The Swamp The hours, days, and even weeks we spent in the “swamp” as children. The “swamp” was an area of wetland down the hill, behind the house my brother and three sisters grew up in, on a small farm just outside the North Island, New Zealand, city of New Plymouth. During the many [...]
Doubting Thomas Eats Humble Pie After several years of planning, more than a few doubts – as much from husbands (such as me) as anybody else, the first River Valley 8 Day Ride concluded on Monday with many a very happy rider. This multi-day horse trek, which has been my wife, Nicola’s, project, has [...]
Will Honesty and Integrity Always Prevail? I have been in business for what sometimes feels a very long time. Under our own account at River Valley for 29 years, plus a few years earlier than that managing the company, and before that operating as a contractor shearing sheep, planting forestry trees, a sideline into [...]
Logis Hotels – an alternative future for the classic New Zealand country pub Recently we were visited by a small group of people in their vintage cars, including a very old Rolls Royce. It is quite surprising to me how often we do get visited by people driving vintage cars. Sometimes they are on [...]
An Unexpected Bonus Many farms in our district also incorporate areas of production forests, mostly smaller blocks of Radiate Pine trees. When these trees are harvested, generally at around to 25 to 30 years of age, there can be quite a lot of disruption to farming operations – and also in some cases, adventure [...]
An Early Season for the Duckie A good seasonal indication for the amount of rain we have had here at River Valley, and more importantly, how much there has been in the headwaters of the Rangitikei River up in the Kaimanawa ranges is the date that we roll out the duckies. Our duckie trips [...]
Living in Interesting Times We live in interesting times, of that there can be no doubt. How many other generations also believed they lived in interesting times? Most no doubt. However, the enormity of what is happening in our times is unparalleled. Yet, on a personal level, I struggle to balance what I have [...]
Economic Multipliers – The Economic Effects of Tourism in Rural Areas I have to be honest and say that sometimes I do quite like “geeky” stuff. You know, things like the latest research into all sorts of subjects, facts and figures and so on. Well one somewhat geeky subject that has always both concerned [...]
River Valley Happenings of 2019 So much of our lives, we are constantly looking forward. Planning this, building that, New Year's resolutions, this year is going to be much better than the previous year. And so on. However, how often do we spend time looking back? Treasuring the highlights, remembering the low points, and [...]
What a Load of Bollocks, Food Police and Raw Milk How much personal responsibility should I be allowed to decide what sorts of food I eat or drink? A few days ago, I read an article that got me thinking about this on news website Stuff. The article covered a series of raids by [...]
