Exploring the Land of the Long White Cloud

Dec. 28/10 6:38pm We are now down in Christchurch where more earthquakes rocked the city on Boxing Day and damaged buildings that had made it through so far. Last night we decided to go fishing on our last night at Kd and Max's place. It was a sunny day with few clouds and we drove about 30 minutes north to find the wind just howling. To get to this fishing spot you have to 4x4 in through a now-clearcut forest area and across some train tracks. We might have been able to drive right down onto the beach but we got to a spot that was looking pretty iffy so we parked and walked across the rocky river banks to the ocean. The sand was whipping up and stinging our skin and the wind was not quitting. You could see a rain squall working it's way down from the mountains. Kd, Max and Dustin only got a few casts before losing their lures! The wind was phenomenal so we ended up leaving pretty quickly. I don't think anyone would think fishing in what must have been 80km winds We did

Dec. 27/10 5:13pm Our current WWOOFing stay is coming to an end tomorrow. After the ferry docked on the 20th, we drove for about 30 minutes in the dark to a campground that's managed by the Department of Conservation. We drove past it first and then realized it was probably what we were looking for. It was a warm night and the site is just over a dune from the beach so we eventually worked out where to set the tent up and probably didn't get to sleep before midnight. During the night a rain squall moved in so we woke to a pouring! After a carefully planned pack-up, we drove into the town of Blenheim to eat breakfast in a covered car park. A couple hours down the coast we got to Kaikoura and found our way to the Circle K Ranch and our hosts Max and Kd. The first day we started clearing out this creek that runs through their property. The watercress and other grass had grown across so thick that you have to saw the edges and then pick up the rafts of roots with a rake. So a c

Dec. 19/11 9:31am Since we left our WWOOFing stop we've had 3 nights of camping in the rain. It's supposed to be summer! We enjoyed the other couple days on the farm and continued working on the house truck as well as adding wooden battens to a wire fence for support. Then Dustin did a couple odd jobs like digging a hole for a fence post (it had to be about two feet deep) and pulling out these metal bars that were to be used in fencing. Things that Laureen can do but if she has some younger muscle around she asks because it goes much quicker. I even noticed that her and I were putting battens in the fence slower than when Dustin and I were putting them in. Just simply because he's stronger than us! We got to know her horse Shay and would go over and brush it. She liked us and whenever we tried to leave the enclosure after brushing her she would stand right in our way or block the fence haha. I've never really been close to horses except on a few trail rides where t

Using the ute to work on the house truck! Shadow Our room in the upstairs part of the house. The cat on the bed has worked out that I'm the cat lover!

Dec 13/10 9:00pm We have spent our first day at our first WWOOFing farm. But to back up a little... On Friday we were heading south by about 11am or so after a glowing response from our landlord to how clean we left the flat. With a Ned Kelly pie (baked beans, steak mince, an egg with a grilled cheese top) from the best pie shop in New Plymouth, we took the inland route which gave us some other vistas of the mountain. The sun was out and within a couple hours we had arrived at the Castlecliff Holiday Park in Wanganui. We had visited this city a couple years ago and to our delight we found that this holiday park was right across the street from this awesome playground we stopped at on our previous visit. So after setting up camp we played on the massive flying fox and this sort of merry go round tree-shaped thing. The wind had kicked up earlier in the day so the surf was blown out completely. I was surprised that our tent didn't get picked up in the gusts. Must have been Dustin

Wanganui, what what! Santa Kiwi in Foxton

Our New Plymouth time is winding down with only more more night at our flat before we are gypsy travelers again. I had a great last day at work! I even had the same woman I was training help the last two days which worked out really well. Yesterday they had the kitchen make up some food and we had a morning tea send off. There were scones with tomato slices on them, banana cake with chocolate icing, little rolled up asparagus sandwiches and some different mini meat pies! A feast indeed! Plus I got to sit and enjoy it for like an hour because my supervisor came in to help the coworker I was training! Woo! On top of that they got me flowers and gave me a pretty jewelry box as well as a jeweled letter opener - they kept saying I was a gem. Then two of the ladies ambushed me while I was about to drive the serving dishes back to the main kitchen and covered me with baby powder! At first I was just laughing and then they were even dumping it down the back of my shirt so I had to get out of t

So we spent out last weekend in Taranaki this past weekend. Well last for the time being, who knows if we come back or not! We did end up meeting up with the couchsurfers who had sent a request. It turns out that they hitchhiked into town and the driver offered them his apartment for the night. He was staying with his girlfriend so he let them stay at his place! But the next day I drove them up to Mt. Taranaki so they could do an overnight hike. They came back to our place on Saturday afternoon so we had dinner and then took them down to a nice beach for sunset and a walk. It was nice to have other company and since they had lived in Vancouver for a little while there was more familiar things we had in common too. They are here for a few months yet so we might try to catch up on the South Island so that Dustin can maybe overnight hike with them. I might just babysit the extra bags somewhere nearby haha. I worked Saturday and Sunday but had a helped on Saturday so that was great! I

The countdown is on to when the real trip begins! Although settling right away did serve a very good purpose and got us funded for the next stretch, we are ready for more excitement! Dustin got to start his fun yesterday at his work Christmas party. They got to cut out early and go golfing and then had a BBQ at the golf course before heading to the pub. I picked him up around 7pm - minus his thongs - and when we got home he promptly went to bed. Turns out his ailing thongs from Australia a couple years ago finally gave way on the second tee box. But seeing barefeet here is pretty common. In stores and the library you see it so I'm sure the golf course and pub were no different. We finally realized that since we have a spare room we should have it open to couchsurfers so we changed our profile last week and have a request from some Vancouverites! They are arriving tonight and Dustin has the phone today so I'm not sure if we'll be able to get back to them before they make