I just finished living and working at Fruit vans for 3 weeks and are about to head on to another WWOOFing site. Living with 20+ people in one house has been an interesting experience to say the least. It is always loud and hectic but there is always someone to talk to and things to do. We've been living in Waitakere, a suburb of Auckland, and the Waitakere mountain ranges are only minutes away. I've been on some beautiful hikes in the area and took a camping trip to Piha, a world renowned surfing spot. It was too cold to swim but we went on some amazing hikes overlooking the west coast beaches.
We've made many international friends such as Gaspard, a Frenchman who is going to travel with us. We left yesterday for a 7-10 day road trip up to the Northland and then we will slowly make our way down to Wellington for Halloween. Yesterday we arrived in Waipu, a small town on the east coast of the Northland. We intended to go and see the glow-worm caves in Waipu but took the wrong route and went on a night hike for over an hour. We finally found the right place and the glow-worms were an amazing sight. There were thousands lining the ceiling of the caves and it looked like I was viewing a city from an airplane. Today we headed up the coast and are currently in Paihia in the Bay of Islands. We're going to explore this area and camp around here. Tomorrow is the World's largest Yachting competition so we're going to check it out as well as a food and wine festival.
After our roadtrip we are going to head back up the country to Hamilton, a small city two hours south of Auckland. Our next WWOOFing site is called "Gorilla Huts" and is another spot with 20+ people living in one house. I find myself in the traveler's mindset as I want to move locations every 2-3 weeks. Our car has been great to us so far and I'm excited to take it around the country. I haven't been blogging lately but will try and write more when I can. Also more pics to come!

My address for the next 2-3 weeks (takes about a week for mail to get here).
1A Sherrybrooke Place, Sunnyvale
Waitakere
Auckland Region
NZ


On Monday we bought a car off Trademe, which is the equivalent of ebay here. It's a red Mitsubishi station wagon, although it looks more like a mini van to me. We went on a short road trip after we bought it to the Coromandel Pennisula. We bought a tent and camped out for 2 nights to explore the area. On Tuesday we went to Cathedral Cove, a short touristy hike, and to Hot Water Beach. At the beach we rented a spade from a nearby store and at low tide dug a large hole in the sand. I'm not sure how the geology works, but at this specific site and time the water becomes incredibly hot (boiling actually) and can be too hot to stand in. Our first attempt was futile as we dug too far from the ocean, but we did eventually create our own private hot tub in the middle of the beach!

We arrived at Fruit Vans on Wednesday and it's definitely been a different experience from Mark & Colleen's. We live with 12-14 people (keeps changing) and I share a room with 3 other girls. We all eat together for dinner but breakfast and lunch is usually on your own. I have really enjoyed getting to know everyone, as they come from all over the world and almost everyone in their twenties. I actually haven't met many New Zealanders at all. The food is wonderful here and all the people seem to be natural chefs. We trade off making meals, and my shift is on Saturday with a Brazilian guy named Carlos. I'm actually a little apprehensive about making food for this many people. Hopefully all goes well (any suggestions would be appreciated).

Today we went out for our first day selling fruit (out of the van of course). We work Friday-Monday from 10-6 and then have the rest of the week off. We sell kiwi's, asparagus, oranges, and avocados and can eat all that we desire! I've never eaten so many avocados in a day as I have here. It's wonderful! Tomorrow we go out by ourselves so I will probably be doing more reading, writing, yoga? mediatation?

interesting food we've had:
1) pumpkin and califlower curry
2) chicken and leek pie
3) hokey pokey ice cream (hokey pokey=caramel & choc; kind of)
4) spinach and feta muffins--delicious

Our power went out last Friday and stayed out till Sunday night and unfortunately the internet is still not working. We came into town today and went to an internet cafe and are about to go to a car auction in Tauranga. It has been raining almost every day since we've been here, usually for only 15 or 20 minutes at a time, though we got a rough storm last night. We move on to Waitakere in 5 days which is about 30 minutes outside Auckland. We're going to "Fruit Vans" which is another WWOOFing site but not in the organic farm sense. Two 27 year old girls started a business of buying and selling fruit out of their vans, so we'll be helping with that. Jaclyn joined Christie and I on Tuesday so she'll be moving up to Fruit Vans with us. I like living with our family here, although it is very secluded and can get boring if you don't get creative. I'm ready to move up to Waitakere because they take up to 14 people so hopefully we'll meet some young people.

I am loving New Zealand and our WWOOFing experience so far. Mark and Colleen are our host "parents" and they are wonderful. Mark takes us out on the farm every morning and we feed the chooks (hens) and collect their eggs for our breakfast. Then we do other odd jobs such as planting vegetables, shelling macadamia nuts, cleaning or working in the kiwi orchard. We only work for 4-5 hours a day and then we have the afternoon to do what we please. They cook us delicious meals for dinner and I'm loving getting to know the New Zealand culture and lifestyle. Their house is beautiful and Christie and I both get our own room! (we're very spoiled here).
Today was a great day in paradise. We woke up and worked in the kiwi orchard for a few hours, had morning tea (a requirement here) and then worked for a few more hours until lunch. After that we went to Mount Maunganui which is an island in Tauranga. We hiked up to the top, which is what the picture of Christie and I is from (see below). It was a great hike and there were gorgeous views from the top, although the pictures don't do it justice. We explored the city for a few hours and had fish and chips for the first time, which were delicious. Tonight we're having chicken and leek pies which are a New Zealand tradition, so I'm told. We're going to jump into the spa (hot tub) after dinner and then get to bed. I guess we haven't completely gotten used to the time difference b/c I go to bed before 10 every night and wake up at 6 or 7 each morning. I guess I am a morning person here!

Good so far!

We've been in Auckland for 3 days now and had a good time. Yesterday was a perfect day so we walked around the city center and did some sightseeing. We saw the skytower and walked to the bay and read for a bit. We are staying in the Lantana Lodge which is a very clean and comfortable hostel with free wifi. The people are incredibly friendly and helpful and I feel right at home. Although I've enjoyed my time in Auckland, I'm ready to move on to the Bay of Plenty and start farm work. It's raining today so I think we're going to go to the Auckland museum and check out things indoors.

1 week to go!!

We leave a week from today (September 7th)! For the first two weeks we will be in Te Puke (pronounced teh-pooke-eh) which is the Kiwi capital of the world. It is located in the Bay of Plenty and is only a few miles from the ocean. We are WWOOFING for the first few months which is a volunteer organization in which you exchange labor for room and board. Our first family is a retired couple in their 50's who own a farm and a kiwi orchard. We will be helping out in both places and sleeping in their guest room. I am so excited and will post more when I get there!