Blueberries

Last weekend Rachel and Lu took John and I to the blueberry farm in Upper Hutt. Well, they took me and we dragged John along with us. I've never been before but John used to pick blueberries for a job so he wasn't so excited (and that's puting it mildly).

We arrived at this beautiful farm out the back of the Akatarewas. An area that I'm not very familiar with but am fast coming to realise that it's actually very beautiful and interesting. Lu and I were most excited sitting in the back, laughing at John's grumpy faces from the front.

We collected our buckets - two thirds full was 1kg. I didn't think we'd need nearly that many.

The path led through the fields of tall grasses to the northern acre of blueberries.

John showed us how to find the ripe ones and how to pick them.

John led us along the vines, some of which were almost touching. I almost lost them to some strange underworld.

Or so it seemed. I spent more time taking photos than I did picking blueberries, so the whole gang helped me pick some in the end.

On the way back we decided to go for a swim in the river. The farms website said there was a swimming hole, but we hadn't seen a sign. So John decided to gallop into the field in search of the river.

He led us down a 'path' and on to the rocks, where we stepped gingerly along the banks. We attempted a swim, but it just didn't feel right, so we scrambled our way back along the bank and back to the path. And of course about 50 metres along we found the large "Swimming Hole" sign.

A little sun safety for all and we finally made it in to the river.

Unlike last time the current was slow and the river deep which made for much better swimming. We even attempted a game of "Pooh People" (we taught Lu how to play "Pooh Sticks" last time) but the current kept sweeping Rachel, Lu and I into the same spot so it didn't work to well. We stayed in for quite a while, until the sun went behind some clouds and cooled the river right down.

After a quick round of "turn around so I can get changed", we made our way back to the entrance and paid for our blueberries.

While Rachel made fish for dinner, I photographed Lu and John play a fighting game that seemed to have a lot of rules. 1. No picking up Lu. 2. No tickling. 3. Take turns of 10 seconds each. 4. No repetition of moves. It was rather amusing to watch, and made for interesting photos too!

Of course, no fight would be right without a bit of rule breaking.

The next morning John made blueberry pancakes and they were simply delicious! I was very impressed to say the least. What can be better than fresh blueberries and pancakes on a sunny sunday morning?!