Bunny, bunny, bunny

Since Hepzibah became Horatio (and we had to remove the guinea pig due to abuse) we decided 'he' needed some company. See the cute bunny!! 

Sadly Horatio was no friendlier with the new bunny, hair flew as he slashed away, so new bunny has to be house trained and live inside.

Luckily he gets on well with our pussy and provides hours of entertainment as he mooches around the living room. Now all we need is to agree on his name. Is it to be Norbert or Nelson?

Arts Festival 2008

Steve was enjoying his first beer(s) sooooo much we very nearly missed the masked parade this year. I nearly forgot to take photos the first school was so good (they won 2 awards) I managed to get the Kindy group above..

Most of the events of the arts festival are taking place here at the Founders Park, a location for Nelson's history. A few artists displayed their installations, we watched a Punch and Judy show and Steve, had a rest. (Steve's contribution, a bit flat this writing I feel Steve, step it up a bit next time.)

Well it's all over and once more, being cheap skates, we haven't paid for anything! We did go to more performances this year:  free ones every day in town, one on the main stage for which we got free tickets, story telling with my class and the  Family fun day at the end.

Mad Hats and Cup Cakes

Now we have a walking, talking Stevie we put him straight to work in the kitchen. The OT was on board with this and supplied him with a cooking/washing up chair. 

We celebrated my 21st with a Mad Hatter's Tea Party thus allowing me to demo my awesome makeup skills and providing a straight forward dress code. It's hard to believe that Steve nearly died before we had friends round for tea, we won't wait quite so long next time. Note for those not in the loop, Steve's had encephalitis and has been in a coma. He was not expected to recover but is way more determined to live than doctors expected. He has also relearned the walking recently and is keen to try the cycling too!

How things were  at the end of August when in the ICU. Steve is wearing his Swedish Nose which allowed him to cover his trachy and speak.  We think his first words were 'Where's my pussy?' He remembers his first words being "Rachel! Jenny!!!'

A Slow Winter

We've had a quiet time this winter. Most of our free time seems to be spent tracking down kitchen parts. First to Wellington for a cooker, then South through icy hills to Chch to buy the kitchen above. It will stay in the show room until Dec while we get building work done.

Winter is definitely here!

I really wanted to get a shot of our beach and snowy hills with a blue sky behind, it's looked awesome all week but we only got out with a camera today. This is as close to snow as Nelson gets but the rest of the country has plenty. The rock is Fifeshire rock, 100yrs age all ships waited til high tide and sailed in past this, the Fifeshire hit on the way out! Now they have dug a channel into the harbour.

Our new fire!!! it's in and its toasty, we just have a little tiling to tidy up. I don't think Steve could have got through the coming holiday (mid winter hols now) with one tiny radiator to heat the house. No skiing yet too much snow, there's blizzards on the hills.

Pupu Hydro

Celebrating the Queen's birthday meant driving the Kombi over Takaka hill to Pohara where we camped the night and woke to a lovely blue sky and glassy water. After breakfast we ventured into the bush to explore a piece of engineering marvel. In the 1900s a tailrace was constructed by golddiggers to provide water to sluice guns. Once the gold was gone the tailrace was then used as a small hydro electric power station. Lovely walk amongst native bush.

A thrilling example of a pelton wheel. Unfortunately the other photos won't load, shame there was the whole water race and a pen stock. No one can equal the thrill of a pen stock.

Up Close and Personal

It's hard to get pussy to do anything other than sleep or lick herself but here she sends you all a wet pussy kiss.

A short fishy tale.

Honeymoon no. 2 - The Pacific Island Paradise

Honeymoon No. 2 was awesome, everything you would want from a honeymoon: crystal clear lagoons, white sand beaches, palms, chickens, a scooter and next to no traffic.  We went for the west coast of Rarotonga, as you can see, and had fantastic sunsets to go with a chilled glass of sav. This one's from day one taken from the deck of our bungalow (click to see bungalow piccys).

Steve was pretty relieved that I took to the snorkelling, I don't know what we would have done all week if I hadn't! Rarotonga is the perfect place for a first timer, I must have seen 50 different types of fish in the first 5 mins. I now can't believe that I'd never been before, I know people tried to convince me but I only learn by doing! We have at least 90 shots of fish so I'll leave those pics for a slide show.

Hours of innocent fun to be had feeding the neighbour's chooks. Chickens rule on Raro, they're everywhere. 

Spot the photographer, cheeky bugger stealing images of 'our' sunsets.

Dolphins and Whales

I forgot to post the photos of the humpbacks and dusky dolphins we saw in January while taking Claire and Carl round the south island. It's hard to convey just how many surrounded us and how close they were. I'd definitely video them next time then I wouldn't miss the fluke or the jumps.

Pussy Rolls Over

Pussy is not doing very exciting things today but heres a short clip of her exercise routine published just to keep homesick daughter happy. 

The Reality of Life Everyday

Yes I know we look like we live in paradise but the truth is ... 

we live in a construction zone!!!

And poor pussy doesn't know which way to turn.

Test Run In the Abel Tasman

This is out of order I know but we did some practice kayaking before I committed myself to four days worth. We drove 45mins west to Kaiteriteri and paddled round to the famous Split Apple Rock. Then I did my first across open sea trip to Fisherman's Island, a 10km round trip

 It is stunning as you can see in the photos, above are our kayaks on the beach and below you can see where the photo was taken fron with the hills of Nelson in the distance. The trip back was rough but it proved I could do it and I felt much happier when we had to cope with rough seas again.

Look at the DOC Abel Tasman site for great info.

$12 Holiday

We had a glorious Easter break and have finally gone kayak touring in the Marlborough Sounds. We spent 4 days/3 nights paddling through the most stunning unique landscape. The Sounds are sunken river valleys so it's like you're paddling halfway up hills and mountains. The first night we had a beautiful spot under Giant Macrocarpa trees just us and some curious weka. 

We got caught out the second day, the wind got up and we had to shelter in a bay with no camp site, luckily some kind people from Blenheim let us camp on their bach land. Undeterred we continued the next day to the Tennyson inlet (above) and a fantastic spot in Tawa bay (below), that camp had deluxe items, like a tap with running water and toilet paper, so we had to pay $12 to stay, hence the whole cost of the holiday. 

Despite some tough paddling and aches in strange places we will definitely go again, next time we'll check the Marine forecast first and stay in the inner Sounds.

Honeymoon On Wheels

After the wedding and everyone had gone home we packed the Kombi, loaded the bikes on the back and headed south to Central Otago. The 150km long Otago Rail Trail winds its way through stunning scenery, over viaducts, through tunnels and gorges. 

The Wedding slide show.

Honeymoon no. 1

Steve tries his hand at shepherding. But who left the gate open!


It's amazing what you can make with one stove. Or does food just taste better when you've ridden hours to it?!

THE WEDDING!!!