Rugged As Man's Retreat

Camping, hunting, fellowship, fires, animals... as Lonnie from I Love You Man would say, "This is awesome!"

This weekend was "Man-camp" with Grace Fellowship. Twenty some odd "blokes" (NZ slang for men) went to a farm in Morrisons where Paul, a solo farmer and shepherd of 6,400 (yes, 6,400) acres of land let us stay. We were all to bring 2 veggies, and rely on our kills to provide for the rest of the weekend. Somehow, it all worked out wonderfully.

Day 1:
We hopped in the vans and drove a little over an hour to Morrisons, unloaded our gear into an old abandoned farm house, then went to the fire.

We met Paul, split up into 3 groups: 1 went walking for wild pigs, and two geared up with some 22s, and got into the back of his pickups around 10pm. We took off and drove all around the fields until about 1 spotting for rabbits and hares. Not only was Paul's rugged as driving awesome, but the terrain was nuts. 60 degree pitch ups and down, jumping off drop offs, all with 7 dudes and some guns in the back on the truck.

It was successful though. We got 2 rabbits and 2 hares, including one that I shot. We all gathered back up at camp and put our kills together, adding up to around 16 total. We all skinned and gutted them bare handed, put them away for the next day, then went to bed.

Day 2:
We got up early, had porridge for breakfast, and had a bible study around the fire.

Then loaded into the vehicles and headed up the hill onto the larger portion of the land. We made a quick range and fired the guns.

Then, drove up to the top of the road, hiked to the highest point where there was a great view, then had some quiet time in the snow grass.

When we were done we were dropped off, man vs. wild style, and told to head down an untracked gully and meet the leaders down at the vehicles.

We hiked down a very steep gully through thick bush, cliffs, and slippery ground. We made it down to a river, and it was the only way down from there. We waded down a canyon for a few kilometers until we came out. It was so much fun and super intense. We eventually made it to the road and back home just after it got dark.

We hiked into the gully on the left

Back home, we cut up the meat and cooked up dinner. Rabbit stew, boiled veggies, rabbit steaks, deep fried rabbit nuggets and dipping sauce. It was so good.

After dinner, we had another study then went to bed.

Day 3:

We got up, had breakfast, and went home in time for church. We were all fried, but it was such a nice day, so we went surfing. Waves were great and the sun was out.

The weekend was a whole new NZ experience. Raw, rugged, and awesome!

God kicks butt.