A Box of Birds: April 2008

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Farewell

It has been great having you all here, James has loved meeting his cousins and we have loved seeing you all, especially Anna and Emma. XXX

Kaikoura

I am back at work but Tracy and her family went to Kaikoura for a couple of days. Looks like they had a nice time.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Catch

On the way back to Christchurch we stopped at Blenheim to visit a couple of vineyards. We sampled some wine while the kids played amongst the vines.

Friday, April 04, 2008

What a fantastic day, even James and Emma got to ride as well.

I often joke that New Zealand is like a big village and this proves it: as soon as Harmony introduced himself I knew who he was. When I first arrived in New Zealand I started listening to Radio Pacific (now Radio Live) which is a talkback station. Harmony is a folk singer who often phones in to share his wisdom or sing a topical ditty.

Thanks Harmony for a brilliant experience. If I ever meet John Tamihere I will tell him to cut you some slack.

Into the Sunset

On the way back we all went for a trot. Anna loved it and rode very well. Even I managed a short canter.

It was lovely out on the beach, Tracy and I have walked the Abel Tasman track and we have kayaked it as well but this was a very new and exciting way to experience this wonderful part of the world.

Anna and Frog

Anna is crazy about horses, but I don't think she has ever ridden such a big one before. His name was frog and he appeared in Lord Of the Rings as one of the horses of Rohan. Our guide trained most of the horses for the movies.

All at Sea

Trekking through the waves was amazing. We were like real men, even the women!

Harmony Aquarian

This is the man himself. A truly unique individual. If you are ever in the Abel Tasman region you have to do this. His website is here: Pegasuspark

On the Beach

After our brief but comprehensive lesson we headed out to the beach. We had to cross a couple of small rivers.

Harmony had a ghetto blaster strapped to the back of his horse. This was wrapped in the confederate flag and was connected to his i-Pod which played a selection of classic 60s hits.

When we reached the waters edge, we just kept on going, riding out into the surf. What an experience.

Howdy Pardner

Today we went for a horse ride. I am not a huge fan of these things. Normally they involve sitting on top of a very bored horse which plods along a pre-defined track at a snails pace, kind of like a slow fairground ride.

This was very different, firstly our guide was one of a kind, a crazy old hippy cowboy from America called 'Harmony Aquarian'. No kidding! We were a bit taken aback at first as he did not seem all there.

We should not have feared, he was brilliant. He told us, in no uncertain terms, that we would not even be allowed out of the paddock until we had convinced him we could ride.

I am a total novice but within 15 minutes I could make my horse walk forwards, stop, turn right and left on the spot and walk backwards. It was fantastic.

Oh, and I got to wear this very retro CHiPs hat.

My Precious

Today we visited Nelson. Julie is a huge LOTR fan so while the men looked after the young'uns, Tracy took Julie to the ultimate Tolkien mecca. This is where the ring was created, and no lava in sight!

This ring is the large scale one used for close ups in the movie. They also have the normal sized one plus loads of other jewellery from the film.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Sunset Over Takaka Valley

What a lovely day, as we drove back the sun setting over the valley was awesome. Makes it all worth the very twisty-windy drive (which didn't agree with poor little Emma). Nick if you want a laugh, check this out.

A Last Swim...

...before winter. Considering the clocks go back on Sunday, the water was surprisingly warm.

Dude, Where's My Surfboard

This reminds me of this great New Zealand advert.

I'll get in Trouble For Posting This One!

The water was warm but we couldn't persuade Julie or Sandra to swim.

Paddling

After our morning fishing we drove to Totaranui beach. This is a beautiful spot in the middle of the national park. It was deserted so we had the whole beach to ourselves.