Location

Ohakune is a small town in the middle of the North Island at the base of Mt Ruapehu. James spent alot of his childhood snowboarding at Mt Ruapehu, and it is actually where we first met! We have already spent a ski season living in Raetihi (just out of Ohakune) so we knew the area well.

Pets/House

This housesit was set on a peaceful property with a river running through the middle, and a little crew of animals to look after. There were three cats, two chickens and three goats, all with their own distinct personalities. Out of the cats Ginger was the most friendly and hung around home all day, Kitty would disappear for days at a time but when she came back she enjoyed a good cuddle, and Smokey was more timid and liked to keep her distance. The goats were very entertaining. They had big friendly and boisterous personalities and a very clear heirachy. Before starting the house sit we had been warned that Popey could get a bit headbutty and so the first few days of feeding them were a bit hairy. The feeding routine involved James heading into their pen with a bag of hay and putting it in their feeders, while I kept them busy with flax and carrots at their buckets. Popey, the biggest goat and the leader was not too sure about us at first and tried to run James down a couple of times, which meant James had to be quick on his feet and dash out of the paddock! After a few days they got used to us and were much more relaxed. Every feeding time there would be a set routine of them walking in the same order to the feeders with Popey always getting to decide which one he wanted and Snowy and Woody having to take what was left.

What We Did

During our time in Ohakune we were unfortunate to have only one day of sun the entire 6 weeks! This meant we didn’t get out to explore as much as we hoped.

On one of the days, while heading up to Whakapapa Skifield we stopped at Tawhai Falls (also known as Gollums Pool from Lord of the Rings). It is an easy, lovely 10 minute walk through the bush to a beautiful cascading waterfall.

Even with the miserable weather, the flowers still managed to bloom, bringing a bit of colour to the grey days. The tui also came to visit regularly, their song echoing around the property. I loved how much bird life there was.