Robert the Bruce

 

Our newest edition to the family, Robert the Bruce!

It sucks getting old

 I have spent the largest portion of my life healthy and unconcerned about any problems related to my health. At 73, I thought I was doing quite well, but then the symptoms appeared.

I had some trouble breathing, which turned out to be because of my heart. It's enlarged (which I have known most of my life) but never caused any major problems before.

According to my doctor, it also beats too fast. On the occasions that he sent me to the ER, they concur, but, medications for it don't seem to help much. These are what I came back with the last time: 

Annoyingly, my memory has gone through the mill for the last thirty years, too. Fortunately, Hubby is very understanding about it and takes it mostly in stride, answering questions that I should know the answers to. The good news is that I have never been very social, so sitting at home and not stressing in the world works just fine for me.

I was taken aback a bit at my last doctor's visit. I have a small rough patch just behind my left ear for a month or two. And when I mentioned it to the doctor on my last visit, he looked at it with a magnifying glass and very nonchalantly pronounced it was cancer.  Of course, this was very unexpected, but he said we'll take a biopsy and take it off, if necessary within the next several weeks. 

Before this week, my concept of 'cancer' was an overtaking invasion and organ failure. Bit now I know it can be taken care of from a small beginning. 

I will keep you posted on the progress, even though it sounds like it will be slower than I prefer.

It definitely sucks getting old.

Gypsy Day in Taranaki. June 1st

 

In a nutshell, Gypsy Day is the start of the dairy season and sees a large number of dairy farming families, shareholders, contract milkers and employees move to new farms. The day will see an estimated 5000 farmers pack up and move, according to Jane Muir from DairyNZ

jailhouse accommodations

Our last night in Christchurch in 2016 was spent in the Jailhouse Accommodations at the locally converted jail. Click here for their website. 

Being a backpackers' hostel, I expected it to be loud but the 'inmates', even though most of them were pretty young, were well-behaved and respectful. That's our room with the bunk beds!

Easter weather

 As we all know, Easter comes in the spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern.

Of course, autumn is a time of cooling down toward winter, but not this Easter.

Two or three days ago, we had a fire in the wood stove because it was a bit nippy.

Tonight, almost 11PM, we have windows open and fans going and are commenting that it's finally cooling off.

It just started raining, so that should help.

Strange thing, weather.

Kiore tunnel

Excavated in 1909 and known by various names, this tunnel provided access to the Stratford area for Matau residents. 

https://www.stratford.govt.nz/repository/libraries/id:2cvuccagl1cxbygm8445/hierarchy/Heritage%20Inventory%20Documents/Kiore-Matau%20Tunnel.pdf

 

RIP Bruce

 

You were only a part of our lives for just under two years, but I hope we made your time with us happy. We will miss you.

Makahu/Strathmore tunnel

 

A pack track was all that originally joined Strathmore and Makahu, a community that was settled in 1896. By 1902, a dray road was completed to replace this, but it was harsh, and the route over the hill was seen as a formidable obstacle. The erection of the Makahu Co-operative Dairy Factory a few years later embellished the need for a better access route for the produce to be able to be easily carried out.

In 1907, this was dealt to with the building and opening of the Makahu (or Brewer Road) Tunnel. The settlers worked hard, making full use of picks, shovels, wheelbarrows and explosives to eliminate the steep grade. People protested that the tunnel had been built too near the top of the hill to be at all worthwhile. However, the 166 metre tunnel made the journey more than 3km shorter, and saved travelers from battling the windy hill route.

The tunnel was originally made out of an interesting construction of wood, with a timber lining. However, by 1919 the wood had rotted through and the tunnel collapsed at the Makahu end. It was closed for two years while work was done to re-line the tunnel with more solid concrete pillars to ensure no further cave-ins were possible.

Throughout the years, the locals have held numerous impromptu "parties" inside the tunnel, which occasionally forces travellers to join in, or wait until the end to get through.

Observing the Makahu tunnel today, one would be able to see where the floor was lowered, and would note the small orange stalactites drooping from the ceiling. The tunnel is perhaps one of the most attractive tunnels in Taranaki, being strong-walled and perfectly shaped. It is a great feature on this rural road, and is well worth the journey to see it.

In 1998 a major upgrade of the tunnel was carried out by contractor Mac Mackenzie and his team. This had a total cost of $500,000 and included lowering the tunnel floor by 1.4 metres to give triple-deck stock trucks access to the road, installing new support struts, and strengthening the tunnel soffit with 150mm of reinforced concrete.

The upgrade took a total of four months, and was reopened with a ribbon being cut by locals Jim Hopkirk and Danica Wood (descendents of settlers who protested the delay in fixing the tunnel in 1920) on 22 July 1998.

Today, the tunnel acts as an access point to the Makahu and Puniwhakau communities, the Te Wera Forest, Aotuhia Station, the "Bridge to Somewhere" and a large proportion of the Whanganui National Park, including the Matemateaonga Walkway.

 https://terangiaoaonunui.pukeariki.com/story-collections/taranaki-tunnels/makahu-tunnel-1907/

Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferries

 We just got back from 5 days in the South Island. We decided to take the ferry across this time, as opposed as flying (as we have a few times). 

We chose Bluebridge Ferries and it was a smooth crossing both ways. 

On the way there, we spend the trip in the Quiet Room, which was a great place to take a little nap or just sit and be quiet. Hubby took photos as we traveled across the strait.

On the way back we spent our time in the Pohutukawa Lounge which provided unlimited food and drink. The staff were just wonderful, always smiling and eager to please.

I would definitely recommend Bluebridge for the next time you cross Cook Strait.

#Bluebridge 

Tarata tunnel

The Tarata Tunnel was dug by hand in 1904. Constructed to enable residents to get to the valley from Waitara, it is approximately 30 metres long. https://terangiaoaonunui.pukeariki.com/story-collections/taranaki-tunnels/tarata-tunnel-1904/

 

Moon movement

February 1- Moon on the right of a faint star

              

  February 3 - Moon on the left of the star.

It's interesting what goes on in the sky while we're not looking!

Garden

Huinga Tunnel

 Access to the end of Raupuha Road was not possible until 1883, when the Huinga tunnel was driven, following a trial drive. Not much is known about the actual building of this tunnel, although originally the roof and part of the lining was made of native timber; the sides being solid papa. A very unusual feature of the tunnel was the fact that it had large scrim timber doors at one end of the tunnel, to try and control the draught. A plaque was set in the wall of the tunnel to commemorate its completion, reading “Fitzgerald Aug. ‘95”.

https://www.stratford.govt.nz/repository/libraries/id:2cvuccagl1cxbygm8445/hierarchy/Heritage%20Inventory%20Documents/Huinga%20Tunnel.pdf