We are still in the Christchurch area house sitting. Our three weeks at West Eyreton was excellent. A lovely home, nice and warm during some inclement weather. Here are some of the animals we looked after.
Louie after another wash. It doesn’t take him long to get very dirty.
Some hay for the two horses They got hay morning and night as well as a horse feed. The sheep and two calves were fed hay as well.
We had three nights after this home sit before the next at Kaiapoi. Two nights spent at the Cust Domain between Rangiora and Oxford. The domain is a freedom camping area. There was just us and another van each night. During the day quite a few people arrived to exercise their dogs and others to train their horses in the Dressage Arena.
Here we are at Cust. Notice we have the back open, the first time for a few months. The weather was quite warm during the days and the nights also a lot warmer. Also our batteries were topped up by the solar panels. We had been experiencing some problems with charging for the last few months. Caused I think by the shorter days and the sun being lower in the sky.
The next night, Saturday, was spent at the Rangiora Camping ground before arriving at the Kaiapoi house sit. An unusual one for us as it is an urban sit. We have two small dogs and two long haired cats. Quite different, walking the dogs in the nearby lake parks.
Judy petting one of the cats with one of the dogs looking on. All of the animals are very friendly, curling up beside us when we sit down.
There are a number of these Australian Coots on the lake as well as Canadian Geese and several other water fowl.
Noticed the slope on all the roofs here. Sure that it’s greater than up north. Maybe to conteract the snow.?
Some observations while up in West Eyreton. The grass growth was not great and apparently when some different grass species were trialed they were not a great success. The land was originally formed by river deposits of stone etc and drains quickly. Ngai Tahu have a large dairy unit just down the road and the grass is growing well there, but they have irrigation and put on large amounts of fertilizer. Something that is beyond the financial means of small holders.
Farmland and irrigators. Note, I don’t think this is Ngai Tahu land.
To get from Rangiora to our home sit at West Eyreton we normally went over the ford on Two Chain Road. This ford is normally dry but after some heavy rain and flooding we had to use the bridge at Oxford to get to the other side. Here is a picture of the water coming down the normally dry river.
And here is the same river at the ford we normally used a couple of weeks later. Not a drop of water to be seen.
One of the days at Kaiapoi we went into Christchurch and onwards to Sumner, Scarborough, and to the end of the road at Taylors Mistake on the Peninsula. On the way we took the gondola to the hill top where we could see both Lyttleton, Christchurch and across the plains to the Southern Alps.
A look down onto Lyttleton harbour and wharfs. There are several good walks you could take from here.
Judy at Taylors Mistake. A lovely beach, deserted when we arrived, two surfers having just emerged from the breakers boards under their arms. Taylors Mistake. How did it get its name? Well apparently a ship captained by captain Taylor entered the bay thinking he was entering into Lyttleton. He realised his mistake and sailed back out and into the correct harbour round Godley Head.
South Island and Return 