Today is Anzac day and I chose to go to the hills for a walk in the lovely beech forest and visit a new DOC hut near Lake Rotoiti just over the Nelson Marlborough border, top of the south island here in NZ.
The drive is approx 1 1/2 hours south and we set off early picking up 2 others around the town and headed off to the lake through the Golden Downs Pine Forests and through the fog and low morning cloud hovering in the valley. Just as we arrived the sun was beginning to peep through the clouds so we knew it would be a good day.
I will pause that story here for a bit and explain that I frequently have numerous serendipitous events in my life and I love writing about them. Today was yet another of those occasions.
Some background first. I have returned to NZ with my dream of building a Straw Bale house but have a long journey ahead as I don't yet own any land. Over the past couple of years I have been collecting info, reading books, talking to people and finding similar houses in the area. Later on I anticipate knocking on a few of those doors and chatting to the owners about the process of building their house, pros and cons, etc.
Anyway as we were walking back down the hill after our lunch stop I found myself walking with a guy and we started chatting about different things. I mentioned that I was hoping to build a house from straw in the near future and he then told me that he was a building inspector with the local council!! Just the person I needed to be talking to !! He was telling me that the council are not all that encouraging of giving permits for these kind of houses as the damp in this area is a bit of a problem, I guess he meant in the Winter time when it does get cold with hard frosts and a bit of rain usually. I won't be put off by that of course but will just need to talk to a few more owners about how they went about it and overcame this small hurdle. Where there's a will, there's a way!
At the end of our walk about 4.30 this afternoon the leader of the group very kindly took us back to her house nearby for a very welcome cuppa and chocolate cake and a much needed sit down to rest our weary bodies. I also had a good conversation with her en route as well and she informed me that her house was made from Adobe bricks so I was really looking forward to seeing that one too.
Some of the views up on the mountain looking down to the Wairau river were very spectacular. As we were admiring the scenery on our way up a huge full rainbow appeared. Considering we had traversed some of the land belonging to the Rainbow skifield at the beginning of the walk that was rather a coincidence as well.
I have been longing to get out into the countryside here ever since I returned from my travels so at last I have accomplished that. It really makes me feel great getting being in the bush, the smell is amazing and of course it's so good for the fitness too. You can even smell the sweetness of the Honeydew which hangs in tiny droplets at the end of hairs coming out of the trunk of the beech trees. That is one of the special features of the NZ bush.
We were with an interesting group of people from all walks of life, quite a few from UK and a couple from Scotland, plus a few native Kiwis, and all about 50's - 60's age group I think. (just guessing of course!) They were part of the Forest & Bird Association and many were very clued up on their botanical knowledge which made it so much more interesting. We heard many tuis and bellbirds along the way of course as they love the bush.
Since coming back to Nelson, I have promised myself that I will do more of the things that I really enjoy and that includes getting out into the hills, yoga, playing table tennis at the weekly club night in the new sports stadium here, taking up Feldenkreis and doing more meditation plus making bread for myself and a few other things. I can now tick off quite a few on that list. SInce installing myself in this house at the beginning of Feb I haven't bought a loaf of bread. Instead have found a recipe from Cranks Restaurant where I worked in the 70's, in London. It is a wholemeal loaf and I add linseed and a variety of seeds and use organic wholemal stone ground flour so it is a rather special loaf and is so nourishing. No kneading required for this recipe which makes it very quick to produce. I have made a few for some friends who are willing to pay me to do it and I feel it would be a great idea to keep doing this. Bit of pocket money at this stage. Watch this space to see how it develops.
