Saturday to Wednesday 12-16 April 2025

We have now circumnavigated South Island. Done 4,590 kms in our little car and I note that NZ is really one enormous farm. Of particular interest to Flashy, is the use of gigantic hedges on farms as wind breaks. The really big ones, between 6 and 10 metre high conifers; and so thick a skinny ferret couldn’t sneak through, are planted north-south. He knows this because he can use his analog watch and the position of the sun to find north. Then the scraggly hedges, all a lot shorter and often made of planted Poplar trees or even gum trees, they run east-west.

We think the South Island is actually greener than Ireland, too.

And as for the Kiwis. They’re a friendly lot. Hardy Scottish stock down here. The blokes run around all day in shorts and often with bucket hats and gum boots, in temperatures that would freeze vodka!

Our house sit is in a new four bedroom house on the outskirts of Christchurch, in Lincoln, with a funny little Schnauzer Highland Terrier cross, called Stella. For the first few days of the week we settled in and had a look around Lincoln, the main street is well within walking distance (yet to walk in) and has a couple of watering holes  - the Laboratory and the Famous Grouse. It also has a good German butcher, where we purchased some excellent sausages.

On Monday we drove to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. This has a rich waling and sealing history, along with a distinctively French vibe. A hangover from the time that some enterprising Frenchman sailed back home with a dodgy land title done with the local Māori chief, collected a ship and a group of adventurers and sailed back to Akaora full of piss and vinegar, only to find the sneaky British had declared it for good old Queen Vicki and raised the Union Jack!

No longer being a war with the Frogs, all the settlers got on just fine and the French stayed, leaving a small imprint on the local village and evidence of their past, now promoted as a tourist attraction.

Being on the waterfront, we had a feed of fish and chips and a L&P at the local café. Get this. The fish of the day, cheapest on the menu, was Orange Roughy. Now, these little darlings are a cold water, deep sea and very slow growing fish. They are a gourmet’s delight. In South Australian restaurants they are worth a fortune. But here they’re cheap. Swoop, says Flashy! Excellent batter, delicious flesh, hand cut chips and a nice salad garnish, eaten out of a cardboard box on a Laminex table.

As we head into Tuesday, our blue sky turns grey and cold and we have a little rain. So, we light the fire and plan the catering for the rest of the week into Easter.

I think this is "splitting the M"

Very high hedges.

She's used to us now.

Not real stressed.