Lambs totally up the ante even further at this time of year, and 3 sets of gorgeous twins have arrived with wagging tails. They'll be checked out in a few days once we've rounded them up and decided what to do with any testicles that might be present.
Buds are bursting and pretty blossom is all around, including stone fruit blossoms - hoping they're indicative of a decent crop in a few months. Weeds and grasses are also popping up and the cows are less demanding of their hay rations.
The valley road is now accessible anytime, but there may be delays of up to half an hour depending on what's happening with rock clearance. We're notified when it needs to be closed for longer. Still a pain but heaps better than it was. We were finally able to order gravel for the horse arena and vege garden, and much of it has already been spread. Peter has taken the lion's share of the wheelbarrowing to protect my shoulder, and I've done the raking. There's plenty left to cover some of the barer patches around the house and driveway, so things are pretty smart right now. The fruit cage mesh can be installed at last, and luckily this has coincided with Billy returning home from Italy. He's tall enough to reach without needing a ladder!
I've been idly looking for a campervan for several months now and finally spotted a perfect one. Alas it was in Auckland, but worth the effort. Just a flight into Auckland, drive to Wellington (and happy catch up with Vida) and ferry crossing, and voila! She's a Toyota Alphard called Qwerty and is more of a big car than a van. The conversion to camper was done professionally and she has a fabulously bijoux interior that can be extended with a tailgate tent. Derryn and Robert (with dogs Morag and Bo) offered to accompany me on my maiden voyage and knew of an NZMCA campsite in Kaikoura. We stayed 2 nights - it was a steep learning curve, and there's plenty more efficiency-tweaking yet to be done, but happily she was comfortable and safe, and I can't wait to get out and about more in Aotearoa.
As I was in Kaikoura, it was an ideal opportunity to honour Nick's wishes and scatter his ashes in the sea. He specifically wanted to be in the sea off Kaikoura with the dolphins. We went to a spot on the coast that dolphins are known to frequent, and amazingly they were there. I clambered over some rocks and released his ashes into a high wave. The wave retreated and the ashes were taken out to sea. It's heart-warming to imagine him swimming with the dolphins out there. Nick, you are so fondly remembered.
We have now lived in the Onamalutu Valley for 14 years: 3 boys have completed their teenage years and beyond, many creatures have been born and died, millions of plants have been tended. And we have accumulated heaps and heaps of 'stuff'. Much tidying up and de-crapping of the property has been happening as we are now preparing for a new life chapter. When the place is appropriately tarted up, it will go on the market, and we'll move onto pastures new. Probably not actually pastures but no specific plans yet. I'll keep working in Golden Bay and Wairau until I'm ready, financially and emotionally, to travel abroad for voluntary work. Maybe a couple of years or thereabouts. Life on the land has been an absolutely unmissable experience that has shaped my whole way of being. It has been both a total privilege and a lot of work; perhaps it'll pull me back one day. In the meantime, I'm keen to see what life off the land looks like and fulfil the travel dreams of my younger self.
Of course, it may take a long time to sell this slice of Onamalutian paradise. Other than planting a few vegetable seedlings and tending the hundreds of existing plants, I will only be doing the necessary maintenance tasks. The decision to leave is made and I've already figuratively walked away. This blog won't continue as an account of Lifestyle Blocking, but no decision yet about creating a different focus (like for Australia) or closing it down altogether. It's been my diary and repository for hundreds of photos that I often look back on. It holds memories of a joyful life that had so many more and varied opportunities than town-living. I'm truly grateful that this land has been 'mine' for these last years. I'm proud to have created multiple new wildlife habitats and hope that I've been a good-enough guardian of this precious place.
Whatever's next will be a tough act to follow.
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