Exploring the Land of the Long White Cloud

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.

Since I didn't have to work this weekend we took off for a little look around. The plan was to go to Hamilton (supposedly a 2.5-3 hour drive) and explore as well as check out Raglan - home to a world famous surf break. By the time we got packed up, turned back to get the pillows we forgot, stop to rearrange the surf rack we were getting to 6pm. So somewhere along the way we decided to go straight to Raglan rather than drive in the next day from Hamilton. So it was nearly 10pm when we got there but we had called ahead to a campground to book a site so we knew we could check in. We set up and went to sleep only to be woken before dawn by the roosters that live onsite! Unfortunately there was not much happening for surf so we drove out to Bridal Veil Falls where there's a 10-15 forest walk to get to the different viewing areas. It was pretty gorgeous. Then we kept driving the country roads to find a spot to stop for lunch. We found a little pull-off overlooking rolling hills whe...

Raglan: one of the longest lefts in the world. But it was not working today. Looking 55m down Bridal Veil Falls near Raglan Camping in Hamilton Statue in Hamilton On the way home through Otorohanga The Sheep Shearer in Te Kuiti

So it's now October and New Plymouth is more and more familiar. We keep making adjustments to our place so we're getting more comfortable there. (Little things like Dustin using his carpentry skills to make the doors and cupboards close properly...) I got a job on Friday. She called in the morning and I went in for an interview which was more of a "this is the job, please take it?" kind of meeting. They have a woman who was injured on the job and hasn't been able to return to full duties yet so they were really happy that I was just looking for something temporary. That way after a couple months she will be getting better and they won't have to employ someone who wants more work than they can offer. So far I've found them to be a great workplace and to be very supportive. I am working in a Retirement Village in a suburb up the highway called Bell Block. It maybe takes about 10 minutes to drive there, a bit more to come home since it's usually busier ...