Winter in Nelson

 

So, just when I'm starting to take the scenery for granted;

God sprinkles the mountains with snow.  

The temperature went down to 1 degree Celsius overnight and there was a heavy frost on the ground.  We put pants over top of the boys school uniform shorts and pulled out the beanie hats (aka toques) for them.  By midday it was back above 10 degrees with clear, sunny skies and Dave and I were enjoying a 2.5 hour hike along the boulder bank.  Of course unless you have a boat, walking along the boulder bank means walking back along the boulder bank.  So it was a 5 hour journey while the boys were at school for the day.  Unfortunately it also means walking on rocks for 5 hours as there is no dirt on the boulder bank, it's not man-made.  (Made for really sore calves and hips the next day!)  

On the flip side, we gazed at the sea and the mountains all day, chatting and planning future adventures and it was just lovely.  There was a flock of 12 royal spoonbills.  Pretty rare bird, Dave hadn't seen them in the wild before.  Large black "spoon-shaped" bills that look pretty cool.    

 Shags are MUCH more common around here, but they've claimed this tree  (the only one on the boulder bank - no idea how it grew there!) and it has been reduced to bare limbs and big nests with lots of white splattered rocks below.

A few people have build a bach (cottage) here on the boulder bank.  They are quite eclectic in nature!

 We made it to the lighthouse, which I mistakenly thought was our goal for the day and I looked for a spot to eat lunch.  Dave however had other ideas and so we walked another half hour to the very tip of the boulder bank  - the cut - where the ships curve into the harbour.  Spotted a couple of seals and watched the boats go to and fro while enjoying our lunch. 

 On the way home, we sadly saw the beginnings of a fire, which ended up destroying a potter's workshop, despite 3 fire trucks arriving, because they couldn't make it up the driveway access.  No one was injured.

Xavier's year 1 / 2 class led the school assembly last Friday - can you spot him in the middle???

 

Jackson's class took a day to join the older kids at the school (along with plenty of parents) to pick olives from the grove up the hill behind the school.  Another community member added their grove of trees as well, so they collected about 400 kg of olives, which will press down to make about 50 litres of olive oil that can be sold for fundraising.  Cool idea eh?  Did I mention that in addition to olive trees, many families have their own lemon, fig, mandarin orange, grapefruit, walnut, feijoa, passionfruit or other fruit trees in their backyard?  

  

At this point on the blog I can announce that I am absolutely thrilled to be getting back into the classroom this coming September.  I have a job at Beacon Christian School (where the boys attend) teaching afternoon Kindergarten.  YEAH!  One small request - can we possible upgrade the view in the staffroom?  I quite like this one from Clifton Terrace here!  Estuary, ocean, mountains.  Very easy on the eyes.  They tell me that a meeting was once interrupted when they spotted a couple of orca swimming in the bay . . .

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Now that you know what I'm going to miss, I'll let you know what I'm not going to miss.  Shopping prices.  
 Now, I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but felt a bit odd in the shops snapping photos.  I figured that I was running out of time and I just knew that you wouldn't believe me.  These are items that I DIDN"T put into my shopping cart on this trip.    You'll notice which fruits and veggies are out of season . . .   I will confess that we get about 15-20 cents on the dollar and these prices are GST inclusive.  But still! 

Christmas shopping was difficult here.  Even Fisher Price is out of our price range.
 
 YES, this is on sale.  $19.99 for 24 cans of pop.

 

 

Seeing as I've made my job announcement, it is also a great privilege to let you know that Dave has also accepted a job offer with AZZ, a St. Catharines company, which he will begin when we get back home!    Dave signing the contract . . .  nephew Dougal practicing for the future in the lounge.

 

We thought winter an appropriate time for a campfire on the beach at Ruby Bay!  We did try this once in the summer, but there was a fire ban on so the boys went away quite disappointed.  This time we started with sausages (wrapped in a slice of bread as is traditional here) and moved on marshmallows.  

 Yes, pink and white marshmallows - they only way you can buy them here!

 

The boys kept feeding the fire long after the tide had started licking the rocks surrounding the campfire pit.  I thought it totally unnecessary, but they had heaps of fun keeping the fire going completely surrounded by water.    Dave made friends with a paradise duck.  

The kiddos kept busy gathering twigs and pinecones until dark.  

I rested on the beach soaking it all in. 

The longer I stay here, the less I have to complain about. 

Mud, dirt, sticks and stones - not my most scenic post!

  
A huge part of our journey to NZ has been to help the kids understand that not only are they Canadians, but they are also Kiwi kids too.  That's in fact why I named the blog "Raising Kiwis".    I didn't know what I could do to help support the development of their identity as Kiwi Kids from waaaayyyy back in Canada.  Yes, we had shown them the All Blacks Haka on youtube.  Yes, they have a cricket bat and rugby balls at home (but no one to play with except lovely Gabriel in Ottawa!).  Yes, we have story books and t-shirts.  Posters on the wall, artwork, Christmas Tree ornaments and stuffed sheep.   But did they relate?   I'm hoping the answer to that question is no longer a muffled "no".    

They've breathed the air, built dams in the rivers, fished in the ocean, ran on the beaches, drove around the country, looked up at the mountains, tramped through the forests, read the books, learned Kapa Haka, studied at school, played with their cousins and slept at their grandparents.  Will they be able now to relate to all of those momentos?  I hope the answer is a resounding "yes".   

It's our gift to them.

One big thing remained on our agenda.   Rugby.  It's a winter sport here so it didn't start until May.  It's been quite an adventure.  They actually have a St. John's ambulance positioned at the park on Saturday mornings just in case.  I keep band-aids in my pockets.  I bite my fingernails.  It turns out that I actually haven't needed any of that - no serious injuries that I've seen at all.  But I couldn't use some better laundry detergent.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves. 

They are playing for Nelson Rugby Club.  Blue and white.  Yes, their club makes the boy wear white shorts.  They only stay white until the warm-up.  The under 8's division where Jackson plays starts tackling this year, while the under 6's for Xavier just do Ripper Rugby, where they use velcro belts and tags.    They have to wear mouth guards, but head gear is optional.  (At $60-$100 dollars we skipped it as we're only here for half of the season. )

Jackson won player of the game at his 2nd game and we actually took him straight to McDonald's for his free sundae.  Don't know if you can see his muddy legs in the photo, but we have to shower the boys BEFORE they have a bath or the water just turns brown.   

 

 

Mother's Day involved a very low key picnic at a riverside a wee way out of town.  I enjoyed quite a nice rest while the boys played with rocks, mud, sticks, mud, and rode their bikes through the mud.   Luckily there was a river to wash off in.  It involved stripping right off, so I've omitted the photos!  

 

Yet another trip to Rabbit Island involved a great challenge for the boys:  Someone had left this log embedded in the sand.  The boys made it their mission to dismantle it.

After a whole lot of digging and pushing and pulling, they were actually successful!

 Evenings here lately have comprised of cooking experimentation (yorkshire puddings!), first teeth falling out and peaceful sunsets.  The boys are geared up to stay up late tomorrow night to watch an All-Blacks rugby game on TV.  It kind of completes the process of indoctrination for them.  I'll probably write another blog for you.  And maybe be a bit likely the book character, Scaredy Squirrell.  Eat a nut.  Look at the view.  Eat a nut.  Look at the view.  I'm seriously going to miss the view.