Time flies by....

Time flies when you're having fun. Kate and I have been busy... ish. We finished up our stay at the Sheep Farm on Tuesday. We were sad to say goodbye. We had been spoiled by their friendliness... and Dene's cooking. Molly was chipper and Mollyish, she will be missed.

Kate and I had the morning in Aukland to run some errands with varying degrees of success (more to come on that later) before catching our bus at 1. This time we managed to make it onto the bus... which is good, because otherwise we would have been out 40 dollars.

Our bus driver saw himself as a bit of a tour guide. So there was no sleeping on this journey. We heard all about the various bees of New Zealand... and also had some cool sites pointed out to us. I did see the river (or at least the embankment of the river) where the Swindell twins train. So I guess I was close to greatnes

Our new host is the mother of David, who is a friend of Dene. Her name is Adele, and she is fantastic. She has one of the fattest cats I have ever met, named Tui because he sorta kinda looks like a Tui (a black bird with a giant white tuff on its neck). For a fat cat, he certainly can move, and gives the birds a run for their money. He also is extremely talented at purr therapy and begging for food.

Adele lives on Lake Tarawera, just outside of Rotorua. Lake Tarawera abuts the infamous Mount Tarawera. This mountain is home to the 8th Wonder of the World, the Pink and White Terraces. Unfortnately, we could not see the 8th wonder, because in 1886 Mount Tarawera decided to become undormant and erupt. This eruption burried the terraces, famed for their beauty and hot pools as well as some towns.

An excavation was underway on our side of the lake. The site is known as the Buried Village. It has a museum, as well as excavations for tourists to walk through. The history was quite interesting and it was good to read the stories of heroism from that night. Although, the highlight of the walk through time was the reprinted letters.

They were all written by Margaret to various family and friends. She had visited the village and terraces on her honeymoon. The entirety of her visit was before the eruption. However, she felt compelled to write to every family member and estranged friend to describe in an eerily chipper voice the devastation of the night. She was quite obsessed with the trajedy and wanted to share her distant connection to it with everyone, by writing about the village before the eruption. Kate and I both found her letters amazingly uninformative. But we enjoyed the excavations, the trout, and the waterfall!!

During an aftern00n trip to Rotorua we also got to check out some of the famous thermal activity that leaves the entire region smelling like sulfur. There was a free thermal park that sported an amazing jungle gym with rope volcanos to climb! After descending from the volcano tops, we got to check out some boiling mud. We took a moment to relax while reading our books and soaking our feet in a hot pool. Our feet were quite toasty... and smelled of sulfur. We also saw random steaming rocks and bodies of water with an abundance of steam. Considering how hot our pools were, with no steam, I can only imagine what the temperature of the fenced off pools were.

On Sunday we were sad to leave Adele. She was a great host and a lot of fun. Plus, her home has the most amazing view!

We are now in Taupo, staying at the Tuahara retreat. There are many other WWOOFers here. The count today is 1 Kiwi (but he pretty much works here), 3 french boys, 2 german teenagers, and 1 German architect. All in all a fun group. We played the role of house keepers this morning, and I'm not really sure how many beds I made.

We'll see what the rest of the week has in store for us!

Overheard on the Farm

Sharon: Why is it so hot out?
Kate: Who are you talking to? Me or you?
Sharon: Life
Pause
Sharon: If you would like to participate in this dialogue on the part of life, you are more than welcome to.

While trying to log onto the computer to record this interaction...

Sharon: KATE, I need your face!

Back outside....


Sheep: Mehhh (that's right they don't just baaa)
Kate and Sharon: Mehhh!
Kate: Did we both just answer the sheep?

Think of all of the CO words you can and you will have the most entertaining game of Contact ever. These two letters are the only explanation I have for why there was an obscene amount of laughter and Kate wound up on the ground.

Who would use concrete, a cocoon, and a corpse for protection?

Son can you play me a memory?

This weekend we took our first vacation from farm life. Who wouldn't after just 2 days?

Our hosts had some business to do in the lovely beach town of Tauranga, southwest of Auckland and invited us a long to see the sites. Who could turn that down?

After enjoying a relaxed breakfast and some sky diving videos (Dene is a competitive jumper) we started our journey mid morning and enjoyed a lovely drive through the North Island countryside to the Bay of Plenty. Along with great stories about the towns and country that we were passing through, Katrina and Dene had a surprise for us in Paeroa. This town is very special, and the Kiwis have bottled in magic in L&P 0r Lemon and Paeroa. A delicious fizzy drink that is like lemon and ginger ale but better. So good in fact, that it is "World Famous in New Zealand"

After the long drive, we were happy to get to our hotel and Tauranga and enjoy a cuppa tea before our afternoon adventures. Dene and Katrina had business to attend to so Kate and I were on our own to create an adventure.

First things first - we found lunch! Where we immediately took to having another L&P. Of course, the soda machine was not doing it's job right, and instead of a delicious taste of heaven, we got seltzer water with what may have been a taste of lemon. But we didn't let that ruin our day.

Katrina and Dene had told us the thing to do was walk around Mount Maunganui. So we headed in the direction of the hill.

After some misdirection (during which I may or may not have mistaken a tree for our mountain... what can I say, it was a small mountain). We found our way to the summit trail and began our stroll to the top. The views were breathtaking all along the way and we were teased by the sight of paragliders on uplifts from the other side of the mountain.

There were interesting people the whole way up, some who cared to share some interesting advice. Be forewarned: if Putin pushes the button, flee to the southern hemisphere (of course, there are several other events that lead to the button, not to be divulged here). We also found the world's worst lookout with the world's best bench. And best of all, we found the launch site for the paragliders!

The walk down proved far more interesting than the walk up. We decide to take the "steep" path. The drops between the "steps" provided quite a beating for the knees.

After the walk we headed back to the hotel, where we met up with Katrina and Dene, and enjoyed another cuppa tea! (Who can resist?) And got sucked into watching two movies. We were smart and tore ourselves from the tv before another came on!

We had dinner at a small restaurant in Tauranga. Kate and I were both daring enough to try the green mouthed muscles. The shells were quite pretty (they were green)! Then the real treat, brick fired pizza, yummy!

Then the Kiwis were in for a real treat. We went to meet a friend of Dene and Katrina. Angie is phenomenal at Karaoke. On the other hand, Kate and I performed what had to be the most terrifically off key performance of Piano Man. But the dancing and dramatizations where phenomenal. Our groupies - Angie and Laura (the real stars of the evening) - helped to make it the one of the most fun and hilarious moments in Karaoke history.

To our disappointment, Dene and Katrina went back on their promise. Neither one of them entertained us with their vocal stylings!



We had an early morning so we could check out an awesome organic farmers' market before spending the afternoon working on the farm.



Along the way home I saw at least 30 cyclists enjoying one of the most fun looking roads I have ever seen. If you think steep grades and sharp curves are fun. I was jealous of all of them! Hopefully one of our hosts will be a cyclists who happens to have road bike small enough for me!

Back on the horse... or the bike as it may be!

Kate and I enjoyed a delightful day off today. We took full advantage of the time to relax... sort of.

We took our time heading out this morning, waking up a little bit later... 6:15. After enjoying a relaxed breakfast we decided to let it warm up a bit before we headed out.

Our hosts had recommended checking out the thermal pools in Parakai. We had a lovely hand drawn map to provide directions and a VIP card so we could save a little money. With all of these treasures, as well as phone cards and phone numbers, we were prepared for another adventure!

We made our way to the wood shed for our bikes. There was quite an array of bikes to choose from. You had the half scooter, half skateboard, half bicycle pint size for a full 1 and a 1/2 bike. There was the chopper (that's right, the fake motorocycle). And then there were the more traditional bikes. Kate and I opted for the traditional bikes. After careful inspection, we chose the two that most looked like we would fit and least looked like their chain would rust off with the first crank.

Brushing aside the copwebs and dusting the seats, we prepared to take on the sheep in the driveway. We set out. Stopped. And switched bikes. Then, we set out for real. After spending my summer on a tire that was 23mm the 4 inch tire was slightly intimidating. Rusty though it was, the chain did take to cranking and shifting quite nicely. I couldn't get into my smallest chain ring, but I figured it was no big deal. Katrina and Dene had indicated that we were in for a pleasant ride to the park. Of course, pleasant might have meant interesting and interesting might have meant grueling.

The gravel road promised to be an adventure all on it's own. And the map failed to show the GIANT hill that Kate and I should have remembered from our drive to the farm. But forgive us our lapse in memory, it was dark, we had been traveling for far more than 30 hours at that point, and had just spent and hour and a half standing in a train station then traipsing up and down a hill to find said drive.

Suddenly, it seemed no small matter that the chain was rejecting the smallest chain ring. But obviously, my entire summer was meant to prepare me for this moment. So I conquered that giant of a hill. I'm fairly certain that the grade in some places surpassed any that I saw this past summer. Amazed that we survived to see the top, we took a well deserved water break. OF course, our excuse was the gorgeous scenery. It was just lovely and I know I only took a break so I could document the beauty...

Then we started the downhill. The scenery proved to be more beautiful on this side of the hill. OF course, the slope also proved to be far more steep. We were already weary of the return journey. The steep grades and sharp turns had me holding my breaks and left me delirious with delight when we reached the pave road.

When we arrived at the pools, I learned that I needn't of squeezed my brakes quite so hard. As soon as we were away from the traffic, I heard it. The brakes were rubbing. Obviously this explained why I was riding so slow, not that I was out of shape! I could stop blaming the fat tires and the tiny frame. I tried to adjust the brakes, but to no avail, since I was not carrying my handy dandy multi tool. If anything I think I made them worse. I certainly noticed the rubbing far more on the way back home.

The Aquatic Park proved to be an enjoyable side adventure. It had pools, "spas," and slides all filled by the thermal springs. The pool was enjoyable. But the best part was when we ventured into the spas. These were private rooms made available to us for free by the ever lovely VIP card. In there we were delighted to find a hot top filled with jets for creating a bubbly wonder. I'm amazed that we ever left.

The ride back did prove more interesting. The hill was definitely steeper on this side. When I started to get legitimately frightened that I was going to fall backwards (I'm not kidding, it was so steep that I really feared plopping backwards on several occasions, and I swear I saw my front tire leave the ground...) I decided it was time to ditch my pride and walk a hill. Besides, there were lots of cute little lambs and beautiful country to gaze upon! So I admit it, I walked up the hill and thoroughly enjoyed myself!

The ride down was also far more enjoyable. I was more comfortable on the behemoth of a bike and did squeeze the brakes... at least not the entire way.

Back at the farm we enjoyed a late lunch with our host Dene. We had been looking forward to lunch time all day, because lunch meant delicious left overs from dinner! During lunch we learned another secret. Dene isn't just any ole cool. We are important enough to have our meals prepared for us by someone who used to cook for the Prime Minister (he insists that it was way back when). That's right. Kate and I are as important as the Prime Minister. Bet you didn't know that.

After a low key afternoon (Even Molly was calm!), we enjoyed help from Katrina and Dene to plan the rest of our trip. They informed us of the must see areas, and had a couple of contacts so we could get some host stays planned. Pretty fantastic.

Tomorrow, we're going to Tauranga for a short side adventure with our hosts. Then back to the farm to work our butts off Sunday afternoon and all day Monday. On Tuesday we head south to Rotorua!

Hi! I'm special!

I made it across one country, so obviously, it's time to head to a new country. America just wasn't big enough for me.

Kate and I have arrived in New Zealand. With only a few hiccups!

The fun part was customs. The fruit sniffing dog had a strange fascination with my bags. Which as far as I know, have never contained fruit. But he spent quite sometime with them and they were searched. But they let me into the country anyway... or at least let me go to the questioning booths. Where we had to declare our "tramping" gear. That's right. We are no longer hiking, we are tramping! Love it!

We got to take the fun route through customs. Most people just get their bags x-rayed to prove that they have no fruit or contraband. We got to go to the special line, with the special room, and the special tables for unpacking our bags. Our shoes passed inspection but the tent had to go to the decontamination chamber (they do that with all tents, not just ours). So while we waited for it to be de-Americanized (after digging it from the VERY bottom of my bag) we went to get x-rayed and moneyed.

We picked up the tent and would you believe it, they only did the fun part! They pulled out the poles and pulled out the tent, but didn't put anything back! And even worse, I had bubble wrap around the poles to protect them on the plane. The bubble wrap was left in the bottom of the pole bag for me to wrestle out!

We spent the morning in Aukland before heading to our first farm. After walking around, hanging around in Alberta Park, and getting lunch, we decided to sit at the bus stop to catch our ride to Helensville. A logical thing to do when you plan on taking a bus. But we sat and sat and sat and asked people for help, but our bus never came! Finally, I abandoned our post to go ask information in the travel center... yup, our bus stop had been moved and they hadn't updated any of the time tables! The only indication of the change was a small sign at the bus stop that read "Richies West Aukland buses moved to..." Which was good if you knew you were taking a bus run by Richies. Of course, we only knew the bus number.

So then we hung out by the harbor and waited the two hours for the next bus. It proved to be a pleasant afternoon, with a nice warm sun. We marveled at the skill of the ferry driver as he turned and backed up in a very small area.

Second times a charm and we successfully caught the bus to the train station in Helensville, where we waited for Katrina to pick us up. Of course, a little bit of miscomunication left us standing there entertaining ourselves for quite some time. Then walking up and down a hill in order to use the only payphone in the town. And payphones in NZ are weird. They don't take money or regular old phone cards. You need a special calling card with a chip to put into the phone. (We had a lot of fun figuring that out in Aukland and when we had no more money on our card in Helensville).

But we survived the rain that started while we waited and got into a nice warm car for our first host stay! At the farm, we were immeditaly greated by sheep! Yay sheep farm! They were all over the driveway. Inside the house was even better! Comfortable beds and a delicious dinner. Turns out we're staying with a real chef! We'll have to remember to check cooking qualifications from now on, because we have officially been spoiled.

Aroung 7:15 we excused ourselves because, let's face it, it was bed time! We took sometime to attempt to write in our journals, but we were out by 8!

Thursday began the working. When you're WWOOFing you can work a 4 hour morning and have the afternoon off or work and 8 hour day and have the whole day off. We opted to start off wth the 8 hour day. We figured it was the best way to force our bodies to acclimate to the time.

Our first official job, clearing all the wood and stacking the good stuff in the woodshed and the rest was neatly sorted into a brush pile. Clearing the "brush" proved to be the most fun... because that meant we got to use the clippers! And unleash our destructive powers on the tree! We were joined in our endeavours by a 3 month old puppy by the name of Molly. She is a very happy puppy. Although, we have learned we need to keep her away from the chickens. Apparently, a playful interaction did not end well for one of the chicks. So everytime we saw the chicks we counted to make sure there were still 6!

Best part of working on a farm in New Zealand? Other than the awesome scenery and sheep? TEA BREAKS! And frequent, random downpours that yield great rainbows!

At the end of the day we got to help herd the sheep back into the fenced area. And by herd. I mean we stood by the gate and looked scary. But apparently all people look scary...

Since we worked 8 hours yesterday, today is a day off which we will enjoy by riding bikes to the hot pools! Which apparently have slides!

Sarkisstic - What Kate is when she comments on things I say and do. It's a sarcastic kiss up.