There and Back Again: The Tyrrell Family, Kurow

We arrived at the beautiful Tyrrell home on March 27th. The Tyrrell family consists of Amber and Patrick and their 4 children Katie (8), Hunter (10), Mariah (13), and Lucy (15) and we won't leave out the kitties Domino, Pepper, Smuggie, Gary and the dog, Dolly. Moriah and Lucy go to boarding school in the near by town of Oamaru which opened up a space in Moriah's room for Eddie and I to sleep. The girls were very gracious about letting us impose on their space, especially when they came home for the holiday. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with this family and in the beautiful area they live. They are such a fun family to be around and wasted no time making us feel more then just WWOOFer 1 and 2. We were instantly a part of the family. Katie and Hunter are not shy at all and made our stay that much more entertaining and enjoyable. Amber is such a sweetheart who genuinely wants to get to know you. She was always concerned with our comfort and making sure we were getting the most of our visit. She is also an amazing cook. Patrick was also very interested in who we are what we wanted to achieve in life. We had many interesting conversations about sustainability, farming, food, and ways of life. Moriah and Lucy are sweet, mature, and funny young women who also made us feel welcome by making us DELICIOUS desserts! We had the opportunity to see Lucy play her guitar and sing in her first gig in Oamaru. She did great! We spent some nights swapping funny YouTube videos of commercials, music videos, and comedians and left their house with great kiwi music and YouTube videos to show friends and family when we get home.

We had a special connection to Gary because he looks like and reminds of my kittens Mordicai and Chandler

Dolly

Hunter on his motorbike

Bucket of Honey

Hunter and Patrick built a tree fort

For Ben and Max, The Iron Man

The beautiful scenery surrounding their house:

An example of some of the delicious home cooked meals Amber made us: Pork roast

They just had their house built two years ago. Amber designed the home herself in an eco friendly American barn style home. They are in the processes of setting up a hydro system for power which will deliver all of their power needs for them and Amber's mum down the road. In the meantime they run a generator for a few hours each night. Devon and I have noticed how a simple shift in scheduling can lead an energy efficient life style with little impediment on comfort. I think most people back in the states, mainly thinking of our friends and family, who would be surprised how "similar" an off the grid home can be to a "normal" American household. Since the power is only on at night for a couple hours all the dish and clothes washing, electronics charging, and movie watching are done in the evening when the sun has gone down. The house is designed with plenty of windows and open space to create a great will lit ambiance in the living/dining room and kitchen. The Tyrrell family is lucky to have a great piece of property in which they have and are being able to live out their dream of a sustainable and more eco friendly living.

The first day of working was spent weeding the outside wall of their garage. However, Amber realized a more important job for us and the next day we began work on our new project: painting. Our work consisted of painting the window frames, door frames, and doors in the house. The house being new is completely furnished with only the small painting details left on the back burner. I’m sure all of us, especially those with their own homes, can attest to those annoying small projects around the house that never seem to get done. (Upon reading this, Ill predict a particular look of acknowledgment from my mom directed at my dad.) We were happy to spend our mornings painting away and we know Amber and the Tyrrells really appreciated our work.

At least it's on me and not the floor!

Amber's brother, mum, and dad all own property just outside of Kurow. Her brother is a dairy farmer and provides the family with fresh raw milk. We got to try our first cup of raw milk straight from the cow. We don't think we will ever be able to go back to pasteurized milk again! Her brother built a hut at the base of Mt. Domett, so their family can have mini vacations from time to time. We worked two 6 hours days so we could take a hike to the hut and spend the night out in the wilderness. Amber drove off road to bring us a Poi Pot (a South African pot used to cook over fires) filled with sausage, potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, and lamb. She also brought us drinks and fresh eggs for breakfast the next day. We covered the food in the pot with water and slow cooked it for 3 hours over the fire. It was delicious!

A wild cat that guards the milk from the dairy farm

Mount Domett

The cold stream served as our refrigerator

View of the hut from a distance

Amber's mum trains and rides horses. one of them is named Cheeky and was in the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. We got a horse riding lesson from Amber and her mum and got to ride Cheeky! It was Eddie's first time riding a horse and he grinned like a little boy the entire time.

This is the horse Amber's mum rode: Folly

He was hungry

Here is Cheeky in the movie at 4 years old

Here is Cheeky now 16 years old and much less stressed

Cheeky didn't want to trot for me so she had to pull his rein's

Good thing Cheeky's butt is big enough to carry Eddie's big butt

Cheeky had no problem trotting for Eddie

This is Fraggle....

.......The ugliest pig we have ever seen

Classic Cow

Eddie was gettin real hairy so I gave him my first hair cut with scissors and everything. Here is the before and after. Not bad for my first time! Doesn't he look good?!

Before

During

After

The Tyrrell family graciously extended our stay just so I could celebrate my birthday with them. They gave us the day off so we went to Kurow to have a picnic near the beautiful lakes. Amber, Lucy, and Moriah made a yum dinner and even more yum dessert! Everyone wished me a happy birthday and gave me a pair of possum marino socks which are super warm and soft. Perfect for me since I am a baby in the cold weather.(Eddie: Or any weather that is below 75 degrees or whatever the yearly average in Southern California is) It was a great birthday. They sent us off the next morning with two giant chocolate bunnies for Easter. We headed to Oamaru to camp for a few days and explore the historic city.