A weekend with Rose

The full story....as posted on FnH first as our hoste is not on here (for those that aren't on there I am posting here as well)

Time to sort another walk with the rifle with the kids, Rose this time as Michael once again had hockey late Saturday and it was time I took Rose on her own as Michael has had the last few trips while she stayed at home. Bike loaded on the trailer and hooked up to Munster’s ute then we were off to a farm that had a pig or two hanging around.. Forecast was not great but I didn’t care I needed to get away, just made sure we had a few changes of clothes.

Well what a weekend… Rain hail and shine …oh wait it didn’t shine…but we did have enough wind to have some spare for the fullars up north that seem to want some. Didn’t make a difference we were going hunting, Pigs the target. Turkey and Hare’s were also on the list for Rose but I wasn’t as keen to get wet for those and we didn’t really have that many cloths
The weekend as it went….
On Arrival Friday night after stashing our gear and saying hello we all (Including a couple of Belgium bow hunters) went for a stroll back up the road to check out the Glow worms at the Mangapohue Natural Bridge, Damp night had them glowing hard out…The place looked awesome. I tried to get some pictures but most didn’t work that well but did manage a couple…

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Rose Walking away

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Saturday morning the weather wasn’t too bad and with my Quad being borrowed to go find a couple of pigs from the night before the bow hunters had shot at we did a little tripping around to check out the local attractions, and the check the surf to see if fishing was an option…it wasn’t but as I had never been to the area it was good to have a look around.. We went back to the natural bridge for some day time pic’s.

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It looked somewhat different in daylight…I actually was amazed at how many glow worms were out in the open the night before…at night I thought the “cave” section was much longer.
Next stop Marokopa Falls ... not too much of a walk so off we go.

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Then off to Marokopa beach…where I saw a quad crossing the river.. A bit novel for this newbie to this area… apparently quite common down here :D

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The beach was left to another day with the surf near the rocks..
On the way back we checked out Pirirpiri caves.. another short walk up and over to the cave…Oh anyone bring a torch? No …oh well they have a good walk way I am sure we could get down in the dark, What we could see looked pretty cool once our eyes got used to it…..until the flash started going off :P
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Back to base camp after that. A quick draft of some cows and calves then take them across to the other side of the farm… Pissed down..one set of clothes wet :/ still good for a look around, Rose could have added turkeys to her tally but we didn’t take a rifle.. Back to get ready for an evening hunt
We drove some of the way in the pouring rain (I got the short straw and rode the bike)
Getting ready for the hunt
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The plan was to get in a good vantage point and wait, 2 hours of hunkering down with horizontal rain driving against my back it almost felt like the water was getting through my x NZ army Gortex jacket …felt great…not, as I sheltered my daughter as best as I could I was starting to wonder if the shitty conditions were going to keep the pigs in the bush…as we all just about dozed off, But the man with the knowledge spied some movement… a group of pigs headed our way :D Sweet a good spot just down the way to set Yuki and Rose up for a shot…. But no they darted off but with the wind in our face we just followed until all could get setup, Over to the edge of the ridge…setup….oh shit can’t get a shot bugger move down a bit further … bugger same thing so move down to the point and still not the best so up we get for a kneeling shot, I had taken the old Russian Mossen so open sights for me (black pig and near dark wasn’t the best) and I waited for the kids to take the first shot…and waited.. with some prompting and a countdown there was a flurry of shots we had pigs on the ground ….
Down to the pigs, quick gut and a pose for photos then load the kids up for the walk back to the vehicles, Rose and Yuki big smiles on their dials even though they new they were doing the carry back
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Goretex stood up better than expected with just the tips of my sleeves wet and where my legs rubbed on the bike tank..the water I felt on my back while laying in the horizontal rain was just the cold factor

Good nights adventure, Somewhat wet and cold but better than staying at home :D

Sunday it was feed the calves, shift the cows from another part of the farm…more pig rooting seen then back for lunch, packup and head home (another change of clothes)
A great weekend and a big thanks to the crew and host for the weekend 8)

and the next weekend

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