Catching our breath

Hi all,

Leaving Wellington, Princess and I ventured up to stay with my Mum in Otaki. We arrived with Nick and the Range Rover late evening Monday to pecan pie and coffees. After seeing nick off, retiried to bed for the night.



In the morning, we had a nice brunch with homemade bread and a suite of dips and spreads. This is the 'after' pic, sorry.

Mum was excited to show us her new cows - so we spent some time looking over the cattle. Mum has dexter cows on her property, and there are a half dozen baby cows.



Princess was trying to figure out how to get close enough for a cuddle. Baby cows (and cows in general) are very curious animals and if you stay still, they will come up and say hi... unfortunately their mums are rather protective. Now cows are gentle and passive animals, but when a tonne of beef walks up to you and moos at you to get back, you listen.

The babies were really cute, and they are short enought to get under the single line electric fence. Well most of them were; the smallest was frollicking back and forth under it, while the slightly older (and therefore taller) ones were more hesitant, as they would get zapped on the back!

Mum can tell them all apart by their horn shape and size, annd their relative sizes and boney-ness.. they all look like cows to me though..



After cow inspection, we finalised our storage, making sure they were sealed and stacked out of the way.



The old garage/extra bedroom is now a storage room! 20 x 100 liter tubs worked a treat. Thanks Mum and John!



We had a bit more of a wander arond the farm, as it was a beautiful day. I'm holding the camera in this one.. sneaky! I must have said something amusing and witty e.g. "What is the second most common topping for pizza, after tomatoes?"



Quack! Last time we came up, we managed to pick up one of the ducks. Princess got to hold it and give it a cuddle/squeeze. You should have seen the "I want to guidge (squeeze) it soo much!" look on her face... Lou you know what Im talking about.


"Now where is that cat?" - Thats Mum hunting for the elusive cat, Max.



Princess wanted to meet Max properly. Max is a very shy kitty but is sweet and beautiful if you get to meet him. Oscar is a great cat, but very alpha, and Max is very skittish. Princess did get to meet and feed them later in the evening - maybe she'll tell that story.

I remember mum telling me that cat names are always good if they have the sssss sound. I guess kitties like the noise?

Bossswell, Osssscar, Maxsssss!



The comments section weclomes (no, expects) your funny one-liners for this picture. For those new to the 'blog thing, there is a comments click-word (button) at the bottom of each story (aka posts). Oh, and blog is short for web-log - like a web journal!



No explanation nessecary. Or available.



Mum also helped me sew NZ flag patches over the brand logos on our packs. Representing New Zealand and all. And by help, I mean I watched while she did it all for us - thanks Mum you're awesome! That is my packs zip-on daypack, but Princess' pink/purple bag got one too.



Now its not that I can't operate digital cameras, but I am not great at holding stil.l and getting clear pictures. In my defence, Mum had poured me a strong vodka earlier in the evening. This picture is artistic - it reflects my mental state- blurry! (yeah.. artistic!) So we spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching TV.

Had to catch an early bus, and so it was up and out quickly. Was hard saying goodbye to my crying Mum - but I gave her a hug and jumped on the bus. 20 seconds down the road I felt very emotional. I was sobbing and I didn't know why. After the rest-stop in Palmie, I had regained my emotional balance, and was trying to explain what I couldn't on the bus.

I had just been so overwhelmed with many things all at once. Saying goodbye to my family(Except Dad/Jill - see you in AK :) , our trip actually happening, getting all the flat dissolved and all paperwork for the trip in order, no job, getting the Muppets project done and delivered, oh and did I mention an unknown adventure around the world - whew!

Lou you asked if it feels real yet? It really is for me! Its gonna be AWESOME!

P.S. Nerds: I bought a 4GB iPod nano on Monday and loaded it up to the gills with music, so that helped smooth the drive to Napier...

Stay tuned.