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You are here: Home / Archives for Away From Home

Away From Home

Christmas Day, 2022

December 30, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

As we often do, we went to the beach for Christmas Day. Since Christmas was on Sunday this year, we went to church in the morning, and then left soon after the meeting. We headed north along the coast from Greymouth towards Punakaiki, and stopped at the Strongman Mine Memorial to eat our picnic lunch. Of course, Elijah being Elijah, he had to climb the memorial while we were reading it.

After lunch, we drove on north. Because the sea was so calm, we decided not to bother stopping at Pancake Rocks, so we went to the Truman Track, just north of Punakaiki, instead. I took this video of the walk down to the sea, and the fun we had there.

I wanted a new family photo, so we stopped along the trail, before everyone got spread out, to take one. I got this picture while we were trying to figure out where the best lighting would be.

I took this one on the way down, too, since I wanted individual photos. This one didn’t make the cut; we ended up getting all the good ones with Esther’s camera.

It’s kind of a tradition to bury someone at the beach. James had great fun building a dike around himself, but was disgusted when the sea came around the ends!

After we played at the sea here for awhile, we got back into the vehicles and went farther north yet, to Charleston. There, the boys all went swimming and kayaking in Constant Bay, while the rest of us explored the sandy beach.

Use your imagination here! The beach was full of sparkles, as if someone had dumped glitter all over. I tried to get a picture of it, and almost succeeded. There is a drift of glitter through the center of this picture. The water was full of it, too. I think it’s mica.

This bluebottle jellyfish (actually, not a jellyfish but a siphonophore, but often called a jelly) washed up while we were there. The boys had seen it floating in the water just before we found it. We wanted to see the tentacles hanging down, and knew it would die anyway, so we brought it home in a container of seawater. That’s Esther’s hand for scale.

We stayed at that beach for an hour or more, and then went a little farther north, past the mouth of the Nile River, and explored a section of beach with lots of life in the cracks between rocks. There were a lot of these crabs, watching us and trying to get farther back in their safe hiding spots.

There were bluebottles everywhere. Most were washed up and drying out on the sand, but this one was still floating.

When we got home, we put the bluebottle in a preserving jar, and sure enough, the tentacles stretched out. It started feeding, moving its tentacles up and down–see the video at the bottom. It also turned its float up and down, and pulled itself into a horseshoe shape, and then stretched out again. Fascinating! By morning, the tentacles had died and by Monday evening they had completely disintegrated, turning the water blue.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Charleston, Ocean, Punakaiki, Video, West Coast

Cross Country

December 11, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

One day last week, a friend of ours organized a cross-country race for the local homeschool children. It was very low-key; no prizes for the winners. It was just a time to have fun together! We held it at the Nelson Creek campground. The littlest children ran a 250-meter course, the older ones could choose to go 2 or 3 km, and the middle-age ones ran 1 km.

This is Mr. Sweetie about 2/3 of the way through his 3 km run. Mr. Imagination was right behind him.

Both my school boys nearing the finish line!

After the races and our picnic lunch, we took Grandma on a walk around the loop through the bush. A friend’s three children wanted to stay and spend more time, so we took them home with us later; their 4-year-old is leading Esther and Miss Joy in this picture.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Homeschooling, Nelson Creek, West Coast

Tramping!

December 7, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, Simon and Elijah decided to take a three-day tramp in the mountains. Simon was between jobs, and Elijah had cut his hand and had a week off work, so they took off. Elijah took a lot of pictures with his phone, and shared them with me. Here is Simon, taking off up a river valley.

This picture needs a bit of explanation! The two of them had a thing going where they left their fingerprints on each trail marker. They figured that, if they got lost, someone could come along and dust all the trail markers to see where they had been!

That is the Top Trent Hut ahead. It was their goal for the first night; they had lunch at Elizabeth Hut.

This was the lunch stop on the second day.

Their second night out was spent at this hut, the Tutaekuri Hut. A French fly-fisherman joined them there for the night. They walked out from this point and arrived home early in the afternoon.

Here are some video clips Elijah took. They’ll give you a better idea of the terrain.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Mountains, Tramping, Video

Fly-Out

December 4, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Simon has started a new job, since his time at the dairy farm came to an end. He is now picking moss. I don’t know where else in the world sphagnum moss is harvested, but the West Coast of New Zealand supplies a large share of the world’s supply. This moss grows wild in the swamps here, and harvesting it is a big business. Simon is going along with a man who has been doing it most of his life and loves the work, learning from him. He came home from work one day last week and told me they would be doing a “fly-out” the next day, and we should come to watch. I had planned to stay home and get some work done here, and do some school, but I decided we would have a field trip, instead. Sadly, we arrived just too late to see the bags flown out, but we learned a lot about the rest of the process! Another time maybe we’ll get to see that part.

This is a patch of moss in front of Simon’s boot. This is a thin spot, not worth harvesting, but because it was raining we didn’t want to go much farther. Anyway, he said that the mud gets pretty deep the farther you go into the swamp, and we didn’t want to get that dirty! They have to cut the gorse out, and then they use pitchforks to pick up the moss, cleaning mud and sticks out of each forkful before putting it into the bag.

These wool bags are filled with 200 kg of moss. Two are filled side by side, and when they have enough to fill a truck with 72 bags, they call in a helicopter to lift them out. The helicopter can lift two at once. Simon said that at first it was a 40-second turnaround between dropping off one set of bags and the next, and by the end it was 50 seconds, since the helicopter had to go a little farther.

Close-up of some of the moss.

The moss is trucked to the sheds. These are long, low buildings with clear roofs and lots of ventilation. The moss is spread out on these tables, made of bird netting fastened to frames, to dry.

After it has dried some, the moss is put through the kiln. This used to be a tobacco kiln, but is now used solely for moss. After the moss has dried enough here, it is sorted again to get out any more stuff you don’t want in your hanging baskets, and baled in an old wool press. The original 200 kg now weighs 11 kg.

Simon took a video with his phone of part of the fly-out. He told me that a lot of static electricity builds up in the cable. He unhooked the bags that were loaded onto a smaller truck, and said that he got shocked with every set of bags!

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Moss, Video, West Coast

Orana Park, Again!

November 27, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We went to Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch twice in the past, but it has been a long time. We needed to go to Christchurch to pick my mom up at the airport, so Gayle and I decided to take our younger family (we have four older children and four younger, separated by four years) to the zoo. We spent about five hours walking around enjoying the animals. What makes Orana Park really stand out, though there aren’t very many animals compared to most zoos, is that we got to watch many of the animals being fed. We followed the schedule and saw every feeding for that day.

The meerkats were given eggs for this feeding.

Though the African porcupines normally sleep during the day, they came out eagerly for their dog biscuits!

Baby emus are cute!

When we arrived at the otter enclosure, they were standing up, begging in high-pitched squeaks and whistles for their fish!

All four children watching the ducks on one pond.

I’m not sure what type of birds these were, but they had a nest in the moat around the rhino enclosure.

Everyone’s favorite part of the zoo visit was feeding the giraffe! We were given olive branches, which we held up so the giraffe could strip off the leaves.

This is the baby giraffe–he’s about a year old.

They had fun feeding the turkey and chickens!

The lion feeding is always fun, too. This was the first day since Covid started that the truck was used to feed them. Only staff were on the truck for the trial run, but they plan to start selling tickets to the public again soon. Two of the three lions in the enclosure remembered this, but one didn’t seem to.

Tasmanian devil

We were very close to the rhinos while they ate their special treat: lucerne (alfalfa) hay.

I was talking to one of the zoo volunteers at the rhino enclosure, and happened to notice this nest right above his head. Not sure that was a good place to stand!

The children loved feeding the trout–and the ducks love the trout food! I tried to get a picture of the trout, but my battery ran out right there.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Christchurch, Orana Park, Zoo

Napoleon Hill 4WD Trip

November 6, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Elijah bought a Surf a few weeks ago, and badly wanted to try it out on a four wheel drive trip. He organized one on Labour Day, and a lot of friends came along. I stayed home, but Gayle took all the younger children–neither of the girls wanted to be left behind! Gayle, Elijah and James all took photos and let me use them. In this first picture, they were approaching the farm through which you gain access to the track.

Off on the trail! James took most of the pictures; he rode in a friend’s Land Rover, between Elijah’s Surf and Simon’s Safari, which another friend was driving.

The line of vehicles, taking a break.

The cemetery at Napoleon. About 100-150 years ago, this was a thriving mining town–today there are hardly any traces of it!

They drove through a couple of tunnels.

One boy rode his family’s quad bike. Partway through, it started having trouble, and they discovered that the battery was about to burst into flame! One family was driving a ute, and they were able to push the bike onto it to get it home.

I patched together several video clips from Gayle’s and Elijah’s phones and James’s camera. The last two clips, of the Surf going through a creek, are from a one-vehicle trip a few days later. This is the creek where we stopped on Christmas Day, thinking a vehicle couldn’t get through.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: 4WD track, Video, West Coast

25 Years! (Part 2)

October 30, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I shared a few pictures last week of our anniversary getaway. The next morning, we tried to find some rock pools that Gayle had explored with a friend while doing supervision when this friend had his children on a visit, but the tide was too high, so we gave up. We drove towards Westport, and stopped at Tauranga Bay. We walked up the Cape Foulwind walkway, and enjoyed seeing the sights along the first part of it.

This is Wall Island, where several different species of sea birds nest. It is one of the few predator-free places in New Zealand.

Next, we came to the overlook above the seal colony. There were just a few mothers and pups hauled out. One pup was very active, moving around from place to place.

This rock was just offshore from the seal colony. We saw waves breaking over it!

This was a fun place to take a picture!

There is Cape Foulwind in the distance. A rain squall was on its way, so we turned around and walked quickly back to the car. We drove around to the other end of the walkway, but it was raining so we decided not to walk any more.

We went on to Westport, and drove out to the Tip Head, the end of the breakwall on the north side of the Buller River mouth. Then, we went back to the beginning of the breakwall and doubled back, going out to the beach again. We found this beautiful little garden, in memory of someone.

This beautiful picnic area was next to it, and there were wild cherry trees all around.

It was raining, and the Whitebait Festival was happening, so Westport was crawling with people. We decided to head home. I got these next two pictures while we drove through the Buller Gorge.

We ended up buying our lunch at the supermarket in Reefton and having a picnic, then walking around the Powerhouse walk because the sun had come out. It was a wonderful time away–I think we should do it more often!

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Anniversary, Buller Gorge, Tasman Sea, West Coast, Westport

25 Years! (Part 1)

October 23, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

This week, we celebrated 25 years of marriage. Looking back, it sure doesn’t feel like it seems that a quarter of a century should feel, but the calendar (and our 24-year-old daughter) prove that it has been that long. We decided we should do something to celebrate, and Esther offered to take care of the younger children for us, so we went away for one night. Esther only had two nights at home, and I wanted to spend a little time with her, so we kept this short. It was special, though! It was the first time we went away overnight without a baby along. We went to Charleston, on the coast just south of Westport, and found a motor camp where we rented a cabin for the night. (I can highly recommend the Charleston Motor Camp, by the way. It’s old and basic, but very clean and has everything you need.) After we settled in, we walked down to the beach, and then drove to another beach. As we were walking, we saw this family of ducks.

This was the first thing we saw when we reached the sea. This is Constant Bay, and there were some pretty impressive waves pounding in through that narrow opening! We walked around to the right, after admiring this for a few minutes.

This is Joyce Bay, on the other side of a tongue of land.

Next, we drove north a few kilometers to the Nile River, and out to the mouth. I thought it was fun to visit the Nile!

We ate a picnic here in this spot, beside a cold fire, and watched the sun sinking toward the rocks in the distance.

After we ate, we walked up the beach a little, to where we could see the sun set into the water. It was such a beautiful spot!

These little blue things, about 3 inches long, rather startled us. At first, I thought they were plastic toys, or balloons, or something, but we soon realized they were sea creatures. What really startled us was when we started seeing some of them moving! Watch the video, and the last clip shows one of them moving a little. These turned out to be blue bottle jelly fish, and according to an article I found online after we got home, they are actually four organisms in one. One is the float, one is the tentacles, and two others handle digestion and reproduction. They look fragile, but I stepped on the first one we found to try to see what it was, and it would not pop. It was very tough. They were all over the beach! We were glad, later, that we didn’t touch them, because they sting.

We sat on a log and watched the sun set. Such a special evening!

Next, I’ll share the rest of the pictures we took while we were away.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Anniversary, Charleston, Tasman Sea, Video, West Coast

Picnic

October 6, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I took the children to town today. There was a Bookarama–a huge book fair–and I decided we would go secondhand shopping, as well. There are four secondhand shops in Greymouth, and I don’t get to them very often, but thought today would be a good time. Elijah was working in town, laying carpet or vinyl in a house (I forgot to ask which), so I asked him yesterday if he would like to eat lunch with us. I was just planning to take along sandwiches for us, but he decided he wanted to order pizza, instead. So, he ordered it and I picked it up. Then, we met at a beach about five minutes’ drive from where he was working, and we had a picnic. It was sunny and not too windy, although not very warm, either. The waves were gorgeous, and we had an incredible view of the Southern Alps, which were covered with a fresh layer of snow. It was a nice time together. I enjoy getting to spend time during the day with my adult sons who work! The cloth we sat on, by the way, is a sheet I had just bought at an op shop. Little Miss loves that set. I’ll be putting them on her bed tomorrow.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Greymouth, Ocean, Picnic

Simon’s New Life

September 20, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

A little over a month ago, Simon quit his job as a mechanic and started a new job at a dairy farm. He has always said that he wanted to farm, and was getting very tired of being inside all the time. He moved to the farm at the beginning of calving, so he was rather dumped into the deep end. All at once, he had to learn how to milk, how to rear calves, and how to fend for himself! He and another man who lives on the farm work together to cook their meals. He’s learned a lot about feeding himself in the last month. He was very overwhelmed the first couple of weeks, but has gotten to the point where he really enjoys his work now.

We all went up there the day before he moved to the farm, to have a look at it. It is about 45 minutes away, to the south of us, at the base of the mountains. Here we are having a look at the milking shed, a double 34 herringbone.

We also went up a couple of Saturday evenings after he moved, and took a meal along. Esther took a few pictures the second time, since it was still daylight. This is Lake Haupiri on the way up (Gloriavale is just on the other side of the lake.)

These next two pictures are valleys we saw on the way to the farm.

Simon spends a lot of time feeding calves in these sheds.

The sunset we enjoyed from Simon’s house was incredible! I just stood there at the window and soaked it up for awhile.

Esther also got some video clips of the calves–and Miss Joy. She loves calves!

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Cow, Farming, Simon, West Coast

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The Family:


Dad and Mom (Gayle and Emma)

Girl #1, Esther, my right hand

Boy #1, Seth (Mr. Handyman)

Boy #2, Simon (Mr. Inventor)

Boy #3, Mr. Intellectual

Boy #4, Mr. Diligence

Boy #5, Mr. Sweetie

Boy #6, Mr. Imagination

Girl #2, Little Miss

Girl #3, Miss Joy

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