The Hut

The kids & Chad recently had a 4 day holiday weekend celebrating Labor Day.  Paul, whom Chad has gotten to know through the rescue society, invited us out to his farm to spend the night with some friends in "the hut".  We packed our stuff knowing it would be a bit of a camping experience and followed Ruth and Russell out to the farm, 30 min. away.  We pulled into the driveway and in the drizzle packed all our stuff and kids into his truck and headed out over the farm, through gates and pastures and wooded areas.  Absolutely beautiful!  Russell pulled up to a couple more trucks and said because of the wet we would not be able to ride the 4 wheeler in so we would have to hike it.  He was prepared, handing each of us a pair of gum boots to wear for the weekend.  We headed off into the woods down a very, very long hill.  From the car I have often admired the hills, wistfully saying "wouldn't it be fun to climb one of these hills?"  The next morning would fulfill all desires for a lifetime to come.  We slipped and slidded down the hill and coming around a curve "the hut" came into view.  Situated amongst the trees a corrugated metal building with a porch and new awning welcomed us.  We made it with all our gear and were greeted by two other families.  Throwing our bags inside and tossing our sleeping bags on the bed we grabbed a chair and settled in on the porch for an evening of visiting and cooking out sausages and venison steak.  As it began to really rain and cool off we decided to head inside.   For some reason the kids all decided to come out to the porch and closed the door behind them.  We were all locked out.  After 30 min. of hemming and hawing, walking around "the hut" and going back and forth with different lengths of wood and other things, the men were able to pry a window open and lower Elena through.  Everyone headed inside and I visited the long drop (outhouse).  The wood burning stove was nice and toastie, the kids began playing games, and the marshmallows were pulled out.  No one was familiar with smores but one family had heard of them so they brought the fixing.  New Zealand marshmallows are not the same as US marshmallows.  They are small, pink with powdered sugar on them and a bit grainy.  After unsuccessfully trying to explain the concept of roasting rather than burning the marshmallows we put them on cookies.  Again, there are no graham crackers in New Zealand.  I have searched high and low and nobody has heard of them.  So chocolate coated cookies were used.  After the smores attempt we prepared for bed.  There was one bunk bed along the wall, so the 8 kids snuggled in on top and the 8 adults laid down like sardines in a can.  Fortunately no one snored!  We woke fresh.  It was still drizzling but after a trip to the long drop I headed out for a bit of an explore.  Following a beautiful path I came across a river with several fabulous swimming holes.  What a place to relax on a beautiful day!  After breakfast and dishes were done, we packed up and headed back up the hill.  It was long, steep and slippery but we made with without loosing anything.  It was a good night of meeting more people and enjoying some company.

No Worries - Kris