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 they are so into the routine that you don't really have to do anything. So it was neat to recognize that they have personalities just like dogs and she would follow you around when you walked around her enclosure too. Dustin also found this spot on her back that when you scratch it makes her put her head down and shake her lips - like when you scratch a dog's tummy and its leg moves.
So on Thursday afternoon we started out south and it was a bit gray out but we set up camp in a town that I can't pronounce. I think there was about 20 mm of rain that night and unfortunately it saturated the ground under our tent so it was even getting wet under us. We packed up and continued south towards Wellington and ended up booking into a campsite that is about 30 minutes northeast of Wellington called Upper Hutt. It got a bit drier out so we decided to keep camping. We tried to set up our tarp but most campsites are just grassy areas with trees around the outside so we couldn't get more than 2 points to string it up to and it wasn't big enough to make a lean-to over the tent either. At least they have common areas at the holiday parks that you can sit in. But this park isn't as great as others that usually have a lounge area as well as a kitchen, here it's just a small kitchen to play both roles. We went for a walk in this gorgeous regional park about 12 kms from here. Not that we would notice but some of Lord of the Rings was filmed in that park. I remember once at work I mentioned that I hadn't seen the movies and was met with a look of "what planet are you from?" So, we're some of the only people here that haven't seen them haha. Still, the park was lovely whether or not we recognized it from a movie.
On Saturday it got nicer out and we spent the day in Wellington. It was awesome, we parked right down on the waterfront for $5 for the whole day! I definitely expected it to be more in a big city but they make it less on weekends there. We had been thinking about taking a bus and the train into the city but the total of that was going to be like $12 each or something! We walked around the city centre and through this pedestrian mall street where different performers were set up. There were also all these different markets going on. A regular farmers/artsy market and then a bunch of different bars had their space open for random markets too. We walked over to this waterfront area with a little beach and basked in the sun a little. We ended up finding this Mexican place for lunch which was heaven because we haven't had proper Mexican food in ages (it's just not the same to make it yourself.) Then, after getting the most delicious coffee ever (a Cubano which was a long black with condensed milk) we went to the museum, Te Papa. I knew it was large and quite good but we spent at least 3 hours there and still didn't get to all 6 levels. There was lots of different sections and this colossal squid too! We're hoping to get back there on Monday as we have the day to spend before our ferry leaves around 6:30pm. We went for a drink and then came back to Upper Hutt for a pizza dinner. So nice not to have to do dishes and lug everything to the kitchen block. Yep, 3 nights of camping seems to be the rough limit for me. Tonight we've booked a little bunk cabin so that we can be inside as it's supposed to get rainy again - and has already started raining.
We might try to find something indoor to do today - there's a big wave pool here, we saw a climbing gym in the next city over and failing those we might just wander the mall - although we are forgetting that it might be Christmas madness there. We do need a new frying pan we reckon. We have been trying to send out some email requests for our mid-January WWOOFing plans so we'll work on that. It's quite a process - reading the listings, deciding which ones appeal to you, then the other person has to go through it, and then we have to look at the ones we both like and decide who to contact first and then check their web profiles out and then send a message after we've sorted out what dates might work.
Yesterday we were noting that it was Dec 18th and we hadn't been Christmas shopping! Yay! (We set a small limit for gifts for each other so it meant one stop pretty much.) So nice not to be running around from mall to mall amongst the craziness. I was trying to brainstorm how we keep it going next year and maybe we can work out a date we spend with our families in early December and make really nice food or go out somewhere rather than do all the gift things. Or even pull names out of a hat and each just get one person a gift. It's just not the same without Santa or any young kids who believe in Santa haha. Maybe we'll just do our Christmas shopping online if nobody goes for the no-gifts idea. They certainly don't go quite as nuts this time of year as they do at home. Not everyone puts up a tree and the stores aren't even quite so bad with their advertising. Sure there's some of course. Most people do a Christmas lunch with their families like they do in Australia. We've been noticing that people's work Christmas parties are a lot lighter than the fancier dues at home - last night in the city we must have seen 3 or 4 groups dressed up in costumes for their work parties. And the couple we couchsurfed with in New Plymouth had a costume party for one of their workplaces too. Sounds like fun!
Wellington was definitely a bit better this time around than the rainy night we spent in 2008, and we'll be coming back through when we take the ferry back up to the North Island. Not sure if we'll stay very long then though. I think there's about 350,000 people in the city and there's certainly lots going on in the city but other than walking around, shopping and eating we found there weren't heaps of other things to do. I think there's a zoo and this Zealandia place but especially with the farmstays, we'll likely skip the wildlife parks here because many of them just have sheep and other animals we'll be seeing lots of.
Well, the rain has slowed so I should move out from the kitchen and help Dustin get stuff set up in our little cabin! Sweet sweet shelter.
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 they are so into the routine that you don't really have to do anything. So it was neat to recognize that they have personalities just like dogs and she would follow you around when you walked around her enclosure too. Dustin also found this spot on her back that when you scratch it makes her put her head down and shake her lips - like when you scratch a dog's tummy and its leg moves.
So on Thursday afternoon we started out south and it was a bit gray out but we set up camp in a town that I can't pronounce. I think there was about 20 mm of rain that night and unfortunately it saturated the ground under our tent so it was even getting wet under us. We packed up and continued south towards Wellington and ended up booking into a campsite that is about 30 minutes northeast of Wellington called Upper Hutt. It got a bit drier out so we decided to keep camping. We tried to set up our tarp but most campsites are just grassy areas with trees around the outside so we couldn't get more than 2 points to string it up to and it wasn't big enough to make a lean-to over the tent either. At least they have common areas at the holiday parks that you can sit in. But this park isn't as great as others that usually have a lounge area as well as a kitchen, here it's just a small kitchen to play both roles. We went for a walk in this gorgeous regional park about 12 kms from here. Not that we would notice but some of Lord of the Rings was filmed in that park. I remember once at work I mentioned that I hadn't seen the movies and was met with a look of "what planet are you from?" So, we're some of the only people here that haven't seen them haha. Still, the park was lovely whether or not we recognized it from a movie.
On Saturday it got nicer out and we spent the day in Wellington. It was awesome, we parked right down on the waterfront for $5 for the whole day! I definitely expected it to be more in a big city but they make it less on weekends there. We had been thinking about taking a bus and the train into the city but the total of that was going to be like $12 each or something! We walked around the city centre and through this pedestrian mall street where different performers were set up. There were also all these different markets going on. A regular farmers/artsy market and then a bunch of different bars had their space open for random markets too. We walked over to this waterfront area with a little beach and basked in the sun a little. We ended up finding this Mexican place for lunch which was heaven because we haven't had proper Mexican food in ages (it's just not the same to make it yourself.) Then, after getting the most delicious coffee ever (a Cubano which was a long black with condensed milk) we went to the museum, Te Papa. I knew it was large and quite good but we spent at least 3 hours there and still didn't get to all 6 levels. There was lots of different sections and this colossal squid too! We're hoping to get back there on Monday as we have the day to spend before our ferry leaves around 6:30pm. We went for a drink and then came back to Upper Hutt for a pizza dinner. So nice not to have to do dishes and lug everything to the kitchen block. Yep, 3 nights of camping seems to be the rough limit for me. Tonight we've booked a little bunk cabin so that we can be inside as it's supposed to get rainy again - and has already started raining.
We might try to find something indoor to do today - there's a big wave pool here, we saw a climbing gym in the next city over and failing those we might just wander the mall - although we are forgetting that it might be Christmas madness there. We do need a new frying pan we reckon. We have been trying to send out some email requests for our mid-January WWOOFing plans so we'll work on that. It's quite a process - reading the listings, deciding which ones appeal to you, then the other person has to go through it, and then we have to look at the ones we both like and decide who to contact first and then check their web profiles out and then send a message after we've sorted out what dates might work.
Yesterday we were noting that it was Dec 18th and we hadn't been Christmas shopping! Yay! (We set a small limit for gifts for each other so it meant one stop pretty much.) So nice not to be running around from mall to mall amongst the craziness. I was trying to brainstorm how we keep it going next year and maybe we can work out a date we spend with our families in early December and make really nice food or go out somewhere rather than do all the gift things. Or even pull names out of a hat and each just get one person a gift. It's just not the same without Santa or any young kids who believe in Santa haha. Maybe we'll just do our Christmas shopping online if nobody goes for the no-gifts idea. They certainly don't go quite as nuts this time of year as they do at home. Not everyone puts up a tree and the stores aren't even quite so bad with their advertising. Sure there's some of course. Most people do a Christmas lunch with their families like they do in Australia. We've been noticing that people's work Christmas parties are a lot lighter than the fancier dues at home - last night in the city we must have seen 3 or 4 groups dressed up in costumes for their work parties. And the couple we couchsurfed with in New Plymouth had a costume party for one of their workplaces too. Sounds like fun!
Wellington was definitely a bit better this time around than the rainy night we spent in 2008, and we'll be coming back through when we take the ferry back up to the North Island. Not sure if we'll stay very long then though. I think there's about 350,000 people in the city and there's certainly lots going on in the city but other than walking around, shopping and eating we found there weren't heaps of other things to do. I think there's a zoo and this Zealandia place but especially with the farmstays, we'll likely skip the wildlife parks here because many of them just have sheep and other animals we'll be seeing lots of.
Well, the rain has slowed so I should move out from the kitchen and help Dustin get stuff set up in our little cabin! Sweet sweet shelter.
While you are having a little rain, we actually got a little snow although probably more up in the mountains where Tanya is. Christmas just won't be the same without you and I'm up for some change next year.
ReplyDeleteTake good care of each other. N&F Mom