October 24, 2023
We arrived home today to find the garden largely as it was when we left. Cuttings have survived. The troughs were filled with water, so clearly there’d been rain, but not enough, or not sitting long enough, for the roots to rot. I’m happy. The passion fruit vine, though, has clearly been buffeted by strong winds, to an extent that I’m wondering if it will recover. The sparrows have also been feasting at the salad bar – I was watching them this evening, hopping down from the fence on to nip at the leaves of the Tom Thumb lettuces. I’m not too worried. The lettuces were ready for picking when we left a fortnight ago, so probably somewhat bitter for us at this stage. Elsewhere in my mini-potage, the peas are doing okay, though I need to re-construct their string support. The zucchini and French beans are coming along, and finally, there are runner beans sprouting. However, nothing has put on much growth. Those of you who know me will know I’m a newbie when it comes to vegetable gardening. I opted for vegies because it seemed a good thing to do in a rented property where we might be moving on at any time – it’s easy to leave annuals and vegetables, but I don’t want to put my perennials anywhere where they may need to be lifted and shifted.
But enough of gardening … this is not my gardening blog space, after all. I was rather tired last night when I posted, and we had an early start to catch the 7.45 a.m. ferry, so I opted for bed rather than face the time-consuming job of sorting and resizing photos. Have to say, it’s a bit the same tonight, so there’s not a huge number of photos.
But, as I said in the previous post, that last bit from Blenheim to Picton via the alternative route was just the ticket. It’s hard retracing the same route when heading back home, so to cover new ground for the very last bit was a stroke of genius on the part of L. It’s made me realise how much of New Zealand there is to discover.
I have in mind to do one more blog post to sum up the trip as a whole, and maybe add a few more of my favourite photos – it may turn out to be more a photo gallery than a written post . . . I’ll see how the mood takes me. I’m sure L will also probably want to post about something from planet Squawk.
But, in case neither of us manage tht final post, I have to say . . . a great holiday, with new discoveries and super catch-ups with family and friends. And also . . . it’s great to be home.
Off Highway One 