After eight days of pretty manky wet weather with virtually no sun, we finally have some better conditions for a few half-decent pictures. Anyway, this is where I’ve been hanging out since January 17th, back at Snowy Waters Lodge in Raetihi, in the Ruapehu district. I was here for about a week in late November 2025.
I have returned for a longer stint this time round, about 17 days.
While I’ve been here I’ve been catching up with the lawns and edges, and also giving the mulch gardens a good weeding. Now with some more settled weather, I can give them a thorough spraying out to knock residual weeds and weed regrowth, followed by smothering the gardens with more mulch to further suppress the weeds and also flash the sections up a bit. On days that were too wet for outside work, I’ve been pottering around in the lodge itself, stripping the beds used by guests, organising the fresh linen, getting the used linen ready for pick-up by the commercial laundry service, and doing other little jobs.
There’ve been quite a lot of guests staying this time round, including several arborists, a group of Filipino beekeepers, a reverend from the Hokianga, a couple families from Wellington, and a couple from Germany. Bit different to last time when I think there was only two or three individuals staying.
Betty the horse is still here, helping to keep her part of the property mowed. There is also at least two native falcons (kārearea) hanging around, who seem to live in the big gum tree on the front lawn. They’re surprisingly quiet and will often come up quite close to the building and perch themselves on some of the chairs or outdoor tables.
I’ll be at Snowy Waters until February 4th and then it’ll be time to hit the road again to reach my next property.
Betty
