Living by the harbour and close to the beach means there are many lovely places nearby for our farm helpers to explore. David normally tries to take each visitor out fishing from the boat and so far these expeditions have been thoroughly enjoyed by all participants. He possesses a sixth sense when it comes to fish and can be relied on to catch at least one each time he goes out.
Hiro was a Japanese lad who came to us for a few weeks and he was a keen fisherman. He was not a particularly masculine man, despite telling us that he had played a lot of rugby in Japan. After one look at his physique and lack of muscles we decided the All Blacks were unlikely to have anything to fear from Japan. Hiro also made quite an impact by coming in after one night in the cabin and asking if we could please get another Japanese man to stay so that he would have someone to sleep with! When we recovered our breath to ask why he informed us he was scared of the dark. He didn’t like the noises the refrigerator made when it turned on and off and thought he would feel safer with someone else sleeping in the same room. Forestalling my husband’s inevitable rude comments I soothingly explained to Hiro that he was quite safe although we are still mystified at how a twenty-nine year old man could be afraid of sleeping alone.
Hiro said he had done a lot of fishing in Japan and was confident he could catch fish here. He was only out in the boat for a few minutes when he hooked and landed a small snapper. He exclaimed in excitement, which soon turned to horror as David smartly dropped the fish back in the water with one word – ‘undersize.’
Hiro indignantly protested that it was the biggest fish he had ever caught and that it would have been considered large back in his country. Fortunately they soon caught more fish of acceptable size but Hiro still muttered darkly about crazy New Zealanders throwing fish away. On arrival back at the house he stood and watched as David filleted the fish, tossing the scraps to the cats. He keenly took his turn and began filleting the fish while David went inside to prepare the frying pan. When David came back to collect the fillets for frying he found Hiro standing on the lawn, surrounded by cats, all of them eating the pieces of fish raw with great enjoyment.
Katy was another farm helper who was keen to go fishing. She was a young medical student from East Germany with very strong opinions on everything. She firmly announced when invited on a fishing trip that she intended to catch a big fish. She had looked through the photograph album the previous night and been scornful of the size of fish in the photographs we had of other farm helpers holding up their catch. She was still insisting that she would only catch a big fish as David and his mate took her off in the boat. A few hours later they returned with huge smiles and even larger fish. They had caught the kingfish running and Katy had caught not just one but two fish of fifteen and twenty kilograms respectively. She could not even lift one of them unaided for her photograph to be taken and much to her annoyance had been forced to ask for help to get them onto the boat. Consequently the photos we have of her instead of showing a joyful fisherman show her grimacing under the strain as she tries to heave up the head of one of these fish for the camera. The fish box in the boat had smashed apart under the size and strength of the fish. Katy was not satisfied with this effort however and insisted in going fishing again the next night with the intention of catching an even larger fish. She arrived back cross and empty-handed after having lost the fifty dollar spinner off the end of the line and contented herself with describing yet again to anyone who would listen how she caught her two monster fish.
We often string a net across the front yard and play a loosely organised game of volleyball. Some people take this very seriously, particularly when the teams are divided by nationalities and they feel the honour of their country is at stake.
Soccer is another favourite and occasionally farm helpers get taken down to play with the social soccer team that David used to run. One young lad, Alex, was asked if he would like a game of soccer. He agreed with alacrity and showed us his boots, which he carried with him around the world since leaving Germany six months earlier. It turned out that he had represented Berlin in his age group and was a very skilled player. He found New Zealand social soccer a bit of a shock as a lot of the players had grown up playing rugby and weren’t averse to using more physical force than you would expect to see on a soccer pitch. Alex did, however, thoroughly enjoy himself especially at the beer drinking session at the end of the match where he demonstrated his talents in that direction as well.
Matthew was a fit young Englishmen who had cycled for his country in the Commonwealth games and who was keen to try any sport. He and his travelling companion Georgina were keen starters one summer day when we suggested water skiing, despite never having tried it before. They eagerly jumped into the car with David and went off with the boat in tow to the boat ramp on the harbour. I waited for their triumphant return but it was not to be. Two very woebegone figures came to tea that night. Matthew had lost his brand new expensive watch overboard as they motored into deep water, and then Georgina fell off her skis but forgot to let go of the tow rope. That in itself was bad enough but she screamed for help and consequently swallowed most of the harbour before they pulled her up coughing and spluttering onto the boat. To add insult to injury the two timid Irish girls who were also staying with us at the time had proved to be naturals and had managed to ski all over the harbour on their first attempt as if they had been born to it.
Rugby puzzles most of our farm helpers, as they cannot understand our national passion for it. The Japanese in particular sit politely watching us as we cheer on our favourite team, Canterbury, and giggle nervously at our moans if defeat looks imminent.
Absolutely Super
It was cold and it was windy
There was wind and freezing rain
When the powerful Crusaders
Won the Super 12 again
Their foe the lusty Brumbies
Passed the ball from hand to hand
Each man in turn was tackled
Cries of sorrow rent the stands
Young Mehrtens was magnificent
When putting boot to ball
Success proclaimed with waving flags
His skill acclaimed by all
With Somerville down in the scrum
And Cribb’s triumphant try
MacDonald shining in defence
And Maxwell leaping high
Beneath the Brumbies onslaught
They stood firm, this mighty squad
All hail to Robbie Deans
And to the leadership of Todd
Most foreign visitors are keen to explore the New Zealand bush and there is a favourite loop walk we take them to a short distance away. We issue them with map, food, drink and warm jackets and so far all have walked back in the expected time with no mishaps. Most of them complain bitterly about our definition of ‘easy’ but it is a good introduction to tramping for them, particularly if some of them have plans to do more venturesome routes such as the Milford Track later on.
It is rather shaming to find that when a lot of our guests visit us for the second time at the end of their New Zealand stay they have seen more of the country than we have. And believe me we have seen all the photographs to prove it.
We had one Englishman, Eric, who was fanatical about cricket. Much to his joy he arrived at our place in time to watch all the five-day international matches. Of course, being summer, it was too hot to work in the afternoons so Eric and David spent many happy hours sitting in front of the TV screen ignoring the groans of the rest of the household.
We had a real bonus one winter with the arrival of Rachael, a lovely young Israeli woman. She had worked in her kibbutz as the chief child minder – it was her job to get the children ready for school and entertain them afterwards until their parents arrived home from work. She possessed an apparently inexhaustible supply of games and activities, which she was keen to share with our children. Many a happy hour was spent colouring pictures and cutting out shapes
for craft projects.
Most of our Japanese girls are well versed in the art of origami or paper folding. They have made us over the years some beautifully crafted creations with which they present us with due ceremony.
Pia from Denmark was an art teacher and was also good value with the children. She taught them how to make home made books with hand made paper covers and during her stay there was a permanent paper trail from one end of the house to the other.
It is just as well I have a lot of kitchen bench space as there is usually some sort of art or craft project being worked on at one end while someone, usually me, works at the other end on the more mundane jobs of preparing food and washing dishes