My Life in Palmerston

Hello dear ones,

continuing as announced, with my leisure activities during my time with the Fraser family. After lunch and work, which usually ended by 2:00 pm at the latest, I had free time until dinner. During this time, if the weather was good, I usually stayed outside and explored the huge property or kept the animals company. The house is surrounded by a large number of trees, all of which are at least 20 years old and correspondingly tall. There is a country road from the front door to the main road that is exactly one kilometer long. The best views can be enjoyed from the alpaca enclosure. Unfortunately, the animals are very shy, so I couldn't pet them. However, from there you can see the hilly, green landscape in peace and quiet. Of course, I also played outside with the children from time to time, although this became less frequent with the end of the school holidays. In the late afternoon, I usually got to choose a movie and watch it with the children until dinnertime. By the way, the food was really good every day and I have no complaints about that either. After that, it was time for washing up. While Jordan and Annalicia's day was over directly after eating, at least during the school year, Eve was still allowed to stay up a little longer. Sometimes she also helped me with the dishes. Afterwards, I usually watched a movie with everyone who was still awake. The Frasers don't have a TV, but they have a large screen and Netflix. So we had a huge selection every day and could watch whatever we wanted. That's how my 'normal' days went. But there were also some occasions when I was given the opportunity to go on excursions, which of course made me very happy. I will now talk about these excursions.

Trotter's Gorge

About 8 kilometers from the house, there is a hiking trail called Trotter's Gorge that leads to a viewpoint on top of a mountain. After being driven to the starting point by Lorna, there was initially a, admittedly, not very spectacular ascent through the forest, before the forest cleared and revealed a view of some rocks that lay between me and the summit. After a small climbing adventure, I reached the top after a few minutes and was able to enjoy a great view. I could see several kilometers into the distance. In front of me were rocky forest landscapes, then the coastal area, then the beach, and finally the sea. It was simply beautiful. Then it was back down and then on foot back home. On the way, there were also some beautiful views to enjoy, with the characteristic green hills and cows and sheep of this area, all in beautiful weather. All in all, a very successful excursion! 👍🏔

Mackenzie Monument

Right next to Palmerston City, there is a relatively high mountain called Mount Mackenzie, with an observation tower on top. On a very hot day, I set off with Lorna, which was quite challenging. It was partly extremely steep and I had to be careful not to lose my footing and slip. But the path was not very long, only about one kilometer. Of course, there were also several sheep to see here. But when I arrived at the destination, I knew it was worth undertaking this hike. From the top of the tower, I could not only see Palmerston, but also look far into the distance, where hills and fields appeared and, of course, once again, the sea. In terms of vegetation, this area really reminds me of the Eifel region in Germany. Just that there is no sea there and more forest. But the view was really impressive 😍 After taking some time to enjoy it, I went back down a not-so-steep path and from there walked back home on foot.

A&P Festival

One of the biggest events that takes place annually in Palmerston is the A&P Festival. It is like a city festival that offers various shows and exhibitions. My family was also actively involved in the event. Accordingly, the children appeared in particularly stylish clothing on this day. Children can create artworks in various categories at home, which are then displayed publicly and judged by a jury. I think Eve and Jordan had around 15 different entries each, and Annalicia had six. I was present for the production of some of them, for example, I saw how the 'Creepy Critters' were created or artistically designed flower arrangements. Many of the exhibited artworks looked really beautiful. My host children were also very successful in the judging. I think all three of them placed first in at least two categories, in addition to second or third places in almost every other category for Eve and Jordan. In addition to the artworks, there were also treats presented by adult participants, such as homemade jams and cakes. It's a pity I couldn't try them ;) There was also a dance competition for children who performed traditional Irish and Scottish dances to the accompaniment of a bagpiper, a lumberjack contest, a vintage car and tractor exhibition that strongly reminded me of the tractor meeting in Pomster, live music by a country singer, a small equestrian competition, a children's paradise with a bouncy castle and climbing wall, and a march of three geese driven through an obstacle course by two dogs, where they had to overcome difficult obstacles such as slalom running, crossing a bridge, and going through a tunnel, and finally reaching a cage. It was a great performance by the dogs, who managed to do it without any help, that's for sure! Of course, there were also several food stalls with partially international dishes. A stall was also operated by Eve's school. During the festival, I also got to know Lorna's mother, who accompanied the family. Finally, there was a big parade with the vintage cars, tractors, and horses right in front of the relatively well-filled 'main grandstand'. The national anthem was even played. In the middle of the parade, Lorna had to endure a little scare when Annalicia, the horse lover, was about to run towards the show jumpers in front of the entire audience. Luckily, she noticed in time and let Jordan follow her to catch his sister after a few meters :D Even though Lorna said the A&P Festival was rather small, considering that Palmerston only has 2,000 inhabitants, there were quite a lot of visitors, especially when compared to the rather weak attendance at the Adenauer city festival in Germany, especially since there are several communities around Adenauer where people can easily come from. In contrast, Palmerston is relatively isolated, like almost all other New Zealand communities. Anyway, after the parade, everything was over and the whole family went to Lorna's parents' house. There I got to paint and jump on the trampoline with the children, and Eve and Jordan took me through the entire garden. I think everyone involved really enjoyed this day 😊

Dunedin

Since I had worked a double shift one day, I was allowed to take a completely free day on another day and go to Dunedin with Lorna. Dunedin is the second largest city on the South Island. After dropping off the children at school and a mountain drive with beautiful views of the landscape, the coast, and the sea, we went through Port Chalmers, the harbor district, into the city. I was dropped off at the old railway station, which is a really beautiful building with a colorful garden in front of it. So it was not surprising that there were quite a few tourists there. Inside the building, there is an art gallery and the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, which I enjoyed visiting. There was a lot to learn about New Zealand's sports history there, of course, a lot about rugby and cricket, but also a lot about cycling, athletics, sailing, and other water sports. And, of course, one of the absolute national heroes, Sir Edmund Hillary, who was the first person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. It may not be as large and modern an exhibition as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, which I visited in Calgary, but it was still absolutely worth seeing and interesting. After a small snack, we then walked through the city to the botanical gardens, which I unfortunately couldn't see completely. But what I was able to see was very beautiful, varied, and colorful. I especially liked the aviary, which housed various bird species, from pheasants and chickens to different parrots. After the gardens, Lorna picked me up again and we drove to Baldwin Street, the steepest residential street in the world, which looked like a ski jump from the main road. Flat at the bottom, then slightly uphill, and then getting steeper with every meter. Of course, I also walked to the highest point on foot, to the end of the street. At times, it really felt like I was climbing a wall. It is very difficult to drive up this street by car. You have to get a good head start and then drive up at full speed. Of course, there is also a great view from the top. From this street, we went straight back home. But the pictures for that will be in the next report, as I made another stop in Dunedin on my further travels.

Now I have told you everything about my stay in Palmerston. I hope you enjoyed this report too and are looking forward to the next one. In it, I will describe what happened during my fourth WWOOFing stay in Clinton. I can already reveal that it was very different from Timaru, Oamaru, and Palmerston 😆

See you later!

Your Max