Weekly update

In the driveway

From front garden

Cold, cold cold, but the tulips are in full bloom having survived strong winds and heavy rain over the last few days. The sun is out today but just look at the mountains!! Spectacular. Hope this is the last dump for the year.We have certainly had some violent weather over the last week. A huge low pressure system which just kept on coming. We escaped most of the damaging stuff but flooding, gale force winds, and snow blocked roads were all within a couple of hours drive from us. A busy weekend just gone with dinner for eight on Friday a birthday afternoon tea, which went on to become dinner as well Saturday, and dinner with friends Sunday. Monday out again with Lauren to see a cooking show put on by the schools PTA. Interesting lady with a good story to tell as well as yummy brownie recipe, amongst others. She has a web site, destitutegourmet.com. Tuesday, yes out again, this time to hear our local councillors selling their wares prior to our local body elections.Never been to one before and found it quite interesting, and at times entertaining! Not sure that I am any better prepared to make an informed voting decision! As with most local government bodies the issues are waste disposal, potable water, rates, how to generate more income, the high cost of compliance and environmental stuff. I am amazed that anyone is prepared to get involved with the flak they get. (Lindsay is still involved Andrea)
Counting down to the weekend when we have Hannah's 4th birthday, which although it is Monday, we will celebrate with family on Saturday. Then off in caravan heading to New Plymouth. Oh, and Avril finishes the term and has two weeks holiday. She can't wait!! The guy is coming tomorrow to check the van and give us a self containment certificate which you need here if you want to freedom camp, or stay at some low cost sites.
Bedroom decorating is proceeding slowly, have fine cracks in plaster ceiling in the room I am doing so have to get fibrous plasterer to check out before I paint. I think the ceiling is not securely attached to the roof joists causing movement and may need some work to secure. Nothing is ever easy (as David and Thelma have found out)

Orkney-copy of article done for club newsletter

A bit more about our travels-Adrian and Avril

Orkney-

Know where that is? Right off the top of Scotland, in fact you can see it from John O Groats. You can get a ferry over from there but it doesn't take vehicles so we went along to the port of Scrabster by Thurso to get over to the islands.

Why go there you might ask? Conveniently my little sister moved there about 4 years ago. She likes the quiet life!!

After missing her out last time we were over, felt we just had to make the effort this time-and quite an effort it is.

So what makes Orkney tick?

It consists of over 70 islands of which 17 are inhabited and has a population of around 20,000. There have been people living there for 6,000 years!!! It is mainly fertile agricultural land, farming beef and sheep, few trees and a wide open grassy landscape where you can see for miles. The main island is Main Island, with largest towns being Kirkwall and Stromness, where the ferry docked.

The islands are probably best known for the Neolithic remains, the bird life, and  Scapa Flow, the natural harbour used by the British Navy in WW 1 and 2. We were both fascinated by the history of this area.

Some highlights were the Neolithic village of Scara Brae and the Italian Chapel.

Scara Brae was uncovered in a storm in 1850, they found a well preserved Neolithic village inhabited about 5,000 years ago. It consisted of 6 well constructed houses partially underground with stone slab furniture, including beds, shelving, and small storage containers for live bait.

After Scapa Flow was penetrated by a German sub and the battleship, The Royal Oak, sunk early in WW2, it was decided to build causeways between 4 islands to prevent attack from the North Sea and ensure Scapa Flow remained a safe harbour. Due to the war effort, labour in the area was in short supply, so around 2,000 Italian prisoners of war were sent to Orkney to build the barriers. These became known as the Churchill Barriers. During their stay on Orkney the prisoners used concrete and other scraps to make their camp more homely, building paths, a recreation hut and gardens. 

Italian Chapel

They were given a nissen hut which they converted into a chapel. One of the prisoners was an artist and he painted much of the interior. This is the only building remaining and was restored in the 60’s. They managed to find the guy in Italy who had done the painting and got him back to help with restoring the paintwork.

Maeshowe, another of the Neolithic remains was a burial cairn built into a mount and lined with stone slabs. An interesting feature of this structure was the way it was built to get the sun at certain times of the year shining down a long passage into the central chamber.

Religious needs appeared to have revolved around stone circles of which  the Ring of Brodgar is a good example.

A perfect circle of 103m diameter  consisting of 60– stones originally, with 27 now left standing. Standing between 2 and 4.5m hign the circle is surrounded by a 10 m wide ditch.

A bit more about our travels-Adrian and Avril Orkney- Know where that is? Right off the top of Scotland, in fact you can see it from John O Groats. You can get a ferry over from there but it doesn't take vehicles so we went along to the port of Scrabster by Thurso to get over to the islands. Why go there you might ask? Conveniently my little sister moved there about 4 years ago. She likes the quiet life!! After missing her out last time we were over, felt we just had to make the effort this time-and quite an effort it is. So what makes Orkney tick? It consists of over 70 islands of which 17 are inhabited and has a population of around 20,000. There have been people living there for 6,000 years!!! It is mainly fertile agricultural land, farming beef and sheep, few trees and a wide open grassy landscape where you can see for miles. The main island is Main Island, with largest towns being Kirkwall and Stromness, where the ferry docked. The islands are probably best known for the Neolithic remains, the bird life, and  Scapa Flow, the natural harbour used by the British Navy in WW 1 and 2. We were both fascinated by the history of this area. Some highlights were the Neolithic village of Scara Brae and the Italian Chapel. Scara Brae was uncovered in a storm in 1850, they found a well preserved Neolithic village inhabited about 5,000 years ago. It consisted of 6 well constructed houses partially underground with stone slab furniture, including beds, shelving, and small storage containers for live bait.

Spring is definitely here, the kowhia tree in our garden is in flower and the Tuis are out in force getting drunk on the nectar. However the rain still keeps coming. Christchurch returning to some normality today with most schools open and shops starting to open up again. Some amazing stories about individuals and families and what they have been through.
Check this link for more info.
Busy week ahead with Caravan Club meeting here tomorrow night, partners coming for shared meal, probably pizzas, before meeting. Dinner with Avril's fellow workers Friday night. A thing they do each term at a different staff members house. Contractors coming Tuesday to install mirrored sliding wardrobe doors in two spare bedrooms. Will help to make them look larger we hope. Roughly planned trip for two weeks time. Travelling up to New Plymouth with another couple who have caravan. Going to try out some of the POP (Park over properties) on the way, which are available to members of the NZ Motor Caravan Assoc. (we are now members). Low cost place to park for up to 3 nights. Sometimes have water and power but often you have to be self contained for waste. power, etc. part of the reason we upgraded our van. Will need to go into places with power every other night we think as out batteries will probably only last one night, but will see how it goes.

Venus Clubs

Check out this link to see what Vanessa is up to. Very impressive site. http://venusclubs.co.nz

Weekly update

Hi all, doesn't time fly, Tuesday already. Robin and Dean just headed off for friends in Hawera for a couple of days before calling in at Geof and Liz in Auckland on way home. Out and about a bit over the weekend visiting Palmerston North and the wind farm, Waikanae and Paraparaumu and Wellington yesterday. Pic taken outside Te Papa with a backdrop of some street art. They look as though they have been dropped from a great height, but are mirrors stuck to partially blown up rubber airbags. http:\\tepapa.co.nz check out this link to find out more about Te Papa.

Finished decorating bedroom in time for visitors and it looks good.2 more to go!!Ordered mirror wardrobe doors but they are 3 weeks away. Will help make room seem bigger. Starting to organise trip away in van during school holidays-probably meeting up with couple in New Plymouth and then another couple for the second week somewhere between Wanganui and Hawera. Hope the weather is more settled than recently. 

Scary stuff going on in Christchurch, hard to believe how much damage and how people there are going to manage over next months and possibly years getting back to some sort of normality. Apart from the obvious buildings falling down there has been a huge amount of damage to ordinary homes where the ground has liquefied and big cracks appeared in roads,back yards, lawns, and right through the middle of houses.Many houses will have to be demolished. A lot of people cant go back to work due to damaged workplaces so it is hard to know how they will get paid. Some large businesses have said they will pay them , others will have insurance but a lot of small businesses will just close. I guess we are just relieved it was there and not in our backyard!!