Every evening, weather and tide permiting, Regina and I go for a walk on the beach. The colours seem to be different each time. Mark

Labour Day

 

Here was our first real taste of summer. Labour Day weekend, the sun was shining, and we headed to the beach straight after breakfast. Beautiful! Reg

Downtown Gisborne

Due to a request to see some pictures of the actual city itself, we've taken some photos of Downtown Gisborne to give you guys a look at what we have to live with. Hope you're happy, Hans. This was a bother to do.

Art Competition

 

Here is Mark, painting live, downtown Gisborne as part of an art competition. Sorry to say he didn't win. He was beaten out by an artist who did a spray paint piece.

Fire

 

Thank goodness for the Jotul :)

 

 

The weather changes quickly from sunshine to awesome fierce storms, where the wind howls in and shakes the house and the sky opens up and the rain pours down.(Mark)

Rows and rows of Poplars

There are rows of Poplars surrounding every 'paddock' of crops (wind breaks). These grow to 25 or 30 feet in 8 years, and then are trimmed with gigantic hedge-trimmer like saws. They look like green walls all through the flats.

Vineyards

 
Here is a very common sight, as you drive inland from the East Coast . . . grape vines as far as the eye can see. The landscape is very flat on the valley floors, and then there are very sudden, steep hills. The sheep and cattle graze on these incredibly steep inclines and it looks as if they might topple down, head over hoof, at any time. There are fences to keep them on the hills, as the flats are too valuable for grazing, and are used for produce (citris, grapes, avocado, figs, olives, etc.)

Walking with the Sheep

 

Hello! Mark and I visited an Arboretum today (I don't know either). Anyway, we took this walk on trails and through meadows and saw some sheep, wild turkeys and a peacock. This park has the largest variety of trees anywhere in New Zealand. (Thousands, I understand). Really remarkable. Magnolias and Azaleas 20+ feet tall, huge Oaks, and all sorts of varieties from Japan, the Himalayas and all over the world. Cool.

View of Wainui Beach

We hiked to a lookout near Gisborne yesterday. It was blustery cold, but the views were amazing. This is Lysnar Reserve overlooking a small beach community called Okitu.

The neighbours flower!
Mark

FNCF

It's my (Carson) favorite day of the week. Not because the weekend's tomorrow, but because it's Fish 'n' Chips Friday!

That's right, every friday evening we go and get fish 'n' chips from this place because it's a really good deal- Almost as cheap as making a dinner ourselves.

We always hope that there'll be some high-quality fish available, because when you order you pay the same for whatever fish they have in stock.

Just thought I'd let you in on my excitement.

~ Carson

Here's my favourite New Zealand sight for today! I talked to a co-worker this morning, and she explained that they were planning on getting 'Sky-View'. They only have free-view TV, and very poor reception, so it is time to get Sky View (I guess it's similar to our "Cable TV"). Anyway, she said they'd be at the house, peel the roof, install cables, put it all back together by the time she came home from work today. I didn't ask any questions about "peel the roof" - really, you just smile and nod sometimes. Then, off I went to my home visit. I drove down the street, and past a "Sky-View" van, so I knew what was going on at that house (not my co-worker's house). Then I see that the tin roof on the house has literally been peeled back, like the lid of a sardine can, and all I see is beams, and I can see right inside the house. (Oh, I wish I had my camera). There is not only no insulation, there is no vapor barrier, no liners, no shields, no boards, no wood. Just a tin roof between the house and the clear blue sky -- Brrr. No wonder I'm always cold!!
Reg

Looking Up

The last few days have been abolutely terrible weather-wise. We pretty much had a full-fledged tropical storm yesterday and the day before that it was raining hard since mid-morning. We all got a little stir-crazy. Today, thank goodness, the rain has gone away, but it's still wickedly cold. I can see some blue sky (okay, it's only blue-ish) on the horizon... I hope it comes over here...

~ Carson

Here's a shot of our hike -- going down the other side!! Oh my quads were sore after that. Thank goodness for the hotsprings at the end. A beautiful weekend! Regina

A picture from our hike this weekend in a very different forest than what we're used to in Canada. Mark

Betrayal

I, Carson, have started my own blog. Not quite so NZ-event related, but if interested check out www.ctthinklings.blogspot.com

Lamb & Mint Chips

Today Dad picked up a pack of these at the grocery... we'll see how they taste.