When I lived in the UK and was involved with some of the moors (15 years ago) there were blocks that had stopped burning and were mowing for grouse habitat, I wonder what the difference is on the moor and the building of peat?
Not on lemmy, but she has moved to BlueSky
Just reading your comments I know what the user name will be, keep it up my good fellow
Looks like they are putting more content up. Cool
He is still carefull in what he says; ok, maybe ont on trans issues - there his a right old cunt
Yeah, and on top of that before 3 years ago the Mrs was working at least part time - but health issues has meant that we have to home school one of the kids.
Sure as hell feels tight
for me, 3% over the last 3 years :( so I can sure believe it - sure sucks to be on one income in this day and age
The only good thing is that Act and NZ First should be fighting over and splitting those that will listen to their dog whistles
I would suggest that we a big enough people here that we don't speculate on this one - there are lots of lives that have been hurt by this tragedy, my thoughts are with them
I wonder if at least some of it come from western writing: from left => destination right
It affects a lot of descriptions that we use in the west
I lived and worked in the UK for 10 years, not all working class are chavs.
I would call them chav as well, just less burberry than when I was in the UK
https://no.lastname.nz/post/1447253
Not backcountry, but might be interesting to some here
The whole 6 week trip in a campervan around New Zealand will be posted to [email protected]
cross-posted from: https://no.lastname.nz/post/1604033
5/7-8/7/25 We left Christchurch for Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsula. We journeyed over a hilltops high enough that we were, for a time, driving through cloud. Descending, the views of Akaroa's natural harbour were pretty, but limited by low cloud. Our camping spot for the night was just a minute's walk from the water's edge - another lovely spot.
The next day, the sky was much clearer and we could really appreciate the beauty of the harbour - the stillness of the water surrounded by hills crowned with a glowing winter sky. Akaroa is known not only for its beauty, but for its French roots and its wildlife. In particular, the endangered Hector's dolphin can be seen playing in the harbour - a sweet, very little, black and white dolphin with a dorsal fin resembling Mickey Mouse's ear. We strained our eyes repeatedly over the harbour, but had no luck spotting one.
The French influence is the result of a French settlement here in the mid 1800s. The French had hoped to claim Aotearoa as their own, but the British pipped them to the post. Street names (e.g. Rue Jolie), business names and local cuisine hint at its past.
Our time in Akaroa was spent fishing off wharf, browsing shops (with some accidental purchases), and having lunch at a "patisserie" which had a slightly disappointing lack of French pastries (although I did enjoy a croque monsieur).
The girls and I also explored the Akaroa lighthouse which had been relocated from the Akaroa Heads, a good distance away, back in 1980. We had the pleasure and privilege to meet a volunteer who had helped move it - one of only a few still living. Among other interesting stories, he told how the lighthouse had been decommissioned and was facing destruction. At work one day, a colleague said to the volunteer, "I've bought this lighthouse - will you help me move it?" The volunteer travelled out to the heads to look at it this historic lighthouse rooted to the blustery top of treacherous cliffs and immediately was onboard, convinced it was something special and must be saved. He worked with a team every weekend for eighteen months, meticulously dismantling and labelling each component and reassembling it in Akaroa town. It's a historic piece of mechanical beauty, and it's now a popular tourist attraction in Akaroa. I can't help but feel that the real treasure, however, was the knowledgeable and quietly passionate gentleman still overflowing with enthusiasm for his legacy, all these decades on.
That night we camped in the next bay over, where BlueAether and the girls fished off a long wharf. Also tranquil and also beautiful. And also no luck with the fishing.
The next day, we set off for Tekapoo. Before we left the peninsula, however, we stopped at the Barry's Bay Cheese factory. Barry's Bay Cheese was one of the makers of the delicious cheeses we picked up at the Riverside Market in Christchurch. BlueAether and the girls stayed in the camper as I got out, and I was told I was allowed three minutes by BlueAether and five minutes by the girls. I may have gone over both time limits a litte.... The cheese factory sold offcuts for a fraction of the price of their standard cheeses, which appeals to both the eco-wannabe and the miser in me. I returned to the camper with more cheese than I should have, including some more of that yummy pepper-crusted havarti.
Our final stop before we left the peninsula was Birdling's Flat. Birdling's Flat is a pebbly beach at a river mouth, known for its deposits of agate - translucent, semi-precious stones. We walked over the beach, scanning the ground as we went, and found many pretty stones, including a couple of small pieces of agate. We are accumulating a rock collection. It's becoming a bit of a problem.
We headed southwest, parallel with the coast, pausing at the Chertsey Book Barn. Chertsey is a dot on the map, but it has the South Island's second largest used bookstore housed in an enormous, cold, dark shed with cats curled in the slightly warmer nooks. Despite the largeness of the space, the books are crammed in. There are a LOT, and although we stopped because we actually needed to refresh our books, it would have been worth the visit anyway.
We stopped at Ashburton next to do some camper chores and essential shopping - a great town for this - and then headed inland into Mackenzie Country. Mackenzie Country is big country: wide, open, rolling high country hills; expansive skies. It features in oil paintings, where farmers in leather hats and oilskin coats stare out towards a distant horizon, perhaps with a sheepdog at their side. I find it soul-stirring land. To our excitement, as night began to fall, we began to make out snow in the hills we were passing through. When we finally pulled into a campground a short way from Tekapoo, we found there were patches of snow where we were spending the night. The girls were thrilled.
Please ignore the hat, there was snow only a few 100m up the hill.
Picked ot the pants while traveling around NZ in a camper over the last 6 weeks; fare traded, made in Nepal.
I've had jacket for maybe 10 years; also faretrade and Nepal
cross-posted from: https://no.lastname.nz/post/1486364
By Mrs BlueÆther
Saturday 28th – Water, water everywhere
Well, the skies cleared and the waters receded a little, and we made it off our farm camping ground, past soggy paddocks and swollen rivers, and back to “civilisation” at Richmond, near Nelson. We’d only needed to stay one extra night at our camping spot, but it was still a relief to have access to shops and utilities. We restocked our little fridge in a very busy supermarket, visited a very busy laundromat, and picked up some other items we’d found we needed. Life in the town centre seemed to be pretty much ticking along as normal.
It’s surprising how much time the little necessities take out of a day, but we did also manage a trip out to Rabbit Island to wander along its usually popular beach. We drove past partially flooded crops, and a few paddocks that were still submerged. In one, cows were clustered on an island about 12 metres in diameter.
We made it out to the “island”, fording a wee pond, and found a surprising number of people in the brown waves. Not something we would have considered, with the threat of contamination with raw sewerage from the floodwaters, but still, I loved the fact that the surfers weren’t just stereotypical tanned young people with sun-bleached hair. Next to where we were parked, a woman in her 60s was pulling on a wetsuit. Her general appearance seemed more suited to a pink and beige tweed suit. A bit further down, a grey-haired couple were tucking their surfboards under their arms.
The absolute best thing about Rabbit Island is the many, many gently inquisitive weka. We were all enchanted. Most of them were pretty fearless, nosing about the camper and sniffing at BlueÆther’s coffee cup left on the step. They were happy to be within a few metres of us. However, when one got spooked, it stretched its neck out in front of it and pointed its beak ahead, long and straight, and shot off like an arrow.
We rounded off the day at the Richmond Aquatic Centre, where we’d learnt there is a wave pool (and showers!). The girls had never been in one before so were super excited, then gutted to find the wave pool was closed. It still ended up a highlight for them, though, as the centre also has a “lazy river”, and they loved playing in the warm current through the channel.
We parked up for the night at a well-equipped freedom parking area with lovely views across the estuary. Thanks, Richmond!
Sunday 29th – Monday 30th Seals and Whales
We had wanted to head west towards Takaka, but the state highway heading east was still closed. Our backup plan was to head south-west towards Greymouth. But that state highway was also closed. Unless we wanted to hang about in Nelson/Richmond some more, hoping for the best, our only option was to retrace our steps back towards Blenheim. That road had reopened.
It felt a bit off to be leaving the area in the midst of a state of emergency. Little we could do, though. As we made our way from the region, the road condition was pretty good – a few minor slips – but the land was still inundated in parts. Earlier in the week we had stopped to eat at Canvastown (named for the goldminers tents that once crowded the site) and appreciated the display of goldmining relics, interpretation boards and replica miners hut, just sitting beside a parking area as a sort of fabulous little wayside museum. Now, land around Canvastown had been transformed into lakes with ducks lazily paddling.
We made our way out to the east coast and headed south through a landscape that became increasingly lovely, eventually coming in sight of snowy mountains and seal colonies along the Kaikoura coast. We found our stop for the night at Paparoa Reserve, about 30 minutes north of Kaikoura. It was amazing…the home of a 2000-strong kekeno (NZ fur seal) colony – the largest in Aotearoa.
We spent hours clambering over rocks, getting up close to the seals and cooing over the pups. BlueÆther got his rod out and tried his luck at catching dinner (nope). The next day, we (the adults) woke up to a beautiful sunrise and clear skies, and we all had breakfast sitting outside watching seals. Pretty magical.
A short distance up the road we pulled over into another rest area with a boardwalk/viewing area, looking out over seals below. This was a completely different and also an utterly magical experience of the seals – there was more of a feeling of being an observer rather than a part of the landscape; however, we were also closer up and had better views. There were so many seals. We saw pups nursing and seals playing in sheltered water. It was amazing.
We moved on to Lavendyl, outside Kaikoura – lavender gardens with a shop. By this time, the clear complexioned dawn had turned into a cold, grey, rainy morning, so we gave the gardens a miss. We did, however, try the chocolate lavender ice-cream and cappuccino lavender ice-cream (as you do on a chilly day), with varying opinions. One of the many bonuses of being in a camper: when parents get into lengthy conversations with random shop owners, kids can just head back to the campervan and read a book, and the parents don’t even get told off!
After a cosy fireside lunch at a Kaikoura pizza restaurant (BlueÆther ordered a rabbit pizza) and a grocery top up, we went on to Fyffe House. Fyffe House is a museum that was once part of a whaling station, with construction beginning in the 1840s, making it one of the oldest buildings in the South Island. It tells the story of whaling in the area and the inhabitants of Fyffe House through the years. As its foundation, enormous whale vertebrae are used, one of which is exposed. They’ve never needed to be replaced. Whale bone is still found in other places in the area where it was used for construction, particularly whale bone fences.
I’m loving the fact that the girls are picking up some historical and general knowledge on this trip. As am I! Like, the fact that baleen was much more valuable than whale oil because of its use in whalebone corsets, and that almost led to the extinction of the southern right whales that were hunted here. Fashion has a lot to answer for!
We found another beautiful spot nearby in which to settle for the night, and enjoyed exploring another shore.
I honestly cant remember what the sound was like in the first MRI I had.
Had just broken and dislocated up my shoulder and they wanted it rotated out - up there with the most painful things ever experienced