The community - Gricklegrass
We had a lie in then got up & packed. Made sure we had enough time to have breakfaast sat at the table then were back on the road. Driving back along to coast was such a nice start to the day. We stopped on the side of the road to have lunch, drove past a kid who was hitch hiking. We were running low on petrol too but had to keep on driving until we got somewhere to fill up. I fell tired so got Grant to take over driving. Grant made a stop in this tiny town to get petrol. Parked outside a cafe which had a petrol pump & we had to go in to pay. There were a load of people in some sort of amry uniform & 4 parrot looking birds - it was a wierd experience?!? As we drove we were completly surrounded by snowy mountains. It was unreal. They were so huge & the amount of snow that covered them was unbelievable. We were literally in the middel of nowhere.
We were soon driving through the area of where our next stay was, we found the street & drove down then pulled into their drive. The house was huge & their land was even bigger. We walked up to the house & was greeted by Madeline - the youngest child. We then met Meghan, the mother & was told to go out to meet Paul - the husband. He was milking the cows, so we chatted for a while (in the rain) then was given a tour of the land. We were shown the chooks, the sheep & cows & in a little shed they kept a baby calf named Chicken & 2 baby lambs, one white who had 2 names - Ruby/angel?!? and the other black named Satan. Ruby had been knocked over by a car & had a broken leg/shoulder & the other was the runt of its litter; it had something wrong with its hind legs. They were the cutest baby animals I'd ever seen. The 3 musketiers! Paul showed us the river, the sauna room & his experiment plants in a bag. We met the other Paul who lived at the house & Doree - the american woofer from Arizona. Paul sat us down at the table & got Grant a beer. We chatted for a while then later met Olivia & Ryan, the other 2 children. We got our bags in & made ourselves at home. It was soon dinner time & we all sat down at the table to eat spag bol, then headed off to bed to watch a film - a true new zealand story - out of the blue.
The next morning we had a lie in then got up & had breakfast. Our 1st job was clearing broken branches out of a field & stack it up to be burnt. We stopped for a lunch break then got some more work done. When we were finished for the day we drove into town to the library where they had free internet. That evening Paul cooked tons of veg & meat & we had a feast. Our next of work we cut up a load of wood & stacked it then Paul took us to Rangiora, to a free shop which was amazing! It was so cool. We dug through all the clothes and browsed at all the junk on the tables. I found a couple of jumpers & Grant amazingly found a wooden wine bottle holder that he wanted to pay 20$ for at a shop a few weeks back but instead - got it COMPLETLY FREE!!! We were so chuffed - it even had the Nz Islands carved into it which made a fab suvenier. When we got back I fed the lambs & the calf then helped Doree figure out what to do with the beans she was using for cooking. That evening we all ate Doree's chilie which was yummy?!?! lol.
The next day I went off to get barley for the calf where I noticed that in the hens hut were 5 little chicks running about. They were so adorable. My favourate was the yellow one, they were so clumbsy & fluffy. I fed Ruby, Satan & Chicken then we all piled up a load of wood that Grant cut up. After lunch I helped milk the cows then Dorre & I made the hens hut a a little safer by putting more fencing around it. Grant helped feed the lambs & got milk all over Satands face - Bless him! It was so funny.
Friday, I sanded down a door then me & Doree painted its 1st coat. Grant on the other hand done some harrowing out on the fields. Later on I made welsh cakes & chocolate suprise muffins. We all sat in the living room & watched avatar. Saturday came, I cooked us woofers a cooked breakfast then me & Doree went down to the paddock to see the new born lambs. We then helped Grant stack broken branches for a fire, we went in for some lunch then finished painting the door. Doree broke some bad news to us - said that her grandfather had passed away & that she'd be leaving the following day to go home to Arizona. That night we were set the task of making dinner for 12! We didn't have a clue what we were doing so we bung a ton of pasta on to boil & made up 2 sauces plus potato wedges. When all the dishes had been done me, Grant, Doree & Paul sat at the table drinking some homemade beer.
Sunday morning Doree said her goodbyes & we hit the road. Got into Christchurch city & looked around some shops. On our way to the market we came across a crowd of people stood around a guy & stuck around to see what he was up to. To our horror he was putting swords down his throat. He had the entire crowd cringing - then he went & joked around about putting an electric meat knife down his throat...then he ACTUALLY DONE IT...WHILST IT WAS ON!!! I couldn't look, I literally thought there was going to be blood & guts everywhere! It was thee most disturbing things I've ever witnessed. A little after we hunted down somewhere to eat - found a place that done 2 courses for 9.95$. After a wonderfull 2 courses we then got the bill which didn't add up right so I queried it - turns out they tricked us with their menu. It was in columns & it confused us to make us order from the wrong columns which turned out to be more than what we thought we'd be paying. We were not happy one bit. We got to the airport & gave Dorre hugs then waved her off. When we got back we found out that Satan had been taken by someone to live in a better home. I was so sad, no Dorre, no Satan, then found out there was no TV in the living room anymore!
One morning Paul told us that we weren't to do any work as he'd heard us coughing real bad & told us to have a day off & to take it easy. Chilling out in the living room we see Liv making something with a needle, meaghan explained - it's called needle felting. We had a go, Grant made a sheep & I made pig. Later on I also made Joel his 1st snowman bauble for christmas. That evening they held a community dinner at the house, there was some confusion as to whos house it was being held at so only 3 people turned up. I fed Ruby & Chicken & collected the chook eggs, I filled up their food tin & wondered why they weren't all running up to eat it...to my horror - they had escaped!!!They were everywhere. I ran out to try & get them back in & by god it was a hard task. After roughly 10 minutes of running around like a fool I eventually got them all back where they belong...PHEW!
One day we had a project - to make a new vegetable patch. We picked out all the rocks, used the rotary ho to dig up all the soil then the lads sectioned it off by making a wooden frame. For the next couple of days - we done jobs such as clearing out the chooks huts, clearing their poo & putting it into compost, putting out fresh straw for their nests, making sure there was enough to keep them warm as we were due snow, we painted, ran after more escaped chooks! It was soon Olivias School Production Show. Meaghan, Paul, Maddie & I got ourselves front row seats at the theatre hall. Had ourselves some popcorn. For the 1st part of the show Liv was no where to be seen, then when her part came by god she was amazing! She sung excellent & danced, it was such a good show! When we got home that night we all sat around looking at the videos & photos I'd captured.
Early one afternoon it snowed & it came down quite thick & heavy. Paul took Grant, Maddy & I to the paddock with the quad, some rope & an old car bonnet where he tied the bonnet to the back of the quad & we led down on it & he drove real fast pulling us along. We had snow flying into our faces, maybe some cow poo too lol, our fingers were numb, maddi fell off twice but we had such a fab time. That night Grant made pizza, another meeting was being held at the house so I made my 1st pav! It wasn't bad at all.
Saturday 4th September 2010
That night Grants coughing was really bad, he woke me up a couple of times, bless him. 4.30am - an earthquake hit us - 7.1!!! I hit Grant to wake up - told him to turn the lights on so we could see! He flung out of bed, I stood up & the floor was shaking so badly. We ran to Ryans room to see if he was OK, then we went to run down to Meaghans room but they were already on their way to the living room, still shaking, everything in the house swaying and glass falling onto the floor smashing - we were all terrified. Paul came running in with only his pants on which was histerical but we were all in too much shock to laugh. The sounds of cutlery shaking & the windows was crazy! Paul B & Gordon came running into the living room - their rooms were on the 2nd floor of the house so they were in a right state of shock. They had literally been thrown across their rooms! We all cwtched up in the living room, 20 minutes had gone by & we get our 1st aftershock - it was horrible! I wanted to cry I was so petrified. I don't know what came over me but I started packing our passports into our waterproof bag?!? I was preparing for real devistating things to happen! Everyone was still sat in the living room but I couldn't keep still - I was back & forth of the loo with runs (NERVES). I then decided to text Hayley & then called mam & kate on skype which was comforting. The radio was stating that we were due to have yet another quake at 4pm that same day, most people were saying it was only going to be a small one, but others were predicting it to be a lot bigger! At 3pm that afternoon we went out into the street & saw all the lamposts had been moved - they were all out of line & were leaning over. We didn't get another quake at 4pm but the aftershocks were still happening. The next day at dinner time, we were just about to put a cake in the oven when the winds outside were so strong - it blew a tree into the wires & so our power cut off!!! Immediatly we all got candles & tourches & sat around the table. Ryan got a board game out for us all to play which passed the time by. That night - no one felt safe going to their rooms to sleep so got blankets and matresses & all slept in the living room!
The next morning we helped move everything out of the pink room ready for Magenta & her 2 girls to move in. The next couple of days we got the doors painted & put curtains up. I milked Daisy the cow keeping in mind that Paul had told me how when Doree milked her she took too long getting her cups on that Daisy shat on her!!! I was worried & felt a little under pressure but stayed calm enough to keep my patience & got them on in no time at all. I helped Paul get the sheep & cows into their paddocks, he literally had me running across the entire 2 paddocks to go fetch them. I was knackered. Friday night came, there was no Maddi, no Meaghan, no Magenta & the girls - Olivia, Ryan, Grant & I drove down to the shop to get some goodies & got back to watch a film in the piece & quiet. It was soon the weekend once again so I got on with my little project - painting an "EGGS FOR SALE" sign. Got all the animals sorted.Fed Chicken & Ruby, got the chicken eggs and fed them too, walked the cows up to be milked, milked the cows, sived the milk, sorted the eggs and dates them, them fed the cows their barley. I got some lunch whilst Ryan took Grant out to shoot pellets.
The following morning we found out that Ryan was leaving that day to go up to the North Island to see his dad for a couple of weeks. Me & Paul went out to the garden that day & got on with some shovelling. We shovelled a ton of poo into a tractor tire that Grant had pushed over into the middle of the garden. We filled it up so high then planted some flowers in the middle. That afternoon Ryan helped milk the cows for what we counted as the last time milking together! The evening came & we were in the car driving Ryan to the airport. We stuck around & waved him off. On the way back Paul took me & Grant to see one of the other comminity houses in Christchurch that had been damaged in the earthquake. It was shocking to see so much damage to the walls, they weren't allowed to enter any of the rooms upstairs - it was too dangerous!
My next day was filled of planting celery & painting a stack of shelves. Later on I got Grant to help carry a huge chair & all the eggs & my sign outside onto the main road. I sat there holding up the sign & waved to people as they drove past. I done quite well, made a couple of sales, so I was well chuffed.
Friday - Paul, Grant & I took Ruby & Chicken over to a paddock to spend a couple of hours on their own in it. Chicken had a good run around when she 1st got into the paddock & Ruby (Bless her) just stood there taking it all in. We fed them both grass for the 1st time. It was so lush, it was like taking the kids to school for the 1st time & leaving them there worried what was going to happen & what they were going to get up to?!?!
One morning Meaghan took me over to the shed & showed me 2 new born baby calfs. We fed them then me & Grant went to Christchurch. Grant had an interview to work at the Warehouse. When we got back we helped Paul plant his potatoes. It was quite interesting as Paul gave us the lowdown on how potatoes grow.
Saturday 18th September - RIP RUBY!
Woke up quite late, got on with some painting then later on thought I'd start on dinner. Jasmine (Magentas daughter) came running in saying there was something wrong with Ruby!!! I grabbed her milk bottle & we all ran over to the paddock. She was just led there. Magenta picked her up & she was just floppy. To my horror she couldn't stand up, she tried but was too weak for some reason. I tried feeding her the milk but she didn't have the strength to drink. I held her praying she'd be able to stand but when she tried she'd just flop back onto the grass. Everyone left me with her, then Paul & Gordon came over. I cried my eyes out - we didn't know what was wrong with her & didn't want her to suffer so Paul suggested putting her out of her misery. Gordon walked me over to the house & made me a cuppa. It was so upsetting. I cried all day & night. Paul gave me her purple collar to keep which was thoughtful. Grant helped me milk the cows later that day, iit was a complete nightmare - Daisy s*** & it went absolutly everywhere so we had to pause the milking to clean it all up. When we eventually got back to it she took forever! In the evening we all drunk our homemade meade. Paul Stanley got completely smashed & was ill at the end of the night. Olivia, Grant & I were all laughing at him - bless. He was just rambling on about a load of rubbish.
Sunday morning we didn't think we'd see Paul S but he had to get out of bed to come clean up his mess, and he stuck around all day doing work. The following week we all got together in the paddock & prepared the ground for more potatoe planting. The guys dug then we all planted them. Grant worked on the bathroom ceiling. Paul showed me how to drive the quad bike, so I helped him with feeding the cows barley. It took us like half an hour to get the quad through the gate as Gordon had moved his tin shed into the garden & put it right infront of the gate?!?!? One day Grant really wanted to make a pie (bless him) so he made chicken & mushroom pie & I helped by making potatoes & vegetables. We went to a Sunday market to have a browse - there wasn't much there so left for Rangiora. We dropped into see Chris & Sarah. Their house was stunning! We were greeted by thee most cutest little puppy - Annie! She was a pugalier, a cross between a pug & a cavalier. Sarah got us all some drinks then showed us around her farm. She showed me all the animals then we got ourselves back to the garden where we soaked up some rays. They attached a trailor to the back of the car with 2 huge barrels full with barley - we thought it was going to take us a while to get back home but the car pulled the trailor along with no problems.
The next day we covered the planted potatoes with pea straw then I helped Grant load all the Hawthorn branches he'd cut down onto the quad trailor & then drove them over into the field & stacked them ready to be burnt. We had a light lunch then Grant, Olivia & I drove to a beach. It was such a lush afternoon. We stopped at Kaipoi, one of the worst damaged places from the earthquake. We found huge cracks in the ground in a couple of places, saw buildings & homes destroyed from it, it was horrific. When we got back Chris, Sarah & Clementine their daughter came round for dinner, and they braught Annie! We all had a really nice evening socialising. The next day we were getting ready to go out to work when Grant came across a job on the backpackers board internet site. It sounded too good to be true - a gardener & waitress. We called the guy immediatly & sent our CV's. He called Meaghan for a reference. Then called back to say he had emailed us with an offer & asked for us to call him back if we wanted to take him up on it. We read the email & it sounded spot on so we made one last phonecall to confirm we were taking the positions. We started after that weekend. On our last couple of days at Gricklegrass I wrote a poem for the guest book, we stacked up more branches for a fire, done a little pruning. Laid carpet around raspberry canes & took the baby calf to the paddock for the 1st time. It was a right sod being on the lead. It was histreical, it kept lying down on the ground so that it wouldn't have to walk. We tried lifting him up but he was just like a dead weight. When trying to cross the river he even led down in that too & got us soaked. In the end Grant walked behind him pushing its bum so that he would walk & it worked - he was finally in the paddock!!! On our last day we got some water balloons & a waterfight out in the paddock, it was so much fun!
Friday 1st October
We packed our bags & got them all into the car, said our goodbyes to everyone then set off for our drive up the East Coast.