Author Archives: mike

Cambridge

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Today is the start of our last house sit before we travel off to Europe and two weddings. To start off our health and fitness we decided to go off for a bike ride.

The initial ride was going to be to the velodrome and back a nice easy start. Having reached the Velodrome Jo decides it won’t be far enough so decides that we should head off back along the way we came and then off then continue along the river ride as far as we can go.

Perhaps we should have planned this a little better.

Off we go returning to Cambridge and then cycling onto Lemmington and picking up the ‘River Ride’ again.

This section isn’t so much of a river ride more a boring ride along side a fast road. At least we don’t have to ride on the road.

Jo suggests that we turn round and head back at 11:00 to which I reply  ‘What time is it anyway is it 5 to 11?’

Jo on checking her watch confirms that indeed it is 10:55. So we turn round and head back home.

Here is the route taken on today’s ride.

Kerikeri

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After the long hot and humid days in Hamilton the weather final broke and the rain started falling just as we were about to leave for our latest house sit in Kerikeri.

The house we are due to stay at is situated opposite the beach at Opito Bay in the Bay of Islands. Hopefully the weather will improve by the time we get there.

We decide to leave Hamilton at 10:00 a.m. and as per usual without much planning we had managed to get packed and loaded the car just in time to be able to pull away on the stoke of 10:00. I’m not sure how we manage it but no matter how long we leave to pack and get organised we always seem to fill the time to the last minute.

On the way we had to stop off quickly on the outskirts of Auckland as we had to drop off a camera lens we had just sold. Even with this stop we made good progress and with another stop for a leg stretch and coffee we still made it to Kerikeri by 4:00 p.m.

Gary and Roes are both very nice and provided us with dinner. Buddy there dog is cute and will keep us occupied while we are here.

 

House Sitting – Feilding

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Well another year is here and another birthday has been and gone.

Today we are going on a road trip to Feilding. This is not just for fun but also a new job, for today we are going house sitting.

Jo and I have signed up on a house sitting website and are traveling around looking after other peoples hoses and pets. We haven’t met these people yet but they have a dog and 2 kittens. The dog has a bad back and can’t be taken for walks so hopefully it won’t be too bad.

The car has been loaded up, just enough room for us in the front seats, even the roof is in use carrying our bikes. Hopefully when we are there we will be able to get some bike rides in. I received a new Garmin Edge for my birthday so I will be able to track any rides we do.

Holiday 2015

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Well we are off on holiday today.
This morning started a bit disorganized. Before completing our packing we had to post off some photos from our last two photo shoots.
I raced upto the post office only to find that my notes on my phone hadn’t updated and I didn’t have the addresses.
Thank goodness for mobile data.
On return to Bryce and Jean’s I had to finish packing and load anything we weren’t taking into the car. The car was being dropped off at Jennys.
We both jumped into the car and I pulled out of the drive. As I stated to pull away jo and I looked at each other and said ‘aren’t you supposed to be driving dad’s car’ .
Cars sorted and Bessy picked up we arrived back at Jean’s to find she had made sandwiches for us.

Well the morning raced by and all too soon the minibus arrived to take us to the airport.

Was it the driver or the seats that smelt of b.o. I’m not too sure but the smell kept wafting by the whole trip.

On arrival at check-in we found out that jo had 2 requests for an upgrade,  while I had none.  So off to the service desk to try and get it sorted.

Well it turned out for the best in the end as we both got upgraded to business class despite there being 14 people waiting.

Next was getting through customs and security.

I managed ok but jo was pulled over

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Well we managed it to the lounge and a well earned beer.

Off to the supermarket

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We’re now back with Jean & Bryce and needing to keep up our exercise regime. It’s been lacking just lately.

As we need to get some shopping we have decided to walk there instead of driving, after all it only takes a few minutes in the car.

Well as we walk along there are too many distractions along the way.

We manage to walk past three motorbike shops managing not to stop and browse. However we failed to pass the car shops without stopping and taking a look. They’re still far too expensive even if ours keeps on breaking down.

After an hour we finally arrive at the supermarket.

Funny how the return trip only took 30 minutes.

To Ride or Not

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We are currently house sitting for sister Jenny. This entails feeding Bessy the dog, the chucks, horse and calves. Also making sure there are still ten (or was it 11) sheep, two cows and a bull.

Having completed our chores our time is free.

After several coffees and time wasting we decide to go for a bike ride. he sun has been out all mornng but is now threatening to hide behind some clouds.

Having wasted a few more minutes getting changed it is off we go. Turning right out of the gate we head off down the road. Having only got a few metres it starts to spit with rain. I stop to put on my jacket just as it starts to rain slightly more heavily. We decide to head back and just manage to get the bikes into the garage before the sky opens up.

Not wanting to waste the day after the rain stops and we have had lunch we decide to have another try at getting ot on our bikes.

We head off gently cycling along, it’s not long before I start to treat it as a bit of a work out and start pushing myself a bit more. I soon left Jo behind.

I rode to the end of the road and admired the view while I waited for her.

The view at the end of the road

The view at the end of the road

While I was waiting I heard a dog barking. I wasn’t sure where it was as I didn’t see or hear any dogs as I rode along. The dog barked angrily for several minutes before stopping.

Eventually Jo appeared.

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“Why on earth did you ride off and leave my fending off that dog. I thought it was going to attack me” she shouted at me. “I had to ump off my bike and get it between me and the dog, the owner eventually came out and called it off.”

Ooops. I must remember to look back and check where Jo is when we are out cycling.

We turned around and headed back. Thank goodness there was no sign of the dog.

Here is the track of the completed ride.

Waikato rail trail – Kopu, Thames and beyond.

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Today’s ride entailed an hours drive from our house sitting location.

We wanted to ride some of the rail trail into Thames, having previously ridem both north and south out of Paeroa.
We picked on the old Kopiu bridge as our starting point. Unfortunately the old bridge is closed so we had to cycle over the new one instead.

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Kopu bridge near Thames

The path is gravel to start off with passing between paddocks. It eventually turns to a concrete path running beside the main road for a spell.

The main track ends at the outskirts of Thames. We managed to find a sharred cycle/footpath. Well it was really a footpath but we decided to share it.

This path continued through Thames passing behind The Warehouse and Pac’n’Sav.

The path continue onto Ferugeson bay after passing some colourfull fences and paths

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Colourfull fence in Thames

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Going around in circles

After we had completed 10 kms the path ended so turned around and went back to the car.

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And finally the route taken

House Sitting

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We have embarked on a new step of our lives and have moved out of our house and now embarked on living in other peoples homes.

This is not squatting but house sitting by prior arrangement and looking after the owners animals while they are away.

Currently we are house sitting in Orini, Waikato, looking after 3 dogs, 3 cats, 2 horses and 7 or 8 hens. (I keep trying to count them but they keep moving)

The morning routine is get up, feed the dogs and kitten while making a cup of tea. Afterwards it is take the dogs outside to feed the hens and get back in doors before the dogs. That way they can go off and do their business before coming back in.

After breakfast it’s feed the horses. Then the rest of the day is pretty much ours to do what we want. Only thing left to do is to find the 2 timid cats and try to get them to eat. We’ve given up calling them and hope thy will come to the house when they are hungry enough.

Anyway we started off doing very little during the days as it was weather was rather unsettled.

On Saturday we went off and visited Jo’s parents and then ended up walking from their house to Claudlands event centre and back.

Sunday after completing our chores we headed off down the road to go for a bush walk.

On the return leg of the walk we came across a family, with a cage and a whole family of hens, that were wandering around the cage. Jo in her usual un-observant  way walk through the middle of the hens, scattering them in all directions.

We stopped and chatted for a while only to find out they were trying to get the hens into the cage as they had been abandoned there a week earlier. They had to start all over again thanks to Jo’s intervention.

 

 

 

Zucchini Slice

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Zucchini Slice

Course Snack
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 15
Author Mike

Ingredients

  • 5 Eggs
  • 150 gm Self Raising Flour
  • 375 gm Zucchini
  • 200 gm Rindless Bacon
  • 1 Large onion
  • 1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
  • 60 ml Vegetable Oil

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 170°C.
  • Grease and line a 30 x 20cm lamington pan.
  • Beat the eggs in a large bowl until combined.
  • Add the flour and beat until smooth
  • add zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese and oil and stir to combine.
  • Pour into the prepared pan and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through.

 

Birthday Bike Ride

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Well my birthday is here again, yet another year to tick off.

To celebrate, seeing as I now have summer birthdays, we decided to go to Queen Elizabeth Park and take a look & have a little ride.

We took the beach side route along the sand dunes, although there is a track it is quite steep in places as it goes over the sand dunes. Although it was only a short ride we both felt that we had a good work out.

The only thing I would do different next time would be to stop along the way and have a swim.