The Animals of Spray Point

Sunday, March 6th, 2011
Spray Point Station, Marlborough

It's autumn for sure up here in the high country! We went to bed last night with rain pouring down, and first thing when I woke up, Sarah told me that it had snowed during the night. I didn't believe her at first, because the view down the valley (North) was this:

 (Click on Photos to Enlarge)

But then she took me outside and pointed back up the valley:

How fantastic is that? Have I mentioned that I will never ever get tired of the amazing landscape around here?

It's one of those fantastic fall days, where the air is very chilly and a fleece and boots are necessary to go outside, but the sun is warm on your back. It's pretty cloudy and the weather is a bit moody, but I can't get enough of it. It's been almost a year and a half since we've experienced proper fall weather, and it feels great! Matt's got a fire going in the woodstove this morning and it's lovely. The family have taken off down to a bach (pronounced "batch," a small vacation house) on the Marlborough Sounds for Roland's parents' anniversary, and will be back tomorrow afternoon. We have stayed behind to care for the house and animals, and are more than happy to do so. There's something about being up here in this valley that makes me not want to drive down to town until we have to leave for good, and we love being responsible for all the animals, cleaning the house, doing laundry and various repair jobs for the family here. 

It's fair to say that neither Matt or I have ever been on a farm of this magnitude and size, or with this variety (and sheer number) of animals. As such, I thought I'd give you all a run-down on the animal inhabitants of the station, which keep life here busy and interesting. I'll start with the horses, because yesterday afternoon when Jenny and I had finished canning (the peaches we had picked the day before, and a huge mess of pears--pronounced "peeuhs"--that Roland's mum had sent up with the postman), Jenny caught and saddled up 3 of the 7 paints, and we went for a ride down the valley. The horses are paints, or "coloreds" as they are called here, and are half Kaimanawa, or New Zealand wild horse, a variety that went feral after being released ages ago on the north island by the NZ army. My mount, Nellie, needed her toenails trimmed before we went, so Jenny gave Matt a lesson in hoof maintenance, and he got to act as farrier!

With the horses ready to go, off we went, me on Nellie, Matt on Flirt, and Jenny on Mischief, who is in foal. I hadn't been on a horse since 1997, and had never ridden English style (I was actually on Roland's dad's old stock saddle) and the horses were feisty, but we did just fine. Nellie did not take well to being behind Flirt, so would break into a trot at every chance in order to get ahead, but answered well when I reigned her in. If you've never been on a trotting horse, I'm here to tell you that it's mighty uncomfortable! We had a great time though, riding down through the paddocks to the crystal clear river (which is muddy again this morning after the rain), and enjoying being on horseback for the first time in a long time!

I thought we would have looked a little more badass had we had tall boots and brim hats, but I'm really not complaining. Look at that view!

Besides the horses, the human family of four, two goldfish and Chico the cat, Spray Point is also home to the following:

 Pretty the Calf

 30some-odd beef cattle

 Four sheepdogs

 A flock of doves

 An assortment of geese

 Three Guinea hens

 Princess Jasmine, the most patient kitten on earth (any guesses as to which member of the family named her?)

 One magpie (used as a decoy for shooting other magpies- they are an invasive species here)

 Half a dozen lorikeets (just for kicks :)

 

 Mr. Pig, aged 17. He was found as a (wild) piglet on the side of the road and given to Jenny and has been a pet and kitchen scrap disposal ever since. Note the tusks (he is actually very friendly)

 Two pairs of Amherst Pheasants, kept just to have some nice color around. 

Four Red Shaver hens.

And of course the many, many sheep.

And, because there might not be enough photos in this post already, here's a few more bits and pieces of life here:

 Could you ask for a cooler location?

Life at Spray Point Station

Friday, 4th March, 2011
Spray Point Sheep Station
Waihopai Valley, Marlborough, New Zealand

Judging by how long it took me to figure out what day of the week to write at the top of this post, I'm losing track of time up here in the mountains. We have been up here only about four days now, but it feels like we're part of the family and have been up here away from civilisation for much longer than we actually have. After parting ways with our friends in Blenheim on Tuesday, we grabbed a few groceries that Jenny had requested we bring up, and then set out on the hour-long drive south into the hills, up the Waihopai (wai-HOH-pee) River. After turning off the highway, we drove for 45 kms up a narrow, but paved (most of the way), road through vistas that words can hardly do justice to. The mountains up here look like something you might see in western Montana or maybe the hilly parts of Wyoming, huge steep slopes covered in the ubiquitous gorse, Scotch broom, and sheep, with the tops of the cottonwoods turning yellow and the valleys along the waterways filled with Radiata Pines (spread from the timber plantations found all over New Zealand).

When we arrived at the house and farmstay, we found Jenny and Roland away, with the postman hanging out with Sarah (3, going on 4) and Ben (5). Roland was away for about 10 days and returned home the next night (he does outdoor survey work in support of environmental and habitat restoration efforts), and Jenny had gone out for a trail ride with a guest and was delayed getting home by a broken stirrup leather. A neighbor down the road provides childcare a couple days a week, and the postman brings the kids home on his way up to the station. Also, he often brings up groceries and such as needed- a great rural time-saving system! Anyway, he left Ben and Sarah in our care and we immediately were adopted as favored playmates, given a tour of the house, introduced to the kitten and the chickens, and were quickly drafted into building a Noah's ark out of foam blocks. Jenny arrived home to us sprawled on the living room floor among blocks and plastic animals, and we got started on dinner for the family along with the American couple who were paying guests. Dinner was a delicious one of barbecued schnitzel steak, potatoes, veggies, and a peach Pavlova for dessert. The "Pav" is a Kiwi invention, originally conceived of in honor and named for the ballerina of the same name. It is like a crispy meringue on the outside and the taste and texture of a lightly roasted marshmallow on the inside, and topped with cream and fruit. This is the one we had last night, topped with blackberries:

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

Life here is busy, our days are very full, and things are always kept lively by the two little munchkins and the menagerie of animals. Matt and I spend a lot of time entertaining the kids to give Jenny time to keep up with the paperwork for the farmstay business and wool trade, and we are also helping with the animals, laundry, cooking, cleaning, getting the cob cottage ready for guests, and other duties as assigned! While there are a number of things we would do differently, this is a happy place, and most definitely a beautiful one. Autumn has most definitely arrived, with chilly nights, turning leaves, and quite a bit of rain. Yesterday morning I went upstairs early (we are in the guest room in the daylight basement) to freezing cold air- a clear night had caused temperatures to drop after a day of rain, resulting in a brilliant but chilly morning, and amazing views down the valley with everything covered in moisture:

 Morning view from the kitchen window. 

We all piled into the Ute (Utility Vehicle, in this case a 4WD farm truck with a snorkle for fording creeks) after breakfast, and after dropping the kids at the neighbors', Jenny and Roland took us up the eastern boundary of the station, up the River Spray. Spray Point Station is absolutely massive- 2,000 hectares, which is close on to 5,000 acres- but is the smallest station in the valley. The largest is 27,000 acres. On this huge property, Jenny and Roland run 1,500 Merino sheep, which we will be mustering (rounding up) out of the hills soon. It took us a good half an hour to drive up to the end of the track at Boundary Creek hut, not considering that we stopped along the way to drive some sheep we found into holding yards, and to pick blackberries in a creek bottom. The backcountry hut serves as lodging for paying guests who want to get a real backcountry experience, and also for fencers, other contractors, and musterers to stay in, rather than drive all the way back to the main house at night. We stopped up there for lunch and a cup of tea, and Matt and I were thoroughly impressed by the design and workmanship we found in the hut- Roland has a keen eye for details and a love of antique fixtures and such, making the atmosphere really fitting for the location.

On the way back down, we picked up a load of previously cut firewood, and found in the stack these crazy slugs, with leaf-vein patterns on them (being outdoors with Roland is a bit like taking a walk with my dad- he is constantly noticing details of the natural world and has very sharp eyes for birds, animals, and other interesting things- he is a veritable well of information):

We also collected a couple of this spring's lambs that hadn't been dagged or drenched (medicated against worms and flies), so Jenny and I made the ride back down on top of the firewood in the back of the Ute with the four sheepdogs, and lamb in each of our laps!

Dinner last night was another delicious ones with more guests and another Pavlova. We partook of wild pork (delicious!) and scallops, which I had never had before but may very likely be my new favorite shellfish.

We woke up to another rainy day today, but during a break in the showers, we all put on our gumboots and went out to pick peaches, which Jenny and I have been putting up this afternoon. I think the true feeling of fall can be condensed down to wearing gumboots and a rain jacket, picking peaches from a soaking wet tree on a crisp morning.

The family have gone off on their weekly trip to town, and now that our various chores are done and we've lounged around enjoying the quiet for a little while, it's time to go start a stew for dinner. There's so much more to tell, of animals and cottages and views and escaping horses and kiddos, but in the meantime, here's some more photos of our life up here:

Our Journey South

Wednesday Night, March 2nd, 2011
Spray Point Station, Waihopai Valley, South Island

Happy March to everyone out there, and welcome to autumn for us! So far, the South Island has been very good to us, and I am writing from deep in the hill country, where the scenery looks like a cross between "A River Runs Through It" and "Man From Snowy River," children attend school by correspondence, a 5-year-old boy collects the eggs and acts out dramas with his train set (involving the trains regularly derailing and everyone needing to be rescued by brave "helichopter" pilots) and the most tolerant kitten in the world is carried, dropped, dragged, dressed up, and strapped into a stroller by an almost-4-year-old who changes her name every few days. Yes, life is pretty good. This place deserves so much description and praise, but that will keep, for now if you want to see where we are, check out Roland and Jenny's website to get a glimpse of our life for the next couple of weeks.

Back in Napier, our Japanese friend Kiyo decided to cut his hair like Matt's, although the result was a bit more snazzy, and he made sure to get photos of us and the "mohi-mohi":

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

Our drive from Napier to the Wellington area was fairly unremarkable, besides more nice pastoral scenery (and lots of orchards), another expendable part falling off the van, and passing the Tui brewery in the middle of nowhere (Tui being a ubiquitous New Zealand beer):

On Sunday night we camped at the free site in the Wairarapa where we camped with Jessa back in January, having come full circle around the island since then. It was a chilly night but we had an excellent night's sleep, and waking up just before seven the next morning, we were treated to an incredible sunrise:

We drove into Wellington on Monday morning in time to meet an old friend of Matt's (from when he worked in Scotland) for coffee before checking in for the ferry. Then at about 9:30 AM we drove up to the ramp and into the vehicle bay of the Arahura (noteably, the same ferry that took me and Provo across the strait in 2007), where Lucy made the voyage while we enjoyed the ride from the passenger decks. The Interislander is pretty plush, with a cinema, food court, cafe, gift shop, bar, the optionfor wireless internet, and a fancy club lounge on the top deck. It's well done and good that there's lots of diversions, because the crossing takes three hours. Although with the gorgeous day we got, the scenery was pretty much entertainment enough. We spent most of the ride relaxing by the windows in the main passenger deck, then went outside onto the observation decks when we entered the Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound. It was a beautiful day, though very windy, with a swell that made walking around on the top deck while out in the strait a bit of a challenge, but it calmed down when we got to the sounds. I thoroughly enjoyed the crossing (and geeked out over it a bit more than Matt, although he liked it too), and it was a perfect welcome to the South Island, sailing up through the dramatic scenery of the sounds to Picton, which is a picturesque little white town nestled in a basin between the hills, full of sails and ferries and backpackers.

 Waiting in line to board the ferry. 

 Sailing out of Wellington, and saying goodbye to the North Island. 

 The clouds were absolutely amazing. 

 South Island!

 I don't think we could have ordered a nicer day. 

Passing the Kaitake, a smaller ferry, on the way into Picton. 

Sailing into Picton Harbour.

Pretty much the instant we drove off the ferry in Picton, we found my friend Rose, and it was ever so good to see her, and to meet her boyfriend, Tyler, and their friend Celine. The three of them had come off the ice and into Christchurch the night before the earthquake, and had lost most of their belongings in the quake and were just trying to get out and relax and recover for a little while. I hadn't seen Rose in years, but we had kept in touch, and it was crazy to see her standing on the side of the street in this little seaside town in New Zealand! After a resupply mission to a local supermarket, we caravanned to the coast and made for a free campsite about 20kms up a twisting road around very high cliffs, and after not too many curves, found ourselves at our destination, Robin Hood Bay. We could have dealt with about a million fewer sandflies and maybe a little less wind, but it was a fabulously beautiful place to camp, another little gem of a remote bay, at the foot of a very steep valley, with a farm nestled back at the end of the bay.

 This is the scenery we were treated to on the drive in. 

 From our campsite...

 Robin Hood Bay from the road above.

Rose, Matt and Celine. Rose: "I think I can deal with camping here!"

We enjoyed the company so much, having spent little time with Americans since leaving home, and even less with old friends. We chatted, caught up (or got to know each other), ukeleles were played, songs were sung, delicious food was cooked, walks were taken, Matt got in a great little surf (and reports that the water is "Cold! Almost like Oregon!" on this coast), and when the wind and sandflies became too much, we all retreated into Rose and Tyler's tent with beer, hard cider, chocolate and a deck of cards for an hour or two before going to bed. 

Matt out in the waves. 

After breakfast yesterday we all drove into Blenheim, where a few errands were run, but mostly we all just enjoyed hanging out, talking a mile a minute, poking around in shops, admiring the sweet little town, and relaxing over Thai food for lunch. I can't really explain how good it all was, and how nice it felt to spend time with these friends and somehow feel like we all healed a bit, a week on from the Earthquake. In the afternoon, it was time for Matt and I to make the hour-long drive up to the station here, for Celine to hitch north to Picton to catch the ferry the next day, and for Rose and Tyler to head for a backpackers in Kaikoura en route back to Christchurch with their rental car before flying off to Asia. So we parted ways with big hugs and wishes for safe and happy adventures all around, and I'm now enjoying the memories of our day and a half together, our welcome to the South Island!