Worrisome event at the Alpaca Farm Retreat…Late posting…Too many delightful distractions…

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Although a little tough to see with the long lashes, Mont Blanc has blue eyes and was the “cria’ that escaped the paddock yesterday, leaving us in quite a quandary.

As simple as farm life may seem for us casual observers for which no work on the farm is required or expected, it can have a few challenges from time to time. We’re observant guests here for three months to revel in the panoramic scenery and to be close at hand to the alpacas.

Recently moved to one of the two paddocks closest to the house the adorable alpacas are within 20 feet, 6 meters, from the house. As I sit here now, I can see them standing at the short fence. At the moment, a brown mom and brown baby are looking at me through the glass.

The mom, Gizelle, to the left in this photo is worried along with the aunties that the “cria,” Mont Blanc, had escaped the paddock by crawling under the fence.

Getting up to look outside, more often than one would imagine, we’re able to see the approximately 30 alpacas (out of 90) in this side paddock happily grazing on the thick grass, scrubs, and trees. We couldn’t enjoy this any more than we do.

They’ve become used to us now and don’t move away as we approach. This was a gradual process escalating when they were moved to this closer proximity to the house. 

Baby Mont Blanc worried while standing outside the paddock after he’d escaped under the fence. We don’t think he’ll try that again! Mom is looking on along with all the other moms and babies worried as well.

Early this morning Trish and Neil stopped by to drop off an umbrella for the outdoor table and extra linen, pick up our garbage and let us know that there are alpaca treats in a bin outdoors. Pellets? Sound familiar to our long-time readers? In checking it this morning, it wasn’t pellets but a chopped grass mix. Later, we’ll give this a try.

Although at this point we may not need to entice the alpacas with food when they already seem interested and curious about us. Especially…after yesterday’s unusual event (unusual to us, in any case).

After uploading the post, I couldn’t get outside quickly enough to spend time with them. Tom was wrapped up in the NFL football games which were broadcast live on ESPN at 9:00 am Monday (Sunday afternoon in the US). 

He darted about our patio trying to find a way back inside. the paddock.

As soon as I headed out the door, I spotted a new baby, born less than a week ago, had escaped the paddock by crawling under a wire mesh area of the paddock closest to the house. The baby was running back and forth along the fence line crying in a sound I’d never heard before, as the mother stood helplessly behind the paddock also crying her heart out.

My first instinct was to help. What could I do? The babies are sensitive and emotional. Would lifting it up over the fence be too stressful? Would handling it be detrimental to its relationship with its mother?  I just didn’t know enough to make a good decision.
Tom came running outside as I called out. He’d been wrapped up in the football and although sympathetic he wasn’t particularly interested in getting involved in finding a solution. I was on my own.
I’d hoped the baby would see where it had escaped but good grief, its only a week old today. Could an animal of such a young age be resourceful enough to figure this out? The mom and baby continued to race back and forth along the fence line crying and trying to figure out a solution.
Mom is on the other side of the fence hoping Tom will lift the baby over the fence.  Uncertain as to what to do and concerned over a possible injury, we decided to try to find an alternative plan.

No matter how hard I looked I couldn’t find a way to get the baby back inside the paddock. Everything was entirely secure with no unlocked gate or access point anywhere. Plus, there’s an electric fence in areas that Trish explained may be turned on from time to time. Was it on or off?  How would I check without getting shocked?

I’m fairly resourceful. I knew the backup plan would be to call Trish on the number she’d provided (using Skype). She and Neil both work in town. I didn’t want to disturb them requiring a 45 minute round trip drive if the baby found its way back inside while they were on their way. 

The mom was looking at me as if to ask for help. The other moms also cried out loudly along with the mom and baby. They were all obviously distressed. To see the love and concern of these long-necked somewhat odd-looking animals was heartwarming reminded me of the love the warthogs moms expressed for their young.   

Another week-old baby worried about Mont Blanc when he couldn’t get back inside the paddock.

The baby, although shy, approached me several times as if it too knew I could do something. At halftime, Tom came outdoors to see what he could do. Immediately, he noticed the escaped baby was in fact the one the owners had told us has blue eyes, an oddity in alpacas. Looking more carefully, we confirmed it. Its pale blue eyes looked into our faces asking for help.

Short of trying to corner the baby and pick it up placing it back over the fence there were no other options. Lifting an alpaca may be dangerous when on occasion they’re known to bite with their sharp teeth and  also have very sharp hooves. (Neil had mentioned he’d recently been bitten by one of the alpacas).

The moment they were reunited, hard to see but heartwarming.

There was no way we’d risk an injury as opposed to making a phone call. After about an hour with no remedy in sight, I called Trish. I sighed with relief when she explained they were both already on their way home to check on the farm and would soon arrive.

I was relieved and waited outside keeping a close eye on the whereabouts of the baby in fear it could run off to be gone forever. The mom ran back and forth about the paddock, crying loudly while attempting to stay focused on the baby as well.

While the others were busy dining on the green grasses, Gizelle and Mont Blanc lay together like this for hours after he was returned to the paddock.

Finally, Trish and Neil arrived and within minutes, together they lifted the baby over the fence while we watched him, named Mont Blanc, practically leap through the air toward his mother, Gizelle.  Although they were hidden behind a post during the emotional reunion, I made every effort to take a photo.

Only minutes later, I captured several shots of the two of them huddled together where they stayed for hours as I often checked on their wellbeing. They seemed content and at ease to be reunited.

Hours later, when the others had wandered to another paddock where they sleep at night, Gizelle and Mont Blanc remained close to one another. 

It was a hot day hovering around nearly 90F, 32C with high humidity. With no overhead fans, we decided to open all the doors for cross ventilation. By the end of the day, there were no less than 50 big noisy flies in the house. Before dinner, Tom swatted them with a cruise documents filled envelope killing all of them on the glass of the windows and doors.

While he did the dishes, I scrapped the fly guts off the windows and doors, spraying with window cleaner and picking up the dead flies from the slider grooves below,  gagging all the while. 

Another mom kissing her baby.

Afterward, we both agreed that leaving the doors open all day wasn’t a good option. We’d bring down the bedroom table fan for use during hot days, only opening the doors for a few minutes on windy days to cool down the inside air which always seems hotter than outside. After all, it’s midsummer here now and New Zealand isn’t exempt from high temps and humidity.

After hanging clothes on the line this morning, many of the alpacas approached me, now realizing that we mean no harm and that they and their babies are safe in our presence. Baby Mont Blanc approached me as did mom Gizelle, making eye contact with that adorable little smirk they appear to have on their funny little faces. Gee…


Photo from one year ago today, January 26, 2015:

Cloudy skies are not unusual in Kauai, known as the “garden island” where it can rain daily, clearing later. This view was from our veranda.  For more details, please click here.

A few “getting settled’ hiccups…Then, wonderful!

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Although far and few between, we stopped at a few scenic overlooks in the rain.

We’ve decided to get the negatives out of the way first before tackling all the many wonderful aspect of our new location in the countryside close to New Plymouth, New Zealand:

No wifi: This is a “biggie” for us, a prerequisite that determines whether we’ll select a vacation home or not.  When the owner explained via email on several occasions there would be a good signal working when we arrived, we were surprised when we couldn’t get online to notify our family of our safe arrival. 
They’d ordered a new satellite dish for this house during the holiday season and service has yet to be installed.  They offered us their house and service until its installed in the next 10 days.

As we drove away from Auckland, NZ, we spotted this airport with older style planes.

This won’t work for us when as multi taskers we like to get up and down during the time we’re online getting coffee, iced tea, chopping and dicing for dinner, doing laundry and other household tasks.  Sitting in a chair online for hours at a time isn’t likely for either of us.

This morning I prepared part of this post offline uploading it when we returned in the afternoon after a trip to town to purchase a New Zealand hot spot along with a very pricey data plan.  Once the house has working wifi, we’ll use our device for extra large downloads and the house wifi for general daily use.

Auckland is a major port in NZ.

Sandflies:  Wearing shorts when we arrived I fell prey to more than 20 sandfly bites on my bare lower legs while checking out the amazing alpacas and standing outdoors talking to the owners who’s house is down the road (not visible from our house). 

Sandflies produce wildly itching welts often lasting for five or six days which are particularly annoying at night.  Last night, the itching kept me awake most of the night.  Today, we purchased more repellent. Tom hasn’t received one bite when the sandflies were having more fun feasting on me (as always).

By 10:30 am we were on our way toward Hamilton, NZ which wasn’t quite the halfway point to New Plymouth.

No screens on any of the windows (or ceiling or stand fans):  We don’t quite understand why houses all over the world don’t have screens when insects are flocking around doors and window in hopes of entering indoors to feast off its residents.  Its summer in New Zealand and although it doesn’t get very hot, fresh air is something we both appreciate.  On a hotter day, a breeze is welcme both during the day and at night.  We’ll ask the owner for a fan for the bedroom once we’re back online, something we’ve had in every home we’ve rented throughout the world.

That’s it, folks, all the negatives.  The rest?  Astounding!

We stopped for a break at a park in a small town to find this view.

At this point, we won’t get into the alpacas, saving that for a future post.   Its raining off and on today making it challenging to get good photos.  All I can say, it that we love being in this hilly, lush green, flowery farm community, living on an alpaca farm in a beautiful two bedroom, two story house with every amenity one could desire except for the above lack of screens and wifi.

We’d heard the North Island wasn’t scenic compared to the South Island but we found the countryside breathtaking with its lush green rolling hills and fields of sheep and cattle, dotting the scenery.

As for yesterday’s arrival, disembarking the ship was relatively easy.  The port of Auckland was organized and efficient.  From the time we went through security and picked up our confiscated power strip we were able to collect our bags using a trolley (most ports don’t have trolleys for bags) to make our way to the taxi line where we waited for over 40 minutes for a ride to the car rental facility.  Happy to have a trolley, we didn’t mind the wait.

We’d hoped for sunshine but as typical in the South Pacific, skies are unpredictable.

Once in the taxi was loaded with our stuff, the longish ride was enhanced by a wonderful driver from India with a strong New Zealand accent with whom we chatted during the entire 45 minute ride.  The taxi fare was US $63,50, NZ $92 (with tip).

On many occasions we were slowed down for long stretches due to narrow roads, no passing lanes and slower moving trucks.

Once we arrived at Ace Rental Cars near the airport, we encountered yet another delightful service person, a young man from South Africa (again with a strong NZ accent) and we exchanged hysterical Afrikaans expressions we’d learned from Okee Dokee while we lived in SA two years ago.  We never expected picking up a rental could be so much fun!

Happy with our older (5 years) white Nissan that says something in Japanese each time we enter, we soon were on our way for the five plus hour drive through countryside, mountains and ocean using the easy directions our property owner Trish had provided. 

It wasn’t easy taking photos of the countryside as we zoomed along the two lane highway, often stuck behind slower moving trucks.

As we often experience, taking photos on the shoulder-less highway with few available overlooks, it was impossible to take as many photos as we’d have liked. A portion of the drive was sunny with puffy billowy white clouds against a bright blue sky later changing to dense fog and clouds as we continued on.

We traveled through mountains with steep winding roads not unlike those in Tuscany, Italy with occasional mirrored signs used at the particularly dangerous curves.  Tom, an excellent driver, maneuvered the tricky areas with ease and from many such past experiences, I didn’t give it a thought. 

This was part of a rock formation referred to as Three Sisters.

Once we arrived in the town of New Plymouth, we followed Trish’s great directions and found the New World market.  It was the size of any huge Cub Foods or Safeway markets one could find anywhere in the US with prices about 25% less.  

Yesterday, a bit tired after the early morning wake up and long day, we’d decided to only shop for some basics with enough food to last for two days.  By 5:30 pm, we arrived at the farm, gasping with joy when we entered the house. 

Inlet at low tide.

Only a short time earlier, I’d told Tom I wasn’t expecting much assuming the aspect of it being an alpaca farm in the countryside with exquisite privacy and views was going to be the highlight.  There are always trade-offs of one sort or another, right?

Upon driving up the long private tree lined driveway, I further anticipated the “cottage” would be average or slightly less.  Entering the house, using the door’s access code, we gasped in total shock over the beautiful house and its myriad amenities we’d never anticipated or expected.  Over the next many days, we’ll share many of these. 

More unusual rock formations.

Just to give our readers an idea of the magnitude of these amenities;  there a “drawer dishwasher” in the modern well appointed kitchen along with other high quality brand name stainless steel appliances.  

There’s a refrigerator in a “bar” in the master suite with a special faucet that makes hot water on demand for making coffee and tea while still upstairs in the bedroom.  There’s are heated towel racks in both the ensuite master bath and the guest bath!  Its truly luxurious which although not expected, is actually fun and appreciated.

Zooming in as much as possible, we captured these kids checking out the rock formations at low tide.

Once we resolve the wifi issues and further settle in we’ll wait for a sunny days outdoors (less biting flies in sunshine) to spend time with the alpacas and to begin to explore this exquisite country.

We apologize for the delay in uploaded today’s post.  Photos of the house, grounds, and  adorable alpacas are coming soon!

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Photo from one year ago, January 20, 2015:

The view from our veranda in Kauai never ceased to amaze us.  For more photos and details, please click here.