Izzy & Bevan's adventures

We last left you on the 23rd of December, and now have one week remaining 'til we fly to Santiago for 53 days in Chile and Argentina. We fly with three friends to Santiago on the 27th, down to Puerto Natales on the 2nd of March, tramp the Torres del Paine 'W' trek 4-9 March, then head to El Calafate for some water sport and tramping, and settle into El Chaltén for rock climbing and a rest after that. We will say goodbye to two friends there, and probably will further explore Patagonia. We make our way up for a week in Santiago and Valparaiso at the end of March, meeting a locally living acquaintance there. Crossing over into Argentina, we will then meander through Mendoza at the end of the wine harvest, and settle in Córdoba on the third of April. We meet my father for 10 days in Buenos Aires on the 9th of April, arriving in NZ on the 21st of April, ready for shifting out of our home on the 24th, but primarily for a very important wedding on the 27th! I will update on our travels as often as I can :-)

In the lead up to this adventure, our growing sense of agency over life has led to a lot of action. And a lot of fluffing around deciding what to do. We are slowly learning how to adult ;-) There's been a fair whack of stuff to organise, and we hope we've thought of everything we need to...! We've learned so much, and it's been a challenge to get the most out of each week, especially with me being away in Dunedin. The big achievements are that we finished renovating and sold the house PP (O! How much went into that small sentence. All I can say is YAY!), we organised storage & a moving company, sold the horse float & piano, organised homes for all the animals, got all of those pesky administrative jobs ticked off, and I got word that I passed my Masters thesis and will graduate with a Master of Veterinary Medicine in May! We've also incorporated an equity partnership, and are now company directors and on the prowl for investments...

Roy's Peak (centre) and surrounds

The house feels a bit empty without all of our animals, but we're also feeling liberated, and have taken the opportunity to prepare some for our trip - we've done two weekend trips the last couple of weeks, including a hike up Roy's Peak (5/5 stars for a half day walk), one up Isthmus Peak (4/5 stars for a half day walk), and three days' rock climbing in Wanaka. We've also prioritised spending time with our local family, friends, and colleagues before we go. It's been a socialising spree since about Christmas!!! Saturday is your last chance, please everybody pop round anytime on the 24th :-)

View of Lake Hawea from Isthmus Peak Track

In the challenge of leaving our lives behind, we've learned for ourselves some old adages. It's funny how wisdom sometimes doesn't entirely flesh out until you experience and learn the meaning for yourself.
- Choose what you want from life, go get it, and bugger convention (and reconsider ideas of your younger self). There will be bonuses you didn't predict, whatever happens.
- Life is rarely convenient. Waiting to feel like doing something before taking action is a recipe for getting buffeted by circumstance - your future self doesn't have access to any more motivation to "get around to it" than your present self does! Schedule it, and get on with it.
- Selling small items on TradeMe is not worth the effort!!!

Oh yeah, wallpapering - a normally peaceful and meditative activity for me (well suited to a perfectionist!) - when you are hung over and tired out during and following four days of NY celebrations: SUCKS. A LOT. With the aid of some anti-inflammatories and grit (ha! #firstworldproblems), Bevan and I did finish the renos.

For more photos of the home and property as they are now, see here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/U2AATGZxrVAfiqeh2
For more photos of the gradual transformation of the place over the years, see here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cnrPzprdTls9i61F3

Before, during, and after photos - just assume the transformation was similar for the rest of the rooms!

At this point in time, we are in the throes of waterproofing all of our gear, ensuring we have everything we need, dusting off some Spanish, and getting the house ready for our much anticipated house cooling on Saturday. I'm also (possibly in vain) attempting to get my thesis to submit to a manuscript (should that read differently? no?) for the NZ Vet Journal before we go away, but I'm just now contemplating how sensible a goal it really is. I might just prioritise my reading list for South America and enjoy the build up!!! :-)

And lastly, a bit of a prequel. Mainly for my own record, the weekend following NY was the busiest, craziest, most bizarre weekend I've ever ever had in practice. I won't be the same again, and will have a MUCH bigger yardstick for 'busy'. Kudos boss and helpers (x2!) for helping out and sticking around! Thankfully, this madness was immediately remedied by flying far away to a mad place of a wholly jollier kind - to visit my Mum and her hubby in Nelson. Into the breaking of the drought. Lots of movies were watched, and cocoa drank. In a rare dry spell, we met a delightful wee boy in the playground there one afternoon;

Boy: "Is your mummy [that's me] bigger than you?"
Bevan: "That's my wife, and she's smaller than me."
Boy: "Oh. How big are yooou then?"
Bevan: "6'2"
Boy: "Oh."

Following a long pause, he says,

"You know, if I was 100 feet tall I would be bigger than you ... I would be BIGGER than a GIANT!"

Cluck.

So ends, in slightly unorthodox fashion, what will probably be the last update before we head away. Please please please tell us if you have any must sees or must dos in Chile and Argentina, and we look forward to seeing many of you on Saturday and keeping in touch with the rest of you over the ether!!! :-)

Christmas this year featured such delights as 'bisexual' Christmas roulette gifts (these, of course, intended to be 'unisex'), gallons of delicious, healthy food, and the convincing of small children that their sturdy new leather gloves were, in fact, for swimming.

New Year Celebrations 29 December 2017- 2 January 2018: We laughed together 'til our bellies ached and our faces were stiff, and sang and played 'til well into the New Year!

This blog has emerged from the realisation that our pace of life has exceeded our capacity to share our lives with our whanau in person. Conveniently, possibly poetically, this also provides a neat metaphor for the philosophies underlying much of our current life-restructuring project; as time has marched on, we realised that what we want from life is far more expansive than the time we have available to put to it, and we need to paint with broader brushes. True of all of humanity, I surmise. The sensation that time is getting away will shortly have a philosophical blog of its own, but for now, notes on 2017, and the immediate product of the project – plans for 2018. I would love to thank every member of our whanau for the contributions you each make to our lives. Each moment spent with every one of you, in person or over the ether, is precious :-) Arohanui.

I want to start by saying that it’s been a busy year. I’m a little intimidated by reading it. And this time last year, I probably would have been completely paralysed by the thought of it – over summer 2016/17, I decided, with the support of Bevan, to get some help for my mental health and happiness. Best decision ever! Please please please, if life doesn’t feel alright, find some help. There’s really no need to try to work it all out yourself. That strategy lost me a lot of time in my life, and I’ve spent the time since trying to make up for it, as you will read…

New Years Eve at Mavora

New Year’s Eve 2016 was spent at Mavora Lakes with dear friends. It was my first ever bona fide camping trip, and my first ever off track tramp. We decided to climb to a ridge to celebrate the new year; the peri-Fiordland weather, true to form, had other ideas, and crapped all over us within 10 seconds of finding a good spot. We retreated to the bush, and had a grand old time with our wine, cheese, and crackers, and somehow managed to avoid falling down any bluffs on the way back to camp, merrily singing the Grease soundtrack and koala-bearing our way down the tree falls… Used one of our nine lives, quite possibly…!

March and April were notable for the celebration of THREE weddings, two within two days of one another (one on each island!), extended visits from my mother and her husband, and from my father and paternal grandma, and a solo trip to Wellington to sing with the New Zealand Youth Choir (more on that later) and catch up with friends. The Irish band I play in also rocked the Clutha Golf Club on St Patrick’s day!!! In addition to my usual instruments, I’ve also picked up the tin whistle and bodhran (“bow-rahn”, Irish hand drum) on a couple of songs this year – just enough to make a dick of myself when we travel to Ireland next year ;-)

Abhainn Mhór at Balclutha Golf Club - St Patrick's Day 2017 (you can see my feet at the keyboard!)

Another major event culminated in March. In November 2016, I handed my notice in at work. I had been working in rural mixed veterinary practice for almost exactly three years. I was almost halfway through my Master of Veterinary Medicine (MVM) degree, facing another year of practice and part time study, along with my many other commitments and interests – something had to go. Suffice to say that it was a complex decision, and as it has turned out, one that I couldn’t be happier with. I finished up on the 17^th of March, and launched into full-time MVM study. On the 13^th of November, I completed my final postgraduate exam in endocrinology, and on the 6^th of December, I handed in my completed thesis: “The Epidemiology of Dropped Hock Syndrome in New Zealand Cattle”. I can’t say it was the subject of my dreams (an impossibility, in fact, given the novelty of the topic!), but the opportunity to expand my epidemiology training upon a previously undescribed disease with various funding sources in place was just too great to pass up… And lo, it was the delivery of my first mind-child, and it was great! And just as importantly, the project made space for personal expansion in myriad other ways – a topic for another post.

Galen and me sharing a special moment

Expanding my understanding and skill in horse training was another goal for the year. A couple of friends and myself and our horses tripped out to Mavora Lakes for a three-day stint in February. It was a highlight of my life to date! Fabulous riding and people and a great time was had by all, including a night around the campfire singing and laughing with a wonderful group of whanau travelling together with a whole herd of horses. One of the folks drives his rig around with a PIANO in the back next to his horse!!! Since February, I have also been caring for a very wonderful and well-trained mare in addition to my handsome gelding, and she has contributed to my knowledge and skill in different ways to any human teachers I’ve had. Between Miss Mare, the Mavora trip, participating in a five day horsemanship camp in Canterbury, a couple of other Parelli clinics over the year, and a clinic with Warwick Schiller in October, watching another couple of clinics, and joining the NZ Clicker Training group, I feel I’ve met my horsemanship goal! Since October, the horses have been on holiday due to my other commitments. Hopefully (maybe?!) January will bring some new circumstances?!

The horse paddock at Mavora Lakes - February 2017

Musically, the last twelve months have been challenging in all the right ways. On the 2^nd of December 2016, I auditioned for the New Zealand Youth Choir with the support of an amazing classical teacher. The NZYC were winners of every category in which they competed at the 24^th International Festival of Academic Choirs in Pardubice in 2016, including the overall Grand Prix… Somehow, I was invited to sing as a soprano reserve with them! I’m effectively ‘on the bench’, and have the opportunity to participate in workshops with the choir throughout the next three years. I will never forget the first of these, in April, in Wellington, when these incredible voices erupted around me. There I was, invited to be singing alongside - a truly transformative moment in my vocal self-belief, and equally opening my eyes to just how much there is yet to learn. I am forever indebted to the staff and members of the NZYC, it’s truly such a special organisation with a fabulous culture. This experience, along with my previous life as a wannabe barbershop singer and musician, led me to volunteer to provide some coaching to the local Balclutha Phoenix Singers group each week for the latter part of the year, along with some coaching of soloists at the South Otago Theatrical Society – my first paid music teaching! The challenge of being invited to perform in a new style of singing led me to another wonderful voice coach in the months prior to the final concert, and a whole new world of learning. So much to practice! A recording of the piece I performed can be found here (just a rehearsal – the character has descended into prostitution in order to support herelf and her fatherless love child after the loss of her job in revolutionary France): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iQtM5ZWAdHwS2eEUAHTz09x_AwM-LxQh/view?usp=sharing

D&D group breakfasting at the holiday house in Te Anau

In combination with the second NZYC trip of the year, Bevan and I did a road trip up the North Island, stopping in to spend a few days with friends and their new baby on the way up from Wellington, stopping in for tea with others, and culminating in an epic Dungeons & Dragons session in Auckland with yet more friends! Dungeons & Dragons has been a smaller part of our lives this year, with our regular group dwindling to a core of four with the departure of “Fyren” to Auckland. We did, however, manage a long weekend trip to Te Anau at the end of October with Fyren making it all the way down to join us for what will probably be turn out to be The Final Session before we all head our separate ways. We can highly recommend the glowworm cave tour, absolutely magical!!! Very different to Waitomo.

One of our babies and me!

August and September brought lambs, and lots of them. From our 25 ewes, we lambed two sets of quads (including one caesarean!), and ended with 52 live lambs in total – not bad! We’ve sent 38 of these away so far, but are now getting very dry. Our house cow, Maple, had her calf without trouble, and yielded enough milk for the house for about a month, before Fleck got the better of her udder!!! Some time during the spring, I worked in Dunedin at a purely small animal clinic there. It was my first clinical work in about six months, and I looooooooved the job, and Dunedin – so much so that it’s led on to a fixed term part time position at a different clinic. Since the start of November, I’ve been working 2-3 days a week in town, and making the most of my time in a ‘Big Smoke’ (ha ha!), going rock climbing and learning the aerial silks in the evenings. I’ve also had the pleasure of staying with a close friend, and have made many more friends there since, which has been wonderful! Some time around the start of November, I also volunteered to help a friend train for a half marathon... I’m sure a lot fitter and faster than I was, but my ankles are not holding up to the road running, very sadly, and I just can’t manage the longer runs, and won’t be doing one of my own in the foreseeable future.

Learning to rock climb outdoors

Last weekend, we went on a whirlwind trip up to my family base north of Auckland. It always feels in a way like going home; the last threads of my childhood. We started the trip with a divine stew as only my Grandma can make, followed by a late night on the town with my father, first dancing at a tango milonga, and then sampling some really good polenta chips in the early hours at the Belgian Beer Bar before collecting Dad and heading home by about 3am… The rest of the weekend involved a faaaabulous party for my Auntie’s Significant Birthday, a trail run up the Dome valley, a picnic trip to a favourite childhood beach haunt, and family Christmas out to dinner, complete with tree and presents! We flew down to Wellington from there, and spent a day and half with close friends, coming away feeling inspired and refreshed – great friends to have, and they’re actually procreating to boot. Glad there will be more like them in the world before long!

Christmas dinner with Dad's family

By way of a clumsy segue into next year, because I’m running out of time to write this elegantly before Christmas… During the middle part of the year, friends invited us to join them on a 10-day tramping circuit around Torres del Paine national park in southern Chile in March 2018. We said yes! We decided to be sensible, and prepare ourselves for what is going to be more physical than anything we’ve done before. September brought our first overnight tramp, up to Big Hut in the Rock and Pillar Range near Middlemarch. It’s a vertical kilometre, straight up, and it feels like it. I spent the evening, after a pretty decadent dinner, lying around listening to the election coverage on the radio, wearing every item of clothing I had brought along for warmth, and feeling on top of the world, literally and figuratively! Check out photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zuV7BvlRNkRb2VHS2 . This was the start of the slippery slope to overhauling our lives... We vowed to do more of this new thing, leading us eventually to my birthday trip to the West Coast, on which a photo blog can be found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FRCP0AHzxWkThXav2

These tastes of adventure, along with prior trips to the Queensland rainforest and Vanuatu, have given us The Bug, the scent of freedom (and motivation to be fit and strong)...

One thing I have become aware of is that it’s easy to fall into trying to solve the world’s problems within one’s own day –recycling plastics, growing fruit, veggies, meat, and milk… all intended to be almost a defiant act against the modern economy… along with, in my case, saving animals one at a time, and talking to people about nutrition and permaculture at dinner parties in an effort to improve their health and the health of our planet… but the approach is limiting and limited in many ways. We’ve had a lot of enjoyment and personal growth out of these experiences, but I’ve realised there’s no harm in buying others’ organic produce and having time in the day to expand myself and contribute in other ways! It’s time to move on to new adventures and a fresh approach. So, as of February, we will be ‘BIzzy’ travelling, and tasting the antipasti of life J

The trip to South America has extended to two months around Chile and Argentina, meeting various folks on the way, and culminating in a couple of weeks in Buenos Aires with my father. Bevan’s sister is getting married at the end of April, giving us a proper line in the sand for which to be back in New Zealand... But, the big but, is that Bevan has also handed his notice in – we will be free agents as of mid-February, and are loosely planning to head to the Northern Hemisphere for their summer, with no end-date at this stage. There are further loose plans to locum around the world, and possibly other places in New Zealand in time – we will see what life brings! I have also formed the seed of a PhD idea (for some hypothetical future), which needs solidifying around some real world experiences and a whole load of reading - some combination of the nutritional epidemiology of western lifestyle disease, food economics, and climate change and other environmental impacts of the food production systems created in response to the demands of capitalism. In a nutshell, how human nutrition and nutritional disease, the planet, and capitalism interact. AKA ‘soup of my every interest’ – mind-child number two?

What, you say? You have a farm! And animals! Yes, we do, but not for long. We have made what, I’m sure you can imagine, is a pained decision to find mid-term to permanent homes for each of our treasured furry and feathered friends (though the fishy ones are staying put) for the duration of our trip. Our property renovations have been progressing (slowly) over the year, and will be complete by mid-January ready to put the property on the market soon after. If not sold prior to our departure, we will put a tenant in place and lease the land until the property sells. Much of our stuff will go into storage for the time when we may settle somewhere… And as for us… backpacks it is! Exciting times ahead.

I’d love for feedback on our plans, travel suggestions, contacts, and for your pearls of wisdom about life in general – please, comment away!

Arohanui, whanau :-)

Izzy & Bevan's adventures

Thursday, 15 March 2018

Forthcoming: Adventures in the Enchanted Land

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

Nearly away...

Saturday, 23 December 2017

Christmas update 2017 & 2018 plans...