Drought in December 2017

The wetter than average winter is a very distant memory and we have a vague recollection that early spring was wet and windy. then sometime mid spring, summer took over on full throttle. Both in weather terms and in customer numbers. It feels like we have had a busy summer season but it is only really the start of summer. We live off what rain we collect from the roof of the house and garage, so we are very careful what we turn on the tap for. Those on town supply are on restrictions which may get more strict as the dry summer extends. We watch the level of out tanks, probably two thirds full at the minute.  Many people are buying fills of water for their tanks already. Just as well we don't have any visitors at this time of the year!

Hop fields in the background are green. An early morning ride to beat the heat

First time EVER, that I went to the beach on my birthday

We haven't seen rain of any quantity for weeks and the temperatures are higher than we get for early summer, so everything in the fields and gardens look brown. Not only is our 'lawn' brown, it crunches when you walk on it. Bonnie spends most of the day, looking for the coolest place and then sleeps there until evening.

This is the view of our garden, from the kitchen window. Taken early Dec but now looks more brown

Bonnie practicing her ju jitsu with Lisa and Adrian, or maybe just the place for an afternoon nap!

Our new website got completed this winter and we had some new photos taken for it. We have a great team of guides and we all enjoy sharing the area with our guests.

Lisa has mastered the art of riding her bike on rollers and is looking forward to a new velodrome opening in Feb. I am enjoying doing a bit of running and road riding.  We are also getting in for sea swims as work permits.

Working in the garden and paddocks stops for summer as it is too hot, with too little time between work. Lisa is keeping the chooks out of the veggies (mostly) and watering them ( veggies) sparingly. In winter we will do the annual wood splitting etc for the fire and give the shrubs etc a good prunning. 

And so the annual cycle continues. The longest day has now passed but thankfully it will be a while before we notice shorter days. 

Citizens of New Zealand

A milestone of 5 years as permanent residents means we could become citizens of NZ, and we did on the 30th November the ceremony was held by our local council.
It has been a fast 5 years and now 8 months!

Lisa and I after the ceremony

Our last year has seen big changes again. The business continues to grow and we have now moved away from the wharf. we have a meeting point at the other end of the village. We only go there when we meet pre-booked customers. More of our work is on the move so we are much more mobile. We have also purchased a lovely new vehicle.

Lisa has been unwell for a lot of the year but she is on the mend and she now works in our business. No more hospitality hours. This has made our summer a lot more enjoyable as we both get to spend some time at our house and even get out for a bike ride from time to time. We also celebrated our new status with a weekend away at Cable Bay.

Breakfast treat at Cable Bay

Lisa's barista skills are very much appreciated as we have a coffee machine at home that gets well used.

We have been able to have our morning coffee breaks in our garden and enjoy some of our views.

I know the blogs are getting shorter and less frequent. I was going to bring it to an end as this seemed a good end point of our journey. The journey never finishes so I guess an annual post will keep the story going, even if it is just a few photos.

What will happen in the next 5 years ?? I will keep you posted