The Traveling Kiwi

My brother Ian has started a truffle enterprise near Waipara in North Canterbury and we spent the day out checking on his progress. The soil is prepared and in the next few weeks the trees will go in. The location is just spectacular, tucked in a small valley with awesome views out to the coast. You can see in the photos he has installed the water tanks at the top of the field and the cultivated part of the valley is where he will plant the oak trees when he gets his vacation later in November. Joe and Ian spent the next day staking the field for the irrigation and putting in the warratas for the fence which needed upgrading to keep out the sheep and rabbits while the trees are young. Its a farsighted enterprise with the first crop of truffles not due for 5 – 8 years. We finished the day in a world class restaurant in Amberly. I was surprised to find such fine dining in what used to be just a small farming town. 5 stars for my pate and Ians steak sandwich was superb as was Joes pumpkin soup. The road sign did leave us all rather puzzled as it was located a good 1/2 mile from the point any merging was going to take place.

~ by kiwikris on October 26, 2009.

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