12-12-11
Picton

The corn is maybe going to be knee high by Christmas which should give you an idea of the ‘time’ of year down here now.

Always a good idea to keep left and little reminders like this sure don’t hurt.

They are still strip logging on these steep hills. It sure seems like the erosion would be terrible. The trees take twenty years to grow to market size.

s crusing the back roads and met this farmer who had just fed his cows in this field after milking. He was really nice (as everyone seems to be). We talked farming and what his practices were. Mostly rotational grazing but the neat thing is that he only milks nine months and has three months holiday and repair time on the farm.

A 2009 F800ST rolled into camp last night. I would have gotten a better side photo of it but a car was in the way. There sure is a lot of difference in this 800cc and mine. The guy was a little stand offish as thoe new BMW guys often seem to be (not Keith ). Anyway after looking over my Kiwi dog and asking how old it was he said he hoped his bike was still running when that old. It would be interesting to see what this thing will be like in about 25 years of road work. I’d bet the Kiwi dog will make it another 25.

The Maori guard out front of the hostel. I sure like the detail on this piece. I think it represents the detail tattoo and is a really well done woodcarving.

The Sequoia tree out in the park in front of the hostel.

Really a great view up the trunk.

I met this guy riding a F650 Funduro. He is a local guy and said the odometer has been around once and almost twice. That would be almost 200,000 kilometers.

for my flower friends.

 I am still trying to shake this darn cold which has mostly gone down to a deep cough that wont go away. feeling sore all over too so i probably have several diseases going on at once. The gal that runs the desk at the hostel said she had it too as well as some of her friends. I am just staying warm and drinking lots of fluids. oh, pizza helps a lot i am sure. i bought some hot peppers at the store to spice up the pizzas that were rather bland i thought. They dont have Mexican sauces down here!!! Jeez, how is a person to live without salsa?