Abbey Caves

If this pony was mine, his name would be Fabio.

 Our visit to the Abbey Caves proved to be every bit as wet as I expected, and much more muddy! Reaching the caves entailed traipsing down a long, thick trail of deep, slippery mud. Sam decided the best course was to go barefoot, while I did a bit of light trespassing, jumping the fence to walk through a grassy field of grazing ponies.  I'm proud to announce I didn't slip and fall!

From Pahi to Whangerei

Pahi was beautiful most days, although very rainy a few. We made steady progress on Elaine & Grant's house, and had a lot of funny conversations between the six of us.

The Kaipara Harbor

Nearly finished, with only the fence remaining.

During our last two days at Naturally Alpacas, we transformed a small patch of grass and dirt into a large vegetable garden for Christine. It was hard, satisfying work leveling the ground, building the frames and moving the dirt and gravel into place.  I want one for myself someday!

Naturally Alpacas with Christine & Steve

When I spoke to Sam about the next leg of our trip, he said, "but I never want to leave!"  We've both been enjoying our time on the alpaca farm very much.  Sam and I discovered we love building fences on the grassy green hills of New Zealand, surrounded by loud mouth steers, wild pukeko and curious alpacas.