Otane to Feilding- where it all began!

This past week we finished up our time in the Hawke's Bay. We spent over two months there, after planning on spending only a week or so.  It was nice being able to stay somewhere over the winter months, plus we met some awesome people and got to see some beautiful countryside that lots of people probably miss when they're trying to quickly get from one city to the next.  We did a LOT of gardening and lawn mowing the last week or so, and Chris also helped with lamb 'docking' (where the new lambs get their ears clipped and tails chopped off) with Nick, the owner and Daniel, his farmhand.  I headed over to the paddock long enough to get some quick photos.

note the pile of tails in the background and the herd of nervous sheep mommas in the background.

Bronte the spaniel, posing with probably the 11th new ball after losing the others in the bushes.

On the road to Feilding

So our next destination is Feilding, 2 hours north of Wellington, where Weslie lived as a Rotary exchange student in 2002-2003.  We are house sitting for my first host family, Bobbie and Lindsay. We also stayed with them for a couple nights when we were here in 2010. There are a lot more shops in the town since 10 years ago, and even a movie theater! I used to have to take the bus to the nearest city (Palmerston North, 25 min South) if we wanted to go to the mall or to the movies.  It's been interesting exploring the area again, catching up with people and remembering the places I used to go. We're probably not going to get jobs while we're here since it's only for a month, so we've been spending time cooking, going to museums and art galleries, second-hand shopping, and getting a lot of reading done. Also running and working out in the backyard but that's not really fun. :)  We have a whole list of day hikes we'd like to do, but it's been raining on and off basically since we got here. We are hoping to go camping for a few days also.

'downtown' Feilding with the clocktower 

A visit back to the Rotary club, I spent nearly every Thursday evening at meetings here as an exchange student.

Farmer's market with Lindsay and Bobbie. Farmer's markets are Chris' favorite!!!

made enough granola to last a month! so yummy.

first of many trips to the local library-- plus a sneak peek at what we're planning for April/May 2014...

second hand books are the best kind of books.

Chris searching the isles, reading list in hand.

One of the new attractions in Feilding  is the Coach House Museum, which has history and information about the heritage of the area, and collections of vehicles, farm machinery and other items from the settler days to present.

wearable art contest piece inspired by the logging/wood industry

Learning about the history of John Deere in NZ.
Take a good look at the long locks on Chris before they are gone!

We also visited Te Manawa, the museum of natural history and art gallery in Palmerston North, which was really interesting (and FREE. A rare bonus in this country), part of the art gallery was an exhibit about video games and their role as a 'major role as an art medium in modern society', basically involved a lot of NZ made video games for us to play. Pretty neat.

found this in a second hand shop called 'American Vintage'. So random!

Rural Life

Well, it's been about a month since we posted anything- Sorry! We have been in the same place, house sitting on a farm. The jobs we have been doing include gardening, painting, and taking care of the seven working dogs.  Weslie has been working at the cafe, too. The weather has been frustrating, one day its sunny and warm (we went to play golf and wore shorts and short sleeves), and the very next day it's cold and rainy.  It's been raining on and off for the last few days here so we can't do much work outside. It'll be sunny for about 30 minutes, then rain for 30, etc. all day.  Not good for painting. Can't really complain though, because when the sun's out it's amazingly beautiful here. Totally different landscape than what we've got back home and we're enjoying it.

Our beautiful home for a month.

View from the house

having fun in downtown Waipawa! (that's pretty much the whole town behind Chris)

This is Bronte. She likes long walks, chasing bunnies, and taking flying leaps into the creek. She dislikes being on her leash.

making a pizza feast

Yum! Salami and cheese, Sweet chili chicken, apricot and brie, caramelized onion and mushroom, egg bacon and spinach!

My birthday dinner with everyone from work

Yummy Thai food- sizzling lamb dish for Chris-- we miss fajitas now.

$15 green fees and sunny days. The best.

on the four-wheeler

We're practically professional painters now!

Farmer Chris

I'm gonna assume that this is Vic and Alicia's reaction to Chris' magnificent beard.

My time at the cafe has been really great. I'm getting pretty good at making coffee the 'right way' now, and I'm really enjoying the baking and cooking that goes along with working here.  I'm going to keep a recipe book of all the things I'm learning so I can share the awesome food with people at home.  Yummy salads, wraps, sausage rolls, slices, cakes, homemade dressings and aoli.  

Puff pastry roasted veggie tart- balsamic maple glaze.

Lollie log- crushed malt biscuits, melted butter, sweetened condensed milk. Mix, stir in cut up marshmallows, roll into a log and press coconut flakes into the top. Chill and slice.  

Birthday muffin from Trin, at work

Opened up the cafe by myself, made blueberry muffins and cheese scones to start the day.

The large cup is almost 20 oz- I've gotten so used to the smaller sizes here that it just looks rediculous. (it also costs $7 and has four espresso shots)

I'll be sad to leave the cafe, but it's been a great learning experience for me and I'm going to find more barista jobs as we travel (hopefully). 

Next month we will be in Feilding, where Wes was an exchange student in 2003. We'll be house sitting for her host parents, but we will be making trips around the area while based there, starting Sept. 20.

We have been enjoying relaxing and earning some money, before summer comes and we're off to the South Island to travel a lot more.  But it's been nice staying in one spot for a while and meeting some local people. We've enjoyed our time here, but we leave in two weeks and it'll be good to move on and see the rest of the country. 

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