Phoebe's Farm {Cath}

---

My friend, Phoebe, has a farm, ei ay ei ay oh... and on that farm she has some sheep, ei ay, ei ay, oh... da da dada da, da da dada da, dadada, dadada... my friend Phoebe has a farm.

Actually, it's Phoebe's Dad that had the farm... we were invited to go out with her and Damien (her boyfriend), and Dave and Eriko to visit her Dad and enjoy some down time from the pretty hectic weeks we'd all been having. Dave, Eriko, Darrell and I all piled into Our Beetroot {Cath} and Phoe and Damien went in Phoebe's car. It's the biggest trip we'd ever taken the Troot on!

The drive was great. As we slowly wound higher and higher into the Wainui mountains, the view got more and more spectactular! As we decended down the other side of the mountain nearing the farm, we started smelling something burning... not good when you're heading down a steep road! When we finally arrived at the farm, the smell was pretty strong, and we managed to locate the cause almost immediately when we got out of the car. The brakes were smoking!

The farm was incredible. It's a sheep (primarily) farm and we arrived just as Phoebe's Dad was hearding them into their new pen. It was awesome to see how well the dogs work together! It's amazing how well the animals are trained!

The farm is on quite a steep hill, which means the view is amazing. It overlooks the Akaroa {Cath} harbour and Akaroa town, and in the evenings all the lights from Akaroa twinkle in the distance. It's really beautiful!

Phoebe's Dad is busy working on building a new house for himself slightly higher up the hill. We went to have a look at it, and it's incredible! He's designed the house, and is now building it himself. Quite the project! 😊 It's looking amazing, and when it's finished, it's going to be a great house to live in.

The current house is really beautiful. I has big rooms, wooden floors, and windows all over. It's got a big lounge with a log burner heater and an en suite kitchen, giving the front of the house a really warm and inviting feel. There's a deck outside facing Akaroa and the harbour. It was really beautiful, on the first evening we were there, there was this massive rainbow that stretched right across the harbour. All the boys were out with their cameras in no time!

The area surrounding the farm is incredibly beautiful. We went on a few morning/afternoon runs/walks, and there are just hills and sheep and green as far as you can see. There's just so much space and nothing in it feels wild or harsh. It's such a great way to escape the world for a bit. It restores the soul and replenishes the spirit.

The evenings can get pretty cold, and were best spent sitting around the table playing poker or watching rented movies. Being a sheep farm, Phoebe's dad provided a massive plate of lamb chops and ribs. It was delicious. Phoebe is also a whizz in the kitchen and she whipped up this amazing ham hoc soup. I don't think any of us could stand after the meal!

Beetroot's effort.

As all things do, our weekend came to an end and it was time to head back to reality, so we packed the 'Troot, said our goodbyes and big thank yous and headed back up the hill.

We were about half way up the hill when our overlooded Rootiepatoot decided 'no more'. She was going to take a break right there and then and that was it. No amount of stern warning would convince her to go any further.

Dave, Eriko and I all piled out of the car and tried to push but it's not so easy trying to push an overloaded car up hill and we ended up skidding down hill as Darrell found the brakes again. We tried everything to get her started again (even roll starting the car in reverse!), but nothing worked. The engine was flat. And then, just as mysteriously as she'd stopped, she started again! Darrell drove her up the steepest part of the hill and we eventually caught up again (puffing and panting... I don't blame her for cutting out!) piled in again and tried to pull off. But she cut out again. Eventually she got going again with all of us inside, but due to the loose gravel on the road, Darrell couldn't afford to slow down at all, lest she cut out again.

Phoebe and Damien had obviously gotten worried about us, and had turned around to see if there was a problem. As soon as we saw them coming down the 1 car's width road, we all started waving frantically trying to indicate to them to try to get out of the way. We really didn't want to stop the car! With about 10m to spare, they understood what we were getting at, and poor Phoebs did some fantastic post haste reverse work all the way up the rest of the hill (about 1.5km!)

Once we were on the tar again Beetroot was great...

---

Photos

Sheep at sunset
Looking out over Akaroa Bay

Bunny
A little guy the girls saved from the cats

Comments

[Stephanie and Andras]

What an idyllic scene - that full rainbow is simply stunning.

[Mia Taylor]

nice photo! =)