"Cold" tramping

After last week’s good Sunday afternoon walking we decided to take the walking to the next step: tramping. We headed out of Blenheim south (close to Ward) with the last 12 kms land inwards on a gravel road.

The route we were going to take was for experienced backcountry trampers with above average fitness. Great for us!!! The route was to the Sawcut Gorge and thus went along a river – at least, that’s what we thought. However, it appeared that we had to cross the river several times. The water was not really nice – worse even, it was ice cold and already after the first crossing our feet were soar of the cold. When you do a crossing around 8 times, then you do not feel anything anymore. The route was beautiful, the further we got – the smaller the gorge became. Some of the pictures are below. We were happy to be back at the car after nearly 4 hours and to warm our feet/legs again. We decided we deserved a nice coffee and headed to The Store in Kekerungu – highly recommended!

Cheers,
Anita

A weekend trip, a passport and other stuff

Weekend holiday
Last time I told about the upcoming trip to Nelson and Golden Bay. It turned out to be a good choice although the weather wasn’t flash all of the time. In and around Nelson the sampling of wine and beer was a good change from the tasting in the Marlborough. I took this trip together with one of my flatmates who is also in de wine industry, so we could discuss the different wines at length.

I will just give an overview of the weekend break (being my winter holiday). After a 40 km drive it is time for coffee and since I know a good place in Havelock that is the place to stretch the legs for the first time. Havelock is the Green Mussel capital of the world. Unfortunately, I am not very fond of green mussels but it is a cute village and since a little shop was closing down also a good place to buy some bargains.

The next stop was Pelorus Bridge where you can make a choice between a few walks through the bush. We walked there for an hour or so because the weather was lovely and Nelson not too far away. In Nelson we visited first of all the Founders Heritage Park. A place I have often passed by but never really seen. Here we tasted some organic beers at the brewery. The quality was reasonable; the weather was great, so we could enjoy the beers while sitting in the sun in the beautiful gardens. We brought some artisan bread and headed to the Japanese gardens. With these gardens I am pretty familiar by now – unfortunately, this time the water was not there since the gardens got renovated.

Walking - Pelorus Bridge

So at the end of the day it was time to check in a motel, that had a spa and sauna and since we lack this in Blenheim we decided to enjoy this. The spa pool that was nicely located next to the ice cold swimming pool was at a temperature that you got easily burned. We tried to put our feet in, but had to give up pretty soon. We should have mixed the water of the pool and the spa ……… So, we headed to the dry sauna and enjoyed this much better. Some wines later it was not too difficult to enjoy a good night’s sleep.

Of course, when in Nelson on a Saturday, the Saturday morning market is a ‘must’. Since most of you know I am not much of a ‘shopper’, our trip to the market was not longer than half an hour and we did not buy a lot. It was far more interesting to head on in the direction to Motueka for some visits to wineries. Unfortunately, during winter not all of the cellar doors are open to the public but we were lucky enough to visit both Waimea and Seifried this day. Apart from that we made a nice drive around the Moutere valleys. Amongst others we were on an organic orchard where the sheep looked very healthy – they were clearly very fond of apples.

We also stopped in Mapua where a stop at the new brewery is highly recommended!.

Along the coast in Mapua

Then at the end of the day – it was already dark – we headed over the Takaka hill to Takaka. There was snow along the road, but not anymore on the road luckily, so we had a good drive and checked into our place in Pohara Beach where we made ourselves a healthy dinner.

View from the Abel Tasman Memorial and view to Abel Tasman National Park

When we woke up it was pouring ‘cats and dogs’ but since we wanted to explore the Golden Bay we took our wet weather gear and headed off. We made some nice beach walks in the rain and finally ended in the famous ‘Mussel Inn’. Here we had a healthy soup and some beers to go with it while warming and drying in front of the open fire – a real Sunday afternoon!

Pohara Beach

Then it was Monday already and time to head back to lovely Blenheim again. But not after we did a wine tasting at Neudorf (highly recommended) and a tasting at a fruit winery (wine from kiwifruit, feijoa, black currant and boysenberry). The weather this day was gorgeous and thus during the trip back we made a lot of stops and also travelled via pretty Kaiteriteri where we enjoyed the beach and a nice lunch.

View to Upper Takaka from Takaka Hill

School
Then I had another week of work and then back to school! Although school means only one day a week at the moment, since I will be doing two courses on line. Hopefully it will go all via plan so I can graduate at the end of this year. The first results of the first semester are promising!

Work
In the mean time I have also started a programme in the gym with my physiotherapist. The goal is to strengthen my body, and mainly my back, so I will be able to do more physical work again. I tried already one day in the vineyard, but that was not very successful. A little bit more time is needed. In the winery and the laboratory, however, I can do nearly everything that is needed and in the mean time I learn a lot. This cadetship is really a great way of combining study and work, giving me a great advantage when I graduate.

Passport/Wellington
Then I noticed that I should renew my Dutch passport this year. This turns out to be a bit of a challenge when you do not live in one of the main cities. I decided to travel to Wellington for the day to drop off my old passport and apply for a new one. Luckily they can mail it to me when it is finished. However, then I need my NZ residency visa transferred to my new passport, for which I need to travel to Christchurch or Wellington again. It is a time consuming and costly process and this passport is thus going to be one with a golden edge.

A nice advantage of this trip was that I have been able to catch up with a few friends in Wellington. I had a lovely breakfast with two of my American friends; had a coffee with an Irish friend and a long lunch with a Dutch friend who dropped me off at the airport afterwards. It was short but sweet…….Sorry for all of you I missed but it was only a few hours’ stay.

Just a Sunday
Yesterday we headed out of Blenheim to do a great walk along the beach near Cape Campbell (south of Blenheim). The weather was spring like and the day couldn’t last long enough. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera. On the way we visited Yealands Wine Estate, one of the high profile wineries of the area. The buildings are impressive, however, the wines did not meet the same high standards. We tasted a Sauvignon Blanc called Storm Crossings which is made solely for the Dutch market and thus for the Dutch taste. I have to tell, that it was not very positive to my taste, so………. room for improvement!


Cheers,
Anita

Back to work and school….and finish of the first semester….

It has been a long time, since I have been writing about my whereabouts here in lovely Blenheim. This has nothing to do with ‘from the eye from the heart’ – at least not from my side.

Let me tell a bit about the last months. A while ago I reached my short term goal of being able to drive to work again and since then I did two or three days a week, every time a bit longer. I did basic, mainly laboratory work, in the winery and could still have a look around and learn from the international, European crew that was in their final stage of the vintage then. It is really disappointing that I have not been able to work more closely and longer together with them, because they have a very valuable amount of knowledge among them. But that’s life…..

From the beginning of May I was back at school and it was great to hear the stories of the class mates on their experiences during the vintage in the different Marlborough wineries. There is a huge difference between the several companies and it seems that I am – although it is a long drive away – at one of the better places.

In the mean time I have experienced a lot of other activities in the winery and laboratory that my classmates haven’t done and I handed in my winery experience assignment, the last bit that needed to be done after the exams. Yes, exams were done last week and I am convinced with a positive result, although it won’t be as good as last year, but who cares…….. After the exams it was time to wind down and that is what I did during the past weekend – just recovered from it actually…..

The last two months it was ‘full on’ for me, juggling around work and study and still not fully recovered. At the moment I will be at around 80% of my physical ability. Today I started a programme in the gym that is lead by my physiotherapist. This way I should get my body and mind strength back, so I will be better prepared for the rest of my career. It was funny to be on a bicycle again in the gym; that has been a few months which is very unusual for me, as you might understand.

At the moment I am very much looking forward to finally heading out of Blenheim. The weekend will be spent in Nelson/Golden Bay area and should be a nice distraction from the walls of my room/house and Blenheim. The weather forecast is not very good unfortunately, but I am not too worried about that at the moment.

Cheers,
Anita

Getting Better...

To everyone: a big Thank You for sending nice words and positive vibes in my direction. I hope you all had a very good and sunny Easter weekend. At least it was perfect in Blenheim! Good time to make some walks and pictures - as you can see the autumn colors have started to appear.

So, a short update: I am still not very mobile but am better at managing my pain, so hopefully I will be able to fully recover in a few weeks. So, what do I do during the days that I can mainly spend only in and around the house? I cannot sit for longer than 15 minutes so going somewhere or even driving to work is not possible. Don’t I get bored? I have surprised myself after one week that I just found my way around it. I have read a huge amount of books and watched a lot of movies the last few weeks. I also did some study work, but since I cannot sit for a long period, this was not a lot. Hopefully I can pick that up soon.

The big advantage is that we have a nice long summer around here. Nearly all days have been sunny, so I could read in the garden on my sun bed and go for some walks, which is part of my ‘therapy’ as well as some exercises for my back. The annoying thing, however, is that I cannot be part of the harvest/vintage but still hear the harvesting machines and trucks full of grapes going past the house, day and night. Below a picture of some grapes that are still netted to protect from bird damage. These grapes will be harvested soon.

My short term goal is to be able to drive the car to work, which is a 30 minutes drive and be able to look around and do some basic stuff in the laboratory. Another goal is to try to start writing some assignments for school, so that at least I will pass the theoretical part of this semester.

Yesterday I was surprised by a visit from two friends from Wellington to Blenheim. We had lunch together and it was great to catch up. This was a good test for me to sit for a longer period. Although I couldn’t do a lot anymore the rest of the day it was really nice to go somewhere again with friends.

So, I hope you all are well and will write again when something happens around here.

Cheers,
Anita

Bad luck strikes!

When I started my first day of the work experience ‘vintage’ period last week, I picked up something and felt a ‘snap’ in my back. After two days of pain and painkillers I decided it was wise to go to the doctor (although friends/flatmates had to convince me). He diagnosed a bulge on one of the lower back discs. He prescribed some medication and physiotherapy which I could organise straight away next door. The doctor thought it could take 6 weeks to fully recover; the physiotherapist said maybe 3/6 months when unlucky. I better not listen to those stories!!

Of course I planned to stay at home a few days and then I would be better, but unfortunately that hasn’t happened yet. This morning I could hardly get out of my bed and needed a good dose of painkillers to be able to move and sit. Walking and lying down on my back seem to give me most relieve.

I now only have two problems:
1) Will I be able to get my work experience? This is necessary for my Diploma;
2) How am I going to finance my studies for the rest of this year, since I had planned to make a lot of hours, so I could save some money?

My first goal, however, is to try to sort out my back. Sending some positive vibes this way might help!!!


Anita

What's Up?

First of all I want to apologise for taking so long to write an update on my whereabouts. However, I do not hear a lot from some of you readers of this blog either. You might all have very boring lives, or your lives are so exciting that it is hard to write about it? I am curious to know which of it would be in your case…….

My planned cycle tour in January unfortunately did not eventuate and in stead I started working in the vineyard where I will be doing my ‘cadetship’ for two years while finishing my studies. At this moment everyone in the wine industry is getting ready for the vintage and so, also me! Next week I will be changing the vineyard for the winery, which will be a new experience again. Everyone was having barbeque parties last weekend, because from this week onwards no one in the wine industry will have time to socialise. On Friday I was too tired and so I even skipped a barbie, but on Saturday I went to some Chilean friends of mine who had only Chileans and Argentineans around. Unfortunately, I noticed that my Spanish had deteriorated quite a bit in the mean time. Even though we have a Chilean living in our house, who is here to work during the vintage; but he only wants to improve his English and thus is not improving my Spanish language skills.

But the best thing that happened lately is that the house in Wellington has been sold and our financial settlement has been done. This has been a very difficult process the last months, but now I can start the next part of my life. In the short term future I will be here in Blenheim, but the longer term is open to a few opportunities. If anyone has some ideas about it, please let me know.

Autumn clearly is on its way, since I even had to wear gloves in the vineyard – keep in mind I start working there at 7 o’clock in the morning. And also first time this year there was some snow on the mountains – beautiful sight! Apart from that it is a bit noisy in the vineyards and it reminds me of the weeks before and after New Year’s Eve in The Netherlands when you hear occasional fireworks. Here these are the bird scaring devices. Although a lot of the rows with vines are covered with nests against the birds (they love to eat the ripening – sweet – berries) it is necessary to get them out of the un-netted vines.

The crew for the vintage has nearly all arrived. It is a great mix of Europeans: two Italians, one French, one Spanish, one Greek. It will be a very interesting time.

I won’t be on line a lot in the upcoming weeks during vintage, since that will mean working 7 days a week for around 12 hours a day – so I am off and looking forward to some ‘gossip’ from your side that I will be able to read when I am resting from the hard work.

Anita

Just a Sign of Life

Since I have not really been in the mood to write a blog lately, it has been a while you have heard from me. The reason was not that nothing had happened, but more so that only 'bad things' happened that were not really suitable to publish on the internet.

The parts that are interesting to talk about are the results of my exams. I have been able to get all A's for the papers this year and I must say that this made me feel very good. Another good result was that I gained a scholarship for Outward Bound. This scholarship was presented to me on 17 December, when I realised that is was for a three week course! Only problem now is to plan that in my busy upcoming year of work and study.

I have changed to a bigger room in the house I live in Blenheim, since all my stuff didn't fit anymore. At the moment, however, I am staying at the Kapiti Coast for a few days with friends to try to relax and have a different view on life.

In the meantime a lot of time and effort is put into the conclusion of our separation - unfortunately, the house is still not sold so we have had to come up with a financial settlement. It has been a rough time lately and hopefully things will change for the better in 2009.

Wishing you all the best for this New Year!

Anita