Day 301-303 Karamea, New Zealand


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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island
November 26th 2009
Published: November 26th 2009
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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 at their own pace. You can fight it and get frustrated, or you can go with the flow and enjoy the process. Unfortunately that’s easier said than done for certain people (we won’t name names ;-).

Today’s highlights:
1. Long chat with the Mansells.
2. Toasted cheese and mushroom sammies.

Tuesday, November 24th


We realised that we needed a bit more timber
UnbelievableUnbelievableUnbelievable

There was no moon to give light, but the stars were bright enough so Ferdi could move around without a torch
supplies to finish the Boesman so we ordered the stuff from Westport. We didn’t want to drive all the way there for $25 worth of wood so we tried to contact Karamea Transport. We couldn’t get hold of them but Talita left a message. We just hoped that we’d get hold of them before the end of the day, otherwise we might wait a long time for a few small pieces of wood.

We had our doctor’s appointment this morning. Both our prescriptions were running on empty so we desperately needed a top-up. The doctor only visits Karamea once every fortnight, so we were happy to have an appointment. It took 10mins and cost less than we expected. Our pills would have to come from Westport so we’d only receive it the following day.

On the way home we stopped by a gorgeous Appaloosa horse we’d been eyeing every time we drove through town. It always looks so forlorn, standing all alone near the road. He wouldn’t come to us so we ventured into his compound. He was friendly enough, but by no means excited to see us. We spent a few minutes stroking and patting him then continued home.

Talita baked another scrumptious Banana Bread and we devoured half with our tea. We still couldn’t get hold of the transport company and the pharmacy in Westport couldn’t find both our scripts. Talita decided not to bother phoning until close to 5pm.
We did some more work on the van and when the sand-flies started coming out we headed indoors.

Talita got hold of all the right people and arranged for both our timber and our pills to be delivered the following day. She then proceeded to cook a wonderful potato dish. It’s safe to say that she’s getting the hang of this cooking and baking thing. It must be the Afrikaans blood that courses through her veins.

We shared a few glasses of wine while we watched a documentary. Before bed we sat reading for a bit and then called it a night.

Today’s highlights:
1. Spending a few minutes with a beautiful horse.
2. More delicious Banana Bread.
3. Getting our scripts and timber arranged.

Wednesday, November 25th


When Ferdi went out for his customary 1am pee, he found the sky ablaze with a billion stars. It was the first clear night since we’d come to bus-sit and the view blew him away. It was almost unbelievable how many stars he could see and once again brought home just how small we really are. He got back into bed but couldn’t resist going out again and spent an hour photographing the stars. He also shot his very first night panorama. It was a wonderful hour, gazing up at a small part of God’s vast creation. Before returning to bed he saw three falling stars, but didn’t manage to get a picture of them. He had such a good time that he only realized how cold it was once he got back in bed.

Ferdi woke early, and when he went to feed the ladies he once again found no eggs. We’re wondering if maybe a Weka is getting into the coup and stealing the eggs. We have no idea how it could get in, because it’s unable to fly.

After breakfast we backed up our photos to DVD and since it didn’t rain last night Ferdi had to water the garden. When the composting toilet’s bucket was full it was Talita’s turn to take it out to the worm-farm. It’s not nearly as bad as one would imagine. In fact, it’s definitely much more gross to clean a diaper.

We spent the afternoon planning and marking out the next few steps in the van building process. Our timber and medication didn’t arrive from Westport until just before 5pm. We drove into town, picked up the timber and our pills, and headed to the holiday park to pick up Bruce. He’d spent the day ripping the roof off one of the units to fix the rotting beams and facia. He’d had to remove three dead rats and two bird’s nests, each containing four chicks. When we arrived we helped him to pull a huge tarp over the unit in case of rain, then spent a few minutes chatting to John.

We drove to Bruce’s place where he cooked a yummy dinner, then went to visit Gary, a very friendly guy a few properties away. We met his wife Rose and their six week old baby Deacon. Gary showed us his gardens, then made a delicious Rhubarb Crumble. We’ve never had Rhubarb (which was a big surprise to them) and it was amazing! We spent the night getting to know each other. There’s really a great community of people here in Karamea.

Today’s highlights:
1. A billion stars shining down on us.
2. Successful photo backups.
3. Getting our pills and our timber.
4. Getting to know Gary and Rose.

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28th November 2009

Great photos!
Great pan too. Unbelievable shows the constellation 'Orion' which looked a little odd to me at first until I realized it is 'upside down' given my northern hemisphere perspective! Cool. I think the Three Sisters are actually the Seven Sisters (The Pleiades). It looks like the head of 'Taurus the Bull' between the the Seven Sisters and the three bright stars in Orions belt. Great photos bringing back fond memories of tropical star gazing. Thanks.
29th November 2009

love the night shots! Yes, Orion is "upside down" down here, and the Pleiades sounds about right. You have an awesome night sky down there.

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