Blogs from New Zealand, Oceania

September 1982: Patea was a busy little town. There were two doctors, two pharmacies, a post office and telephone exchange, County Council and Borough Councils, a town hall, banks and shops. That changed overnight when the freezing works closed. Almost everything closed, never to reopen. It is hard to believe 40 years have passed. Attending the event outside the gates to where the Works used to be was emotional for the large crowd that turned out in the rain. Memories were shared, the information board and plaque were unveiled and photos were taken. I will let this report fill you in on all the details url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018857153/patea-marks-40th-anniversay-of-freezing-works-closurehttps://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018857153/patea-marks-40th-anniversay-of-freezing-works-closure The highlight of t... read more

Netflix managed to convince me that trying glass-blowing would be something worth putting on my bucket list. That would be the long list where things don't get crossed off very often. However, my landlady heard me mention this and sent me to New Zealand Glassworks in Wanganui to make a glass paperweight. I arrived early and was able to watch the gentleman ahead of me making his paperweight. Being able to view this from the gallery was great for all the customers but quickly convinced me it was going to be far too hot for me and way beyond my capabilities due to having Sjogren's and Lupus etc. I explained my fears to the lovely staff who assured me it would be fine. They would do whatever I needed them to do. So, with great trepidation, ... read more

For photographers, Patea offers plenty of photo ops. One of the best is the historic Hunter Shaw Building. It was built in 1930 thanks to a bequest from Mr Shaw's estate. It used to house the library. My favourite memories of the building involve the clock. The mechanism for it is on the wall and didn't always work correctly. All four faces were more than capable of telling different times. It isn't open very often. I had to sneak in during Paepae in the Park.... read more

Nose Basher, Jawbreaker, Boulder dash and Rat Rock ....these might sound like Father Christmas's reindeer but they are actually rapids on the Clarence River that were marked in BOLD on our map. We thought that packing the boat for the second day would have been easier than Day 1. All the bags and barrels had to be secured to loading rings on the raft so they wouldn't disappear downstream if we capsized. I (Pete) started at one side of the raft, Jamie on the other. Gradually it emerged that we were each employing a different logic (no surprises there then). Irritatingly Jamie had a much sounder approach which Ellie spotted long before I did. It's only natural I suppose...... I undid most of my efforts and followed Jamie's guidance, trying hard to be humble and appreciative. ... read more

So just to recap the 9 days since our arrival on the South Island and our emotional reunion with Jamie and Ellie....We have completed a 3 day tramp to Angelus hut, a 4 day tramp of the Queen Charlotte track and a 2 day seakayak camping expedition in the Marborough sound. We have had our first 3 nights in a tramping hut, camped in 3 campsites and had our first wilderness camping experience on the shores of Marborough sound. We had forgotten how exhausting it is to be with Jamie! And then it was straight on to the Big One …rafting down the Clarence River with Jamie and Ellie. Apparently the Clarence river is the least explored of all NZ rivers and it just sounded rather exciting to explore it! We set off in Ellie and ... read more