Living in New Zealand: What Should Have Been a Short Tramp up to Sign of the Packhorse

When an Australian friend of mine arranged to come and visit us for a few days, I thought it would be nice to go on a classic New Zealand tramp. My friend is not used to hiking long distances (and neither am I at the moment), so I decided that the walk up to Sign of the Packhorse hut via the Kaituna Valley would be a good choice. This hike is popular with families taking their children tramping for the first time. It should take only about an hour and a half to walk from the car park to the hut. If you go to the right way. Which we didn't.

It was totally my fault as chief navigator. I was complacent about following the trail because of its apparent ease. I read the description rather than looking at the map and when I saw the first marker and a farm track going left I thought that was the farm track we were supposed to follow. In fact the well-marked track continued straight on. It was only as we were nearing the summit that I realised that the Remarkable Dykes were on the right when they should've been on the left.

We had to hike all the way back to that first marker and then continue to follow the markers up to the hut. What should have been a short, straightforward walk turned into a 3 1/2 hour hike. It was lucky that we got to the hut with enough daylight for me to pitch my tent as the stew that I'd made heated up. I wouldn't normally carry something as heavy as stew (or the half litre of wine that I also packed), but I thought it was going to be a short walk.

Camping at Sign of the Packhorse - looking out over Lyttelton Harbour

The night was super windy and I didn’t sleep well, but at least the tent survived. The next day was glorious as we walked on to Mount Herbert and my pack was considerably lighter. But it's a long slog down (over 8 kilometres after the 7 plus walked from the hut to Mount Herbert) from the summit to Diamond Harbour and I was relieved to get on the ferry and hobble the last kilometre home (stopping off for a beer at the cafe and a swim at the wharf).

Arctic Circle Cartoon - How to Fix the Internet

I am enjoying my social media-free month. My other half tells me anything I need to know from Facebook. I am able to focus on the more important things and I definitely feel less stressed. I have a feeling I would have even more time to do meaningful work if I switched off the Internet. But then I wouldn't be able to send my work, so I guess there are limits to how much you can go offline.

Living in New Zealand: Gordon Walters at the Christchurch Art Gallery

I love a lot of contemporary New Zealand art (Colin MacCahon, Rita Angus and Lyttelton’s Bill Hammond) to name some off the top of my head), but this week was the first time I’ve been able to see Gordon Walters’ work en masse and it was really inspiring. The way he processed the Maori culture that surrounded him and the modern art he was seeing into his own, distinctive style was reminiscent of Bridget Riley’s monochrome geometric work, but I think it predates it.

Gordon Walters at Christchurch Art Gallery

I wish I had more time to go to Christchurch’s Art Gallery, as it has fantastic exhibitions and I always come away with something new in my head.

Study for Waitara (my favourite)

An early work: Chrysanthamen

The Poet: Gordon Walters was very influenced by Maori and Aboriginal rock drawings

Reasons to Be Cheerful - Building a Potting Shed From Recycled Materials

I read a few books, watched some YouTube videos and drew up some rough plans. Then I started to make my own shed. So far, I have put in a floor and framed three of the four walls. It is already a little wonky because, well, I’ve never built anything before and also I didn’t want to put in concrete. But that’s okay. It’s a shed, not a house.

New Zealand Garden Diary: Cecil's Successor - Cuthbert the Cucumber

This is a challenging year to grow cucumbers outdoors in Lyttelton. Not because of the shorter growing season (Lyttelton is inside an ancient volcanic crater and when the days get shorter we lose the sun before Christchurch does), but because we've had so little rain. I have planted Cuthbert in an area that I can soak with the hose. There is also a lot of mulch there. I prepared the ground by digging in masses of manure and compost well before I planted the cucumber. Last year, I got 15 cucumbers from Cecil. I've had one so far from Cuthbert, but he's got some time to catch up.

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Newsletter Extract: A Hot and Dry New Zealand Summer

Canterbury is one of the driest areas in New Zealand but even by Canterbury standards this summer has been exceptionally dry and there is a worry that we may have forest fires of the like that the Nelson area has been experiencing. My folks are visiting in March, so I'm sure it will rain then, but I'm hoping that it rains tonight, as forecast, as we need it.

I am having to water the garden every day. Unlike other parts of the world and even other parts of the country, Christchurch doesn't charge for water being used, which means that people often let their sprinklers run for a long time, at all times of the day (when a water main broke under our house when we were away, it gushed for months without anyone noticing). I usually water early morning, or evening, but it has been scorching in the middle of the day.

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It is noticeable in the garden which areas I'm able to reach with the sprinkler or hose. Most of the rest of the garden is looking very crispy. I have to hike up to the top with a can to water my precious Bramley (precious because most Kiwis think a good cooking apple is something like a Granny Smith or a Golden Delicious - tsk.), but it's worth it.

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This is an extract of my Illustrated Epistle, which goes out in the middle of the month. It is a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a cartoonist (specifically, mine). I'd love it if you signed up at the bottom of this page, or here:

http://eepurl.com/cCOOeD

Or head to the archive to read more here.

New Zealand Garden Diary: Butternut Squash, Possums and Trapping Goodnaturedly

I’m very concerned that the possums we see and hear around our house are going to lay into my fruit, veggies and young trees (they often ring bark them, which kills them).

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But then I found out that the Summit Road Society lends out possum traps in the Lyttelton area. You can borrow one for 3 months and buy them at a subsidised rate.

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So I installed one on Waitangi Day (see earlier post), which seemed appropriate, since possums are not native to New Zealand, having been introduced here from Australia for the fur trade. By the 1980s, they had spread the length and breadth of the country, devastating local flora and fauna in the process.

It should have been fairly easy to install the trap. I selected a pear tree at the top of our section, far away from the house (though they are not shy about coming right up to our front steps).

Initially I thought that the gnarly pear tree trunk was making it hard to install the trap

Then I realised I should have had my reading glasses on to read the instructions and put the tree mount the correct way round.

It was then easy to slide the main device onto the mount

This is the possum bait. It is not attractive to cats (I wouldn’t want to trap the neighbours’ ones!).

After unscrewing the cap, you push on the bitey thing.

Then you either squeeze the bottle or tap the bottle against the tree to charge it, wiping off any excess (I smeared this on the tree below the trap).

You insert the bite cartridge into the trap at the top.

Then you remove the black cap from the gas cartridge.

And screw it in at the bottom of the trap. You will hear a slight hiss as the gas canister opens and charges the trap.

Hopefully the possum will climb the tree and head towards the bait putting his head in here, being killed very quickly.

You can also attach a counter, as the gas canister is good for 12 possums, but sometimes the carcasses can disappear… I had to press the counter to zero it.

Okay possums, my pear tree is ready for you!