Is this real life?

Apologies for my absence in blogging for the past few days…things have been a little hectic but let me bring you up to speed! So Friday night was our last night in Christchurch with our Kiwi family. Before dinner, we took the dogs out to the beach and walked down the coast for an hour or so. This was my first time feeling the Pacific Ocean! I can’t get over how beautiful the ocean is over here. The mountains in the distance, the color of the water, and the lack of people make it unlike any beach I have ever seen. Quite different from the Jersey Shore!

After the beach, Rick coordinated a “Make Your Own Pizza” night back at the house. We had a great last night drinking Tui beers, looking at unbelievable photos, and meeting their wonderful friends. We woke up the next morning with a myriad of emotions—terribly sad to leave the people who took such great care of us, overwhelmingly anxious to see what our job at Owen River would be like, and unbelievably terrified of driving on the left side of the road for 3 hours all by ourselves!

Seeing the fear in Hannah’s eyes as she looked at our little red car when we walked out of their house, I offered to drive the 3 hour trek to Murchison.  Once we got out of the city, driving was really easy aside from our cars inability to accelerate up even the slightest hills. The slow speed and number of cars passing us didn’t bother us at all though, it gave us time to look around and what we were driving through. Everywhere you looked there were rolling hills, snow covered mountains, valleys of sheep and cattle farms, and crystal clear rivers. I now understand why so many fly fisherman travel this far to get in these waters.

When we pulled into the town of Murchison, we were shocked at how small it is. It makes Creede, Colorado (the town we lived in this summer) look like a booming metropolis! There is one tiny grocery store, one ATM, and maybe 2 or 3 places to go out to eat. We truly are in the middle of nowhere, New Zealand.

After a quick lunch at one of the cafes, we headed down the main road to find the lodge that would be our home for the next 6 months.  As we pulled in, we couldn’t get over how pretty everything was. Sheep and cattle everywhere, the Owen River flowing, and green hills and mountains as far as you could see. When we pulled up to the lodge we were greeted by our new boss and owner of the lodge, Felix! He was very welcoming—offered us a glass of wine, gave us a quick tour of the lodge and then brought us up to the shearer’s quarters, our new home.

When we first heard the word “shearer’s quarters”, we really had no idea what to expect and I have to admit we were a little nervous at what our house would look like. Turns out we had nothing to worry about, because our little farm house is so darn cute. It’s a three-bedroom house with a full kitchen, bathroom, and living room. Originally we were supposed to share the house with some of the fishing guides but they decided to just give it to us instead! We each have our own bedroom with huge beds and after we added our little touches to things, it has turned into quite the cozy little house.  We wake up every morning to the sound of sheep in our front yard and yesterday we looked outside to see a huge cow licking our windshield of our car! (Puttting up a fence in the near future…)

After settling in our house the first afternoon, we were invited by Felix to have dinner with him, and the guests that are currently staying at the lodge. The two couples that are here right now are both from the U.S. so it was nice to hear some familiar accents! In fact, one of the couples was from Vail, Colorado and knew all about the 4UR Ranch because they are good friends with the Humphreys, the family that lives right up the road from the ranch. Small world! The other couple was from Oklahoma and they were just cracking us up at dinner. My favorite quote from Dana, the woman from Oklahoma was when asked if she wanted anything else to eat she replied, “Oh Lord, if you gave me any more food you’d have to rub it on the outside!”

This is why I love this industry-the people you meet and the stories they tell truly make every day interesting!

After a little orientation yesterday morning of our job responsibilities, Felix walked us down the Owen, the beautiful river that runs through the lodge property.  I couldn’t get over how clear the water was. Made me really excited for our fly fishing boys from 4UR to get to New Zealand. Les, Drew, Zach and AJ are going to pee their pants with excitement when they see some of these rivers.

Yesterday afternoon, we drove up to Nelson to get groceries and some things for our house. Driving through Nelson was unbelievable—the city lies right on the Tasman Bay, where the water is turquoise! It’s crazy here how you can feel like you’re in Colorado one second and then a few kilometers down the road, feel like you’re in Tahiti! After wandering around Warehouse (NZ version of Wal-mart) for far too long and a very expensive trip to the grocery store, we drove back to the lodge and had dinner again with the guests. The food served at the lodge is unbelievable. Last night was a curry prawn appetizer and salmon for the main course. It’s a good thing I love seafood!

The best news we received at dinner last night was that we are getting a pet SHEEP! We’re naming her Mary and she is going to live in our front yard. Counting down the days until her arrival.

Today I got to sleep in (Hannah is working the morning shift and I’m working the evening shift). I awoke today to the birds chirping, sun shining and spring breeze coming through the window. I have never felt so lucky.

Life is good.