It would seem that of my 3 hours typing last night, the only bit that posted was the bit after 'quickies'
Bugger.
Will try & remember the gist of what I put & try again.
Just back from an evening at Mal's watching England stuff it to the NZ Maori side.
Hopefully a taster of what we will do to the All Blacks on Saturday.
I know that I have officially been accepted into Kiwi society because I have been
invited back there for beer & the game on Sky on Saturday. Result.
Trish's family find it highly amusing that we are friends & I have to say I am surprised that my 1st Kiwi buddy is 77 but age aside he is a mine of information.
I have been sent home tonight with a book called 'A year in the life of a shepherd'
& also a list of all the World Cup fixtures.
As I type there is a gale howling outside. It is doing it's damnedest to rip the tin roof from the outhouse & sounds like Armageddon.
I have just driven back over the Dashwood Pass in the Hi-Ace & was fighting with the wheel the whole way to try stay on the black bit & not go down the bouncy-bouncy,
swervy-crashy bit.
It has poured with rain all day today giving me an ideal opportunity to sort out the tack-room.
It took 2 & a half hours & the boredom was lessened by chatting to Q who was calling at what must have been 1am UK time.
Thanks for the company Big Guy.
The tack room now looks beautiful & will hopefully stay that way for at least a week.
I even washed the grooming kits at which point Mike the shepherd walked in the kitchen, looked at the grooming brushes in the sink, smiled ruefully & said nothing.
They think I have an illness.
Di - aminal story next, you may want to skip this paragraph ...
Speaking of Mike, he likes nothing more than to tease me.
Last week I was called 'Crash' for artistically re-arranging a fence post in the truck (I think they look prettier at 45 degrees anyway)
Today he said to me 'When does your dog get here, cos I've arranged a whole load of tucker for it ?'
Not spotting it coming I said 'That's very kind of you, where is it ?'
'In the top paddock' he said 'You'll need a knife'
Turns out one of the bullocks died of a broken back after scrapping with another one.
Q was right about death out here, I am beginning to get used to it.
So, about my seminar.
It was almost 3 days of non-stop activity including, in no particular order ...
Tractor museum (I know - but I enjoyed it & I got to bounce on lots of tractor
seats & shout 'Get orf my laaand' to anyone who would listen.
Colonial museum - Just like the antiques shops we looked at during our trip to Rutland, Justine, Malc & Lindsay.
Mini-Golf - Was teamed with 3 male, cheese-eating surrender monkeys. Ours was the winning team despite them.
Hanmer Hot Springs - more in a moment.
Beer, pool & boogeying in a surprisingly good club in Kaiapoi.
KW - What was the beer you liked over here ? I am becoming fond of Export Gold.
I taught the group how to do a ho-down much to the bemusement of the Kiwis in the bar who thought that's how all Brits danced.
The visit to Hanmer Springs was the highlight of the trip.
It is an incredibly picturesque little town, nestled in the middle of South Island.
A cross between Aspen & Austria, with a very pretty collection of houses
scattered around a quintessentially English green planted with oaks.
Unfortunatey, the Springs are not natural so not as lovely as the fotie Q has provided.
( Ed - The photo is actually from Hanmer Springs though ! )
However, there were about a dozen pools, all varying sizes & temperatures
& we spent a very relaxing 3 hours in them before dinner.
I found the amount of people in the largest pool too much so I wandered off to
see if I could find somewhere more peaceful.
5 minutes walk away & there it was.
Imagine the scene.
A 15 metre circular pool, bordered by rocks & fringed with lush foliage.
I got into the warm water & wedged myself between 2 large, heated rocks.
The pitch black, warm water came to just under my chin.
As I lay there in the dark my view was of the stars & a quarter-moon (hurrah, found it)
Beyond the pools were the hills stretching into the sky.
I had the pool completely to myself for 45 mins.
I did not move a single muscle in all that time, just floated there thinking.
It was easily the most evocative, restful, inspirational time I can ever recall.
At that point, a couple joined me, obviously also looking for peace & quiet.
Feeling a gooseberry, I left them to appreciate the silence.
As I left he was massaging her shoulders.
Couldn't help but think how fortunate they were to be sharing the vista.
After our soak, we headed off to the Alpine Bar for a meal.
Only 1 million people in South Island & all of them in that pub on that night.
I found the noise & people overwhelming after 3 weeks of quiet.
Despite the friendliness of the crowd & being offered a job by a couple I had
only been chatting to for 10 mins (NZ is like that) I couldn't wait to get out.
I found that to be the recurring theme for me over the weekend.
Although being with a group of 22 like-minded people (except the Frogs naturally) was good fun, I can say that by the time we all said goodbye I had done enough socialising to last me a while.
I'm not, by nature, a social animal like Q, despite wishing I was & unless it's you lot, I find being with a group of people very wearing.
Di knows what I mean, it's the 'putting on your confident front' when really you feel like a) it's very scary or, more commonly, these days b) you really can't be bothered.
Right - it's oh-my-god in the am here, so I am off to listen to the storm & a bit
of Secret Garden.
Oooh - almost forgot. Completely out of credit on the fone now so until I
buy a sim-card, I can receive but not send texts.
Cx
No comments:
Post a Comment