The Challenge!! aka "The Goat that Bleats"

Challenge 1
Arrange one of the largest open air, on coals/fire cooking events in the modern history of man, on one of the world's smaller islands with a cultural affinity for B2B (More about B2B later). Check! Well done guys.
Historically I've always understood the b2b acronym to mean Business to Business, but I guess with Annex "C" (Castle) it becomes Born to Braai



Challenge 2
Accommodation for all those travelling from far. If you were too late for a grassy patch at Wanganui Top 10, friends, family and or other venues would have had to do. Check. - Did not see anyone sleeping on the sides of the roads!

Spot the flag!!!



Challenge 3
Trying to keep an ex-pat event multi-cultural. Hmm, check, yes but it is clearly the beer, the smoke and the food that draws SAners together no matter where you are. Oh, and throw a goat into the mix and it becomes an event.
The Goat gets to go there later...



Challenge 4
And in my mind the biggest - reporting on this predominantly AFRIKAANS event in English!!! For the sake of our Kiwi friends who joined us for the day - else they'd have no clue - so wees sterk en verstaan, want ek weet ook nie hoe dit gaan uitdraai nie!!!
(Hoe die ____ doen 'n mens dit?!)


Here we go then....



So arrive early to ensure to "plak" (nicer word would be settle) on your reserved spot.


When you see a RVR you have a good chance of running into a South African!! Dirt cheap, amazing 2.0l AWD, versatile. When you land here first you just cannot resist the temptation. I still drive mine!! :-)


As the stadium slowly fills...




You turn to the next best thing while waiting...drinking! - Or taking photos. Father and son here clearly have separate agendas!


Or if the waiting gets too much, and you don't drink, and you didn't bring you camera, well drape your bottom in a flag and pose with the other flags then.


B2B Annex C with Optional "K" - Koeksisters!!!!!!!


For those whose Koeksister appetite was a little less defined, new friendships was an alternative waiting activity.


While others rekindled romance


For some the mid-afternoon nap on green grassy fields was a feeling so close to home it could not be resisted. A human's noise suppression capabilities are just amazing!


Here's some explaining to do: Die Bok (This Goat) kan bler (can bleat). This is stage two of the Big Wait. Big Braai's Big Wait. STage 1 was the Big Wait to Braai. Now when trying to explain this to Kiwilanders I think they must have expected some concocted cacophony mix between The "Briel" Sisters and AC/DC!!!



THE WAIT IS OVER!



and the Big Braai has a sub-stage named BIG BUILD! Build your Braai! Waar in jou lewe mens?? :-)


For the adventurous the packaging held the promise of a home-made "sled" down the sloped grassy surrounds. "Get it out already and give me the box!!!!"


Carefully contemplating the magnanimity of the Big Build with the aid of another Tui.



And when the Tui-assistance failed to make things happen, some Kiwi-tech expertise was employed. Payment? Food, off course, what did you think I was going to pay Russ? Yeah right.

Look, Ma! Fire! Smoke! We can eat soon!!




By now the crowds have descended on the plains of Wanganui.
No more Big Wait


No more Big Build



Just Big Braai with Big mates



The aroma of cooking on fire in full onslaught on the oxygen molecules

G'n wors nie? Hoe bedoel meneer dan nou?


Big Braaibroodjies!!! Say no more, meneer!



Big Braai, Big Wait, Big Build, Big Cook, Big Eat, Big Drink, Big Party - but alas, we need to still get to... (Drum roll, just imagine it for effect)...


THE BIG BOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Damn! Oops, uhhh, sorry. First, the Afrikaner Hip Hop bee bop whatever? Soos voorsangers in die kerk; nie die rede hoekom jy daar is nie!



So without reserve, bold and wild, from the plains of Africa, entering with a flash of light...



THE BIG BOK!!!! (Russ & Helen, that's "THE BIG GOAT")



As if we did not have enough smoke on the day, he brought some of his own along, for effect, that is.

So diep uit sy Afrikaner Hart


Big Bok and Big Band on Big Stage












Now I am not famous enough do have had a backstage pass for real quality pics - but I think you get the idea here. Big Party!!! It was good.

The next day the Sunday paper reported that "Pop Idol" Bok van Blerk entertained us the night before. Ek dog ek bedinges myself net daar in my beste kerk pakkie. Ons weet almal 'n bok is dalk 'n bliksem, maar 'n Pop Idol!!??? Dis ver benede hom. But I guess we can't blame the reporter, because he did seem very "popular". So, yes, Bok, jou bliksem, Thanks!!!! Dit was geat!!!!


(Gotta love the Afrikaner entrepreneurial spirit - a few days later Trade Me offered signed Afrikaner Hart CD's!! :-)



Soooooo, the morning after? COFFEEEEE, in the good old Kiwi Tradition of Flat Whites!




And then of to explore. Sonja and I decided to take Niel's visiting parents to go see Cave Beach. I've reported on this before, but here are some more pics to enjoy!!!



Going boldly where you shouldn't? Maybe?







Oom Sas going boldly again, doer in the distance!!!



To return back to... ah, (pause, look worried, ashamed, like you forgot something imporatant) the free marketing, I almost forgot!!! Sorry André!!!!!

Clearing throat (just imagine it for effect) - the final statement...


To return back the the welcoming atmosphere of André and Martie's Top 10 Holiday Park where cooking Potjie on an open fire is the perfect end to a perfect Easter Weekend!

BIG! BIG! BIG! BIG! BIG! BIG! BIG!

Picton! Ahoy!

When you want to skip accross to the South Island you can do what all the boring business people do, and fly there. Over-rated, over priced and way too quick to bring any joy. So, rather take the ferry!!


It works somewhat like this...

Plan where you are going to go; off course!

Then, get up with the birds to catch the bus from the stop about 5 minutes away form your house. Ask the driver if he can drop you at the station. (Smile,

And you guessed it, didn't you? Yep! Next step is the train. Get on that.


Don't just sit there with all your luggage, people will stare and wonder.

Then, get to the terminal and get on the ferry. (Did you remember the tickets?)





It is a boat on the outsde, and a bit of a hotel, restauarant, pub, and look-out on the inside - oh, and being a ferry it can take your car on it as well, but for the purpose of this class, Picton 101, we will assume we all make use of public transport!!


After a lovely breakfast (optionally extra, off course) you should be enjoying awesome views from the deck in the lovely sun with hunderds of other curious and curiously looking passengers.



Some may not be so taken with the awesoemness of surrounding ocean, landmass and the volumes of super-fresh air and may opt to rest-up for the next party.

And after a while the nice breakfast (see above under optional items), and the warm sun catch up and you decide to join those less inclined to the view(see above, again)


Leaving the shores of Wellington removes the bit of wind-shield you may enjoy on the first part of the journey. If you had not secured a nice spot away from the wind, you may wish to enjoy the ameneties provided on the inside.




For those brave enough, the views are worth the resistance!!


Especially when enetering "The Sounds" - the land mass bits of the northern part of the South Island. Because words would just spoil it, here are some of the images for your enjoyment.







PICTON!!!! Yeah!!


The absolute calm that unfolds as the open sea winds are shielded by high hills make all those insider pile out into the open for fresher air, photos and whatever all else people do on decks of ferries.

You may even be fortunate enough to see those leaving and you just hope they left some of it standing for you to enjoy.

Wheteher entering by boat

By plane


or in your thousands...

Picton sure was a pretty busy landing spot!!!




Congratulations! You're in Picton! Now what?


Rental car! Sounds like a great idea. Just pay the extra $15 dollars and go with the known names - the budget option is sometimes a bit dodge, but hey, it was transport!!


Oh, and you would need a nice place to stay; something like a Marram Trust holiday house or something. They're not used to cardboard boxes and old blankets infront of store windows in this town, so you might be frowned upon! Get a room!!




Now, before the sun sets; don't worry, that's around 9pm, get into your rental and go get some local scenery into memory. Rain or shine, just do it!

Check out how the locals live and secretly envy them...

Be prepared to be awed. If you are not awed you are emotionally flawed and be reminded that you will not be refunded; this was all your own decision.

Carry along the roads surrounded by all this amazingness and think to yourself why the originators of the Adam and Eve story did not place them here as opposed to some dry desert with a view 4 rivers in the Middle East.

The Queen Charlotte Sounds - just images; words only damage the magic it spells on you...

BOO! Snap out of it! Let's break the silence!! Pack your stuff & let's go - more place to see, things to do - experiences to be had Come on, come on, let's go!!!

So she packed up...

On a bus to Kaikoura, and gone with the green. South of Blenheim has only green vineyards. Arme hulle!

The awesome coastal scenery breaks the bland dryness of brown hills.

To arrive a couple of hours later in "Whale Town", Kaikoura (Kiwi Land's Hermanus)

Ah, off to the beach for whale watching, then.

And we're looking...

Still looking... (Maybe the HUMP-back's needed some privacy to go live up to their name)

Some take to fishing while they wait.

We opted for a nap on somewhat less comfortable pebblles. Nonetheless, what lovely scenery.

Can't sleep all day, so back into town for munchies!!

The Whaler, how wrong the name, but how awsome the Spare Ribs - the best in Kiwi Land so far!!!!

A very welcome spot to enjoy a cold beer after a long day's exploring, or

to be annoyed by snap happy females with cameras!!!! I'm the camera guy, me, no one else! Grrrr...

Scenery from Kaikoura that don't need spoiling comments... (or maybe I just run out of things to say from time to time).

Back to Picton was a sleepy ride on the bus to arrive in the dark, tired, but left with a sense of fulfilment... The next morning saw us up early and here are some breathtaking images from a sunny Picton as we made our way though the motions back to Wellington...

WHAT A WAY TO SPEND A WEEKEND.