Recently went out to visit my Dad’s friend Howard.  He lives about 20 min up the coast in a small town called Mimi.  He is the one with the amazing property.  He owns 36 acres of hilly farmland that stretches to the coast.  Sporting a waterwheel, waterpumps, solar panels, and a slew of fruits and veggies, Howard is pretty much fully self-sufficient.  It really is quite amazing the way he gets on in his own little paradise.

We arrived and took a quick look over his workshop.  Howard is a sculptor of rock and wood as his passion, and works on many film sets that take place in New Zealand.  Next we did some catching up over a cup of coffee while looking out on the hills and river that leads down to the ocean about ¼ mile away.

After a caffeine boost, we took a stroll down the hills and made our way to the beach.  It was low tide so we got a nice long walk down the beach.  I was snapping away, straggling behind the group as we approached a cliff up ahead.  The rocks below are mostly seabed that has washed up over the years.  It is very interesting to peek around, because in many of the rocks you can find fossils.

Sadly, by this point a storm had made its way down the coast to us, so we started to head back.  Once back, a few more cups of joe, and a bit of a snack was about enough to call it a day at Howards.  We then headed back to my grandfather’s house and enjoyed the local rugby game played just down the road.

Overall, a pretty good day :)