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Cone Creek

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A few weeks ago, all five of our boys, as well as two friends of theirs, went on a tramp. That Friday was a holiday, so they took off fairly early in the morning and headed up into the mountains. Their destination was a hut the older boys had been to, coming in from the opposite direction, a couple of years ago. Some friends of ours tried to go to the hut last year and couldn’t find it, so the boys wanted to be sure to arrive in the vicinity with plenty of daylight–and Elijah also downloaded an app onto his phone with topographical maps of the entire country. They found the hut with no trouble, and spent a few hours chopping firewood to replenish what they used.

On the way up the river, the boys spotted this wild sheep, off by itself.

They also spotted a pair of blue ducks.

A view up the misty valley!

When the boys reached the hut, they found snow on the ground.

Inside the hut. They said that the open fire didn’t heat the hut very well, but they were out of the weather and comfortable.

The front of Cone Creek Hut.

Elijah was trying to focus on the river here, but I liked the horizontal tree in the middle.

I’ve never seen a bright blue mushroom like this before! (This picture is for you, Mom.)

A stop for lunch on the way back down on the Saturday.

The boys loved their tramp and want to go again!

Flooding!

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We had quite a storm yesterday. In less than 24 hours, we got at least 4, possibly as much as 6, inches of rain. Late in the afternoon, as the rain started slacking off, the boys discovered that the creeks were overflowing into the paddock our cows, chickens and turkeys live in. The cows were locked onto higher ground in one corner, and the chickens are on high enough ground to be safe; the turkeys free-range, and they were all fine. Mr. Imagination came running home as soon as they saw the water, to get his camera, and when Elijah went down, he took some pictures with his camera. Several locals said they had never seen the water this high. Part of the problem was that gravel had washed under the bridge, backing up the water into the paddock on the other side of the highway from us. There were also several log jams downstream, which also backed up the water.

The water in this picture is usually several meters away from where the cows are standing. This is a small creek that comes from a culvert that goes under the highway just to the right of the picture. It’s usually a wide, flowing pool of beautiful, clear, shallow water.

The cows are on the high ground at the right of this picture. Normally, there is no water flowing across there! You can see, about in the middle of the picture, where our little creek flows into Orwell Creek. There was a log jam across the mouth of our little creek, which diverted some of the water from Orwell Creek and directed it into our paddock, as well as the little creek having a lot of water of its own. The other two times we’ve seen that overflow, both within the last year, all the water has gone into a drainage ditch that starts just there, near the left side of this picture.

To the right is the normal channel of the creek. The drainage ditch is just left of the middle of this picture. This time, the water went right across the paddock to the left!

Look at all that water! The drainage ditch to the far right normally flows with a couple of inches of water at the bottom of a 2-meter ditch. The other drainage ditch, on the left, is normally just a swampy strip of water that might flow a little but not much. It got a good clean-out this time, though!

The turkeys are unimpressed with the weather. See what looks like a small lake in the distance? Some of our neighbors have fences set up there and have been grazing three ponies there this winter. We were glad to see they got the ponies out and up here to their house before that area was flooded too badly.

This is just across the highway from the gate to “our” paddock. Because of the gravel built up under the bridge, Orwell Creek was backed up into the paddock and around the neighbor’s house.

The boys were pretty impressed with this whirlpool. It goes down into the culvert that goes through into our paddock. They said the mouth of the culvert was about a meter, maybe three feet, below the surface of the water.

After checking out our paddock, the boys went around the block to where Orwell Creek crosses a road at the bottom of the hill on which Ahaura is built. The railroad parallels the road at this point, and this is what they saw at the two bridges:

Two hours later, this is what they saw:

By this time, the water was over the road bridge, and level with the train bridge–and a spot downstream just a little ways was washing out. There is normally no gap under the track here, but the water that went over the road washed it out pretty badly. Simon called Kiwirail to report the washout, and they sent a crew out this morning to fix it. We went past on our way home from church this afternoon and the track was safe again!

Several of the boys took video clips of what they saw, so I’ve put them together here. The power of moving water is amazing! There’s a little bit of fun here, too, at the end; Mr. Sweetie and Mr. Imagination rode their bikes at top speed past James, through puddles.

May 2022 Photos, Part 2

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Here are the rest of our photos from May!

Esther made peanut butter one evening, from 5 kg of peanuts, and forgot to put salt in one lot of it. She put it all in a big bowl to stir the salt in, and was pretty amazed at how that much peanut butter looks. We normally put it in 2-litre buckets as we make each batch in the food processor, so we don’t see it like this.

We had a hailstorm one afternoon. The younger children were thrilled and ran outside to play in the ice that was coming out of the sky.

They scraped up some hail from the trailer bed and brought it in to show me!

James and Princess, enjoying the warmth from the fire. That’s one spoiled cat.

We killed a beef the end of the month, and Esther and I spent three days cutting it up. Lots of meat! This was everything from the two hindquarters, which we mostly made into roasts and steaks. We saved all the bones to make into broth, and all the fat, to render into tallow. We enjoy doing the work ourselves and being able to use everything.

Little sister, delighted to be joining her big brothers for breakfast; they usually leave before she gets up in the morning.

Miss Joy helped her daddy mow lawn one afternoon!

Big River 4WD Trip Part 2

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After we ate our picnic lunch, we decided to cross the river and walk up to the restored winding house, then on up the mountain to the old poppet head. Some of us had worn shoes rather than boots, so one man kindly let us ride across the river. Here we are loading up–several people clung to the running boards to get across!

We walked up the track on the other side to the old winding house, through dense bush. One place opened out into this little meadow cut through with several narrow creeks. I’ve never seen anything quite like this!

This is inside the winding house. This steam engine used to power a huge winch that pulled a cable which ran up the hill to the poppet head. From there, the cable dropped down underground in the the mine shaft. I think it went down about 600 meters–that’s around a quarter of a mile. The original winding house was vandalized after the mine was abandoned, but then rebuilt recently and the machinery restored to its present condition.

Next, we walked up another track to get to the poppet head. This is the foot of the pile of tailings that cascades down from the top. We walked around to the left on a foot path.

Along the way, we passed a drilling platform. A gold mining company based in Reefton is exploring for gold. They set up a drilling platform at likely locations and drill multiple holes for core samples, at all angles from this platform. The platform and all equipment was brought in and placed by helicopter, and it is resupplied by helicopter, as well. The men live in a hut down the mountain a little ways; they are able to drive to it and up to the base of the pile of tailings with a 4WD, and then walk to and from the platform. One man in our group works for that mining company, and on this particular Saturday he had to visit this platform to check on their core sample, so he was able to drive his family up to Big River with a company vehicle. He took off within a few minutes of arriving at the car park to do his job, and Simon went with him. Simon got to spend a couple of hours, before we got there, talking to the men doing the drilling and learning all about it. He happened to know the man in charge, so that was pretty exciting for him. Our friend snapped this photo on the drilling platform with his phone.

When we arrived, our friend (the man in the orange camo shirt) explained the entire process and brought up a box of core samples to show us. This hole had just passed 300 meters, so it was time to pull the drill out of it and start a new one.

The core samples are brought up three meters at a time, and laid out carefully in these boxes so that they can be reconstructed in the shed later. Our friend analyzes them to see what type of rock is present, looking for signs that gold might be present. The blue numbers on the samples represent the levels of arsenic–more arsenic means more likelihood of gold. The white streaks are quartz or fools gold, both of which indicate gold may be present.

Our next stop was at the top of the mountain, where the poppet head still stands over the old mine shaft. This tower used to be covered with boards to protect against the weather. The cable from the winding house came up here to a huge pulley, and then down into the shaft to pull men and rocks up, and lower supplies and men down.

The view from the top is incredible!

Our friend the geologist handed out cloth sample bags to the children and challenged them to find a rock with gold in it. They were each to find a likely-looking rock and give it to him, and he would analyze the rocks to see who was closest. The tailings contain a lot of gold-bearing rocks, since the technology at the time that this mine was in operation couldn’t recover nearly as much gold as we can today.

The children scrambled all over the mountain of tailings on their way down, searching for the perfect rock!

The rest of us carefully picked our way down this very steep slope, holding on to trees most of the way to keep our balance.

After we got off the mountain, we loaded up again and headed out the track, trying to get out before it got fully dark. We made it–just! Then, all except one family gathered at the home of the family who live in Reefton, and enjoyed fish and chips before going home. It was a great day!

Here is a short video I put together from several clips that Esther recorded. The parts of driving on the track were on the tamest stretches. If she had been recording on the worst parts, it would make you carsick to watch!

Big River 4WD Trip Part 1

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Several young men from across the island came to spend a weekend with a good friend of theirs here, who is attending our church now and is a good friend of our boys. They were discussing what to do with these young men when they came, and Simon came up with the idea of a four wheel drive trip. It was decided to go up to Big River, which had a thriving gold mine around 1900. Today it is a ghost town, with the old “poppet head” standing guard at the top of a mountain with tailings from the mine flowing down the slope below it. There is still gold in the mountain, and the company that our friend over here works for is exploring for the seams of gold to decide if they can justify mining for it. Anyway, by the time the day came, we had 41 people and 7 vehicles on the expedition. We met up at the beginning of the four wheel drive track that goes to the mine site. From that point, it is only 15 kilometers (not quite 10 miles), but it takes at least an hour and a half to drive it! Only a 4WD vehicle, preferably one that is jacked up a bit, can navigate that track, although one man in our party drove a ute, and made it through.

I really enjoyed watching the mist rising from the valleys between hills on our way to Reefton to start the drive. I rarely get away from home, and especially not so early in the morning. It was a perfect day to be out, the first clear day after a week or two of rain, and I thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the morning.

This was on the way up the road to the start of the track. Simon was driving a friend’s Land Rover in front of us. I was in Simon’s Pajero, with Elijah driving.

We regrouped at the start of the track, when everyone had arrived. Two boys rode motorbikes up, although one of the bikes didn’t do very well and rode back on a ute. As you can see, it was quite frosty at this point–brr!

On the track!

We stopped briefly at this creek. There was a sign pointing to a historic mine, and a number of the boys explored a few tunnels. I walked on ahead, because I didn’t have gumboots and didn’t want to go through the mud.

We stopped again here, briefly, to fix a motorbike. Again, I walked on ahead until Elijah caught up. The closest truck here is the Pajero, with Elijah in the driver’s seat. Simon is standing next to it, in the blue coat, and Mr. Imagination to the far left in the photo.

Because we were the lead vehicles, we arrived at the end of the track first and waited for everyone else. They stopped to explore another mine, but we were just far enough ahead that we didn’t see them stop, so it took another 10 minutes or so before the other vehicles arrived. We enjoyed the sunshine and the scenery from the carpark halfway up the mountain, overlooking the former township of Big River. In this picture, Simon is sitting on the bonnet of the Land Rover.

Watching the other vehicles arrive.

Here they come! The second vehicle is what everyone calls the “Troopie.” It has bench seats facing each other in the back, troop carrier style. Simon’s boss owns it.

We all parked in the small parking area, and ate our picnic lunches in the sunshine.

Miss Joy and one of her friends found the mud!

This is the only house left in Big River. Apparently, an elderly lady lived in it until recently–although I don’t know how recently! People brought food in to her every week until she died.

Part of the view from a little higher up the hill from the carpark. There is a DOC hut up at the top, and the views are astounding!

I’ll post more pictures of the rest of our day, and a short video, another day. I have a lot to sort through!

Late April/May 2022 Photos

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Whew! Finally I found a chance to sit down and work on this blog. Between visitors on the day I normally blog (two weeks in a row), a three-day migraine, internet issues, driving lessons for James (worthwhile: he passed his test!), and butchering a cow, it’s been an intense couple of weeks. And, the wonderful busyness continues, since we have more company coming this weekend. We are blessed! For the moment, though, I have a bit of peace. The younger children are finishing their schoolwork for the week by doing a small craft project, and then they’ll finish cleaning the house. I need to make a big pot of chili for tonight, when we’ll be feeding 4-5 extra young men plus a man from our church, and start on food for the weekend, and cut up the steaks from the cow, but that can all wait till after lunch. So, what did we do the end of April and in May?

Gayle took this photo on his phone from the top of the hill across the road, where we often graze animals. I like that he has the ability to take pictures, as that way special times like this are captured!

Gayle’s health is much better than it has been for many years, and he has a lot more energy, which means he can do things like take Little Miss for a walk after work. One afternoon they walked down to the river, and he took this picture under the train bridge.

The younger boys took two of their boats down to the paddock in which we keep our cows, and they love to play in the little creek that flows through one corner. Miss Joy loved a ride with Mr. Sweetie! This is a kayak that a neighbor gave the boys. They patched up a hole in it, and it works!

This is a boat that Mr. Imagination and Mr. Sweetie made. It works pretty well.

Gayle liked these toadstools, and of course the little beauty in front of them.

Elijah snapped this picture one evening when he was taking care of the chickens on top of the hill across the road, at sunset. Living between two mountain ranges means shorter days in winter, but we sure have some gorgeous scenery!

This was one of our huge pumpkins. It weighed over 9 kg (20 pounds), and had very thick, sweet flesh. If anyone wants seeds, just ask!

Some friends came for food and fellowship one Sunday evening, on the spur of the moment. After we ate, we enjoyed a lively game of dice. No gambling–just a lot of fun!

Jo-Jo is getting much better at flying. He isn’t loose often enough to be really good yet, so one day he found himself in this predicament when he landed on a blind and had to use every tail feather to keep himself balanced. As soon as she took the picture, Esther took pity on him and helped him down; he couldn’t figure out how to get off the blind by himself.

Roofing Simon’s House

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A week ago, Saturday’s project was reroofing Simon’s house. Simon had ordered the roofing iron, and it was delivered on the Monday before that day. Simon was hoping to get half the house finished in one day, and he had a lot of people who offered to help him. When Esther and I arrived over there with a pot of soup for lunch, this is what we saw–both sides of the roof ripped off!

Several of the younger helpers were scooping birds’ nests out of the roof cavity. It was apparently quite full!

Elijah and a friend were measuring the metal.

Poor Simon was supposed to be in charge!

They laid netting down over the purlins (after they replaced them all, as well as adding new timber to the sides of the rafters to extend and level the roof), and then put building paper over that before putting the new roof on.

They were still working after dark. The job was finished about 7:30. While we were eating lunch, it had started to rain, and looked like it might keep on all day. I was praying, as I drove home, that the rain would stop and they would be able to finish the job without the house getting soaked. As you can see from some of these pictures, the sun came out again! We were thankful. We’re pretty happy that the roof got finished before the new ceilings got damaged from rain. This weekend, the boys got the chimney installed, so now there is heat in the house.

April 2022 Photos

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Here we are in May already! The months fly by very fast. This first picture is Miss Joy driving her car. We use that crate to take Bibles to church–it keeps them off the floor of the van! She loaded herself into it when it was empty, along with a bear and several books, and pretended to drive. See her hands on the “wheel?”

It is time to finish the salve we started in early March. We had started three jars, and I got one finished just before Easter. Until meeting up with a friend in Timaru at Easter Conference, I didn’t have enough beeswax to finish, so now I need to do the other two jars. The first step is to strain the herbs out of the olive oil. Then, I weighed the oil, and for every ounce of oil, I added a Tablespoon of beeswax bits and the oil from one Vitamin E capsule. Then, I heat it all just enough to melt the wax, and pour it into small jars. The younger children (and a few of the older ones) love to eat the empty Vitamin E capsules! I opened about 50 that day, with such a big batch of oil, and they were all gone before the boys got home from work.

Also, a few days before Easter, Mr. Imagination brought up three baby turkeys! Because a hawk has been destroying all the turkey nests, these are the only ones we got this year. We kept them in the house for about two weeks; while we were gone a neighbor came in a few times a day to check on them. Now, we’ve gotten them acclimated to being outside in a small cage that we move around on our lawn. They got a lot of love the first week!

The day we drove over the mountains to Timaru was a gorgeous morning! It’s impossible to capture all we see with a camera, but here’s a tiny glimpse.

We harvested most of our pumpkins a couple of weeks ago. This is about 100 of them! On the far left you can see our biggest, a Hubbard. One end was rotting, so I cooked it immediately. It took a lot of work to get inside it. I had to use a cleaver and bang that with a piece of wood to finally crack the hard shell open. After I cleaned out the rotten bits and the seeds, I tried to weigh it. Both halves overloaded my 5 kg scale! I’m guessing it may have been about 13 kg, or 26-28 pounds. It was delicious, too! Very sweet. One of the gray ones was also almost that weight. It didn’t look quite so big, but had a smaller seed cavity. It was also very sweet. If any of my friends here in New Zealand want seeds, I saved all of them. The long brown one to the right is actually a zucchini. I hand pollinated it so the seeds would be what I wanted, and then watched it swell through the summer. It took only about three weeks to reach that size! I haven’t opened it up yet, because I’m making sure the seeds are totally mature. Anyone who wants zucchini seeds can have a few of them, too! I hope they are viable, anyway!

This is Elijah with his favorite toddler.

One morning right after we got off Daylight Savings, the girls were both up early enough to “help” take the cows back down to pasture.

At one point we had too many zucchinis, so I told the younger ones to cut them up. We cooked them a bit and fed them to the cows. The children had fun, and the cows had a feast!

Miss Joy loves to cut paper. She was delighted when Esther gave her an old phone book to cut.

The little girls set themselves up on Esther and Miss Joy’s bed one evening, with lots of pillows, soft toys, and books. They had great fun reading.

Up in the Air!

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James has spent several days in the last few weeks helping to reroof a house about a block from our house. It is positioned such that we can see it from a few of our windows! It’s fun to be able to see what he’s up to. One afternoon we walked over to have a better look. They had hired a cherry picker to get up to the roof, since it’s so high and steep–the house used to be a church. James’ boss offered that James could take the younger children up in it. Three of them were delighted to have a ride up over the roof and the power lines! James was delighted to take them, too. He had been operating that machine all day, and his boss said that James never stopped smiling all morning!

They went all the way up, but I didn’t get a photo of them at the top. I could hardly stand watching–there’s no way I would want to go up like that! They loved it, though; when Miss Joy got down, she said, “Dat was fun!”

Update on Simon’s House

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Ever since New Year’s Day, the boys have been working hard on renovating Simon’s house. His tenants hope to move in in a week, so the pressure is on! The main living area is finished, and we’re working hard to finish the laundry and toilet. The bathroom is finished except for wall linings, which are not coming in–they were ordered over a month ago. I painted the main living area two weeks ago, and spent the last couple of days painting the laundry and toilet. I hope to finish that within the next two days.

Here are a couple of pictures of the living area soon after Simon bought it. First is the kitchen, second is the living room.

This was the first color Simon chose for the trim. It was supposed to be brown! We asked him to buy a darker shade. This worked for the first coat, and then we painted over it with the darker paint. Simon saw it and fell in love with it, and decided on the spot what the outside of the house will be painted: cream with red trim.

The finished walls: first, kitchen; second, living room.

After we got the painting done, Elijah laid the carpet and vinyl, and then the lights were installed and connected.

Soon I’ll post a few pictures of the other rooms we’re finishing. I don’t have any here right now. It’s a lot of work, but the end result is rewarding. There is still a long way to go to finish the house. Simon ordered the roofing iron yesterday, so that will be the next step, and when he does that he’ll insulate the attic space. The cladding needs redone all around, and the bedrooms need to be gutted and redone. He’ll end up with a new house, one piece at a time!