Torrential Rains

Waves
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Have you ever had over 150 pairs of eyes starring at you, watching your every move? They’re edging closer and closer together, collectively wondering if they should make a run for it.

Sheep; they’re so creepy!

After a long awaited hiatus-

A cold front met what the weatherman called a tropical storm in the warm water to the north of New Zealand, trapping moisture from the tropics over Northland for two days before slowly moving its way down the island. Northland, by the way, is the part of the North Island north of Auckland jetting into the ocean like a very large thumb. It’s home to the Bay of Islands, one of nation’s top destinations. I was staying on a farm just north of one of the towns in the area called Kerkeri. Apparently if the Maori’s wanted to emphasize something or make it plural they say it twice. Keri means to plow and it was as an important agricultural that it earned its name. The farm was huge, 3,000 acres 1/3 of the 9,000 Diane, my hostess’s father-in-law bought when her husband was a child. It is a sheep and livestock operation rather than crops. The area is so beautiful and right at the top of the bay, which is also being developed. One development in particular is right at the end of the top peninsula. It’s well manicured for the 20 or so $2 million lots that will settle into the 1,000 acres. However, it’s also being farmed, so I hope the people who build the $15 million homes don’t mind little round pellets of sheep poop in their yard. They might have a shepherd in their 25 person staff that will be in charge of chasing them away.

Water & Moss
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Getting back to the flooding… It had rained on and off early in the week, but Wednesday afternoon and night brought the first constant rain, which didn’t let up until Thursday evening. The rain streamed down like a waterfall, dancing sideways above the water as the wind blew it farther and father from where it started. I spent the day reading a book in the farmhouse high above the bay below. From that vantage, it didn’t look like that much rain. It wasn’t until the news showed water washing over the bridge in KeriKeri threatening to flood the historic stone store reputed to be the longest trading establishment in NZ that I realised the extent of it. The next day’s news showed cows being dragged by their necks by straps hanging from a helicopter. You had to wonder if death may not have been a better option, their necks compressed to ¼ the normal size. Thankfully it wasn’t a long flight and was a last resort used only after farmers failed in wading through the chest high water to herd their cattle or the cows were just too tired to keep swimming. The water had only receded less than half way back towards its banks when I drove past 3 days later, making the paddocks useless until they can be reseeded.

Watch Dog
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The farm, which at first glance didn’t have much damage, still needed an hour and a ½ to clear the road of debris to make it passable. There were also what they called slips, little chunks of hill sides that came crashing down leaving exposed plant roots and a triangular cone shapes of loose dirt. The only other evidence was long leaves and braches stuck in fences and gates, someplace as high as your waist, carried there by water that breached its banks the day before.

I appreciated the farmhands’ hard work when we used the road to reach our vantage point looking south from the top of the Bay through its many islands. Although you can look, you can’t actually see the south end, just some hazy hills in the distance. From this spot, I can also see a cross in the valley below that marks where the first sermon was preached by early missionaries (who were here before the settlers) and where the Maori and Pekeha (foreigners) first lived together as a community. One of Diane’s current projects is to build a chapel retreat centre to mark its significance on what used to be her family’s land.

View South
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Despite the weather, it was a week away somewhere new. I will definitely have to go back this summer though. Hopefully next time it won’t rain.