The weekend before last we went to the Havelock Mussel Festival with Debbie, her mum
and Nicola, her brother's girlfriend. Now, I think mussels are okay, but I was a bit shocked that it cost us $20 EACH to get in to what was, frankly, less exciting than the Oatlands County Fair back home. There were plenty of food stands and few stalls selling crafty-type stuff, but nowhere near enough free stuff to justify such an extortionate entrance fee. There was a mussel opening competition going on and a big stage where the highlight was the Topp Twins, who appear to be New Zealand's lesbian equivilent of a cross between French and Saunders and the Beverley Sisters. They yodel. And do comedy. But not at the same time. Fairly soon Isaac & I got bored and went to the nearby marina to look at big boats, which was way more fun and much cheaper. Then we headed off - throwing away the religious pamphletry that had been put under Jaffa's windscreen wiper - and went via Blenheim to St Arnaud and Lake Rotoiti, where the Power Boat Nationals were being held that weekend. We arrived in time to see the last race of the first day and Isaac warned me that I might be shocked as to how loud it would be. Yeah yeah. Then the boats started up and I nearly fell over! Never heard anything so loud in my life. After the race we left to look for a campsite for the night. As we went round the lake we spotted a Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite that appeared to be totally empty. It even had power, which is very unusual for the DOC campsites, which are usually pretty basic. We parked up and tested the power, which was still on! The loo block had showers, but they were cold, and we couldn't work out where to pay, so we decided to drive up a bit further to see if we could find anything more. Sure enough, a bit further up the road was a second half of the campsite, which was packed. The showers here were hot, so we each had a quick shower* and got back in the van. I'd spotted a sign saying that there was a fish and chip shop** open only on Fridays & Saturdays till 8pm so we went down to the town (one shop) and for $8.50 bought a feast for us to eat, then headed back to the uninhabited campsite, reasoning that if they wanted us to pay they'd come round and find us.
Sure enough around 7.30pm a woman arrived to tell us that this campsite was supposed to be closed, and that we could go up to the other one if we liked. I said we'd been up there but that it was very busy and could we not stay here? She looked around and then said "Yes alright, you weren't to know it was closed, we obviously forgot to chain it off, so you can stay here." So that is how, for $16 for a powered site, we got a whole campsite to ourselves. The next day we spent the day watching ridiculously fast and noisy boats race around the lake. We were sat right by one team's headquarters - Annhilator team - who did exactly what it says on the tin and annhilated the competition. They had money behind them alright, they even had their own crane to lift the boats in and out of the water, which was very cool to watch.Then last weekend I decided to say to hell with the cost (that's what credit cards
are for!) and took Isaac to Happy Valley to go quad bike trekking. We bluffed our way onto the 'Blue Hills Special' which is for experienced riders only, and had three hours racing up and down logging trails and in and out of mud holes. We got covered in mud, which is always the sign of a good day out. I'd paid extra to do the Skywire, a zipline or flying fox as they call them here, which is 1.6 kilometres long and reaches speeds of up to 100kph. It runs over a valley, the views are stunning and you normally get to ride it once forwards and once backwards, only we were trekking with someone who was friendly with the guide so we got to do it all twice! Well worth the money.And this weekend? Well as I write, I am alone for the first time this in months. Isaac has left me. For a pig. Literally.
Ever since we got to Nelson and he found out that Debbie's dad and brothers are into pig hunting, he's been wanting to go along. Since it's been summer it's been too hot but as the mornings have cooled down, Debbie's brother Daniel has been true to his word and taken Isaac out, picking him up at 6am this morning. I have no idea how the day is going or if they've managed to catch anything, but he's been sent out with my camera so if there's anything to report, gentle reader, I shall of course do so.
Oh and I made new curtains for the van! A bargain at $2 a metre...
*When you're travelling you never know where your next shower is coming from, so you grab them while you can!
**Isaac's new addiction is fish and chips. They are oh-so-good and very abundant over here
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