exterior of the canoe and applied yet another layer of resin. This would probably be the second to last coat. Paddy had ... read more

Wednesday, February 3rd The last day of our diet dawned sunny and hot. There was no spring in Karamea this year. It went from winter straight into summer in a matter of days. All we could think about though, was the end of our diet and the promise of a meal without rice. Before we started the diet we had taken front and side pictures of our mid-sections, because without a scale we thought pictures might tell us if we’d improved visually. Looking at the ‘before’ and ‘after’ pics we saw that Talita had lost her boobs and butt, while Ferdi lost a bit around the waist and under the boobs. Both of us, unfortunately, still had our bellies intact. Seems these will have to be destroyed with another diet session or some serious exercise. Ferdi ... read more

Thursday, January 28th The human body is a truly amazing thing. Ferdi’s wounded thumb is already almost as good as new. He doesn’t even have to keep it covered anymore. Anyway, this morning, just as Ferdi walked out the cabin with his toothbrush in his mouth, Paddy arrived. We hadn’t seen him for a few days, which was a little unusual. We’d decided that if he didn’t visit today we’d drive out to his place this afternoon. Turns out he missed us (not that he’d admit it in so many words, but we knew) so he came for a cuppa. Talita showed off her flute skills, but when Paddy took the flute for a play he said that the flute had “lost it”, meaning the sound it produced was not up to his standards. He said ... read more

Monday, January 25th The canoe was coming along at a good pace, and we were getting eager to finish her, not just for the pleasure of launching her, but also because we have a feeling that our time in Karamea will soon come to an end. Since this is her birth place we’d really like to launch her here in the estuary. The thought of leaving this place fills us with a sense of loss, but unless there’s some kind of miracle, we’re here on borrowed time. One thing is for certain; we’ll return here again and again, no matter where we might end up. The friends we’ve made and the kindness we’ve received here are beyond anything we could’ve expected. Karamea is a very special place. Ferdi just wanted to install the gunwales, but after ... read more