Hans en Nienke: 2024

A sign of life indeed. Not just from us, but more and more green comes to life at our property. The more plants we have, the least we have to mow. And the least worries Nienke has to have of becoming a premature widow.

Spooky early morning fog in our area. Fog is becoming quite a theme! More about that later.

We do not have a farm anymore, but we do have a steer walking around in our friends paddock. His prospect is to end up in our freezer, once there is room in there again.

Our house is slowly being cluttered with pottery items. Either bought, like these ones (I believe) or manufactured by Nienke herself. She is really into that now.

I just made another table. It is supposed to be going upstairs, into our outdoor room. As it is a little bit (understatement) heavy, we'll have to wait for a platoon of soldiers to do some exercises in the neighbourhood. I'm pretty sure that about 8 man will be able to lift it upstairs though. Or maybe pull it with the mower ....

These are made by Nienke herself. Still in a pre-finished phase I believe. At this speed we'll be a new address at the Kapiti Arts Trail next year.

We had a rather mild winter, so Dick and I actually went out fishing. Unfortunately the snapper and gurnard's were not told about the mild winter. We kept catching sharks and some decent size kahawai. Those kahawai have a bad name here. Most Kiwi's have something against it. Weirdly enough they are worried about blood in the fish. Apparently that is not an issue with juicy steaks....... So even if they bleed them (break the neck and cut the tail and let them bleed out) they are still not very keen on them. The sharks are quite a menace. When they are hooked they get complete entangled in the line, like an unsolvable crossword puzzle.

I was kind of influenced by the stories about bad tasting kahawai, so I only used them for bait or Thai fish cakes. But today we tried something different. Fresh pan-fried kahawai. It was surprisingly nice.

Sunrise over the north side of our property. We are about to remove the wind barriers as most trees are quite established now.

Only thing missing now is the tub itself. Still in the container on it's way from Singapore to New Zealand. It was some really hard work and my poor back certainly deserves a few nights in the hot water.

We (almost) never miss a chance to see some local music, or music locally. So when the Caramello Blues band performed in Paekakeriki we asked our friends Fiona and Tim to join us for dinner and the concert afterwards. We were not disappointed. Swinging. Fiona and Tim had a surprise for us during dinner. They are moving to the south island for a seriously interesting adventure.

I think I am retired. Nienke does not agree and the practice keeps calling as well. So every now and then I do help out. Here we are, in the middle of a fire drill. As I was lucky enough to be floor warden (depends on in which room your work) I had the honour of checking all the rooms for hard hearing doctors or left-to-bleed-to-death patients. And then reporting to the someone looking important. Well observed! All women. Since the other Dutch doctors left the practice is mainly running on estrogen. And they are doing well!

After all these years living in Kapiti, having done heaps of walks all over the country, we discovered a very nice walk in our own backyard.

We walked through a nice valley full of sheep and lambs, jumping 15 times over a stream, to reach 'The rocks'. Nothing more than a collection of rocks indeed (giving names to places down under is quite an art), but with a very nice view over Kapiti.

Some great art in the Pataka gallery in Porirua. A friend was exhibiting her work there so we had to have a look.

Inspiration........

Yep, as you can see, that calf in the earlier picture is quite safe for a while. We just had a quarter beast dropped of. Nothing better than fresh homekill.

Every now and then we need a cultural injection. A night at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington is usually sufficient. Beethovens 5th this night. Had never seen it live. This centre is likely to be demolished. Build in 1983, it is now deemed not to be earthquake proof. You can't blame the architects from 1983 for that can you???

Meet and eat. A local organised a dinner for the neighbourhood. You could either sign up as a guest or as a host. Who went where, was decided by a tombola the night before. We had a great night with 3 people we knew and 2 we did not know. Surprised them with Indonesian, of course.

The tub has arrived! Steaming away with a great view.

It's a South African KolKol. It runs on firewood, and the firebox is, like our previous hot tub, in the water, making it very efficient.

As we really enjoyed our new favourite walk, we decided to try the mountain behind it as well. Mount Wainui. A 722m peak, overlooking Kapiti. The problem was that we did not have a map, just a story of someone from the Wellington tramping club. So we walked to 'the Rocks', climbed over the fence, walked through a spooky forest and reached a 4 wheel drive track. Took a right turn and ended up at an old cattle yard where Nienke spotted the familiar orange triangles from DOC. Although well signposted from there, the track was not maintained. Muddy as well, as it had rained a lot the previous week. We made it to the top and that was quite an achievement, but it was so worth it. You could see the Wairarapa, Wellington harbour, the Kaikoura ranges, Porirua harbour, Mana island and almost as far as Foxton. With another detour we walked for almost 8 hours that day.

Time for another cultural injection. A weekend in Wellington. Some nice art.

Very funny, even though they do not live here.

Nienke's favourite ice cream shop on Cuba street.

And our favourite music venue in Welly, the Rogue and Vagabond. Always great music. And 'people watching' is usually as enjoyable as listening to the music. There are certainly some weirdo's around on this globe. And they seem to like the same music as we do........

A nice stroll along the marine parade the next day. Found a great little place for a coffee and a sandwich, where we scrolled through the real estate pages of the weekend paper. The one we liked on the Oriental parade was just a bit extravagant (price tag $7 with 6 zero's) as a weekend bach.

Holiday! And we're taking the dogs! Well, not us, but these guys sure did.

That time of the year again, Nienke surprised these guys on our favourite walk.

With a couple of friends from our FDC (Friday Drinking Club) we headed of for a camping (well, in caravans and motorhomes) weekend in Hawkes Bay. We originally planned to go to the Wairarapa, but the forecast for the whole of NZ was bad, except for Hawkes Bay. And that's the advantage of your bed on wheels, you just follow the sun.

We had not booked anything, but found a great free camping spot in Haumoana beach.

Of course a visit to the famous HB Farmers market. We bought strawberries the size of a tennis ball, so delicious. And of course heaps of ingredients for the barbie.

A game of bowls (as the call 'jeu de boules' here) in the adjourning park. Yes, I know, we're getting old, we now have to scroll down for 5 minutes to reach our year of birth! But in our defence, it was very close to the drinks and nibbles.

"Effe rust' with my morning coffee. The sea was about 20 m from our camping spot. And although very tempting to dive in, not the safest place to swim.

Sing alongs. I'm sorry, but I had to pledge not to make the singing achievements of the team members public. A 10 for remembering the lyrics though, the singing performance did not get a jury score...... I can make the video available for a koha!

We finished the weekend with a nice meal at Clearview Estate, where we tried their array of chardonnays. I think we reached a consensus that the Endeavour chardonnay 2019 was ok for a $175 a bottle.

Time to go home again. But I thought; why would I. The whole country had been inundated with rain for days (except for where we were) and there were still a few nice days to come. So, Nienke hiked along with the other friends and I decided to slowly descent along the east coast, exploring a few beaches still unknown to us.

Briefly stopped at Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, a hill with the longest name in NZ.

Maarten organised an electronica course and I expressed interest. When the date came up, I discovered we were going to make a Xmas tree. I had hoped we were going to make a radio. Anyway, it was an afternoon of fun and I actually ended up with a small tree full of flashing lights. Even though the manual was in some Chinese dialect.

Maybe that apartment in Wellington can wait a bit longer. Much nicer and quieter here.

Our, still unnamed, steer is walking on Roger's property. And he and his brother (the steer) had already escaped a few times. So it was only fair that I helped Roger to repair the fences. Real fencing, with a digger and all the necessary 'man' tools. We were not the fastest, but the work looked good. Until a young South African farmer, who also lived on the property, came to inspect our work. He looked at the knots I made around the end posts and said 'interesting'. The way you look at an ugly baby, but you do not want to insult the mother. We got a speed course in fencing and I must say, we became quite good at it. Done about 5 days so far and still some days to go.

Nienke arranged a lunch at our good friends Landa and Rutger in Wellington. On a Saturday, when I had to play tennis competition in Wellington. So she had to hitchhike with me. The first time she came along to watch me play, well, she had little choice. But we finally got some pictures.

And even a video. Pity I can't show more. We were leading 5-1 against the youngsters when the infamous Welly rain started. The matches had to be postponed. To soften the blow, we had more time for the lunch!

Nope, not selling the house just yet. But this could be a nice picture in any real estate magazine.

South island time. We were going to do the Paparoa track, a relatively new multiday 'Great walk'. The track is a tribute to the Pike River mine disaster of 2010, when 29 men lost their lives. But first we were going to visit our friends Fiona and Tim, who moved to Kaikoura to run a farm high in the mountains. "Yeah, we're pretty sure your motorhome can make it up to the house". Well, OK then. Let's give it a go. Here we are following Tim, in his 4WD, with our heavy 2WD bedroom on wheels.

Would you believe we made it through 7 fords on a rough steep road, only to get stranded about 15 m from their house? We should have bought that 4WD motorhome. Had the UTE not been enough there were a few cranes nearby.

We had the most fabulous weekend at Puhi Peaks station. These are wild rams, caught when accidently walking into a fenced paddock. We had to move them for shearing. Did I mention they do not have dogs? We were the dogs. With the 4 of us we tried moving the rams into a pen (enclosure). In the pouring rain. And they somehow did not trust us. They were faster as well. It took us well over an hour; 59 minutes of feeling like idiots, and the rest feeling pretty proud.

We got a tour over part of the property. Spectacular.

The property is mainly for enjoying the outdoor life. Walks, hunting, good honest food and great company.

Unfortunately the foundations of this luxury hunting lodge got damaged during the Kaikoura earthquake. Red stickered and apparently still no solution in sight after battling the insurance for 8 years.

The last part of the track towards the lodge was too damaged to get there with the buggy.

Tim and I made a little 'bridge' so the ladies could pass safely and dry.

After all, Fiona was carrying a egg and bacon pie for lunch. Certainly worth keeping it dry.

This little cabin close to the lodge has been left the way it was directly after the earthquake. Photo take through the door window.

Thanks Fiona and Tim, we had a super weekend.

Walk back over the wilderness track.

Temperature started to get a bit more humane as well.

Nienke just loves the dogs. Me too, but other men's dogs. Still a firm 'no' from me.

Breakfast in paradise.

Just birdsong and pure nature. We'll definitely come back to help them out. What a spot.

Nienke and I did a fence inspection and discovered quite some damage caused by big slips. Met up with Fiona who came from the other side. The fences get damaged often by wild rams, deer and big boulders. Not easy to repair, but quite essential.

Happy life.

Nice in the night

and during the day. But, this was not the main reason we came to the south island. The 3 days track on the West coast is what we were there for. Would be difficult to top this experience though.

The beach in Kaikoura with the mountains, where Puhi Peaks is located, in the background. Kaikoura is such a lovely little town. We visited a local garage to let them check the motorhome. Just after we left Te Horo, a warning light had come on. Nothing serious (according to the manual), but still. The guy could not believe we drove all the way up to Puhi Peaks with our vehicle. As far as the warning light goes, he could not find the issue. He had a typical number 8 wire solution; he just wiped all the messages from our board computer. Problem solved. The warning light did not pop up again and 'en passant' the message about our 'wrong tyre pressures' disappeared as well. Cool. Under protest he accepted money from Nienke, a real nice guy.

We took the inland route to the Lewis pass and found a camping close to Mount Lyford. The camping (Terako downs) was owned by an old Dutchmen. He had a museum on the property where he displayed all his old belongings. From his old microphone (he used to be a singer) to a framed 'Top 40' from 1967. Funny. Had a nice talk with Fritz (on his clogs) when he came over for a beer.

We were the only ones on the camping, but got the full Xmas decoration display at night.

A short stop in Hanmer Springs for a good coffee, before we took the Lewis pass to Greymouth.

We were dropped of at the start of the track by the company where we parked the motorhome for 3 days. Look at that happy couple, well trained, but again, too much stuff with them. The weather forecast was not the best. While we were standing on the beach the night before, we saw the front coming in. You can't plan these things.

On our way to the 'Moonlight Tops hut'.

A beautiful forest with lots of birds. The Alaskan dentist and Dutch physiotherapist, who were with us in the van, had already passed us on their mountain bikes. This track is a shared one. Mountain biking is getting more and more popular here.

Lunch at the Ces Clarck hut. Somewhere halfway, but most of the climbing (900 m. height difference) was done. Bad weather coming in.

And there it is, fog!

Nienke walking on the ridge, where you, apparently, have great views on both sides.

Just before the evening we could see a bit of the coast. Most of the discussions in the hut were about where north and south was. Made little difference for the views though.

Brought some whisky with me in a Listerine bottle, a bit of Dutch courage for the both of us. The American dentist was quite surprised.

The sunset was pretty nice from the hut. In the distance you can see the sea. Well, not according to some others who thought this was the east.

Unfortunately the weather changed overnight again. Believe it or not, but Nienke is actually in this picture, leaving the hut early in the morning. Great day, no view, rain and cold.

We heard a kiwi right next to the path, but unfortunately did not see it. After 18 years we still haven't seen a kiwi in the wild. Wet and foggy, but the forest was stunning.

Right out of a hobbit movie.

This toutouwai (South island robin) was practically sitting on Nienke's shoes. Very friendly and trusting. They come real close to people as we disturb insects, so they can catch them. Unfortunately their numbers are declining.

The ferns are always so nice to look at. It is a nature's wonder. They slowly unroll to become a beautiful fern. Many of the Maori symbols originate from this phenomenon.

And those ferns are everywhere. They make this picture, with a totally drenched tramper in the rain, a lot nicer. I got a bit feverish during the second day and my cough scared lots of birds away. The running nose was so bad that by now I am a serious contender for the National 'Farmers blow' championships. Even Nienke is currently at regional level. She had a sore throat as well.

This wild goat was pretty brave. They are a pest in New Zealand and DOC even rewards people at the moment to shoot them. He must have known that we did not carry a gun, cause he kept lying on his tree trunk about 5 meters from the path.

Almost at the end of the track and we even had to climb through some caves.

When we reached the Punakaiki river we started to meet several day walkers, people in inappropriate clothing on gym shoes and a water bottle in the hand. At least some of them looked with admiration at my lovely partner with that big backpack on her back. We made it. 55.7 km in 3 days in far from ideal circumstances. Another big walk ticked of. 7 out of 11 done.

As we both did not feel the best, we decided to head north towards Picton again. Spend the night in Murchinson where we had a nice swim in the river. As soon as we drove land inwards the sun came out again. The bad weather had just been over the ranges where we did our walk. Typical for the West coats. There is a reason why it is so green!

After about 15 minutes the temperature of the water was fine......

Best camping spot ever. We parked up at Hunters winery for lunch. Unfortunately we could not stay the night. We drove to Picton and decided to take the ferry a day early, because we really did not feel that well. When we came home we discovered we had Covid (Corona for the Dutchies). Who would have thought? We probably picked it up in the hut, where you are on top of each other with 18 people.

So we had to stay in isolation for a few days (you do not strictly have to do that, but it is advised). Covid is doing the rounds again here in NZ. We slept a lot and did not do much for a few days. Were a lot better when the new "Work-a-way-ers' arrived. They helped us getting 4 big wool bags (1 cubic meter a piece) full of weeds from our slopes. When we got better we could go to the concert of our local friend, who had set up a stage in her own shed. They were missing a few band members. You think I would dare to play the piano? Or drums?