Wild Hope Homestead

We are back from a lovely holiday in Canterbury and I finally have time to do a blog post. Well, I mean, I have finally waded through the hundreds of photos to select ‘a few’ *cough* to share with you. Mountains of snow have been swapped for mountains of housework, The Husband ripped his finger on his first day back at work and the almost endless rain here is driving me nuts. I’m having South Island withdrawal!

Canterbury Museum, Christchurch.

The Paua Shell House is kind of intense.

I always like the Bird Hall in the museum. The taxidermy birds are set amid beautiful paintings and natural features.

Native plants in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

There are so many beautiful old trees in the gardens, which come to the fore in winter.

Hellebore flowers light up the ground.

I love the high country of the South Island, with its snowy mountain ranges, big, clear skies, golden grasses, conifer trees and alpine plants. To me, it is the most beautiful scenery in New Zealand. Whenever I am in the high country of Canterbury or Central Otago, the wild landscapes tug at my heartstrings. Sure, it’s cold, but it’s so beautiful. After a few days in Christchurch catching up with family and friends, we drove to Twizel for a friend’s wedding, and stayed, rather conveniently, with my uncle and aunty for a few days.

Beyond Fairlie, the mountains get closer and closer and things get more exciting!

The Little Fulla acquaints himself with the kelpie statue in Tekapo.

The Church of The Good Shepherd in Tekapo is always a stopping point.

The Little Fulla crunches on the stones.

The Little Fulla discovers the joys of snow and how to throw it around, atop Mount John, Tekapo.

The views from Mount John Observatory are spectacular.

So much snow!

There were sparkling frosts that left tiny crystals on plant leaves, there was The Little Fulla’s first experience of snow and there was a wedding on a hillside with breathtaking views. I was inspired by plants, people and food. I have learnt to add frozen berries to the batch of microwave porridge half way through cooking and I have learnt that stickers are a great travel distraction activity for The Little Fulla, even if he and the car come out the other end covered in stickers. I have been reminded that the things that I appreciate most are things that can be seen, found or made and moments shared with good people. I can’t even put into words how much I love the country down there, especially after returning to rain, rain and more rain in the Waikato. And so, here are some of the masses of photos I took while on holiday.

We stayed here, at my uncle and auntie’s wonderful house in Twizel.

I could sit and enjoy the conifers and mountains all day.

The frosty ground sparkled just as brilliantly as a diamond ring.

Trees. Frost. Blue skies.

Sunrise.

You don’t see many fireplaces like this nowadays. And old lanterns, oh, how I love lanterns!

You can’t have a house like this without trophy deer heads and antlers on the walls.

The Little Fulla helped with the packing by putting the knitted hot water bottle covers into his father’s shoes. Well, at least it wasn’t pinecones this time.

I could never tire of views like this out the window, even when it’s cloudy.

One day we drove to Mount Cook Village. The lake was stunning and there was snow to play in!

I wouldn’t mind if my backyard looked like this. These stumps are much more happily situated than the ones in my garden.

This is a broom. Not the one I’ve been sweeping with at home, but a native broom (Carmichaelia spp.)

Snowwww and plants together.

Matagouri shrubs (Discaria toumatou) lead the way towards Mount Cook.

The thorns of Matagouri (Discaria toumatou) make a stark contrast with the snow and clear skies.

The Husband helps The Little Fulla learn to walk on snow.

What could be more fun than a little slope for The Little Fulla to slide down?

Another food stop is another opportunity to capture beautiful views. This is Lake Pukaki.

Yup, I’ve run out of words…

This was when we tried to go for a walk. Note to self: do not attempt to do a plains walk with a small child. Small child will have a tantrum and will not be contained by a carrier. Small child will end up sitting on the ground playing with stones. But how can you be sorry to end up on the ground when you get to see little plants and seed heads coated in intricate ice crystals?

It was a stunning day for a walk, but this was not the right walk for a small child. Oops!

Mountains, native grasses, yup.

I think this is Festuca novae-zelandiae, but I was a bit distracted by ice crystals to look closely.

Frosty ice crystals on a teeny tiny clump of grass.

More ice crystals. Oooh.

We ended up exploring around a lake and in the woods instead. There were plenty of stones there for The Little Fulla to play with. Little stones make delightful plopping noises in the water. If anyone was disturbed by large rocks PLOPPING into the still, calm lake, that was not me. And it wasn’t The Little Fulla.

Lake Ruataniwha on a still, frosty morning.

Pinecones! There were so many pinecones of different shapes and sizes. It’s probably a good thing we didn’t have much space to spare…

More lake, more pinecones. Some of these cute wee pinecones may not be there anymore.

Yup.

Into the woods.

Ah, yup.

Forest!

Parts of the lake had an icy coating.

And then, we got to go to a wedding on a hillside with views like this:

The wedding ceremony was right here.

An infinity pool merges with the lake.

A beautiful day draws to a close.

And it’s still beautiful out the windows.

Do you think I love the wedding table settings or what? Each table was the home of a different Sylvanian Family of animals, comprised of hand-painted houses with little street lanterns, handmade holly trees and wee string lights.

Little handmade wooden boxes with chocolates, rose petals and fake moss.

This cake. Can this just come here and sit in my house? It was cheese, so I couldn’t eat it, but I could just look at it.

On the drive back to Christchurch things got a bit more gloomy. Rain turning to ice delayed our trip a little, but I made sure we stopped at Burke’s Pass because it is a treasure-trove of old things.

The Church of The Good Shepherd was more gloomy this time.

It was windy and rainy, but still beautiful in its wildness.

Stopping here, at Burke’s Pass is essential. It’s not just about fascinating old things to look at – it’s a shop!

I was too busy ogling everything to take more photos, but there was everything old and rustic, from motoring things and tin signs to housewares and cast iron hooks and door knockers, spread through different little old buildings. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a shop where I wanted pretty much EVERYTHING, until this one. Funnily, I came away with nothing. I couldn’t decide what I wanted the most because I really did want so many of those things.

As beautiful as our holiday was, it was streaked with sadness. Nana passed away the day before we left, when we were driving back from Twizel. I’m glad we got to see her earlier in the week to say goodbye, and I left her knowing goodbye was goodbye. Nana was an independent and stubborn woman, who said whatever she thought. I didn’t always get along with Nana when I was younger, because I’m independent and stubborn too. I did not like to be told what was what but I have often held myself back for not wanting to cause conflict or hurt people’s feelings, which means I don’t always stand up for myself.

One of my most distinct memories of a childhood stay at Nana and Grandad’s place was the toilet paper incident. One day we were questioned by Nana: “Who turned the toilet paper around?” Someone kept turning the toilet paper around on its holder so that it was facing the ‘wrong’ way and Nana demanded to know who it was. That was not the way the toilet paper went in her household. It was me, but I was not about to own up to it, oh no, and the more she questioned us, the more intent I was on hiding my toilet paper offense. That was pure Twiglet stubborness. The toilet paper stopped moving after that though.

Nana did mellow in her later years, and I enjoyed her company when we lived in Christchurch and on our holidays thereafter. She was witty and knowledgeable and not much escaped her notice. She had a great appreciation for music and people’s company. It is hard to believe that she is gone from this world and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear her loud voice booming down from heaven. Goodbye, Nana, I will miss you. Have fun with Jesus.