Decisions to be made.

We arrived back in Omokoroa and backed the rig up the drive to spend some time on maintenance at the house.  The tenants had moved into their newly built home in bethlehem and we had some decisions to make regarding continuing to rent or to sell and take advantage of the real estate boom in the Tauranga area.
  It was disappointing to find cleaning obviously wasn't a priority when the tenants left.  Luckily everything had been photographed on them moving in so we had the evidence that they had to adhere to.  Cleaners were employed to do the basics and Jocelyn and I knuckled under and did the rest.  We were to get stuck in over the next 10 days and the house and grounds had a major make over.  At the end of it we were both happy that we had the place back where we would be happy to live there ourselves.

  The next thing was a real brain strain.   What to do with the property?  One day we decided we were definitely selling and the next we were going to rent again.  We got three different agents in for advice and did a bit of research ourselves.  In the end we decided we would rent it out again.  We didn't advertise.  We heard of two different people that might be interested and approached them.  It turned out that both of them wanted it so we had to decide who,  and in the end went with a tenant that I new back in my farming days.  So hopefully everything goes well.
   We moved out of Omokoroa and back to Mclaren Falls to brother Kens place as they had sold their property and needed a hand to pack and clean.  But before helping with that  Jocelyn was off to Aussie with granddaughter Monique and Vicki,  while I was off into the Ureweras for 5 days hunting the wily red deer. I hadn't been back into our family spot in the Ureweras since before my operation so this would be the first time I had had to carry a heavy pack since then.  Still I was really looking forward to it and the morning finally arrived and myself,  Mick and Beans arrived at Sue and Brians in Rotorua.  Sue was to be our taxi driver again as in this day and age unfortunately you can't leave a vehicle unattended on the side of the road anymore.  I must admit the old legs were starting to go a bit wobbly by the time I reached our campsite.  But we had taken it slow and steady and we soon had the camp shipshape and a brew on.  It was great to see the camp in such good repair and all of our gear that we leave down there was still where it had been hidden.  It was such a great feeling to be back.

Mick by the Happy Valley waterfall.

Beans wolfing down a bacon buttie after a big day.

 I took a bit of a spill on my first hunt and tumbled head over heels down a steep face.  Lucky I crashed into a tree which stopped my rapid unplanned descent.  Unfortunately I had a pretty decent cut to my head where I had banged it on a sharp rock.  There was a lot of blood streaming down my face but I managed to stem the flow after about ten minutes.  I also had a very tender hip where the tree had impacted me but luckily stopped my fall.  It was only about an hour to dark so I carried on hunting but didn't see any animals.
  Back in camp the others had had a quiet hunt as well with nothing being seen.  The next day was also quiet but Mick and I saw a hind move into the bush but it was a fair way off and not worth a shot.  The next morning Beans got on the scoreboard with a yearling stag and it was to prove his day as he shot two more deer after a good hunt into some of our old spots.  Mick and I had a great hunt down stream seeing a lot of sign but no animals.
  Sunday morning came around and Beans was heading out so he loaded up early and we waved him off before 7am.   He had a fair bit of meat on board and his mate was arriving at 10am to pick him up out at the road.  This should have left him plenty of time but as I found out later on he strayed off the track and couldn't find it again so he ended up staggering out onto the road about 4 1/2 hours later.

Our last nights fly camp.

 Mick and I decided we would shift camp closer to the road so we made our way up the creek.  Just before we got to first camp we dropped our packs and climbed up towards a clearing I new about.  We were nearly there and I heard  a bit of a rustle in the scrub and a little ginger and white pig popped out and checked us out.  He did a couple of little grunts and trotted off back into the bush.  Then we saw him moving up ahead of us and he had two little black friends with him.  Mick and I carried on up to the clearing trying to keep quiet in case a deer was out feeding.  Just as we came onto the clearing the 3 little pigs appeared at the bottom and moved out into the open.  Mick and I were in full view and over the next 20 minutes we were entertained by these little characters as they fed and grunted and played.  Occasionally one would approach us for a closer look and come within about 5 metres of us then it would turn tail and scamper off grunting and squealing .  We found them so entertaining and this little interlude was the highlight of our trip.  Unfortunately we had left the camera in the packs back at the creek.
   After picking up the packs again we carried on and set up a new camp at our initial entry to the stream we hunt on.  We had an interesting afternoon hunt and saw plenty of sign but as the evening approached I took Mick up to what we called our meat safe clearing.   This is where we come if we want some more meat to take out with us.   And again it didn't let us down as a nice spiker came out to feed around 6.30pm.  Mick took the shot and it wasn't long and we were loading legs of venison into our packs for the short trek back to camp.  Next day it was back to civilisation.

The meat safe clearing.

Micks spiker.

    Jocelyn had a great time with Monique over in Aussie.  Spending time with Jenny and Stan is now always a treat as we don't get to see them as often as we would like.
   After she arrived back we spent the next ten days helping out Ken and Vicki and then loaded the truck and moved them down to Papamoa to their previous rental property.
  After this we had a few days to spare before I had to show up at court for jury duty.  So we decided a few days at lake Rerewhakaitu might be nice.  The DOC camp on Ash Pit road was looking a bit neglected.  It definitely needed a mower going over it and the toilets were overdue for the sucker truck.  Nevertheless it is still a very pretty place.  We were getting a fair bit of wind with a few good showers thrown in but it was getting warmer when the sun was out.  I even got a bit of sunburn one afternoon.  John and Margot came out for dinner one night too.
  One afternoon we were sitting in the sun reading and we noticed a ute and caravan drive past our site.  They then did a U turn and went down the other end about 150 metres away and set up camp.  We didn't think much more of it and a bit later on I decided to chuck the togs on and go for a swim then I wouldn't need a shower later on haha.  About half an hour later we see this couple coming our way and realised it was Henry and Debbie Blyth.  The last time we had met up with them we had been camping on the beach at Kaikoura.  They said they had been looking our way for a while wondering if it was us and when I went swimming Henry thought he recognised me but wasn't sure.  In the end curiosity got the better of them so they came for a look.
  It was a really nice surprise so we ended up having a very pleasant evening.  I had a lamb roast cooking on the webber so we all got together for a few drinks and a good meal and a good catch up.  Henry and I always have plenty to talk about as he is just as keen as I on the outdoors and hunting and gathering.
   I had been out in the kayak a bit chasing the trout with mixed success.  Casting with a fly I found the fishing hard,  but trolling with a small smelt lure was proving successful.  Henry also had his kayak and tried a bit of fishing.  We moved to their caravan for dinner the next night and met up with another couple who were parked near to them.  They had spent a lot of time as caretakers of a number of the DOC camps around the country and seemed to really enjoy it.  They said they get to meet a lot of really nice people from all around the world and stay for free at some spectacular places.  Maybe at a later date Jocelyn and I might be ready to give that a go.
  Next day was pack up day and we headed back to Omokoroa and parked down at the reserve in the boat trailer park.  We were lucky enough to score an afternoon baby sitting lovely Luca Saturday afternoon and we picked her up and collected James as well as he was starting work for Ken Monday morning.  Back out to Omokoroa we had a great day spoiling the two grandkids especially Luca who just loved going down that slide in the park.  Jocelyn's mum came out for the afternoon also.

See ya. I'm off to kindy.

Luca and James.

  Sunday night the big earthquake struck Kaikoura and Monday morning on the news we were watching in shock.  Having Rod,   Catherine and Gracie on the farm there we were very concerned.  We couldn't get through on the phones and the news reports were going over things again and again and getting Jocelyn really wound up.  I was due to show up for jury duty at 9am so rolled up at the courthouse on time and found my name drawn in the first 30 jurors.  At the first recess I approached the staff saying I needed to keep my phone turned on as I had family in Kaikoura.  At this news they pulled my name out of the next ballot and told me to take off.  They were very good and I was extremely happy to get back to Jocelyn and support her as she was getting pretty upset.  Luckily not long after this we heard from nephew Sean that he had found out from neighbours that Rod. Catherine and Gracie were fine.  They had got through the main shake well, with minimal damage to them or their buildings.  But they did find it a terrifying experience with the house shaking like crazy and things crashing to the floor around them.
  So after a couple of days waiting around to make sure our Kaikoura family were going to get by alright we packed the rig and headed off to Fantail Bay.   We really enjoyed Fantail again but the first week was so windy there was no fishing or snorkelling.   We got to know some more campers quite well but a lot of the time the camp was still virtually empty.  At last the wind eased and we had 4 beautiful days. I was in the water with the spear and straight away got 5 butterfish.  The next day in the kayak produced a couple of nice snapper and also some more snorkelling so there was enough fish for us and the neighbours.

Fish back on the menu.

 On the last day I jumped in and shot 6 butterfish to take away with us and then it was off to Whitianga to drop the rig off at Ken and Vicki's new section on the waterways.  Then off to Tauranga as the next morning Ken, Mick and I were bringing Kens boat up the coast to Whitianga to park it at his new section.
   We had a smooth trip up the coast and the boat performed well. Vicki and Jocelyn were there to meet us and we celebrated with a few bevies that evening.  So next we will probably head back over the hill to Coromandel again for a few days.
 

Papillon arriving at her new home.