A bit of progress this week. The rear part of Jo has been deteriorating for years. Tony the terrific came out and gave us a day of his time. He did a great job fixing it up for us.

We sold the reliable UM (Corolla) we just $1res it and got $1200. Which is exactly what we paid for it. A dealer in Christchurch purchased it who will no doubt do some work to it and resell it up there.

Inside we have added more storage and put up some mirrors. Rowan has closed in the back to stop any southerly rain coming in the door.

Wahoo we have windows! Unfortunately the doors are yet to be made, but we should have those next week and then we will be weathertight!

Chris is back to scarify the land, this is to ensure the levels are correct and the water runs off the properties into the stormwater drain. I got around to finishing the seahorse bird bath. I enjoyed painting it up. I just had to find time between a hundred other more important jobs.

Herbert is a bit of a shit show. We have been too busy to put things away and it shows! Rowan and I get through a lot of tidying up jobs and finishing off projects. We have a couple of Germans come and stay. Rene and his friend Johanna come for a couple of nights and we put them in Jo. Rowan and I met Rene a few years ago in Levin when walking the Te Araroa. We stayed with the lovely Geoff at the same time. Rene got in touch to let us know he was coming our way. It was great to have them come, I wish our fire was up and running for them but the blanket levels were high and hot water bottles kept them warm. We got some more use out of the brazier. Hanna serenaded us with her beautiful voice. It was a great to have them.

Our milk friends are well into the autumn calving season. Look at that face! ❤️

Our scaffold comes down, the windows are a lot easier to get in without it. All the weatherboards that can be put in prior to the window installation has now been done.

Chris came out and raised the earth around the front of the house and raised the path. It is much easier to get in and out now.

The “gang fence” iron has been taken down and replaced with Oregon pailings. It looks much better.

Lovely neighbour Dianne has given me some wonderful flowers from her yard. Look at all the different colours!

Rowan and I get to live in a real house for the long weekend. Our neighbours in Herbert Chris and Ferne have this amazing earth house and lots of animals. We are house/pet sitting, with one dog, two cats, one wild pig, 40ish chickens and countless sheep. Chris who is our very talented digger driver pretty much built the whole house himself. Ferne who is an artist shines throughout with some really cool quirky features. I would show you inside but I haven’t asked permission so I don’t want to breach their privacy. However I do believe it has been in a magazine so you could possibly find some images online.

Busy week, found time to start cleaning out Gypsy Jo. There is a lot of rats nests but luckily only one body. The place needs a bit of love. It is looking better already.

Also busy on site. The weatherboards for Stromness are painted, the colour is Dulux Manorburn Half. Also started Brough painting and the colour is Franz Josef Quarter. The soffits are completed, colour is Haunui Half. The rondo is done in one house, Rondo is metal bracing that goes on the ceilings for the plaster board (GIB).

On a late flight to Auckland. I left Palmerston and went straight to the airport. I had a chance to change clothes as I got quite hot and sticky. Mum picked me up from the airport and we stayed at Nanas house. Saturday is Woolfy’s Day Out at Runamuck . Nana made the decision that we will bury Grandpa’s ashes at the end of the day. It was a fantastic day, heaps of people came. There was a very nice celebration for Grandpa. The grandkids got together and we made flax flowers and woven mats to decorate the area. My sister Emma and I went out for a drink and she dropped me off at the airport in the morning. It was a quick trip and I was very tired from the week. I had a good nap on Sunday, but it took a long time for me to perk up.

An early Tuesday start with dropping David to Dunedin. We may have hugged longer than the allotted time.

Thanks for visiting us!

Rowan and I headed to Lawrence to meet up with the expander home people. It turned into a very long day with us getting back at 9pm. I was exhausted.

On site in Palmerston with the builders. With a big tidy up to do, Rowan and I organise the sites by moving everything in a big pile and clearing bins. The sites are looking much better and are well organised now we have changed builders. We planned to be here for the rest of the week however a last minute change of plans we are racing up to Christchurch tomorrow.

The time has come, we have been first in the queue for a back load since November. A very early start to get us up to Christchurch and meet the truck driver. We take the opportunity to bring the trailer and take our boxes out of Rick & Liz’s garage.

It takes two tries to get the truck onto the trailer. The first try we broke the rope. Billy (where it was stored) was a great help, it would have taken a lot longer without his big tip truck. We didn’t leave Christchurch until that afternoon and got back to Herbert around 7pm. Thanks to Jimmy who helped get the truck off at the local hall. Another late night and more big days ahead. Hopefully we will get a break soon.

I rush off to Mitre10 in the morning to get paint before heading down to Palmerston. I am painting weatherboards today and Rowan is mowing lawns and finishing off other jobs. It is 30 degrees and hot! Actually not great for painting as it is drying as fast as I can roll it on. I am not complaining, we will run out of nice days and soon it will be very hard to paint outside. When we get home around 6pm there are more jobs to do. There hasn’t been really any down time it is definitely eat, work, sleep repeat!

Saturday, it is the Swapmeet today in Orari. we booked a stall a long time ago, but decided we will just attend. We almost didn’t go as there is a lot on and it means another early start but we need a bit of fun. It was a nice morning out and we got back to Oamaru and did some errands before getting back to Herbert in the afternoon. There is loads of jobs to get on with but at least tonight we can have a bath!

Sunday, Rowan’s birthday but not really. We have no time to celebrate, there is too much to do. Sorry Rowan we will have to find some time when I get back from Auckland next week. Down in Palmerston, Rowan unloads all of the boxes that came from Christchurch while I paint another load of weatherboards. That is two thirds of the house done. Just as we are finishing off, Jimmy calls to say let’s move your truck into place. We get back and Jim has a plan with his tractor to get it onto our driveway. It takes a bit of time to remove the boat, camper and clear the driveway. Once done we get it into place relatively easily. A bit of damage to the bumper but nothing to worry about. Another exhausting day but it feels good to have a few big jobs off the list.

No builders on site until Wednesday. Monday is a paperwork catch up day for half of it and some jobs around Herbert.

I have a few errands to run in Dunedin this morning before picking up David (Rowan’s Dad) from the airport. He is staying a week with us. Don’t worry he won’t be playing piggy in the middle. He will sleep in the Bedford. We have a comfy king bed in there. I wanted to get the fire in for him, but Rowan ran away. Speaking of Rowan he arrives home not long after we do. Rowan cooks and David gets the brazier on. We have a good excuse to use it.

A phone call from Chris gets us a path. Now we can get back and forth without getting muddy!

Lots gets done this week. We get some good headway with the truck, Rowan and David focused on that while I did gardening and other bits. I got my vintage espresso machine going and started painting my bird bath. Rowan and David also got a load of jobs off the list for Camele. We now have a diesel heater.

Rowan and I helped Jimmy move his bus around in hopes of a pick up. Unfortunately it is too low for the trailer.

A nice meal out at Del Mar. heaps of seals around and we heard the penguins but didn’t see any.

Tony came out to help us with the truck. Well we got more done than I expected. We lined the inside with the cheap Oregon we got from Palmerston. It smells wonderful and looks great. we used left over expos insulation from our houses.

Look at these awesome puff balls we found. Yum yum! We have been having mushrooms with every meal. There is just so many of them!

Rowan and I pulled finger to finish off jobs with the truck. I got that luton cleaned out and Rowan finished off the doors for the window. We put the mattress inside and viola. We have a bedroom.

Late Thursday night Rowan booked tickets to Sydney. Bette has osteoporosis and is healing nicely but would like a visit. Rowan is just going for a couple of days. Then in April we should have more time to both be able to visit and stay longer.

At 1am I gave up trying to sleep in the camper and went to the truck. Rowan was struggling to get to sleep and I was struggling staying asleep. Man it is comfortable to be in a real bed again.

Rowan leaves Saturday morning on an early flight. So today we do a couple of jobs before he goes up and stays the night at Rick & Liz’s.

We offered help to our neighbour Jim. His sister in law is having trouble with her driveway draining. We get up early have breakfast and get the job done in an hour. Between us all it doesn’t take long to break up the AP and shovel it into our trailer. Jim will reuse the gravel somewhere.

Rowan and I then head to Palmerston to see Graham and Vaughan. It was a very productive meeting and we are all now on the same page.

A quick run down… Murray who has been the main builder is now not allowed to be working on our houses. We tried last year and he was supposed to come back this year with Graham being the lead builder. Well it just hasn’t worked out. We told Tama that we don’t want him no more and to send someone else. Now we have Graham and Vaughan who I am sure will work alongside us to get this done. Rowan and I feel much better about the situation.

Rowan leaves around lunchtime on his motorbike. I get a few jobs done around Herbert. Then head in to buy paint and go out to the movies. I saw Snow White, which was pretty good. It was for a fundraiser for Easter camp.

Saturday morning. I get to check out Macraes Mine. Rowan is sad that he is missing out. There is over 1000 people going through today and we booked the earliest time of 9am. I am glad we did as it did get busy pretty quick. We got to check out some machinery. One of the 5 holes in the ground. They eventually dig to roughly 300m (depending on what they find. It is 35 years old and they reckon it will be going till 2050 at least.

That big digger thing is actually electric!

We also got a tour of where they process the rock and pull out the gold. It takes 4 people to run this area. The whole mine runs 24hr a day 7 days a week year around. 700 staff working on 7 days on 7 days off shifts. Processing 800 tons an hour. They process 2.4 million dollars worth of gold a day. Roughly one large bar. They use 60,000L of diesel every 12 hours. It isn’t gold nuggets here, it is a fine dust similar to talcum powder. It was very interesting.

After my tour which took 3 hours I headed to the houses to paint the soffits. Graham suggested I paint them now while they are not up. I may have a touch up or two but it is much easier to do it now. Laura, Alistair and the kids dropped in for a visit. They had a tour at the mine too.

Today’s weather is rather crap. I made the most of it by staying in my pjs and making a net curtains for the truck out of material I had left over from the antique shop. I need to do a little editing and I may add onto it. But I am rather happy with the outcome.

I go into town to do a few errands and realise it is a public holiday. Well that shortened my tasks dramatically. I go home to get a few jobs done around Herbert. Catch up on washing and cleaning. Not a very exciting day I am afraid.

A beautiful day. Rowan took me up a well known canyoning spot. We went up as far as we could easily get. The water was absolutely freezing. I was being a wimp but I pushed through because it is incredibly beautiful.

The weather started to pack it in the closer we got to Jackson Bay. By the time we got to the Craypot for lunch it was light rain but the one that soaks you through in a matter of minutes. A nice lunch and a hot drink to warm up we went back to the Arawhata River to camp up. the weather cleared about 6pm. I spent the afternoon in the camper reading and Rowan went down to the river in the rain to look at rocks. You can get Pounamu in the rivers here but you can only take from the beaches not the river.

What a stunning day! I want to go to the beach to look for rocks and driftwood. Down at Neil’s Beach with my head down searching, my eyes noticed something black in the water. I stop to see what it is thinking a shag. Turns out it is Hector Dolphins. Well off come my clothes and I jump in.

A large wave comes at me and I dive under without thinking about my glasses. After being battered and standing back up, I realise I can’t see anymore. Well there go a few dollars. Hashtag well worth it!

Rowan jumps in too and they come up so close on nudges into him. A few hours in and out of the water, they follow us right down the beach and back again. We decide we will come back at low tide to see if the ocean gives back my glasses. Luckily I am not so blind I can’t see a dolphin.

Amazingly on our way back getting close to where I jumped in Rowan says keep an eye out for my specs and not 10 steps later he found them. They are a bit battered from the sand and rocks. It is great being able to see again! I wasn’t really worried as I do have two others in the camper I could have used.

We came across some guys on the beach and told them to get in. Rowan took lots of photos for them and got their number to share them. His dog Rimu is a bit scared of the waves but just waited while he had a swim.

After our epic swim we walked out to Ocean Beach. A very easy walk. I am glad we did it but it wasn’t anything spectacular. Unfortunately on the way back there was a couple on the track with a dog on the lead. There are literally huge signs as you enter the track no dogs as there are penguins nesting here. I told them to go back. They argued that they wouldn’t go to the beach and I said the penguins come into the forest too. So go back. I think they slowly did. I don’t know why people can’t just abide the rules. I told the DOC worker and he said there isn’t anything they can do, but thanked us for telling them to leave.

A walk out on the pier showed us a lot of small fish which means the big fish are not around at the moment.

Up river for the night opposite Lake Ellery. We stayed right on the riverbank as we knew what the weather was doing. Out here there is no signal! What bliss. A swim in the river washed off all the sand and salt from this mornings swim. We had a fantastic day.

I left Rowan on the river and walked up to Lake Ellery, following the Ellery Creek. The track was a great mix of what NZ bush walking can be. A little bit of mud, some wooden bridges, a few stairs and a few rocky steep bits. All doable in a pair of crocs. I really enjoyed the walk. The lake is quite sizeable. May need to come back with the raft one day.

In the afternoon we went out to get some reception to check our messages. Bette, Rowan’s grandma has osteoporosis and is in a lot of pain. But she is on the mend. We also wanted to check the weather.

Jarmie day! That’s right we spent the whole day in the camper going nowhere! It was great. I finally finished my trilogy of His Dark Materials. I have been reading off and on, with other books in between. I can’t say I loved them but I did enjoy the story.

Saturday it is time to start heading home. We decided to break up the drive rather than do it all in one day. It also means we get back at a reasonable time. We met with an expanding container home company in Queenstown. We have looked at these before but found them not being able to get compliance. This company is working closely with a client to get them legally on some land down Gore way. It will be interesting to see if they can make it happen. It will fulfil a big gap in the market.

Last night we stayed on Lake Dunstan but not in our usual spot. Heading off home today and plan an early lunch at the Waipiata Pub. Well Camele had other plans, the radiator is stuffed. Normally very good at keeping her temperature she began to overheat. Rowan noticed it warmer than usual. We stopped, let the engine cool down and put more water in. From there we were about 20min from the pub. We happily got her there and found a lot of admirers outside the pub. A group of cyclists who just thought she was fantastically retro! Well after lunch we put about 250ml into the radiator. So not too bad. Then we timed 15min stopped and checked. Then did 40min stopped and checked. By then we had made it to Palmerston which is only 30min from Herbert. We are definitely making it home.

A bit later than we wanted. Let’s worry about fixing the radiator tomorrow.

It is like everyone knew I was going away for the week and decided to call or email. It took all Monday to catch up on paperwork and call everyone back. Can I go back on holiday now please?

A local lady did our cushions for us with some wool blankets we got from the local tip shop. $25 a cushion what a bargain. The material was falling apart when we got the camper but we hoped to not have to do anything. Well a year of constant use degraded them into rags. Now they are snazzy!

A little catch up to do! Sorry I have had some technical issues with the blog so I haven’t been able to load it properly.

I got 102 native plants in by our pond/stream. I have more to plant but need to wait for more digger work first. They are all flaxes and and grasses with a few giant rush too. Hoping they do the trick. I am thinking of getting some natives for the water to keep it oxygenated and keep any algae at bay!

Rowan and I went down to Palmerston to organise a few things and ended up having a nice meal in Moeraki. Which was a late lunch/breakfast! We decided a night on the coast was in order and there was a bit of squall of weather. I have never been battered so much in the camper. We were wondering if it was going to push us off the cliff. It didn’t last long but it sure hit hard.

A bit more work on the Bedford done. I love my scallops, it was worth the work.

Cladding going on the houses. They just go up to the base of the windows. The windows have been ordered in Windsor Grey same colour as the roof iron.

The local timber mill has decided to close as they can’t keep up with the large timber mills. They have been going for 40 years and is a full family outfit. The owner actually went out to get all his workers new jobs before telling them it has to close. You wouldn’t get that sort of treatment in a big company.

We got a few packs of timber they were getting rid of for firewood. It is untreated Oregon that we will use for fencing rails and such. Unfortunately we weren’t in the market to buy anything else. But it looks like they got rid of most of it at the normal prices which is awesome! We did 3 separate loads. Two to site and one back to Herbert.

I have gotten our specification list for the houses to 80% done. Rowan and I are going on a break to the West Coast. There are no builders on site next week so why not!

A small amount of errands to do on our way out of town, with a shop for food as we have plans to be a bit bush. We aimed for 10am but got away at 11am. There is a restaurant in Twizel that has been on our list to try for a long time. I also want some Salmon and real wasabi.

Turns out the restaurant doesn’t open until 2pm, Google has the wrong hours. Oh well we are not hanging around. A quick stop in Wānaka takes us to a few op shops and a garage sale. Going through all this area we cycled brings back lots of memories. Especially around Lake Hāwera, man that was an exhausting day. We ended up camping exactly where we did last time, by the Makarora River before Haast Pass.

An epic sunrise to start my day. Rowan opened an eye but I left him sleeping. I opened my cards and a lovely hand made gift from my dad. Rowan made me pancakes with lemon and sugar.

Rowan and I both got a great Thai massage and pedicures. Then went out for lunch at the Whitestone Diner, which we have been wanting to go check out since it opened last year. I did get to the kitchen team at mitre10 while Rowan had his massage, I couldn’t not do a little work.

Back at Herbert we took Camele up to Mt Misery and Rowan cooked my nachos for dinner. All in all it was a great day.

Back to reality, we need to get this paperwork done! I have also been oiling the deck of the Bedford once every 24 hours. I think it will take 4 good coats of oil.

Roof is on in Palmy! Wahoo! The colour is Windsor Grey. I didn’t want black.

I got to the job of the old railway fire. I removed the rust and oiled it. Finally got the last coat of oil on the floor. The front wall has now been stained so it is clean and usable as out headboard. I need to paint the roof and the luton too.

In other good news. We were supposed to have mediation with Jetstar this week and we instead got a very timely payout. Well worth the fuss! It shows that it is worth fighting them for a canceled flight.

Chris arrives with a moments notice. We are trying to scarify the land. It is not that easy as it is still quite mushy. But he gets as much done as possible. Yay for having our bridge in place now.

Rowan and I worked hard to get the cladding done this weekend. It was hot work! We had an early start on Sunday. Jim helped us by getting rid of some green waste and we helped him by bringing a mirror from the farm to his property in Ngapara. It had the added benefit of returning Nanas stolen chair back to Riverstone Kitchen. They tell me it happens all the time haha.

We work late into the day and finally finish about 8pm. The rain is coming, we really wanted the main cladding to be completed. Doesn’t she look cute?

On Monday we headed in to do some paperwork then took the rest of the wet day off. Feeling quite tired and needing a break!