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You are here: Home / Archives for Canterbury

Canterbury

Disconnected

September 14, 2013 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We’ve had quite an interesting week!  Monday and Tuesday were normal days, but Tuesday night when we went to bed there was a strong wind blowing and I saw online that a violent storm was making its way north up the island towards us.  Soon after we went to bed, apparently about 11:00, the power went out–and didn’t come back on for over 42 hours! Towards morning, we started having thunder and lightning, and when it was light enough to see we saw a number of branches down around the place.  There was no power where Gayle works, either, so after he went in to see if there was anything he could do with the power out, he came home again to start cleaning up the mess around here.  The boys really enjoyed working with their daddy on that kind of job!  I spent the day working on the mending pile.  Of course, without electricity, I couldn’t use the sewing machine, so I just pinned on patches and did some hand sewing.  The entire mending pile is now waiting for me to sit down at the sewing machine–I should be able to whip right through once I get there.  Esther spent the day reading and writing, but it was rather frustrating because the day was so dark and cloudy.  We don’t realize how reliant we are on electricity till we don’t have it anymore.  We were very thankful for the gas grill we had been given, enabling us to at least cook, and for the fact that we have chest freezers rather than upright ones.  I moved all the things from the fridge freezers to the chest freezers, and we opened them as little as possible.  I also fed the fresh milk to the calves, since we had no way to chill it.  The milk that was already in the one fridge stayed fresh, since I had turned the temperature way down a couple of days earlier and forgot to turn it back up–the milk froze in it!  That was a blessing in disguise!  We used up the food that would go bad in the other fridge, but mostly we had milk products in there which are all right even if they warm up.

That evening we had a very interesting experience.  About an hour before dark,  a car pulled up at the driveway.  There were four people in it, three men and one woman, French tourists in the country for nine months.  They are trying to see the country in the least expensive way, and were asking for a place to set up their tents for the night!  We gave them permission to camp in our yard, and invited them in for supper.  I put together a stew for supper, using potatoes and cooked beef from the fridge, a couple of jars of tomatoes and one of carrots, and a leek that Simon brought in.  Soon after I put it on the grill to cook, I realized that the flame was lower than it had been.  Sure enough, the flame went out after awhile, but the stew was hot enough to eat.  The leeks were just a bit crunchy, still!  We had a fun evening chatting with our surprise guests by the light from headlamps placed strategically around the top of the room, and candles on the table.  They said several times how good the meal was (stew, cabbage salad, bread and butter, and homemade cheese).  I didn’t think it was that extraordinary, but then Gayle asked them what they’ve been eating:  Ramen noodles!  No wonder they enjoyed what we offered!

That night the wind came up again, and by morning was blowing at gale force again.  We still had no power, but at 6:30 Gayle called in to work and learned that they had a generator, so he went in.  I went to town as soon as the shop opened to get a new cylinder of gas so we could cook breakfast!  Our French visitors left about the same time Gayle left for work–I was relieved, as they had pitched their tents close to a big gum tree, which was swaying their way in the strong wind.  It didn’t fall, but if it had it would have crushed them.

The second day, the sun shone and it was bright–what a nice change.  We still had no power all day, and I was preparing myself mentally for another dark evening of cooking over the grill outside, and planning a breakfast and lunch for the next day that would not require cooking or washing dishes.  Then, praise God, the power came back on at 5:35!  What a wonderful sight.  Life is now back to normal for us, and we didn’t lose any more than a cup or two of food. The boys were quite disappointed; they like playing with candles.  One of them was saving all the extra wax that ran off the candles, and melted it down, making another candle from it.

We were also glad be be back in touch with the rest of the world, although it was very peaceful and quiet during the power cut!  We had no internet, of course, and the cell service was also out.  Our landline worked the first day, but the second day it didn’t.

Aftermath of the storm; Gayle and the boys piled up the branches that were too small for firewood.

Another storm rolling in over the hills to the west of us. We had an interesting experience the week before, also.  We had helped to organize a meeting here in Cheviot with a speaker from Creation Ministries International.  We had a barbeque before the meeting; about 50 people came for that, and there were probably about 75 at the meeting itself.  That was very good, but we also really enjoyed having the speaker, Tas Walker, and his driver in our home for the night.  Friday morning before they took off for Christchurch, we took them, and a single lady from our church, who also slept here overnight in her van, to Gore Bay.  We really enjoyed our chance to get to know Tas.

Our dear friend Pete helped with the cooking.

The men cooking sausages for the BBQ. Tas Walker is the second from the left.

Cathedral Gully above Gore Bay–beautiful erosion!

The boys enjoyed this little cave.

We admired the rock layers in Port Robinson, just around the point from Gore Bay.

Fine rock layers. The geology of Gore Bay is amazing.

Sea tulips–a type of sea squirt.

Our picnic, after exploring Gore Bay.

His own personal table, complete with food and drink!

Filed Under: Activities at Home, Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Cheviot, Geology, gore bay, Storm

Beach Clean Up

August 24, 2013 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We were given a trip on Whale Watch this week.  They asked that, in return, we spend some time doing a beach clean up.  Last week, we had a day that was so lovely and warm that we decided we would do it then, at Gore Bay.  We split up into two groups; three of the boys went one way and the rest of us went the other way.  I told them to start back after half an hour and we would meet up near the start.  It is amazing, and disgusting, what you find on the beach!  Why don’t people pick up after themselves?  Most of what we found had been thrown under the bushes at the edge; there were a lot of beer bottles.  Yuck!  We also found an old tire and some lumber, but the most unusual find was the huge wad of frayed rope that the boys found!

One group went north.

One group went south.

He said he wouldn’t help, since he couldn’t go on Whale Watch, but when we got started he couldn’t resist! After our time cleaning up (and deciding we should do it again in a few weeks), I let the boys play on their “raft” again for awhile.  They sure are having fun poling that around the lagoon!

While we waited for the rafters to come back, these two built a bridge. I found this mermaid’s purse.Mussel shell with coral on it.The biggest find of the day!

And then, the camera got dipped into the water, so we had to buy a new one in order to take pictures when we went on Whale Watch!

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Cheviot, gore bay, Ocean

Jed River Cemetary

July 26, 2013 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Last Saturday was a gorgeous, warm (for winter) day, so Gayle suggested that we take our lunch out to Gore Bay and have a picnic.  What a good idea!  Since it was high tide and therefore not good for beachcombing, we decided to try to find an old Maori graveyard that a local farmer pointed out to the boys last spring.  We didn’t find that, but we did find an early European cemetery, dating back to the earliest days of settlement in this area.  The most recent burial there was 19 years ago.  There are around 25-30 graves, only about 1/3 of which are marked.  It was a beautiful spot for a cemetery–on top of a hill overlooking the Jed Estuary and Gore Bay, and so peaceful.

Getting ready to go

To go to the cemetery, we had to cross the mouth of the Jed River/Buxton Creek. It was only an inch or two deep, but with it being high tide, there were often several inches of water. Seth ended up carrying the two youngest over by himself!The trail from the beach to the cemetery was fun!

The Jed Estuary, with an old woolshed on the far side, and Gore Bay in the distance.

This is all that marked one grave.

All that’s left of the gate to the cemetery.

After exploring the cemetery, the boys worked on punting their “raft”–a large forked log–around the lagoon at the place where the Jed River and Buxton Creek flow into the sea.  They had great fun learning to maneuver it around, and then pulled it out so it will hopefully still be there next time we go.

The boys reenacted Hone Heke, a Maori chief in the 1840s, who chopped down an English flagpole on a hill overlooking present-day Russell, four times.

A hut that someone built out of driftwood. Daddy helped pull the log to a deeper part of the lagoon. Pulling the log out

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Cheviot, gore bay, Ocean

Our Week

May 26, 2013 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

This has been a pretty normal week–lots of school and other real life, too.

Baby wants more kombucha!

Baby loves his daddy! These Usborne puzzle books have been very popular this week.

Part of school every day–the most popular part–is practicing math facts with a game on the computer. I forgot to include these two pictures last week! Our hedge was trimmed.

The children have been bringing in heaps of these field mushrooms. They are delicious!

The hills to the north-west of us.

We see a lot of these cows in the paddock next to the house.

Baby fell against the wood stove Sunday night. Ouch!

After trying in vain to get into this laundry basket, and squealing in frustration, he picked it up and brought it to me. I put him in–and he was delighted!We enjoyed the sight of snow blowing off the tops of the mountains north of Kaikoura as we drove to church this morning. Finally, here are some of the pictures Esther took when we stopped at the beach on the way home this afternoon.  One boy was moving so fast all the pictures of him turned out blurry!

Filed Under: Activities at Home, Away From Home Tagged With: Baby, Canterbury, Homeschooling, Mountains, Ocean

This Month

March 20, 2013 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I am not getting anything put on here, so I’ll share what Esther wrote about the past three weeks.  She has lots of pictures to share, and this will bring you up-to-date!  Maybe in a month or two I’ll have more time to write!

—————–

Dear Friends,

We’ve been very busy lately, but I thought you all would probably appreciate a quick update! ☺ So here goes…

Grandpa’s (Dad’s parents) arrived on Saturday, the 23rd of February. They brought along with them my cousin, David (David’s father is Dad’s brother). I had found out ahead of time (like at least three weeks before) that he was coming, and in the last week Seth and Simon (the next two children after me) had found out he was coming, but all the younger ones were totally in the dark—they had NO idea that David was coming! So it was a really nice surprise for all of them.

On Sunday, we all went to church together, then in the afternoon went up to a church friend’s farm. He owns about a thousand acres of very hilly land (they’re the foothills to the K——- mountains; the farm is so rugged that he hasn’t even set foot on some of the land!), where he raises sheep and cattle. He gave us a demonstration of sheep dogs working sheep, and also sheared a sheep so we could see how that process works. It was all very interesting! I’ve seen sheep dogs working sheep before, but only two (out of our 12-person group!) of us had ever seen a sheep sheared before. So that was a very special afternoon…

To read the rest, go here and enjoy her pictures!

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Fishing, gore bay, Hooker Valley, Kaikoura, Mount Cook, Tasman Glacier, Visitors

Napenape

December 25, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Today was Christmas Day.  We didn’t have anyone to spend the day with, so we decided to go to a beach we hadn’t been to before.  Napenape (pronounced nappy-nap) is just south of the Hurunui River.  It is a beautiful beach!  It always amazes us how different each beach is from all others.  We thoroughly enjoyed spending time there and relaxing this afternoon.

Looking down the hill, across the Hurunui River towards Cheviot (on the other side of the hills)

Hills on the way to the sea

The beach road at Napenape

Napenape beach

We had a picnic for lunch

The boys found this baby shag

On the way to the end of the beach, the boys climbed this little hill. The day was quite misty at first.

This cliff marked the end of the beach we could walk today! The tide was near high.

Baby loved the rocky beach!

About to grab the camera (and taste it!)

Gayle and some of the boys climbed the cliff

We played tic-tac-toe

The mist cleared shortly before we left

On the way out, we stopped so the boys could investigate a spring

They said the spring water tasted good.

 

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Napenape, Ocean, Video

Fossils and Port Robinson

November 12, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Last night, we took a picnic supper to Gore Bay.  It was a warm, breezy evening, unusual for this time of year.  Last week, when I took the children there for lunch one day, we had found a couple of rocks with fossilized bones sticking out of the top, and wanted to go back to take pictures of them.  They are in a place you can only go at low tide,  which is why we had to wait till evening yesterday.  We got there about two hours before low tide.

The boys took off down the trail to the beach as soon as they were done eating, taking a cloth shopping bag with them to hold all the mussels they were planning to collect!  The rest of us followed a little more leisurely.  We were able to find the fossils we had seen the last time without too much trouble–and then found more and more and more!
A lovely paua shell.Baby appreciates rocks, too–salty ones, especially!
Finally we made our way to the south end of Gore Bay, where the boys were diligently hunting.  After walking around a little on the rocks there, we decided to go around into Port Robinson.  This was the only access to the Cheviot area in the early days, 100-130 years ago.  Apparently, they would unload the ships and send the goods up some sort of track to the top of the cliffs.  They say there is no trace of the port left at sea level.

Port Robinson

I’m not sure what this tunnel was all about, but it opens out of the cliff just above the high tide line.  As you can imagine, the boys were pretty excited when their Daddy found it–that is the sort of thing you generally only find in mystery stories!

The tunnel that Daddy discovered in the cliff.


The boys, of course, had to practice their mountain-climbing skills, in addition to gathering a shopping-bag nearly full of mussels (now I have to figure out how to cook them!).On our way back to the van, we stopped for a few minutes to chat with some tourists from Australia, and then got caught in the rain when it started suddenly.  No one minded getting a little wet, though.  Everyone agreed that this was a perfect way to spend an evening.

The largest chiton I have ever seen! They are normally 1/2-1 1/2 inches long; this one was 4-5.

Sea squirt

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, gore bay, Ocean, Port Robinson

Exciting Birthday!

October 11, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Today is my birthday, and I had a wonderful birthday present–my cow calved this morning!  She was nearly a week late, so we’ve been keeping a close eye on her.  Last night she looked like she was very close, so we moved her into a paddock (we had her beside the road) so the calf wouldn’t end up on the road.  When I went out at 6:30 this morning to check on her, it was apparent that she was in labor, but she also had milk fever and couldn’t get up.  Of course, Gayle was at work, so I called our landlord, who knows a lot about cows, and asked him if he would be able to come over and give her some calcium.  He very kindly came over soon, and instead of giving her the oral calcium that I had, he gave her two bags under her skin.  He tried to hit a vein, but missed both times.  It still works, just not quite as fast.  We continued to watch her closely, and around 9:00 I felt inside to see if the calf was in the right position.  It was, and half an hour later the feet started showing.  Around 10:00 she finally stood up!  The feet and nose disappeared back inside, and she took a break for awhile, eating some grass and hay.  By 11:00, though, the calf was born–a healthy little bull.  The children all got to watch.  They had been hoping for that.  They’ve had quite the education–they witnessed the breeding and now the birth.

And here’s a funny:  This is Chestnut’s third calf, and all three have been born on a Thursday.  We’ve had four different goats kid here, and three have kidded on a Thursday.  What are the odds of that happening?

Just born!

Everyone wants to meet the new baby!

Worn out.

This afternoon, the two oldest boys went to help a local man “tail” lambs.  Of course, lambs are born with long tails, but if you leave the tails on, poo builds up on them and then flies lay eggs…. I’ll spare you the details, but it’s kinder to cut off the tails.  At the same time, they notch the ears for identification, and “ring” the males.  This farm has around 2,000 ewes, so there are 3-4,000 lambs.  The farm is in the hills directly east of Cheviot.  We were able to drive the van to the back of the farm where they were working, since we have 4-wheel drive in it.  We were going up and down some mighty steep hills!  I have been looking at those particular hills, and the farm road we went up, since we moved here, wishing I could go up them!  What a day for my wish to come true–my birthday!  The views from the top were awesome.  Snow-capped peaks in one direction; the sea in the other.

Ever since we moved to Cheviot I’ve wanted to go to the top of this hill. The tailing operation.

On the way back down, we stopped on the hill at the base of the cell tower (we were higher than the tower when we were back where they were tailing!). We live at the edge of the worked ground in the middle of the picture–just beyond Cheviot.

View to the north from the cell tower.  You can vaguely see the Kaikoura mountains here; in reality they were quite clear.

Look how steep this hill is!

See the cows along the top of the ridge across the valley?

The road we drove on to get to the back of the farm, viewed from the other side of Cheviot. That’s the road I’ve been eyeing for nearly three years!

Filed Under: Activities at Home, Away From Home Tagged With: Animals, Canterbury, Cheviot, Cow, Farming

Classic Cars

September 23, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We had some different entertainment on our way to church this morning.  There was a classic car show in Kaikoura yesterday, and the cars were on their way home this morning.  We probably saw around a hundred of them–didn’t think to count till we were nearly there!  This post is mainly for my brothers who like old cars–we were thinking of you as we enjoyed the “parade”.

A few of the cars were not being driven!

We also saw a couple of railroad track-fixing-machines–made us think of our friend back in Michigan who used to build them!  These were built in Australia, though, it looked like.

We also saw this picture of spring.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Classic Cars, Kaikoura

This Past Week or Two in Pictures

September 13, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I keep thinking about things to blog about, but real life keeps getting in the way.  So, here are a bunch of pictures to give you a glimpse into the past couple of weeks.

Now that he can get around we have to be more diligent about cleaning up ashes!

Last Tuesday we had the biggest hail I have ever seen. When it hit a boogie board in front of the house it bounced up 3 meters (10 feet)!

After the storm passed, the cows finally made it to the trees for shelter–and when the sun hit them a cloud of steam went up!

Hail on the trampoline.

Almost crawling!Gayle and the boys built the framework for raised beds on Saturday.

On Sunday we stopped to explore some rock pools along the coast.

Starfish Sea anemone

Filed Under: Activities at Home, Away From Home Tagged With: Animals, Baby, Canterbury, Children, Kaikoura, Ocean, Random Photos

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The Family:


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Girl #1, Esther, my right hand

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