CHRISTOPHERS COMMENT DEC 2017
Having recently passed another birthday milestone I have been kicked into gear to try and write another Christophers Comment before Christmas by one of my birthday well wishers pointing out I hadn’t updated this column since May........so here goes.
The wet autumn that we talked about in the last newsletter continued well into winter with the whole country experiencing the wettest year on record. Our farm was wetter than we had seen for years so as a consequence stock had to be managed accordingly. But in spite of this we came through pretty well. We scanned just over 200% in our ewe flock and high in our hoggets; close to record results. Hugh did a great job at lambing. We now do very little mothering on of spare lambs but instead take them to the woolshed where we have purpose built pens set up ready for the orphan lambs. Amy is in charge of this area and here these lambs are cared for until they can be moved on to new owners. This system gives every lamb born a good chance of survival and also frees up Hugh to address the other aspects of lambing. Overall the whole process works very well. Note, I have very little to do with the lambing these days!
So the next thing that has changed is tailing. Before lambing is completed Hugh starts tailing the early ones with Amy’s assistance. Just a paddock or two a day and it gets done, quietly and efficiently. In my day we waited till lambing had finished then had big tailing days with picnic lunches etc. The new way is much better. The figures showed what a great lambing we had. Our ewe flock tailed just over 171% and our hoggets 110%. Now the trick will be to try and fatten all those lambs. And it hasn’t started out easily. Although there has been plenty of grass it has until ten days ago been wet windy and at times quite cold. Lambs don’t like that. However we suddenly changed into really hot weather which has made the lambs happy but made us all worry that could this be a start of a dry spell? Who Knows? It is nice to see some sun all the same. We have our first pick of lambs on the 7th Dec and at this stage the price is looking good. Our heifers have done well, we have 7 ha closed for baleage and have taken on 40 calves to graze over the summer. In what has been quite a challenging year Hugh has managed the farm particularly well.
There has been a lot of publicity, especially during the election campaign, how farmers are dirtying all the rivers by allowing stock and runoff from the pastures to go unheeded into waterways; no word of other polluters. This was totally exaggerated by some politicians for political gain but it definitely hit the right note with plenty of voters. As a consequence a lot of talk was made about the charges and restrictions that were going to be put onto the farming community. Here in the Waikato we have a very controversial plan called Healthy Rivers Plan 1 instigated by the Waikato Regional Council. This plan is still at the submission stage but in its current format would cause a lot of financial stress to many farms. We have decided to make a start on implementing some of the protocols that will come out of the plan. With financial help from the Regional Council we will be stock proof fencing two areas of native bush where streams eventually flow into the Karapiro stream. Another three native bush areas are planned to be fenced next financial year. We have also been electric fencing many areas to exclude cattle but allow sheep to graze which is a protocol acceptable to the council.
Janet and I have continued our adventures around New Zealand. In early October we went to Wellington primarily to go to the World of Wearable Arts Show. This is a show that Janet has wanted to see for a long time and it lived up to its reputation. This was also another chance to visit another lighthouse at Pencarrow; two lighthouses in fact. We hired bikes (unfortunately not electric) and rode out to the lighthouses with a light northerly wind at our backs. After checking out the lighthouse on the beach and the one on the hill we set off on the return trip. Being typical Wellington the light northerly was now a strong northerly into our faces and our return ride was a battle. As a consequence we were an hour late returning our bikes but the hire man was unfazed. Happens all the time. No extra charge. It was also good to be able to track down an old school friend. Doug and I had been friends at Southwell Primary school many years ago and I had recently heard that he was now living in Wellington. Nice to finally catch up and meet his wife Laraine. Thanks to the Wellington weather we were unable to get to either the Baring Head lighthouse nor the one on Somes/Matiu Island. They will have to wait for another day.
Early November saw us do a road trip to New Plymouth. Paid our respects to Sir Colin Meads in TeKuiti ( and by a fluke met up with an old Leamington Rugby team mate Winston and his wife Raewyn also admiring the statue ) then onto a lovely lunch with Mark and Susie at Maungaotoki, then on the back road to Awakino stopping to walk through the tunnel at Waikawau Beach eventually arriving at New Plymouth.
The trip also coincided with the Taranaki Garden Festival (good planning!) so we spent our time visiting selected gardens as well as touching the Cape Egmont lighthouse, visiting the Tawhiti Museum ( a must for any visitor) and for Janet bumping into a relation she had corresponded with for many years as school girls when Jane lived in England. We had wondered if we could track down where Jane and her husband Dave were living but it turned out to be quite easy. Jane was helping at one of the gardens we happened to visit and unbeknown to each other we had been in conversation the previous day! We were able to have a good get together over breakfast subsequently. We did a five hour return walk to Mt Taranaki’s Pouakai Hut and sat at the Pouakai Tarn for half an hour waiting for the cloud to clear to get the famous reflection of the mountain but disappointingly it was not to be. Our final day turned out wet which was when we visited the Tawhiti Museum, I went for the one hour walk round the Lake Rotokare pest proof sanctuary then we drove on and spent the night at the Whangamomana Hotel. This is a great old world hotel and where we’ll be staying when we do the Forgotten World Golf Cart Trail in February. Finally home over the Forgotten Highway which is a drive well worth doing. Phew!!
Our last adventure for 2017 was an invitation from Janet dearest and oldest school friend Shona to join her and her husband of 50 years Rupert to celebrate her 70th birthday and their 50th wedding anniversary. We flew down to Queenstown in November and six of us stayed at Nokamai Station near Kingston on Lake Wakatipu reputed to be the second largest (39,000ha) privately owned station in New Zealand. We stopped on the lake to enjoy a wonderful picnic lunch and birthday cake put together by Erynne. Then on to Nokamai for a farm tour, dinner bed and breakfast and trout fishing (unsuccessful). On returning to Queenstown we packed our bags and headed to Lake Ohau where we stayed for two nights in a little cottage in the Alpine village. The weather was perfect and the mountains including Cook were postcard perfect. A bit of exploring relaxing and a one hour tramp to Temple Hill then we were off to traverse the Danseys Pass ( a drink in the pub at the top – non alcoholic of course ) and making our way to the old Hayes Engineering Works at Oturehua. Interesting look around the works and then on to very nice accommodation at Oliver’s in Clyde. The next day after a look around Alexandra we headed to Bannockburn where one of Janet’s book club members moved a few years ago. She has built an amazing house in a location which is very secluded from neighbours; one of her main criteria and which she has by and large achieved. Then back to Queenstown for our last night before flying back to Hamilton. A memorable trip to end 2017; thank you Shona and Rupert for your generous hospitality.
So now it’s only just over three weeks to Christmas. Lamb picking, weaning and shearing to get through before the Cat Stevens Concert on the fourteenth and thenthe following week we head to Whangamata for a Gardner Christmas. Ella and her family, James and his family from Australia and Amy and her family all at the beach for Christmas. What fun it will be.
Finally to those many thousands of dedicated followers of this newsletter, a very Merry Christmas and a very promising New Year. On a personal note thank you to the birthday wishes received recently and to all those who had birthdays since the last newsletter I hope you all had a wonderful day.
CHRISTOPHER GARDNER
04 December 2017
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