s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

Last week, as many of you know, we were away on vacation. This was the first time since 2002 that we have had a vacation with just the two of us. We had a week and a day off, and were headed for east cape. A day-by-day will follow.

We started on Friday the 17th. We got up at the normal farm-early, packed the car, and were on the road by 7:30. First goal: Central Districts Field Days in Feilding. This is the second largest Field Days in NZ (only after the national one at Mystery Creek in June), with over 400 vendors of various farm related goods and services. The past two years this has been a wonderful shopping venue, and we have gotten many wonderful farm tools- usually on special sale. Going through 400+ stalls is a day-long process, which is why we like to be there early.

This year, we made our way through much more quickly. Having looked at all the vendors we were interested in last year, there really wasn’t nearly as much to draw our attention, that and we were not shopping for any big-ticket items. We chatted with the various alpaca people there, and got a variety of little useful widgets (chainsaw sharpener, first aid kit, barn/home fire extinguishers, etc).

Once we left the Field Days the vacation really started. We drove through the Manawatu Gorge heading east. It was an interesting drive, as there are huge wind farms all around the gorge. Within the gorge it was easy to see the huge slips that destroyed the road back in the 2004 floods. I see why it tooks months to get the road reopened, and repairs are stll ongoing. From there it was a quick drive across northern Wairarapa to our destination for the evening. We got to pass through Dannevirke, everyone’s favorite viking-themed town! (Though Norsewood a few km up the road is even more over-the-top.) We spent the night in a little “self contained” unit in Waipukerau. Nice town. It has TWO supermarkets, and even a movie theater! That may not seem like anything much to our North Amerian friends, but there are giant sections of NZ where there are no such amenities, as there is insufficient population to support them.

And such a zone was our destination!