Freedom Parking Beside An Airstrip...

This is another Pop in Golden Bay... But a Pop with a difference...

This is Fernbrae Farm, or locally known as Solly airstrip... The drive in is a  kilometer long with a couple of bends then a straight run to where I am parked...

Then the road goes on further on to a house...

It was easy to climb over this fence to the beach...

Another beach with a lot of driftwood washed up... All from the Aorere River...

When the tide was in it was great for swimming and fishing... I tried fishing, lots of bites but like others there didn't catch anything...

This is the road in... It's also Solly's airstrip... And coming down the road or airstrip!

Getting closer...

Yes... A small plane... I took these photos standing just behind my bus. It skimmed over my head.

So if you come here... Don't park too close to the runway!

Look At This Amazing Manuka Honey...

This honey is pure Manuka honey from Aorere Apiaries in Rockville near Collingwood.

Telephone 03-5248285

I had come to the last of my 6kg of Far North honey.  I needed to find an apiary in Golden Bay that

processed manuka honey - my favouite - and would sell to me direct.  A Google search came up with Aorere Apiaries and yes they had manuka honey and yes they would fill my 6kg container... $30 a kilo...

So off I went out into the wilderness along yet another very dusty gravel road with instructions on how to get there. I went on a day that the honey was being extracted from the frames straight out of the hives. I learnt that the first extraction takes out all the soft multi flora honey leaving the manuka honey behind as it is a much firmer consistency. During the second extraction a special machine pricks each tiny cell in the frames which helps get the manuka honey out. I watched the whole process and the filtering process. This honey is only filtered once. It fills up big drums, a few are sold in New Zealand the rest exported overseas. New Zealand produces more manuka honey than required, other countries don't produce enough.

When I was there the multi flora honey was being processed. I left my container and collected it a few days later.

Yum, yum... Fresh honey on hot toast... I also have it in my lemon drink every morning...

This honey is quite soft and runny but will firm up and harden as it ages. 6kg lasts me a long time... I love it straight from the bees and not processed a second time by manufacturers who re-sell it.

Old School Cafe... Another Place to Park...

Just a couple of kilometers down the road from Tomatea Point is the Old School Cafe. They have a very nice Pop... (park over property) which is a donation to stay there unless you plug into power and then it's $10.

It's just over the road from the Pakawau Camping Ground which is also the access to the beach.

There are tennis courts should  you feel so inclined... And a lovely flat grassy area which was very popular.

The cafe... Open from 11am till late...

 

I had coffee one morning... It had been soooo windy so was lovely to be sheltered although I did have to hold tight to the newspaper while I read it...

I was there for about three nights. I went with some of my neighbours for dinner, the menu was extensive and the food delicious, and an excellent selection of wines...

However the first night I was there I smoked two Kawahai I had caught at Collingwood...

The smoke and the smell brought some interested neighbours... But there was only enough for me!

A highly recommended place to park and easy access to yet another beautiful beach.

Tomatea Point Reserve... A Place To Park?

I came here one day with a friend in her car and what a delightful spot. No room for us that day it was full of freedom parked motor homes buses and tents.

A couple of weeks later I went back... Planning to stay a few days... Parked here...

And thought it was close to paradise. I did wonder why only one other bus was there...

But others would turn up no doubt. I settled myself...

And had to take some photos... Looking from my door...

The dunes and short walk to the beach...

And off for a walk to look at this fantastic beach...

The tide was a long way out...

I thought I was in heaven... A walk along the beach... A glass of wine... Dinner on the beach maybe.

Meanwhile I walked around the little camp site...

Found the toilet block and a notice on the wall saying 'No Overnight Parking'...

I couldn't believe it. It definitely wasn't there when I went for a look last time.

Somebody has presumably taken exception to freedom parking there and the Tasman

Council has put up a sign.. Oh dear... So I sat in the sun for a while, had a small drink knowing I would have to move and considered where to go instead...

I've Been Picking Berries... Yum...

There is a berry garden in East Takaka... I've been there three times!

It's so hot in the sun picking and eating...

Rows and rows of raspberries...

And rows and rows of Boysenberries all under covers...

And my container is full... All for $10!

More Beautiful Golden Bay Places... Moonrise at Tarakohe

I have been to so many beautiful places in the last few weeks while I have been exploring Golden Bay... I've been here so long it's become 'home' as I meet and re-meet people 'on the road' and have also met so many local people who have been so welcoming everywhere I go...

The moon rising over the rocks and still water at Tarakohe...

A still warm beautiful evening...

The Devils Boots...

 I had also heard about 'The Devils Boots' so of course had to

go there and have a look. 

 The signpost is on a corner with this old house on the other

corner. Out of curosity I went to have a look. It's another

bit of old history but unlike Langfords Store has not been

maintained. There is a young family living there and trying to

restore and recreats history around them... It's full of yet

more old memorabilia and certainly an

ambitious work in progress...

 The only remains of presumably another old house, sitting  in

lonely splendour in another paddock.

 While we were outside, just enjoying the sun and considering

what life might have been like in the earlier days in this area...

A helicopter with monsoon bucket attached and full of...

Well we don't know what, flew over extremely low and

watered or fertilised this paddock of sweet corn...

 A very good pilot, although I think he was showing off a bit,

as he skimmed over the paddock and close by lamp posts...

Then on we went, up yet another dusty gravel road...

And sure enough... The Devils Boots. Takes a bit of imagination

as they are upside down...  Old Limestone outcrops...

we wanted to go on to the Aorere Caves but a big notice said they

were closed... Not sure about that as I think it is a DoC maintained area

but I will do that next time...

Village Milk... Raw Milk At The Farm Gate...

All the weeks and months I have been in Golden Bay parked at

Pohara and Tarakohe I drove past Village Milk as I went in and out of 

Takaka. I have been in to get milk a few times,  just for the novelty 

really,  as I don't like milk and gave it to my daughter in her cafe

to make coffee with. Recently I met Phillippa and Mark

and chatting with them and hearing their story sparked my interest.

Phillippa told me - dairy farming is in their blood... The Houston family

started supplying milk way back around 1890 when the milk travelled in

cans by horse, cart, boat, and coastal shipping to New Plymouth.

Mark and Phillippa dairy farmed initially in Ngakuru, south of Rotorua

then converted 200ha in Temuka to milk up to 800 cows supplying Fonterra.

The move to Motupipi, Golden Bay was a definite change from large
scale dairying and didn't initially include any milking in the plan.

Village Milk was born out of a desire to do the best they

could nutritionally, for their family. Like a lot of people

they were tired of hearing about all the pesticides and
preservatives and flavours that are added to our foods  -
and the subsequent links to ill health.

 

 'Village Milk' sells raw milk through a vending machine set up in
the building in the yard of their farm... (Top picture

 Here you buy a glass bottle for $4 out of the dispenser or take your own.

You put it in the cabinet, put money in the slot, the bottle is cleaned

with a burst of steam then filled with creamy raw milk.




 

At first Mark and Phillippa were millking just one cow, "Thirteen" and

sharing the milk with their family and friends. They knew about the benefits

of real milk and their family and friends were so keen on it, they decided to

test their herd to see how many of them were A2. Of the thirty-five tested,

seventeen were A2 - many more than they had anticipated.
They were delighted.

It was at that moment that they decided to scale things up.

Next thing was the dispensing machine. Considerable research on what

would be best involved a trip to Italy. 

Several months later the machine had been shipped and installed
and by Christmas 2011 they were dispensing 'real  milk' at their own farm.

In April 2012, as daily sales crept up, their 'Notice of Registration for
the Village Milk Risk Management Programme' was issued.
This meant they now had a registered RMP that could be applied
 to their farm and other farms as well. The RMP was required in
order for them to run the cowshed and produce milk for domestic supply.

 Because it’s not pasteurised raw milk is not widely available, but the
current Food Act allows people to buy up to 5 litres of raw milk at
the farm gate for personal or family consumption.
Village Milk has been franchised into a few other areas too.

Their cows are mainly Friesians, with some crossbreeds. Phillipa
and Mark have two herds of about 30 cows each. None of their
cows are fed anything artificial or any hormones. One small herd
produces calves and of course milk. They are milked while the
other herd is out on the pasture and getting ready to produce the
next lot of calves... In this way the herds are naturally rotated.

If you are interested in the science behind A2 milk, as a lot of their
customers are, have a look at this link on 'the science

behind A2 milk'.

This is "Thirteen"... The matriarch and most gorgeous cow you'll
ever meet. Thirteen produced 55 litres per day last spring. She's the
only cow Mark and Phillippa brought with them when they moved
from Temuka... There's a bit of a story behind Thirteen actually...

They were shopping for some heifers one day and when they got to the
farm, Thirteen came straight over and started chewing at Mark's shirt. They
bought the heifers and re-tagged them once they'd got them home. What
ear tag came up for her... Yes 13 again... And the 13 just kept coming.
Thirteenth's calf was the 13th one born on their farm that year...
And this happened three years in a row. Each year Thirteen
would pop out the 13th calf.
Thirteen has three daughters on the farm, Daisy is the oldest, then Ella
and a new heifer calf called Bella.

The contact they have with the girls is fantastic. They see them
all every day and get to know them. Even though the herd is
small there is a strict hierarchy, more so than in a big herd.

At Village Milk in Golden Bay Mark and Phillippa take a
great pride in knowing the public are drinking real, unaltered
and hygenic milk. The milk has a rich creamy flavour and is
full of real nutrition, the way Mother Nature intended it.
The feedback from their customers has been tremendously rewarding.
To subscribe to their newsletter, look here...

The regulations to sell raw milk are very stringent, unlike commercial
herds milked for Fonterra where the cows are not even washed
before milking. All the dirt on the udders and teats goes into the
milk and is processed out along with all the goodness, put into
cartons and sold at the shops as 'milk'... No comparison.

Here's a recipe... I don't like milk as milk but I love yoghurt...





 Village Milk is a revolutionary offering on the New Zealand market.
It is real milk, sold fresh at the farm gate. Completely natural and
unaltered. The enthusiam for this real milk has reached fever pitch.
People love the taste, they love the health benefits and love
supporting their local farmers.
If there is not a Village Milk farm in your area get a group of people
together who would like to buy it and get it couriered.
Look here to find your nearest farm...