Friday 28 December 2012

Te Kuri Farm Walkway






Recently my wife found a great website.  It has information about local walking tracks.  We like to walk together so we chose to do the Te Kuri Farm Walkway.  One day we'd love to travel to other countries and do many walks.  At the start of the track there were some friendly goats =)




The walk is on a farm near Gisborne.  It started quite flat but then we started walking up some hills.  After about half an hour, the children were ready for a snack!  You can see that the weather was great!  We went in the morning before it got too hot.




 
We expected to see some nice views but this caterpillar was a surprise!  We think it's a 'Magpie Moth' caterpillar.  They eat 'ragwort' which is a serious weed on New Zealand farms.  We saw many, many caterpillars on the ragwort plants.
 
 
 
 
This is an adult Magpie Moth.  Many moths fly at night but these ones are active during the daytime.  Can you see the stripy body?  They were quite beautiful!


 
 
Finally we reached the top.  Our legs were pretty tired, there were some steep climbs!  The view was magnificent.  It was a great place to stop and have lunch.  On the way back down, the track went through some bush.  It was a very nice way to spend a Saturday morning.
 


Sunday 2 December 2012

Vehicle Inspection


In New Zealand, every six months most cars have a safety test.  It's called a 'Warrant of Fitness' inspection.  I forgot to do it last week so I did it today.  It was quite busy at the 'testing station', there were lots of cars (and a boat!) waiting.  I usually try to go early in the morning when it's quiet!




Here's our little car.  It's a 'Ford Festiva'.  We bought it in Auckland about two years ago.  I like little cars.  They are light, easy to park and don't use much petrol.  In New Zealand petrol is about NZ$2.20 per litre.  My wife mainly uses this car to drive to work. 

Our other car is a station wagon.  It's big enough for our whole family and the children's bikes!





Fortunately the car was fine so they put this sticker on.  I don't have to go back for another check until June next year.  Yay!