![]() ![]() We had a great time catching up with family and friends, old and new, and hope many of them will come and visit us in New Zealand once the world opens up to travel again. I’ll have to go back a bit to put you in the picture.Īfter selling up in Pukekohe in 2017, Simon and I went travelling in UK and Europe for two and a half years. So we have decided to dust off our PackratandSox blog, as a reminder to ourselves as much as anything. ![]() But if you reply with only a couple of key sentences you can miss out so many good little things that happen along the way. The question on everyone’s lips seems to be: “How are you getting on with your new house build?” But if you start explaining in detail their eyes glaze over and you have lost their attention. So we are very happy with all the new friends we have made to date.Įnd. I was well impressed that some came on their own as their partners who had prior commitments. We put on a car boot sale and then a local history open day to raise money and promote the centenary for next year and I am helping with the new Facebook page: Pleasant Valley Hall with photos and regular updates.įor my birthday in January, having only been here for 7 months, we invited new friends and neighbours over for a BBQ Sunday lunch and around 14 people came. The Hall, which is around 15 mins from Geraldine, hold regular Social Evenings and indoor sports – table tennis, indoor bowls and small bore rifle shooting, plus a big Christmas party open to all residents of Te Moana district and Pleasant Valley. So a great excuse to visit people and ask questions. I put my hand up to research the history of the Hall and the district. Again it was a great way to meet people quickly. We went along to offer our services and I ended up on the committee. We saw an advert in the local paper for an AGM for the Pleasant Valley Hall, who were getting ready for their centenary in 2022. Geraldine is a Tourist town being on the Scenic Highway between Christchurch and Mount Cook, so we get quite a few visitors coming through. It is a great opportunity to look through archives in between greeting visitors. I put my name down to be a Friend of Geraldine Museum and am on door duty a couple of mornings a month. Simon went on a school trip to Mesopotamia as a boy and one thing that stuck in his mind was the stable block, with a sheering platform above, which was clad by flattened oil drums that are still in place today. Old railway carriage put to good use alongside the oil drum stables.Ray was a pioneer of ‘bulldogging’ for live deer recovery in his youth.They also have self catering accomodation and run helicopter drop off hunting trips for Thar and Chamois. Our friends nephew now runs the 15,000 acre station with its 11,000 Merino sheep, 3,000 deer and 500 cattle. We took a picnic lunch to share as it was a 1.5 hr drive up gravel roads to the old homestead. Simon and I were lucky enough to be invited by one of the past owners to have a look around Mesopotamia. We have a really good local photographer, Matt Searles, who lives at Peel Forest – incidentally where Simon and I spent our honeymoon – he is also the mailman and takes fabulous photos on his daily run up to Mesopotamia sheep station. All very different build styles, but all with close links to the pioneering families of the district. There are four other small Anglican churches in the Geraldine district and they each have a service once a month which I go to sometimes. It was interesting seeing how everything worked behind the scenes. I got a job as an issuing officer for the elections and got called back for the official counting in Timaru. It ended up being YES to euthanasia and NO to Cannabis. I wandered along to the Presbyterian Church one Sunday and met some good people, but also tried the Anglican Church in town which held some interesting debate sessions about the NZ Referendum issues, Euthanasia and Legalising Cannabis. There is also a branch of the NZ Antique Arms in Timaru, 30 mins away, so he shares a ride with another local member once a month. One neighbour took Simon to the Geraldine Vintage Car and Machinery Club and he now goes most weeks to help out as he is the ‘young one’ who can climb up ladders and can pick up heavy things. We have good neighbours who keep an eye in things if we are away and we do the same for them. The beauty of renting in town is that you have quick and easy access to all local events happening. ![]()
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