Short NZ Vacation #4 - Christchurch & Mt. Cook

Jan. 27 – Jan. 29

George and Louisa (the WWOOFers from Alaska we met at our previous WWOOF) had recently stayed about 3 weeks in Christchurch, and had a few suggestions of things to do as we passed through on our way to the Central Otago region. We headed straight for “Adrenaline Forest,” a crazy adventure park with 6 levels of ropes courses built high in the trees. There were ziplines, obstacles, giant spider nets, tight rope walks, and all sorts of fun activities. Sufficiently exhausted (fun can be hard work), we went into town for a recommended meal at Bodhi Tree, a Cambodian Restaurant, for a date. We stayed a night in Christchurch and toured the city the next morning, stopping in at the expansive and wonderfully diverse botanic gardens, the main town square for some market stall shopping, and then drove out to the Lyttleton Harbor for a great view during lunch.

The rose garden at the Christchurch botanical gardens. We have seen so many amazing, wonderfully arranged gardens in cities all across NZ.

A view of Lyttleton Harbor where we stopped for lunch, just south of Christchurch.

Keris crawling through the tubes 40 ft above the ground at Adrenaline Forest.

A few more obstacles can be seen.

And even a few ziplines!

We had planned to head to our next WWOOF early the next morning, but since the day was getting late, that meant we might have to skip our short stopover at Mt. Cook. We called the WWOOF hosts and they said it’d be OK if we came a little later the next day, so luckily we were able to make the scenic drive out past Lake Pukaki for sunset. We had another simple (cold) dinner of sandwiches along the shores of the lake, with the reflection of the sunlit, towering peak of Mt. Cook in the distance. Since we still had a 45 minute drive to our campsite at the base of the mountain, it was a tough call to wait at the lake for great shots at sunset. We stayed. And then we raced to our campsite, arriving just at the light faded away, making it difficult to setup the tent in the rocky field. Pegs wouldn’t go in, and the wind was blowing. Luckily there were enough loose rocks to tie the tent wires to and sleep well through the night.

PB&J lakeside dining at its finest.

We just couldn't leave before the sunset was over.

We awoke to an amazingly clear day, with the sun beaming into the valley and shining brightly off the snow capped mountains. We were just about the first ones onto the hiking trail up to Hooker Glacier. It was a 3 hour return trip, but starting out when the valley air was crisp from the night’s frost was magical. The sun’s rays on the snow high above us caused much thermal stress and the cracking ice sent thundering echoes down the valley, and we’d occasionally see the rising snow dust of a avalanche. The hike was amazing, but we had no idea what awaited at the top. What a reward! A glacial lake with hundreds of icebergs sitting at the base of Mt. Cook, Hooker Glacier just reaching the far edge of the lake. We were awe-struck. We’d never witnessed something so untouched and picturesque. The crystal clear ice frozen in the icebergs just glowed bright bluish-white in the sun. It was hard to leave, but we were so happy we made the side trip up here before heading to our next WWOOF.

Hooker Valley Glacier at the end of our hike. The glacial lake was filled with icebergs. It was an incredible and unexpected scene.

Not only was it early in the morning on the shores of a literally ice-cold river, but it was hot outside! It couldn't have been more picture perfect weather.

A few of the icebergs in the lake.

WWOOF #8 - Amberley

Jan. 18 – Jan. 27

We decided to change gears slightly for our next WWOOF. A little tired of vineyards, we wanted a more holistic organic setting, one with a massive and diverse vegetable garden, orchards, breadmaking, and the likes. When we came across an ad on the WWOOF “Hot List” (hosts needing help immediately) for a strawbale house building project with a family that owned “Brew Moon” Brewery, we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity, especially after being inspired by strawbale structures at our house in Blenheim.

The day we showed up, everything was prepared for the concrete foundation to be poured the following day, so we helped out in the garlic patch for a few hours. For the first time at any WWOOF, there were other WWOOFers staying during the same time. A couple from Alaska had just arrived as well. At first, we were a little worried about the new dynamics at the house having extra guests, but we became very close friends with George and Louisa throughout our stay.

Keris helping with the garlic patch. Pull, clean, snip roots, hang to dry.

Inspecting the strawbale concrete framing in place for tomorrow's pour.

The morning of the concrete, we made a few last minute preparations, and then the truck arrived with its giant hose. The forms were simple, just bales of hay arranged to keep the concrete where desired. The whole pouring process took about an hour, with minimal finishing since this was, after all, a strawbale wall – perfection not required (that became our motto). Small mistakes would get “smoothed” out in the end.

Ready for action!

The pour is underway. Just point and shoot with the concrete hose.

While the concrete dried, we took up weeding and other small projects, more garlic harvesting, and plenty of beer sampling at night. In addition to our host Kieren running the brewery, his wife Belinda was a winemaker for Muddy Waters, so we had much wine sampling at night as well. The accommodation was a very cozy barn-style house, and our sleeping quarters were our own room in the loft. Great food and funny stories abounded, and for the first time, we actually hadn’t planned how long we would stay. We just figured we would decide about that later, and there was no pressure on us to leave (ended up staying 9 days, our longest stay anywhere). In fact, Belinda and Kieren were quite keen to have all 4 of us WWOOFers stay on to finish the project, especially since we had taken charge, even to the point of studying their “How-to” book cover to cover and giving project improvement ideas.

A little rain couldn't stop us or our power tools.

We built wood rails and filled the gap with gravel for some extra protection against moisture along the bottom of the wall.

Happy to finish the rails, we had a little celebration. Now it was time to build the wall.

It was still a steep learning curve when it came time to construct the wall. The first section seemed to go up okay, but framing the windows were a challenge, and there wasn’t enough support in place at the end of day 1, so the winds blew down most our first days’ work within an hour of stopping! We left it for the morning cleanup crew (us).

Placing the bales on the long rebar reinforcements, and then sliding them down into place.

Oh no!... isn't there supposed to be a wall there? Our supports were too late, part of it fell.

Hurray, the first complete wall section in tact.

For a solid week, we worked diligently on the wall, not just placing the bales in the correct locations, but also pinning them together, inserting windows, and we had to wrap the walls in chicken wire (good for plastering), and then sew the bales together with wire for extra strength. We really started to push it once we announced we’d be leaving after only 9 days at the property. The last 2 days of work saw about 50% of the wall go up and we had a minor celebration. All in all, we had a great time, learned a lot, and made some great friends. There was still much work to be done, but the heavy building was complete, and just the finishing touches remained. We can’t wait to see pictures of the finished project! There were so many cool touches added into the design, like the built-in seat in the corner, a couple really nice iron windows, the arch over the cellar entrance. We might just have a go at a whole house in the future. One of the example houses in the book was actually from the Austin area.

A typical afternoon once the work was complete.

The final bale is placed! Time for a beer.

Keris is adding some finishing touches, plastic along the top for moisture control, chicken wire for plastering, and now sewing the bales together for lateral strength.

A snapshot of the near finished product.

George and Louisa next to the archway leading to the cellar.

A view of the house with the wall.

Congrats everyone!

Good luck, and thank you so much Belinda and Kieren!! We’ll stop by for a BBQ when you put in the outdoor pizza oven! Can't wait to see the final product once the plaster is dry.

Short NZ Vacation #3 - Whale Watching in Kaikoura

Jan. 17 - Jan. 18

A short lapse between WWOOFs, we wanted to take a day to camp in Kaikoura and embark on one of our most anticipated trips yet – a helicopter flight for sperm whale watching! After leaving Blenheim, we drove south along the east coast, leaving behind lush green valleys of endless vineyards, for the harsh, but stunning, coastal views. We stopped several times along the way, first to catch a glimpse of the pro surfers at Mangamaunu (one of NZ’s longest left-hand breaking wave points – and these waves were towering today) ride waves 100s of meters in towards the shore. Further down was a fur seal colony among rocks that were being pounded by the fierce waves. We reached Kaikoura and took a long walk along the peninsula before dark.


The next morning we woke early for shopping – but mostly in anticipation of the day’s activity – whale watching via helicopter. But as we soon found out, trying to capture one of nature’s most impressive creatures in its natural environment was not as simple as showing up for our 10:00am flight time. As good as the weather was, 10 miles off the coast where the whales were located, there were low-hanging clouds and light rain. We postponed our tour for an hour hoping the weather would improve. Arriving back at 11:00 proved disheartening when there was no change in the weather. We opted to stay around for another 2 hours since we’d be leaving today for a 2 hour drive south, and we didn’t want to pass on this opportunity. We enjoyed the scenery from the peninsula and had lunch on the beach with a book, enjoying the pounding waves. We headed back to the helicopter office a 3rd time, and to our dismay, there was still no improvement in weather. Even the boat tours were finding it difficult in the weather conditions, and with no sign of improvement for days, we were forced to leave for our next WWOOF….

…..but, we returned! Several days later (after calling the office each morning for a weather report) we finally got word of good sighting conditions, and we made the 2 hour drive back to Kaikoura. We arrived just before our 11:00am flight time, but because the conditions were so good for the first time in days, there was a backlog of people waiting to fly, and the whale breathing patterns were spaced out such that we were once again forced to wait to fly. As each preceding flight disembarked, we got word of their sightings and our spirits soared. We could hardly stand waiting our turn. When it was our time, we hopped into the 3 passenger R-44 and strapped on the head/micro phones.

The initial ascent was unnerving, rising straight up into the air before spinning around and heading off. It was a sensation only mirrored by the occasional roller coaster. We were up and away – perfect blue skies and fantastic views of the coast. We had 30 minutes to spot a whale. Once again, we understood this was not a zoo. It wasn’t a matter of simply flying to see the whale. We had to actively participate in spotting the whale (assuming it was still breathing near the surface). Whales typically oxygenate their blood at the surface for about 10 minutes before diving to depths of 300m and staying below the surface for up to an hour. Our goal was to find one of several known whales in the area during the small breathing window to catch a glimpse before it rose (for that iconic picture of the tail) and then plummeted deep into the sea. We radioed boats on the water for information about the whales breathing patterns and after nearly 15 minutes of circling and searching, we started to worry about our chances. The whales had taken a strange breathing cycle as if startled by something, and may not be resurfacing during our 30min flight. We continued to search and hover, taking in the surroundings, but at last, it was time to return to land. We almost started crying. No whale. It was heart-wrenching after waiting so long and having such a great day to see them. All the previous flights of the day had seen one, and yet, this is nature after all. It’s hard to predict. The experience was great and we took some amazing pictures, but there will always be something we left behind in Kaikoura.

View of the peninsula we walked around.

The line in the water is basically an underwater cliff. The topography under the surface makes this area a fantastic place for sightings. The deep blue region is the whale feeding ground, dropping to depths of close to 10,000 meters within just miles of the coastline.

WWOOF #7 - Blenheim

Jan. 9 – Jan. 17

Off to the South Island we go! First we had a looong drive all the way down to Windy Welly (Wellington) and the weather didn’t disappoint upon arrival (windy). Considering the distance we covered in a day, the drive went by fast, but fully recharged from the holidays, we were excited to be off on a new adventure. We stayed with Keris’s longtime friend Louisa for 2 nights, enabling us to see more of the city we didn’t get to the last time we passed through a year ago. We visited the Weta Museum (props/digital enhancement company started by Peter Jackson, with tons of Lord of the Rings and other movie items on display). We did another tour through the Te Papa Museum and then watched Avatar in a quaint little theatre with stadium seated couches and only 40 seats.

Posing with one of the Uruk-hai

Keris and a manequin double of Frodo (actually used in the movie)

"My precious." Keris and Louisa get up close with Smigel

We were up early to catch the ferry across the Cook Strait to the Marlborough Sounds. We’d hoped the trek would be like a free boat tour of the magnificent sounds, and it didn’t disappoint. It was a nice, calm day with great views of the endless passageways through the lush green islands of the sounds. We hiked along the peninsula (part of the Queen Charlotte Track) before making our way down to Renwick, a small town just west of Blenheim, which is synonymous with the country’s biggest wine producing region and best known for Sauvignon Blanc.

On the ferry from Wellington to Picton, taking in the Marlborough Sounds.

A view of the Marlborough Sounds from the walking track above Picton

We knew we came to the right place when the directions to the house included “stopping at the hilltop along the driveway for a scenic view of the property.” 30 acres spread across the fertile valley, half planted in vines, the rest in expansive lawns, peonies, vege/fruit gardens, ponds, solar heated swimming pool, and a strawbale house. It was gorgeous. We had a private ensuite in the garage but were always welcome in the house. Rosemary and Jeremy made sure we enjoyed our stay – waiting on us hand and foot, refusing to let us even help with dishes. We did steal away for some pick-your-own-berries and supplied them for scrumptious desserts. 3 fantastic meals each day and plenty of good wine to boot!

Part of the pond on the property with a small island on the right.

Pick-your-own-berries again! One of our favorite activities (well, eating while we pick)

Work at the property included weeding new tree plantings, clearing a large mound of tall grasses for future plantings, and of course, some work in the vineyard! The vines are just growing away during midseason, and need minimal attention, so our main task was wire lifting. The guide wires that help support the weight of the tall chutes need to be raised higher as the vine grows higher. We also spent some time securing some of the new plantings with ties.

Working to clear the mound of grass to make way for a well landscaped area.

Load after load we hauled to the dump pile. Keris is catching a ride!

Stuart lifting the support wires. The trick is to pull the wires out first to gather up all the branches that were growing on the wrong side. Then scoop up all the branches and secure the wires higher on the posts.

Getting ready to attach the new vines to guide posts for support.

When it was time to play, we played. Well, more like lounged by the pool soaking up the sun, relaxing with the gorgeous scenery, jogging, and it goes without saying – wine tasting. We felt like King and Queen at a resort, rather than a typical hard-working farm… it was quite a treat. Most of the immediate wineries (and there are plenty to choose from) are free, or charge just a small tasting fee. And when we grew tired of wine during our tasting tour, we stopped by the Moa Brewing Co. (owned by Allan Scott Winery – and conveniently situated next door) for a sampling of craft beers. There were so many unique wineries to visit, from Seresin (extremely environmentally conscious to the point of trading in their tractors for some horse-drawn machinery), to Grove Mill (with their impressive “vine library,” plantings of almost every type of variety next to each other with informative placards for vine comparisons), to Montana (NZ’s largest producer of wine, which we found surprisingly good).

An afternoon at the solar heated pool in the backyard.

Thank you so much to Rosemary and Jeremy for making our stay absolutely wonderful and memorable!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

(updated post, 12/22/09 - 1/8/10)

We had a wonderful few days leading up to a summer Christmas here in Opotiki. Keris's mom is here, and we are enjoying some beautiful weather by the beach with our friend Rob and his parents. We have been helping build an outdoor shower area, putting up Christmas lights on the deck, and plenty of putting our feet up. The schedule for Christmas day went something like this:

1st: opened presents (we still had that feeling of anticipation like 5 year old kids)
2nd: Pimm's drinks and hanging out for the morning (Pimm's is an English alcoholic drink with fresh fruit, like Sangria)
3rd: Straight to the beach to try out our new boogie and skim boards along with the sea kayak
4th: BBQ on the deck,
5th: late afternoon at the beach with all our toys (and a chilly bin full of beverages)
6th: hanging out and enjoying the view for the rest of the day :)

Our Christmas tree is all decorated

Stuart and Tim just finished putting down the flooring for the new outdoor shower area

Quick trip to the beach with the Allriches

Putting up Christmas lights on the deck, what a view we have!

What a view!

We spend a lot of time on this deck...

Our new xmas boogie boards and skim board. Can't wait!

Keris is a pro at the boogie board. She catches every wave she wants while the rest of us are stuck out at sea.

Sea kayaking was great fun. A couple big waves were big enough to flip the kayak!

We spent countless hours at the beach, and tried our hand at longline fishing 4 times (the last 2 times, Keris, her mom, and Stuart were able to complete the task virtually on our own). It involves baiting about 25 hooks with squid, attaching the hooks to the fishing line, attaching the line to a kayak and paddling about 1000 meters into the ocean, dropping the anchor, letting the line soak for about an hour, then dragging the line in by hand. Pulling in the line was a bit of a challenge when we had several fish and all the drag of the waves. We had varied success with the numbers, but the few fish we did catch were a real treat, especially when Tim hot smoked the Kahawhai. Some of the best fish we've ever eaten. We even caught a few hammerhead sharks!! (but we threw those back).

Getting ready to take out the long line for fishing.

One of the hammerhead sharks we caught (some were much bigger)

For New Years, we headed about an hour up the coast to Liz and Tim's bach house. A nice little vacation home with private beaches and fishing rocks, but a bit small for 12 people. Tents were scattered in the yard, and cooking duties divided up, then we all partied for 3 days straight. For New Year's Eve, we built a bonfire on the beach and brought a boombox down for some tunes. We headed back to the house for our New Years toast (about 6 of us remained), and then we played "Spotlight", Keris's favorite "hide-and-go-seek-with-a-flashlight" game. It was a lot of fun with such dense foliage around, plenty of good hiding spots. We tried our hand fishing from the rocks several times, but only managed to catch 4 fish, all of which were thrown back.

Pole fishing from the rocks at the bach house. This is a small snapper we caught.

First we had a little snorkeling on our private beach....

..... then a bonfire for New Year's Eve

Day hike out to a nearby waterfall from the bach house

It was freezing cold!

The whole New Year's gang

After a nice long, exciting, and relaxing time around the Opotiki area over the Christmas holiday, we are ready to move on to a new adventure. Something neither Keris or Stuart has experienced before... the South Island!
Thanks so much to Liz, Tim, Rob & Cherie for the hospitality during our holiday break!