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...

Fresh off our last full weekend in New Plymouth where one of us doesn't have to work. We made it action packed. Friday we watched that documentary The Cove about the dolphin slaughter that still occurs in Japan. It was pretty brutal and shocking what goes on but the film was very interesting. Highly recommend it and even though I'm squeamish it wasn't too graphic for me. We slept in a bit on Saturday and then drove up to Egmont National Park to try to summit Mt Taranaki. Dustin didn't have luck getting set with a guide earlier because most of them don't do the guiding full time so it's really tough to schedule in and you really want a clear day to make the most of it. The summit trail wasn't completely clear of snow yet but the woman at the visitor centre reckoned you could get up about 4 hours before hitting the snow rather than the 5 hours to the very top. We started out trekking up steep roadways after we got through the trail in the rain forest secti...

The steps before it was just scree It was a little hazy but you can kind of see Paritutu Rock in the left centre of the photo We were just up there!

In no particular order... Scored two Jack Johnson tickets for $100 total! Regularly $92 each. Sunday night baby! And the weather forecast is fine! I don't want to speak too soon and jinx it but I haven't seen or heard our noisy neighbours around for a few days and earlier this week there was a pile of rubbish bags in front of their place. I am tempted to press my face up to the glass to see if its empty but haven't had the guts. There's Coconut Chocolate Ripple Ice Cream in the freezer and it's amazing.

Hmm am I excited to get on the road? Yes. I was going to write yesterday but realized I was just a walking timebomb. I was dealing with the car warrant and the previous night our neighbours decided to stay up late playing music loudly. I called the council to complain and about half an hour later they were quiet. However, I realized at 3:30am when they came crashing home it was only quiet because they probably went out. So I wasn't able to get back to sleep after that. They were still playing music and then of course drama erupted and I hear them outside yelling at each other... who knows. But the whole day I was just so tired and full of frustration. The car is finally finally finally sorted. A $200 lesson later. After the shop didn't have the part on Monday I had rebooked for Thursday. Then at work the guys told Dustin to just take it for a new test at the guy they take theirs to. So I dropped in to ask if he saw an issue with the doors and he said he didn't. So I booked ...

I think we are now only 3 hours time difference from you folks in the Pacific time zone! (Well of course plus a day but really, it makes it easier to try to get in touch via phone being only a few hours off in the time of day.) The rain came in this weekend so we scrapped the camping trip. We went for a day trip down to Opunake and Dustin got out for a surf but the conditions weren't that great. The swell is still tiny and the winds aren't really co-operating. The town is cute. It's about an hour south but it was hard to gauge because this weekend was a big race event so most of the roads were on a temporary 50 kms/hr limit. The race was 160 kms long and called "Race Around the Mountain" or something to that effect. I think most people ran in teams but 15 people were taking it on themselves! I read about 1700 people were entered. But the beach in front of the Opunake holiday park would be lovely in better weather! The holiday park is pretty much on the beach so ...

Over the weekend I worked but we still fit in a few events after my shifts. We checked out the art gallery which has a neat video exhibit on now. The artist taped things like surfing, motorcycling, flying and more so it was kind of neat to see. On Saturday night we took a picnic and met up with a couple friends from couchsurfing to go see the fireworks the city puts on for Guy Fawkes. One of Dustin's workmates played in one of the bands that opened the evening. It was lovely if not a little cold due to a southeasterly coming in! But we kept warm enough and the 15 minute firework display was really cool! Lots of neat ones! Then on Sunday when Dustin picked me up from work we went up to the Whitecliffs Walkway and wandered along the beach there. It's got all these massive cliffs so the scenery was quite stunning. I've been running around this morning trying to find someone to fix the doors on the car. It was in the shop all Thursday and then the mechanic was trying to get...

About 15,000 people attended the fireworks Early in the evening Our walk at Whitecliffs Walkwa Strongest man competition contender We climbed up this rock

Nov 2 8pm The plans for camping last weekend were quashed when I came down with a cold after my shift on Wednesday. So I had to give up my shifts on Thursday and Friday to stay on the couch and drink juice and watch terrible movies. (ie. Wedding Daze - a wholly unfunny romp starring Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher - I think? - and Carrie. I was trying to get into the Halloween mood but couldn't stand more than 15 minutes of this movie it was so bad.) Since we weren't heading out of town Dustin worked on Saturday while I still felt worse than I had the day before. When Dustin got home he wanted to go for a surf so I dragged myself outside to get some sunshine. The swell was the smallest it had been since we've been here I reckon. We had to head to the spot that is always bigger than all the others just to get a 2 foot high wave. I sat on the beach and Dustin got out in the water! The last couple weeks have been warm here and when there is no shade the sun is intense. I took...

Dustin picked up a fishing rod on the weekend thanks to a labour day weekend sale! He dropped me off at work on Saturday and then went to a garage sale and found a tackle box with a bunch of gear for $15 and then he went to Rebel Sport to get a surfcasting rod and reel set for about $50. Then after work on Sunday we went down to the breakwater near the port and tried our luck! Unfortunately we didn't have any! And I got the tackle snagged when I reeled it in so lost a few weights and a hook. Oops. We went out again on Monday (since it's Labour Day, Dustin didn't have to work and I always have Mondays off) to a river mouth near Oakura and didn't have luck there either. But we're working on it. The weather has warmed up and dried out quite a bit so we've been getting lots more sun and have a few less blanket layers on the bed at night. The flat isn't insulated (as most housing in New Zealand) so even if it's about 5 degrees outside it's cold! They ...

How sweet is this going to be!?! I know I'm being a grandma taking pictures of flowers but I just liked these ones we picked on a walk the other night.