The best, and quite frankly the only way to stop Uncle Wal’ from being a rotten misery guts in the summer is to get him to take us to the beach.

It’s great to see him laugh when Rangi tries to catch Dog before he punctures his rugby ball, or when Cooch gets whacked from behind by a wave while he’s down there burrowing in the sand for shellfish.

Just for the afternoon the sun-scorched grass, the withering trees and the dried up dams are forgotten and the grouchy farmer becomes my favourite uncle again.