Down on the farm

Well readers, this is the blog about farmer workers Phileas and Fogg! Here are the action shots taken on the farm with Jude and Alan Phileases cousins. What an amazing time we had, most of all getting to know them and meeting up again with Lorrane, Dorothy, Dean, Dana and the children. A whole new family for us. We worked for our suppers and thoroughly enjoyed being out on the farm helping with the milking and moving the stock. The farm is itself really beautiful, steep hills and gullies of native timber, birds and trees. We collected mushrooms which we had for breakfast from the hills above the farm and pulled turnips for the cattle. The highlight for Fogg was of course the milking and he will tell you all about that. We also spent 2 nights with Jude and Alan in Hanmer Springs where Phileas learnt to fly fish, good technique but alas no results! Photo shows Fogg, spinning. We were high up in the mountains fishing the Clarence river on the Molesworth Station, the largest in NZ. One of the remotest places we have been to so far and yet only an hour out of Rangiora. Also one of the most beautiful and we have seen some seriously beautiful places. In the late afternoon we relaxed in the hot mineral springs that the resort is famous for, really wonderful and a very social place - a bit like the Romans!!

I could wax lyrical for hours but will pass onto Fogg now. I had an e mail from a colleague this morning which confirmed that keeping in touch with friends is so important. So I hope that you enjoy reading our blog, we certainly enjoy writing it and of course it is for us too, a memory for our return.

Hi. Farmhand Fogg here. I enjoyed every minute on the farm . Alan and Jude were so kind and Alan was very long suffering of me in the milking shed. He is a natural teacher. He showed me

what to do and then left me to make mistakes and sort it out myself. I do think I improved my milking skills over the few days I did it. The cows were very long suffering too. However Alan did play a few jokes. A bull appeared in the milking shed. Why wasn't I milking the cow with one udder! Helping feed the calves was a delight and I always enjoyed driving the 4x4 with Flynn, the farm dog sitting by my side in the cab occasionally licking my face! The mustering and driving the cattle onto fresh pastures was great and Phileas really got going with that and seemed to have control over a bunch of bullocks. Her pastoral care skills really came into play then. One shout from her and they did what they were told! Turnip pulling was surprisingly easy. The cows loved them. Fishing up in the mountain streams was fantastic. I was 'spinning'. Whilst I did not catch anything I loved the whole experience. It was a wonderful place to be, surrounded by beautiful mountains on all sides with only the sound of the fast running water of the stream.
I felt really happy on the farm.

So this is Farmhand Fogg saying goodbye.

Best wishes from us both

Phileas and Fogg