And the winner is .......

One of the evening events run at the Staveley Scout Camp was Lip Sync which was hosted by the local Kiwi tv stars, the Topp Twins. It is a 'Stars in their Eyes' event but (thankfully!) we were spared the singing!

My 8 year old daughter, Kirsty, decided to take part. Her High School Musical number was changed last minute to Abba's Mama Mia. She has only seen the movie 4 times since Christmas. She performed in front of 250 scouts and she won the solo artist event!

She was well pleased with herself and won a MP3 player!

Canyon Adventure

One of the activities at the Staveley scout camp was a drive in a 4 by 4 followed by a 12 km walk through some spectacular country. The scouts can be seen here negotiating a suspension bridge.

I feel sure Lord Baden Powell would have definitely approved!

Wool Shed Creek Hut

A network of huts is maintained by the Department of Conservation to encourage Kiwi's and tourists to tramp (walk) in the countryside. This is Wool Shed Creek hut which is a few km's away from Staveley near Ashburton.


In this hut you can get warm by the fire, enjoy a hot meal, top up your water, get a good wash, and have a good nights sleep .......


for a whole $15 (about £6). I passed through here when I took a party of scouts through on a day walk at the Staveley Camp 2009. The more I see of NZ the more I love the place!

ps. The flag flying on the hut belongs to Lyttelton Sea scouts! :0)

The Vegetable Garden

This year we have spent a lot of time developing the vegetable garden. We have relatively shallow soil so we have been using raised beds in wooden boxes.

We have been successfully growing radish, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, rhubarb, peas, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cabbage, sweet corn, peppers, courgettes, sprouts, leeks, basil, lemons, grapefruit, marrows, beetroot and a few other things besides. So far this month we have not had to buy any vegetables or salad.

Sausage & Beef Burger

We have been warned that you should never name your cattle because it makes it more difficult when the day of reckoning comes. However, we have already names our two Hereford Friesian crosses Sausage and Beef Burger. They cost $300 (approx £120) each and will be 350Kg of beef each in 18 months time. After slaughter costs of $1 per kg, the meat will be about $2 (80p) per kg.

Chickens move into their New Accommodation

'Keith the Fencer' came before Christmas and started paddocking up the section. We installed two chicken enclosures 20 metres by 20 metres each. Our existing chickens have moved into one of the enclosures.

We have noticed an improvement in the quality of the eggs since their move. The eggs yolks are now a brilliant orangey yellow colour largely because the chickens are eating grass and insects to supplement their diet.

The second enclosure will shortly be filled with some other birds which we will keep for meat but I cannot decide between chickens, ducks, turkeys or geese. Now what will it be?

intentse newspaper

While at scout camp I was involved with the creation of a un-official camp newspaper called intentse. intentse took a fun look at camp life and the first three editions were printed underground and delivered late at night. Cutting a long story very short, by day four we became part of the camp team and published under the Staveley News banner. PDF's of intense can be found by clicking through to:

http://staveleynewsintentse.googlepages.com/

Six Scout Leaders & a Trampoline

The last week has been spent at the Staveley Scout Camp. About 250 scouts from the South Island converged on the Staveley camp near Methven and had a total blast. Pictured above are some of my colleages from Brussle Scouts (combination of Harewood and Bishopdale troop and Russeley troop) celebrating Jon's 21st birthday. From left to right is Roger, Ian, Peter, Jon, Reinhold and Andrew.