A Rainy Weekend



Bree petting a Weka

 This weekend finally felt a bit like fall and with the slightly cooler temperatures came rain. Coming from Kamloops I am not that used to rain and I was surprised by how heavy the rain can be here at times. We did have some nice patches but when it starts to come down you better have an umbrella handy because it is like someone turned a hose on you.

The rainy weather didn’t keep us in and we started Saturday morning by visiting a family from Holland that we met when we were camping in January. Josh and Sandra both have backgrounds in agriculture and have lived in New Zealand for several years now. Their daughters are 5 and 7 which puts Bree right in the middle. They have just built a beautiful house out in the country not far from Massey University and it was nice to chat and have coffee well enjoying the view of the surrounding grazing areas. Bree could have stayed and played all day but I managed to drag her out at lunchtime and we headed south on highway 57 to do some exploring. 

A Weka



Just after the small town of Shannon we came to Owlcatraz, a native bird and wildlife park. The rain had lifted so we decided to stop and check it out. We arrived just in time to join the tour which highlighted some of the native birds of New Zealand. We were able to see some breeding pairs of Weka’s, another endangered New Zealand bird, and Bree was even able to pet one. Weka’s are also flightless birds and just like the Kiwi are threatened by predation from ferrets, stoats, dogs and cats. We also went inside the owl building and learned all about New Zealand’s native owl, the Morepork. The tour ended with a visit to a petting zoo and Bree got to feed an ostrich and hold an ostrich egg. For her this was a highlight and she really want to spend $20 to buy one of the empty eggs they had for sale but since we can’t bring it home she was finally convinced to save her money.



Bree holding an ostrich egg

 

After Owlcatraz we continued south to the town of Levin as I knew of a cafe and museum in that area. We had stopped at the cafes on our way back from the tramp last week so I knew they had wonderful cakes and good coffee. They also have large area off the back that is full of items from the early settlers as well as a Helenstown, over 200 models that make up a typical early 20^th Century New Zealand town. We had something to eat and then toured the museum area. Bree was intrigued by the old toys and the school room area. By the time we left the skies had opened again and the rain was pouring down so we headed home for dinner and had a quiet evening watching a DVD with all the episodes of the Muppets from season 3. The Muppets are Bree’s new obsession and it was fun to sit and watch the show that I remember from when I was growing up. 

On Sunday we walked down the road to St. Peter’s Anglican Church and attended the morning service. One of the women from the tramping club is a member of the congregation and had invited Bree and I to come to the service. Bree really enjoyed the Sunday school session and we stayed afterwards for a special pancake lunch.  

Helenstown, a minature New Zealand town



Then it was off to Ewen’s, a co-workers house, for afternoon tea. It turns out that Ewen’s wife is from Vancouver and her family used to farm in Ladner. In fact at one point our family would have been renting some of the area that her family had originally homesteaded. Heather also completed her undergraduate degree in the Faculty of Agriculture at UBC (same place as I did) and although we did not attend at the same time we knew many of the same people. Bree entertained us by putting on the Muppet Show using all of Heather’s now teenage son’s old stuffed animals.

A settlers school room

So another weekend has come and gone. At first I thought weekends might seem long since we don’t know many people here but instead we seem to be very busy! We already have a long list of areas we would like to visit and some of the local sites we would like to see before we return home so I have a feeling the weekends will continue to pass quickly.