and then we went fishing

Just another day in Golden Bay. I had the morning off so took Benjamin and Helena to our local beach at Onekaka. The river mouth was full of schools of small whitebait type fish being chased by big kawahais. The chasing happened at the waters edge, right at our feet.

Within minutes Helena had hooked a big fish. It took Benjamin 20 minutes to land it as they are very strong and dont tire easily. I killed it, Jo cooked it and we all ate it.

This is the beach where we were fishing, looking out to sea, with the old iron works warf posts . It is impossible to think that one hundred or so years ago, this was a very busy warf with big ships off loading iron slacks. Quite different now, and often we were the only ones on the beach.

Christmas in June and Goofy Boarding

During our first weekend in Rakaia we went to Dunedin to meet up with AnneMarie, an old colleague and friend of mine. We stayed with her and her family and we celebrated Christmas in June, complete with dinner, carols and holly! It was lovely to catch up, meet their friends and play articulate. The children had great fun with Rusty the dog.

The next day we walked on the Otago peninsula and saw massive sealions, just lying on the beach, looking big, strong and formidable. Some were play fighting, some were surfing in the waves. We were reminded that the beach really is their playground, not ours. The beach was covered in yellow eyed penguin foot prints - we didnt see any of these penguins on this occasion. On our way back to Rakaia we huddled together outside in the cold and saw 100 little blue penguins come ashore in Oamaru after their day feeding at sea. They come ashore in groups and waddle together up the rocky coast and run the last bit to their nests. Hilarious to watch. The waves are massive, the penguins are very small, and they somehow survive each night and keep going back for more.

This weekend we went skiing at Mount Hutt, just a short drive away. Skiing kiwi style means you have to put on snow chains to be able to drive half an hour up the mountain on a narrow mud road to the ski field. Sophia Benjamin and Helena had lessons both days and on Sunday they went down the green slopes with us. I had snow boarding lessons which was BRILLIANT, the nearest I have got to flying yet. I found out I am a goofy rider, which means I board with my right foot forward (apparently most people ride with their left foot forward). Goofy or not, we are going back for more the coming weekend, and the one after that and the one after that - we are loving Rakaia.

Welcome Rakaia Style

We have arrived in Rakaia - home of the Salmon in New Zealand. We arrived in the dark on a cold rainy day but the log burner in our house had been lit for our arrival and we were warmed by the welcome treats left for us by members of the Rakaia Women's Institute.

We have internet access from home again, so we will be looking back and posting about some of our experiences in New Zealand. We have just said farewell to Golden Bay, a place very special to us.