12th November 2014
John, Glen and Kathryn have been busy as usual working around the farm, putting a new fence around the calf area giving them heaps more room to graze and run in. Also sorted out the electric fences so there were no more short circuits.
This week Glen and John are laying new concrete pads down in the big machinery shed. Once all four bays are done this shed will then be completed .
In between this Glen was elected as president of the Small farms field days committee which is held in Malanda every year . It gives the locals a chance to advertise their products and show how things can help different farms .John assisted Glen whenever he was required in helping sort out cattle pens etc for the big day.
John and I helped out on the Saturday 8th selling raffle tickets and taking photos. A great turn out of local people and many from South of Townsville came. Then on Sunday it was tidy up time and we all did our share with a great result.
The weather here has been very hot since we came home , with temperatures over 30's . In the caravan just the same, at night time it been getting down to 15 a nice heat for easy sleeping .
We are now both counting the days down till our next holiday to New Zealand on the 11 th December for 5 weeks.
9th December,
The weather has not changed still very hot with many bush fires around the hills. Rain came a few days ago but we only got 20mls not enough for the grass to grow for the cows.
11th December
Today brought another hot day here in Malanda. We were up at 6.00am to get ourselves to Cairns airport with plenty of time before our flight . On arrival we were informed that the flight to Sydney was delayed because of thunder storms and rain in Sydney , that's all we needed . I am guessing as usual when John and I travel to NZ there is a mad rush between the domestic terminal and international with only minutes to spare in catching our flights .
We ended up having only 3/4 hour to get from Sydney domestic terminal to the international terminal to catch the plane to Wellington. As it seems to be with us when travelling to NZ ,they were waiting for us to board . The flight only took 2 hours 20 minutes as it was a tail wind the pilot said . Timed to watch a movie and relax. It was 16 degs when we arrived in Wellington not cold at all we thought .
Tania met us at the airport which was great .
It has been a week since we arrived back and a very busy week at that, sorting out the garage again and this time having a good clean out . Throw out the tv no longer any good for the connection. What a waste of a good Tv . Caught up with many of our friends, Derek & Tanya, Lexie & Pèter, Sheryl , Debbie and spent a couple of nights up in Levin with Val & Jan Windleburn .
Saw the orthopedic surgeon regarding my knee , not a happy out come, now waiting for a bone scan , hopefully before Christmas as he seems to think something may of come loose around my knee .
21st December
I just spent a fabulous day with my daughter Tania, having a girls day out . She so spoilt me, treating me to lunch and buying me some lovely cotton tops and got my nails done in a lovely purple colour for Christmas . John was also spending quality time with Ross, while we had a day out.
Christmas Day we spent with Ross at his flat in Wellington for lunch then went for a walk around Wellington harbour . It was great to be able to walk around the city and quay with out a lot of people around. Christmas evening we spent at my brothers place, a lovely quiet evening had by all.
We have been using our Motorhome since we came back , it has been great we had forgotten how comfortable it is .
26th December we made our way to Whangarei calling into see Larry and Sue in Wanganui , then onto Waverley to see Dale and Wayne , spending the night at the rest are in Waverley . The 27th we stopped of to visit Liam & Cade and Amanda. John played cricket with the boys for a couple of hours having a great time.
From here we stayed at Jack and June's farm at Uriti, Where we spent 2 nights having a great catch up and a look around the new farm . Time went too quick , it would have been great to stay longer , next time we hope.
29th we headed off for Whangarei stopping on our way again to visit fiends in Pukekohe , once again another overnight there. Popping in to see Dave and Sharon on their farm, then arriving in Whangarei at Irwin and Jill's for another wonderful afternoon and evening, catching up with the news .
New Year's Eve where has this year gone .
11th Janurary 2015
Happy New Years everyone , we hope it's a good one for you all and safe travels.
We spent New Year's Eve at Mercer parked along the Waitako river very peaceful evening.
Since coming back from Whangarei we have seen many of our friends. Marg's had a bone scan done at Wellington hospital in regards to her knees. We will know more on the 15th what is happening there.
This weekend we had a fabulous time camping at Kaitoke Waterworks park , with cousin Peter and Lexie Clark , our daughter Tania . Jess Tania's friend and Julia & Richard Butler friends from Hawkes Bay . Weather was sunny except for Sunday when the wind decided to play havoc and blow the pup tent over Tania used. Lexie and Tania and Riley ( Tania's dog) enjoyed the river to cool off.
A great game of Pétanque was had , the girls won by one point better luck next time John and Peter.
John, Tania & Riley, Lexie, Julia & Richard Butler
Lexie crouching in a tree
Parts of Lord of the Ring filmed by Peter Jackson was shot here in Kaitoke Waterworks.
After a shared lunch using left over food from last night, it was time to pack up and go home to Waikanae to hopefully catch up with more friends before we fly back on Friday .
The last week here in Waikanae the weather has been wonderful ( great summer days) . Catching up with friends we had not seen for a while. Marg's had to visit the doctor this week , she got a good dose of broncitis and is now on antibiotics.
After seeing the surgeon on Thursday re Marg's right knee we had it confirmed that she needs another knee replacement on the same one which was done 5 years ago. Something had worked loose they said. This will happen at the End of the year back here in New Zealand , with approximately 3 months for recovery.
16th Janurary,
We fly out to Coolangatta from Wellington then onto Cairns . A interesting flight from Collongatta to Cairns , as we flew above the cloud looking down you could see a lightning storm going on along the coast, spectacular to watch from above. We arrived to tempatures of 28 degs.
Since we have been back the days have gone very quickly, we have been sorting out the caravan and ute ready for our trip to Alice Springs where we will be working at GDay Mate Tourist park. We brought an 80 litre Gaint fridge freezer so we could carry extra food . John made a small shelf for it so it can fit nicely across the back seat of the ute.
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