We have been really fortunate to line up three back-to-back house sits. Currently we are on the second. The first was five dogs and 50 chooks. One of the hens was sitting on an egg and it hatched under our care. Seems like a minor event, but boy was it exciting. That little thing was so cute! Mom was a beautiful silver chicken; an Ancona. Her baby is black and yellowish; it looks a lot like the New Zealand robin. It has been fun watching the hen teach the chick to forage in the dirt. Other than that, it was a quiet house sit.
As quiet as it could be with 5 young dogs, four of them small breeds: two schnauzers and two miniature poodles.
We took a break from the pack and hit Hanmer Hot Springs. Our favorite hot springs in New Zealand. I don’t know how many different pools they have, at least 20; plus a lap pool and 4 water slides. We hit them all. Hanmer Springs is getting near the highest elevation in New Zealand, near the Lewis Pass of the Southern Alps. Beautiful scenery of the aps which are snow capped a lot of the year. It is a weekend destination for many, with a lot of holiday homes.
This house sit was also near, you guessed it, vineyards. So, you guessed it, we “fit in” some wine tasting. I am just about to publish my “New Zealand Wine Tasting Notes” on our blog website: Hummingalong.net, because we have pretty much tasted all there is in NZ; it took us most of a year to accomplish.
We are currently house sitting a lovely black lab, Hester, in a character house in Governor’s Bay. Governor’s Bay is (another) picturesque Bay with pretty coves and islands. Thirty minutes from Christchurch, it seems an affluent suburb. Our house is about 100 years old, wood window frames, stained glass, and to add even more character, some earthquake damage from the 2011 earthquake: still cracked windows and uneven floors.
Hester is just over a year old and just got her cast off from a badly broken leg. She’s a gentle labrador and very easy. The hardest part will be leaving her when our time is over. We have a pub and cafe a stone’s throw from the house. Last night, after happy hour at the cafe, we happened to start talking to a couple waiting for their take out. After no more than 5 minutes he mentioned that the whole village would be in the pub tomorrow to watch the Crusaders (local professional rugby team) play the Blues, and then invited us to morning tea. “Tea” is dinner here; “morning tea” is like coffee and scones. We accepted, because we don’t get enough chances to socialize. Turns out, our host was the long time coach of the All Blacks, the Crusaders before that. To give you an idea how huge this is, picture if the NFL had a national team made up of all stars from the other professional teams, and this team played the national teams from other countries – if any other country played American football, and the national team went on to play in the World Cup. The All Blacks are NZ’s national rugby team. They play a season, not just an all star game, against the national teams of other countries. In the rugby world, the All Blacks dominate; the world cup is usually theirs to lose. Boys dream, not just to make it as a professional football player (here rugby is “football, not soccer), but to make it as an All Black. Mike Cron, our host for morning tea, has coached them for decades. You can bet we will be at the pub to watch rugby with this guy. We may finally learn what this game is about. Go Crusaders!