Day 194 - Rotorua

After shaky beginnings, I've settled in and having such a great time...

On Wednesday the wwoofers arrived; Chris and Caresa from the USA. They both met at the Kapala (spelling?) yoga centre in the US when they were both volunteering there. They are great fun, chilled and down to earth, and we all get along really well. They both have been in the yoga world for much longer than me, and really know their stuff, so we've all been having some fascinating long discussions about life, the universe and everything. The yoga practice itself is actually getting a bit easier - I think my muscles are beginning to get used to the fact that a yoga lesson is no longer a time to relax and stretch but instead work bloody hard each one of them. The girls are more disciplined than me and have their own practice - so I've been joining in - nothing hard core, just a little pranayama and chilled out yoga in the morning (meanwhile Paul is perched calmly in handstand, or sitting with a foot behind his head).

Paul really is a bit of a character; childish old man mixed with yoga hippy. He's always hopping around with lots of energy and going bouncing off to chop wood or shoot possums. Every now and then he hikes off into the bush to his cave where he stays and goes all spiritual for a few days ("man, and one time I was lying there all blissed out when this rat crawled up me and bit my ear, a I was like okaaay"). He's been encouraging us to go stay in the cave for a few days to meditate "you have a stream and you make a fire - I left one danish woman there for 9 days and she started hearing things and thinking the trees were out to get her - I mean... far out maan". He's also got a huge library of amazing books that we are picking our way through, and an awesome 70's music collection we groove along to when we are slicing the fruit we picked for the dehydrator.

So, all is good, yoga is good, muscles hurt less, mind is expanding and I'm learning how to chop wood and drive a trailer around. It's awesome maan. Who knows - a week in a rat infested cave next? Hmm, maybe not.

Day 191 - Rotorua

I've settled in here already. At first it was a bit like 'oo-er, not sure that I can last a few days let alone a few weeks', but now I think I'll stick it out. Paul, Linda and I have already set into a groove - despite being 60, Paul has a very kiddish sense of humor, so we all joke along merrily.

This is my day: I get up about 7ish and have breakfast, then I take the kitchen scraps to the chickens and, whilst they are fighting over the leftovers I sneak in the henhouse and grab their eggs. Then I do about 4-5 hours of gardening/maintenance stuff - not always gentle, this morning I spent 4 hours in the bush hauling logs about. Then I eat and relax. Then drive Rodders into town, praying that this time I won't go shooting off of the bumpy track to land in a tree somewhere. In town I pootle around a bit & go on the internet before Paul's class at 5.30. Class finishes at 7, or 9 if it is a double, and afterward I drive back in the dark, still praying that I won't go shooting off of the bumpy track. Then we eat a huuge meal, then meditate, then I go to my bed and sleep.

It's all busy - maybe all this hauling butt will burn off my spare tyre ;-). The new wwoofers are meant to be coming tonight - it's v. exciting. Now I'm going to go - time for the buuurrnn, plus I have nothing else to write (you're all going to get very bored reading this the next 10 days or so)...

Day 190 - Rotorua

I started my yoga wwoof yesterday. The setup basically revolves around a guy, called Paul, who runs a studio in town and has a big organic garden back at his house outside of town. The plan is that you do gardening in return for accomodation, and pay a bit if you want to attend the yoga lessons in town (I've attended so far - justifying the cost by the fact the food is included and the cost for a weeks lessons is what I'd normally spend on a weeks food).

I went to a lesson yesterday. Charming old man turned into yoga dictator. "Lift your front thigh muscle, calf goes to the left, tense left stomach right stomach front stomach back stomach, TENSE YOUR ARMS KATIE" aaargh. I've never had a more hard core yoga lesson in my life - or one in which I had to think so hard! Who knew there were so many muscles all having apparently to tense in opposite directions for even the most simple moves (e.g. standing upright). After theknackering lesson I followed Linda, another person staying, to Paul's house. The house is only 15min drive from Rotorua, but is out in the bush so to get to it you have to drive down the longest, bumpiest road ever imaginable. Just when I thought I'd been lead on a wild goose chase, we turned a bend and were there.

The house is built by Paul, and made of wood (they like their self builds here). I have a big room all to myself as I am the only wwoofer at the mo (more coming tomorrow). The house has a big garden, a cat about 15 chickens. The cat is a sweetheart, but got off on the wrong foot when it decided to leave rabbit guts on the floor of my room (niice). The chickens are stupid, but they eat all the weeds I pull up when I'm gardening - and produce nice eggsin exchange.

Looking forward to meeting other wwoofers tomorrow. Not really looking forward to 3 hours of muscle-flexing, sweat-inducing yoga later *sigh*. Still, I'm sure I'll feel very virtuous afterward, and after a while of letting Rodders do all the hard work, I probably need the exercise!

Day 188 - Rotorua

Aah, I'm in a holiday camping site right near lake Rotorua, it's v. posh!

This morning I look the hint and finally gave Rodders a good clean. Not having running hot water is a bit of a pain - I had to walk to the stream and back about 3 times to get fresh water, and then fire up the stove to heat it up. Anyway, I'm glad I did - you wouldn't believe how much filth came out of the foam ceiling - eeew.

After I cleaned up the van (it took a good 2 hours) I set off to Rotorua. As I had already taken the road down the coast, so decided to take a different route, cross-country along the other side of the Coromandel mountain range. I started with a Lemon & Peroa stop at Peroa, home of the famous Kiwi drink. Then I headed south, stopping off at the pretty town of Te Aroha, also Matamata a.k.a. hobbitton and another town who's name escapes my memory, but who's chief tourist attraction is a huge corregated iron sheep!

Te Aroha museum (I think), and behind Mt Te Aroha

Road trip... the back road to Matamata alonside the Coromandle mountain range

"Nasty hobbitses" - Matamaka a.k.a. Hobbiton

Giant corregated metal sheep... random

On the way down I also stopped off at Wairere Falls and hiked for about 45 minutes up a rather steep mountain to reach the lookout. Still, the view was amazing so it was all worth it.

After being obscenely hot all day it suddenly started to rain lightly as I neared Rotorua, and as I rounded the bend and the lake came into view there was a lovely rainbow over the lake. With there being nothing better to do, I followed the rainbow and ended up here,Waiteti Trout Stream Holiday Park (phew, bit of a mouthful). The owners are charming, the place is cheap, and there is a TV room and free kayaks available for paddling on the lake. No pot of gold though.

Below is my updated travel map thingy - lots of question marks because I have no idea where I'm going next!

Day 187 - Waihi

Well, I'm now camping just outside of Waikino, near Waihi, in a free DOC campsite. It is another beautiful spot, running water (river), washing facilities (see previous) and a toilet (one of those composting, outdoor ones - niiice).

How I got here is a bit of a tale... I left Whangamata at about 9am yesterday and drove south, heading toward Tauranga. All went smoothly, Rodders crawled up a few of the steeper hills so slowly that I feared death by road rage, but we managed. Whizzed through Waihi, an old gold mining town, then through Katikati (great name). On the outskirts of Tauranga I took a left, heading to Omokoroa beach. A bit of a disappointment I'm afraid - although I did find a very twee cafe that served great cake and coffee (aargh, have I no willpower?).
Pootled into Tauranga about 4.00 and after some wrong turns I parked up in a shady spot the centre. First I had an internet session in a funky backpackers, accompanied by an up-and-coming band practicing their set (they were all about 17 - made me feel so oold). At about 5 I decided I'd better find somewhere to stay. Didn't really fancy parking in town, or around the suburbs (too many neighbourhood watch stickers), so I investigated Camping grounds. They were so expensive! Next I drove to a the cheapest hostel in my book, which was outside of town, and found out they charged $15 for parking in their car park. Drove around more, getting more and more fraustrated, then went back to internet place and looked up DOC camping grounds. And found Dickie Falls informal camping ground was the nearest... aaall the way back where I had come from! Anyway, to cut a long story short I worked out it would be cheaper to drive back and park a few nights for free than it would be to stay in town (especially when you take into account the shopping factor).

So, made it there before dusk. Parked in a nice spot under the trees by the falls. The place is busy, but not too busy, and the countryside around is so beautiful.

This morning I wanted to have an internet bashing, being as I am stuck in the middle of nowhere with not even a phone signal, but was reluctant to move Rodders after spending about an hour maneuvering him into his spot. I packed my daypack with some bits and set of along one of the walking tracks, the Karangahake Gorge Walk. It was v. spectacular, kept expecting the hobbits to appear floating down the river on a boat! At one point the path went through the hill, along a tunnel cut by the miners - after about 10 minutes stumbling along in pitch darkness, eyes fixed on the light at the end, I suddenly noticed lots of tiny blue lights along the ceiling like stars - they where cute little glowing things. Anyway - I walked 1 1/2 hrs to Karangahake along the gorge, another 1 1/2 hrs to Waikino along the Waitawheta river then thumbed a lift to Waihi. Will definately be retracing my steps tomorrow, I found a particularly tempting pool surrounded by waterfalls just past the tunnel.

So, I'll stay at the camping ground, living like a modern hobbit, till Monday morning, then will drive straight to Rotorua to start my yoga wwoof. It's a plan!

Day 185 - Whangamata

OK - Last night, the first night sleeping in the van, was bordering on painful. I finally managed to find the recommended spot and settled in for the night at about 9pm (to be honest, naff all to do in Whitianga apart from sleep!). The first thing I noticed was that the 'old car' smell got stronger and stronger from the minute I shut the door and rolled up the windows, which I didn't dare open more than a crack for safety reasons. I gagged for about 20 minutes before remembering that had a spare set of earplugs (one set in my ears to block out the traffic) which, in my desperation, I actually considered using to block the overpowering smell. After some serious thought I decided not to, for the reasons a)it's a bit repulsive and b)if the cops bust me for illegal overnight parking my shame would be hugely increased by the sight of orange earplugs protruding from each of my nostrils. So I just buried my face under my liner, tried to breathe through my mouth and eventually fell asleep. The suffering was not over. At about 1am I awoke, shivering, to the discovery that Rodders, a sweatbox during the day, had turned into an icebox by night. I cursed the fact I was not carrying a sleeping bag, and had only a silk liner and a thin blanket, whilst I emptied every piece of clothing from my bag, my towel and even the teatowel, onto my bed. I huddled under the heap, and although I was still cold, I survived the night. I ended up getting up ridiculously early the next day, put on lots of clothes, and went for a jog along the beach to warm up.


Bit of a road trip today - the plan was to drive to Whangamata, visiting lots of nice beaches on the way!

First location - Cooks beach, just around Whitianga harbour. I parked up in a nice spot next to another campervan - spray painted with Gandulf and Gollum. I tested my portable cooker by making myself a cup of tea, and wondered along the beach as I drank it.

Next I went to Hahei beach, which is meant to be the best on the peninsula. The first thing I saw when I got onto the beach was a line of tractors - which I thought odd until I realised that they had boat trailers on the back. I went further up the beach until I found a nice shady spot, and spent a few hours bodyboarding in the sea and sunbathing.

I think I had a clear picture of the hot water beach in my head, because I was a bit suprised and disappointed when I realised there was no line of hot water pools with people luxuriating in them. It was just a normal beach, at least that was what I thought until I got closer to the rocks, and I saw a very strange thing - a group of about 12 people, mostly somewhat aged, standing knee-deep in water doing the twist! After some investigation it turns out it wasn't a day trip of the 50's dancing society, but the hot pools. If you wiggled your feet in the sand, the hot water would rise to the surface. I had a go, and it did, and I can see what Anna meant - it wasn't exactly pleasant, jacuzzi hot, but fresh-out-the-hot-tap hot. After 10 minutes of "aaah hothothot, eek coold, aah hothot etc." I gave up and went for a swim. Not willing to wait for the tide to go out for the pleasure of being roasted alive, I didn't hang around too long but headed of to Whangamata.

Whangamata was an ok place - bit bigger than the other towns I'd driven through, but not that thrilling. Although... I did find a hardare shop selling sleeping bags and a chiller bags (I bought one of each). I didn't fancy sleeping in town, so I had a look in my guidebook and it turns out that there was a lovely DOC (dept. of conservation) camping ground just outside Whangamata. Following the directions I drove out of town and turned right down Wentworth Rd, just past the golf club. After about 7km of windy, gravel path (about 6km of which involved lots of panic and muttering 'crap, hope I haven't missed the turn') I came to the campsite. It was beeaauutifuul. I parked up in a shady spot and had a lovely hot shower, gave smelly Rodney a bit of an airing and made dinner. Now, Rodney only has a small engine, so although he is fuel efficient, he has a bit of a problem getting up hills. On my journey I regularly acquired a long line of frustrated followers so kindly pulled over at every opportunity to let people by. Often where I pulled over there would be a tempting local vegetable barrow, so by the end of the day I had collected quite a stash of cheap delicious veg. So, anyway, getting back to the subject, dinner was green salad and corn on the cob (cooked on my stove) soacked in butter. It tasted heavenly - best & freshest meal I've had in ages (I was so proud I took a picture). I was so snug in my sleeping bag, and the place was so quiet that I slept like a baby. All in all - worth every cent of the $9 for the night.

Day 184 - On the road

Wahay, I'm on the road...

This morning I said goodbye to everyone at the centre, got some final good karma by putting together a guide to cleaning the toilet (joys) and rumbled away in my van. I put the radio on at full volume (music - how I have missed thee), the windows open and I screeched the bends all the way to Coromandel and the coffee shop, where I'm sitting now - my last cake, coffee and internet session in this funky place.

Below are some piccies from the centre (fond memories...)



Anyway... after I've spend about an hour uploading my photos and putting them on my blog, I'll hop back in the car and head off to Whitianga - the town across the peninsula. It's a cool place by all accounts, famous for it's bone carving and hot pools. I'm going to save money on accomodation by pulling up near one of the long, sandy beaches and sleeping on the bed in the van.

There's lots to do while I'm there - nearby Whitianga there are several beach with hot pools... all you do is dig a hole in the sand and it fills up with hot water, which you then sit in. A bit like a natural jacussi. It sound great - I am missing my baths so definately looking forward to languishing in a hot pool until my fingers and toes turn prune-like.

I have to be in Rotorua at the beginning of next week because I am wwoofing at a yoga studio starting from the monday. So I have a bit of a plan; to travel down the east coast and around the bay of plenty, stopping off at all the wierd and wonderful places. If I get to Tauranga on Sunday, it's just a short drive to Rotorua.

LATER....

I'm in Whitianga!

Arrived about 4pm. First thing I did was park near the km long buffalo beach, change into my bikini, grab a body board and ruuun into the sea. It was great. After a good swim I got dressed, went to the supermarket and bought bread and a towel (no need to worry about not having space - this could be dangerous). Next I got some fish and chips (back to the healthy diet) and ate them on a picnic bench beside the beach. A guy from a house across the road told me there were whales in the harbour, so I had a great meal sitting with the fresh sea air blowing trying to see whales (no bloody luck, think I need glasses). After I had finished I decided to try to find a spot to park for the night. Parking to sleep isn't technically legal, although many do it, so I spent a little while driving around trying to find a good spot. Then I decided, on a whim to zip into the big supermarket to cruise the shelves for a bit, and who should I bump into straight away but Sandra, who I met at the Mahamudra Centre! Spooky. Sandra had previously been travelling around NZ in a van also, and was able to recommend a good spot by the marina, which I am now parked in. The buddhists say that if you relax and trust in fate then things will just happen when they are needed - yet again proof that the theory works!

You asked for pictures of the van:

This beauty...


...is completely not my van (haha, had you fooled). This, in fact, is really my van:


I've called him Rodney - what do you reckon?

Sunsets... coromandel peninsula

Day 183 - Colville

I haven't written in a while because I've been at the centre, with the only internet connection nearby in the 'town' of Colville (one shop, about 3 houses) - and that has an agonising 1/4 hr per pageload.

It's very nice here, I'm feeling very calm and ooomm. Sarah gave me a lift back on thursday, and I met Fiona, from England, who had been there a few days, and Ellie, from NZ, who had just arrived. We got on really well, and over the next few days we all mucked in with the chores, and spent the afternoons chatting away over coffee and cake in a cafe in Coromandel, or relaxing on Wahiki beach, just down the road. Sunday was Losar, Tibetan new year, and everyone took part in the ceremonies (puja, light offerings, lots of chanting). We only had one meal (part of the vows for Losar), at lunch, but we had a big feast and all scoffed ourselves silly, afraid that we wouldn't make it til breakfast the next day.

In the afternoon, a Czek couple turned up and Alice & Patrik, who's friends they were, told me they were desperate to sell their campervan as they were flighing to Samoa the next day. They were selling it for a bargainous $1500, with bed, cooking gear and body boards. I took it for a test drive (seemed ok) and bought it! I can use it to drive round the north island and then sell it in Auckland afterward for a profit. It is so nice to have the freedom to drive wherever I want!

I'm leaving tomorrow, driving across the peninsula to Whitianga. So will post an update and some piccies tomorrow!

Update: Here are the piccies as promised, ones of the van to follow...

After climbing up a huuge hill (as you can see - it's a bit windy!)



View of Coromandel Town from the top



Th peninsula coastline, north toward Colville



Lazing on Wahiki beach with Ellie (see - I do have a bit of a tan)


Fiona heads to the sea

Day 177 - Auckland

Happy Valentines to everyone for yesterday...

I'm back in Auckland now after 2 days with John and Joan. They live in a retirement village outside of Orewa called Hibiscus Village. It's quite a posh place, and you can see the sea from the balcony (just). On valentines day they took me on a drive around the area and all the beaches, and then we went for lunch at the RFA (urm, returned forces association I think), which was amusing. It was a scorcher of a day so in the afternoon I went down to the swimming pool and lounged around in the hot tub (it's a hard life). It was a short visit - Joan and John are going into hospital today, and at 10.30 I'll be meeting Sarah who's giving me a lift back to Coromadel. I think I'm going to have a healthy diet of vegetables for a week... I must have been fed about a tonne of food and drank a gallon of tea in these 2 days!

Anyway, below is a picture of John and Joan (for gran). I'll hopefully visit them again before I leave.

Day 175 - Auckland

Back in Auckland, back in the library internet bit...

I've hitched a lift back here so I can come and see John and Jean (Grandma's friend and his wife) - I'm catching the bus to Orewa in a bit. Looking forward to being by the sea for a few days, and seeing Grans old boyf (teehee). Will definately take some pictures!

On thursday I'm getting a lift back to the buddhist centre (left my backpack there), and from there I'm going to work my way down the bay of plenty, do a bit of sun bathing and whale spotting.

Oh, and I've finally decided when I'm planning on coming back - I've just sorted out my flights and I've booked to fly to Fiji on the 5th May and from Fiji to LA on 21st and LA home on the 23rd, so I'll be back in 3 months (if this is too long I can just rearrange my flights again). V. exciting - in 3 months I'll get to see plenty of NZ!

Day 171 - Colville

I'm back in the cool hippy cafe in Coromadel - Egypt gave me a lift and next we are going to the beach, can't wait to swim! The weather is glorious today; bright sunshine and the crickets are all chirruping away happily. Life is good.

Had a great time last night. The pot luck was held in a meeting room of the commune: a huge area of land owned by about 16 quirky old people. We watched the sun go down from the edge of the hill - the view was amazing - then perched on the wooden steps of the meeting room and lit a fire. We drank and chatted for hours, it was great. Below are the pictures of the view and the sunset.







This is a picture from when we climbed the hill behind the centre. It was really wet and windy - reeally bad conditions for climbing. You can see Mahamudra in the background.



And this are some from today - just before Colette and Laura left...
Colette, Laura and Egypt on the swing seat



Colette and Sandra in the Gompa (meditation room)

Day 170 - Colville

Greetings and salutations from the Coromandel Peninsula.

This is the first time I've been able to access the internet for 4 days - quite exciting. There's actually been a change of plan already and I am now helping out at the Mahamudra Buddhist Centre in Colville. This is due to the fact that I rang every single Wwoof place in Whitianga only to find out they were all full! Must be high season in Whitianga. So I resorted to Plan B and rang the centre and found out that they had room and were desperate for people to help out because they had a lama visiting from Tibet.

Bit of a mission getting here. My bus was not going to Coromandel, and NZ public transport being what it is, I had a mission impossible to get to the centre. First I batted my eyelashes at my bus driver to get him to stop in Byron where I changed over to a different minibus heading to Coromandel. In Coromandel I stayed for a night in a random African-inspired hostel before getting a lift with the postman to the centre the next morning. Carl was not quite your typical postman - big & beefy and wearing a grubby vest. His freckled 8 year old son sat between us and asked me questions about animals in India and Australia, and told me he wanted to be "a racing car driver slash secret agent" when he grew up. Both were very entertaining, and I was dropped off at the centre with a "byeee, enjoy being a monk-ess" at about 10.

The centre is a lovely place, with a big green garden. The odd shaven-haired old nun wonders around, wrapped in maroon. And us wwoofers are there to break the silence with our cackling and do all the washing and cleaning. Luckily having fun is not frowned on, so time has gone quickly. The first 2 days were manic: because the visiting Lama was giving lectures, the place was full of visiting nuns and people staying for the 4-day course of lectures, all needing cleaning up after
Luckily the lectures are finished now and the place is a bit quieter. I'm really enjoying myself; we all work in the morning and chill out in the evening. The people are so fascinating - ranging from friendly to wonderfully bizarre, and I've already had lots of fun and had many random conversations.

Tonight is a pot-luck meal leaving party - a bunch of us are going out to a commune near the sea, so we'll stuff ourselves silly and have a good time before Colette and Laura leave in the morning. I'm planning to stay here til tuesday :- I've received a call from John and Jean (my grandmothers old beau and his wife), so I've promised to visit them in Orewa on tuesday. Soo, I'm going aaall the way back to Auckland... at least the bus is cheap.

I am getting very jealous of the people with cars. Most people wwoofing own one (as many of the placements are very isolated), and being stuck out here makes them seem more and more appealing. A campervan has come up for sale for $2100 (bout 750 pounds) and I am sooo tempted. It would be amazing to zoom around to all the little places I can't get to by bus... plus I'll save money on accomodation as I can sleep in the van. Well, we'll see...

It'll probably be a few days before I write again - the 'town' of Colville has only 1 shop and 1 pub so, as you can imagine, internet cafe facilities aren't so great. I'll just hitch a lift with the next lovely person with a car to go to Coromandel!

Day 166 - Auckland

Back in Auckland again, and back in the city garden lodge (though no stripping, some crotchety old lady has nabbed my job in my absence). Talking of the lodge, here is a pic of the snooty hostel cat, Dude, who I found grooming himself sitting down. I laughted hysterically for about half an hour whilst he just glared back at me (rather cross-eyed and evilly).

Since coming back I've turned into a remarkable skin flint; having to hand over $20 for each nights accomodation (up to now everything has been free) is too painful to bear - so I've decided to once again leave the city of sails. I've been sitting in an internet cafe in the city centre for about 2 hours now, pigging my way through a bag of nuts and getting my plans sorted. After revisiting the nakedbus website I realise I have underestimated it's pure greatness. It's bit like Ryanair for buses:- if I book early enough I can get anywhere for a mere dollar (about $2.80 after fees and texting charges). I book online, they send me a text, and I just show it to the driver when I hop on the bus!

So, I've booked a ticket to Whitianga (near Coromandel) for tomorrow. 4 hour trip for less than a pound - not bad at all. When I'm there I'll work on a farm in Whitianga for a week or so, maybe visit Cathedral Cove and Mercury Bay, then go across to Coromandel to the Mahamudra Buddhist retreat (ooommm). Then maybe south along the coast to Tauranga and carry on from there...
Below is the route I just scribbled - this is pretty much the plan for the north, but you know me - the plans never stay the same for long!

Day 165 - Onerahi

My last day at David and Lyndsy's farm today - I catch the bus back to Auckland tomorrow. I'm definately going to miss my big bedroom and balcony, and being cooked excellent food every evening (if this is what all wwoofing is like, I'm definately a fan).

Apart from becoming an expert grass-puller and wood-chipper, I've also learned some good cooking tips from Lyndsay (who is Chinese): e.g. you can stir fry lettuce (tastes good), pumpkin leaves and stems can be dumped in the wok too, and you can make authentic sweet and sour sauce using only soy sauce, rice vinegar and sugar. Also learned some interesting things about diet and health whilst reading my way through David's literature: What Doctors Don't Tell You is the most memorable read (thay have a website) - some of the information is really quite scary.

I've now started flicking through my wwoof booklet to find my next location... exciting!

Below are some pictures from my balcony:

Sunset


During the day (the piddly trees are the mandarin orchard that we later mulched, and the lake behind is great for swimming)

Day 162 - Onerahi

Today the orchard mulching was finally finished (hurrah, no more woodchipping) and in the afternoon we went to a local beach and I managed to swim in the sea (blinkin freezing) and burn a nice red stripe across my back where I missed applying suncream. Don't know what my jobs for tomorrow wil be, probably fruit picking (pick one, scoff one, pick one, scoff one).

Think I may have to chill out in Whangerai for a few days before working on another farm, not having lots of people around to socialise with is driving me stir-crazy (resorting to long ramblings on my blog to reconnect with outside world).

Day 161 - Onerahi

Boy, just finished my second day of work and I'm bushed. It's not like I even have to do that much - it's just so hot!

I've already got into a routine: I get up about 8am ish, and have breakfast and a cup of coffee. Then I sit about reading and relaxing before starting work about 9.30 - at which time I put on ear protectors, goggles and gloves and tramp down to the tractor where a huuuge pile of branches awaits. For 2 hours I feed the branches into the woodchipper until my tshirt is soaked in sweat, I have permenant goggle marks and my arms are numb from pushing stubborn logs in as they shake and vibrate about. And the pile doesn't get smaller as David keeps chainsawing new bits off the tree and dragging them up to me. We stop at about 11 for a tea/water break and chill out till I feel human again. Then we go back out again for more woodchipping, or to lay cardboard and newspaper round the baby orange trees before piling the mulch (woodchips) on top. The theory being that the nasty crawling grass underneath (horrible stuff, not like the grass we have in England) will die out and the baby trees will have a chance to grow. Hmm, lets hope it works; woodchipping is bloody hard work, 'specially in this heat!

Anyway, we break about 1 for lunch and sit around reading and recovering. Then I go upstairs and have a quick shower (woodships in hair, woodchips in clothes, woodchips bloody everywhere) before collapsing on my lovely bed and promptly falling asleep. Meanwhile David goes back out for a few more hours work (don't know how he does it - practice I guess). I wake up about 5 and go downstairs, pretending I don't feel knackered and haven't just slept for 2 hours, then laze around till dinner or go down to the lake for a swim. My host makes the dinner (I do offer to help ok?) then we watch t.v. or read more and I go back upstairs and collapse asleep again about 9 (pathetic).

So, all in all I'm having a good, if somewhat knackering and slightly cut-off, time. Food is great (nectarines never tasted as good as they do picked off a tree in the middle of a hot day) and I think this week will go quickly (and I'm not spending any money - yeah!). I think I will do another week somewhere up north before heading back to Auckland. Maybe somewhere near 90-mile beach.

Day 159 - A farm, Onerai

I'm here! I managed to catch my bus ok in the end.
Last night I stayed at a lovely hostel in Whangerai (called Bunktown lodge, highly recommended). This morning David, the owner of the place I will work, picked me up and drove me out to Onerai, where the farm is located. It's a small place really, run by David and his partner Lyndsey (who I haven't met yet, but seemed lovely over the phone).

This afternoon David showed me around the house, and then we drove down to visit a neighbour, Mike, to help him out with his irrigation. I say help; Mike, David and another neighbour (some funny old American guy with lots of facial hair) spent about an hour trying unsuccessfully to fit the bits of plastic together whilst scratching their heads and saying things like "dunno mate, dimn company sint us the wrong beets". Meanwhile Mike's young daughter and me scrambled over the fence to pick ripe peaches and scoff them down (well, it was listed as one of the required tasks!).

This evening we ate a v. healthy meal and chatted away about this and that. Turns out that David used to work in IT, and actually worked in Milton Keynes for 9 months on a contract (not EDS though, that would be really wierd). Funnily enough, he used to catch the 33 bus to N'pton on the odd Saturday to go shopping, and I pointed out that he had therefore driven right past our house several few times. It's a small world! He was addicted to Grand Designs when in the uk, and his house is like a grand design project itself - still in progress but very swish, and overlooking the bay and forested hills. I've got my own room, with it's own lovely terrace that I can sit on and watch the sun set behind the sea. Will put photos on to make you all jealous as soon as I get round to taking them.

Anyway, just watched Midsummer Murders and I'm now going to go to bed. Tomorrow I will be feeding the woodchipper and mulching some fruit trees. Also keeping my eye out for some wholesome kiwi farmer's sons, though our neighbours are so far off I don't think I should raise my hopes.

Day 158 - Auckland (not for much longer)

Another week gone, time flies when you are having fun!

This week has been much like the last; stripping beds and cleaning in the morning and job hunting, sightseeing and hanging around with guys at the hostel in the afternoon.

Yesterday I decided that I was sick of doing the above when I had a whole great country to explore, so I contacted a few farms in Whangerai (place up in the north) to see if I can help out for a week. One in Onerahi came back quickly, so that's where I'm going (pic below). Apparently my duties will include weeding, feeding a tractor powered mulcher, harvesting in-season fruit, general orchard maintenance, eating macadamias & fruit. I'm liking the sound of the last one!

After I work for a week or so (depending on how I like it) I'm going to do some exploring round the North bit; tramping through forests, quad biking down 90-mile beach, sea kayaking - it all sounds good.

Unfortunately the plans have already had a bit of a, urm, hiccup. I was meant to catch a 1.30 bus to Whangerai today, but unfortunately lingered too long over lunch, completely lost track of time, and totally missed it. Durr, I never change :-). Anyway, I'm going to catch a later bus at 6pm, which gets in after 8. What a palaver!

Day 151 - Auckland

Wow, I've finally got round to writing an entry (prepare to be bored - not much is happening, really).

I'm still staying in the City Lodge hostel, and am the hostel stripper. No, that doesn't mean I stand on the table in the kitchen and take my clothes off, I just take all the linen off the beds, vacuum, mop, and so on. Thrilling stuff. Still, I get free accommodation in return, so it's all good. In the afternoons I catch the link bus ($1.60 gets you anywhere) and ride round Auckland, opening bank/library accounts, posting stuff and generally getting sorted in NZ. Finally, in the evenings I hang around with Flo (German skater boy) and Bryony (Ipswich lass) watching dvd's, drinking tea, and generally trying to have a good time without spending too much money.

What to do next... I'm torn between a) staying in Auckland, working for a few months to earn some cash, then travelling round NZ or b) heading off soon, but travelling slower, and working in hostels/farms as I go. Hum, what do you think?
Anyway, think I'll be in Auckland for a little while longer as I'm liking it and also have a few people to visit. Those being my Gran's first beau, and a friends godparents - random, but all seem nice, I just have to get round to contacting them.

Um, really nothing more to report. Will try to remember to take some random pictures of the hostel/my friends etc.