It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

 Merry Christmas for tomorrow! I'm now at the Howes, about to experience my first Summer Christmas. The vegetables are chopped and the Turkey's in the oven ready for our Christmas dinner tonight.
It still doesn't quite feel like Christmas as I've spent the past week at the beach, seeking shade from the sun; but it's getting there.
I've just spent the past week travelling around the Coromandel on my own, mostly in Hahei but with one night in Tairua and one in Thames. (At the top is a picture from Mount Paku, looking down on Tairua, Pauanui and Ocean Beach.)

 I was blessed with fabulous weather all week meaning that I could go down to the beach for a swim and to read my book every day. I spent one day on Cathedral cove again, one snorkelling in gemstone bay where there were some huge Snapper and pretty spotty and stripy fish (I must admit I'm not an expert on fish identification!). On the Wednesday I hitch hiked, along with another guy to make sure it was safe, to hot  water beach where we shared our hole with two very sweet kids.

 I cycled across to Cooks Beach on Friday and up to Shakespeare's Cliff (named by Cook because of it's resemblance to the cliffs in Dover.); I regretted choosing to cycle it half way up the very steep climb. All in all the cycling went very well and I was able to stop off for some plums on the road side on the way back. Only slight issue was when my chain came off and got stuck, but after a fair bit of yanking I was back on the road again.

To the right is the view from the top of Shakespeare's cliff. I was very lucky with my hostel's through out the week, they were all very friendly and well kept; especially the one in Thames, Gateway backpackers. The free BBQ was a nice surprise and it was lovely to sit back in the evening and watch a film in their TV lounge with the very friendly owner.

After a fantastic week of lone travelling I returned to civilisation by taking a bus to Auckland where I was met by Karen. It's nice to be back with the Howes for christmas. On that first night, after a monkfish curry, we went out to Auckland to see the Christmas lights on one very brightly lit street.
Yesterday Karen and I had a wonderful and sunny day on Waiheke Island. We took the ferry across at about 8.05am then wandered  to the nearby town for a very tasty blueberry and lemon scone before walking around 6.5km to Palm Beach. From here we just managed to catch a bus to the beautiful Stoneyridge vineyard for the most fantastic lunch and wine tasting. The photo above is of my lamb with garlic and kumara; the perfect Christmas present.
After taking a very crowded bus and ferry back we went out for a Thai meal along with Andrew and George then met up with their friends.
Travelling alone was a great experience and I enjoyed it for the week but it's nice to be back with people I know again. Looking forward to Christmas celebrations over the next couple of days; particularly the arrival of my parents on the 27th!

Merry Christmas from down under!!

Last week wwoofing

I actually wrote this on Monday but didn't have any internet so here it is now :)
 I’m now truly a lone traveller. Having said goodbye to Saskia, Jelte, Max and Fernando (new Spanish wwoofer) I’m now spending a week on the East coast of the Coromandel peninsula; currently in Taiarua then on to Hahei this afternoon.

After a fun week with Marieke, Chris and the children Saskia picked me up from the school prize giving, where I had played the violin along with Samara and Chris, and took me back to Manaia. One of the German Maxes had left and the other one, along with Fernando, had moved into the other bach so I had a bach to myself. 

 After being very excited to finish the painting in Hamilton I was informed that my job for the next few days would be to sand, clean and paint the bach I was staying in! Time went quickly though as I painted along side Saskia with Christmas songs playing in the background.
It's a very different pace of life at Saskia and Jelte's; every morning we all sit out on the veranda with a big bowl of porridge, fresh fruit salad and yoghurt followed by one of Jelte's amazing cappuccinos from his special coffee maker; having to drink instant again at the hostel is like drinking burnt water after these.

 We had many stops for drinks and cake through out the day then lovely relaxed evenings out on the veranda as it was very warm all last week. 
On Thursday evening we had another pizza night, again using their fantastic pizza oven; other than getting eaten by flies it was a perfect evening. Crispy pizza, smooth wine, a brilliant sunset and lovely company.

 On my last couple of days in Manaia we went down to the beach after work for a swim to cool off. The first time we went just down the road to a nice little bay where the surface water was really warm, pretty chilly underneath though!
On Saturday we took wine and nibbles to a lovely hidden beach about 30 minutes North of Jelte and Saskia's place. We swam for a while then relaxed on the sand before heading to Coromandel town for very good fish and chips on the water front.
Once back at the house we had one of Jelte's special desserts; hokey pokey (honeycomb) ice cream with coffee and Frangelico liqueur, yum.

Sunday was my final day with Saskia and Jelte; I had a hostel booked that night in Tairua and they kindly said they'd drive me there so we all made a day of it. 
After croissants for breakfast then finishing cleaning the bach we made our way to New Chums beach; one of the top 20 beaches in the world. To get there you have to walk across a white beach, through a creek then along a little track which opened up to paradise. Golden sands stretched out along side turquoise-blue water with Pohutukawa trees and palms along the back. After much swimming and relaxing we head back to the car where we had left our lunch then drove along to another little beach for my final meal before being dropped off at the hostel.
 I had the most fantastic time wwoofing with both Jelte and Saskia and their family; I leanrt so much from them and had many experiences that I'll never forget.

Family life in Hamilton

 Since my last post I have moved to Hamilton where I'm staying with Saskia and Jelte's daughter, Marieke's family as she needed some help with painting and general housework. This means that since last Wednesday I've been having fun playing with the 3 children; Samara (8), Zachary (6), Kaia (4) and the chocolate Labrador Mila (2).
Before leaving on Tuesday the Two Germans went fishing with Jelte and caught some Snappers which we ate as a starter at dinner. As afternoon tea Saskia and I made some cinnamon swirls which were quickly polished off. For dinner, after the very fresh fish, we had home made pizza made in their pizza oven (shown in the photos); so tasty!

On Wednesday we set off early so that we could drop the boys off at the farm and Saskia could get her hair cut on the way to Hamilton. Finally arrived at around 5pm and I met the family and helped make the side to go with the BBQ.
On Thursday Marieke and Chris had to work and the kids were at school and kindergarden so I was left to clean the house with the company of Mila the dog, it made me laugh when she only responded to my commands when said in a Kiwi accent. 
On Thursdays they have violin lessons at their Grandma's so we all went round and I played some games with the children before family dinner.
We started preparing the house for the mammoth task of painting the window and french door frames on Friday. After making many paper aeroplanes the kids went to school so we sanded and painted all the frames. Time seemed to run away from us so before we knew it we were off picking the kids up again. Was given a true taste of British summer in the form of Pimms to go with my Lasagne then once the kids were in bed we sat back and watched the film 'Interns' whilst munching on chocolate.

Saturday was a long day of much painting with a few breaks for some tasty food such as ANZAC cookies which Samara had made. By the time we'd finished painting for the day we were all too tired to cook so got an Indian takeaway.
It was Marieke and Chris' wedding anniversary on Sunday so Chris' Mum took the children and I for a day out. First stop was Raglan where I helped Kaia painting her mug then we went for a coffee followed by lunch under a classic New Zealand Pohutukawa tree. They took me for a tour of the area before heading back for the santa parade. Another surreal Christmas experience where the kids were loaded up with sugar meaning they were extremely hyper when we returned home. Luckily they reached their sugar low by the time I was babysitting in the evening.
Had another intense day of painting on Monday after going in to school to play the violin along with the school; first time I'd picked up a violin in nearly a year and I was playing in front of 350 kids (all with bare feet); felt nice to play again though.
In the evening I made chicken Cacciatore which we ate on the floor in front of the Christmas tree as an advent treat.
I finally finished the painting today so baked a banana cake and am now having a relaxing afternoon before going back to Saskia and Jelte's tomorrow.

It's been great fun having children around for the week; also helps to make it feel more christmassy. Brings back memories of when I was younger.

The start of WWOOFing

 As I keep telling everyone I'm having a fantastic time here WWOOFing on the Coromandel; wwoofing is where you work for food and accommodation. I'm currently staying with a lovely Dutch couple, Saskia and Jelte, who moved to New Zealand 25 years ago and have since built themselves the most amazing house in the perfect setting. From the lounge window is a view right across the tree covered hills down to the sea; makes for some spectacular sunsets.

 This is the bach which two Germans (both called Max, also both wwoofing) and I are staying in, about 1 minutes walk down the drive from the main house. I get to stay in the double bed with netting as I'm the only girl :)
Below is the kitchen which is a round room full of mod cons such as a boiling water tap; no need to put the kettle on! They also have a great surround sound system controlled from either of their ipads, a robot vacuum cleaner that hoovers by itself and countless other clever little ideas.

 We eat 3 meals together each day whilst hearing some interesting stories from Jelte and Saskia; every morning is porridge and fruit except Sunday when they put on a spread of croissants and fresh little bread rolls accompanied by a cappuccino from their rather professional coffee machine. 
I've mostly been working in the native bush land around their house, weeding and pulling out the bracken which is taking over. Today I got to ride around on the back of the quad bike or sit on top of the pile of bracken on the trailer whilst we moved it around the bush; this was great fun, I felt quite royal being towed along :)

 The two Maxs spent the first week working at the Farm in Thames where Saskia and Jelte's son now lives. They've just finished building a bathroom in the outhouse there. On Friday I went along to have a look then went out for a sushi lunch with Saskia and her daughter, who lives in Hamilton, before picking up a car and returning home for a spot of weeding and fresh fish and chips for dinner. 
Evenings are always very relaxing here with candles around the lounge and music playing on the surround sound. One evening Saskia showed me her wonderful rock collection, a geologists heaven. She's collected some amazing rocks from right across New Zealand, some which I was able to identify for her after my recent petrology course.

 We were allowed the weekend off work as the Germans had been working more than 4 hours a day throughout the week. Saskia and Jelte lent us a car, so on Saturday we head to the classic tourist spots, hot water beach and Cathedral cove. We managed to arrive at hot water beach just in time so we could dig our hole in a spot with some good hotsprings so it was the perfect temperature. A couple from London kept trying to dig themselves a pool but finding it too hot so we let them join us in ours. Was a nice relaxing yet very surreal experience until the tide came in and our hole got swallowed up. 
We then moved on to Cathedral Cove, made famous in the second Narnia movie, where we lay out in the sun for a while before cooling off in the sea, exploring the caves and jumping off the rocks. Took in a few good views on the way home where we were greeted by a lovely meal from Saskia. 

 After our big breakfast on Sunday the two Max's and I went for a walk (or should I say scramble) up castle rock. Once we got to the top of the extremely steep path, which I practically had to run up as my legs are much shorter than the Germans', we were greeted by the most fantastic 360 degree view, some of which is shown to the left. After heading down we cooled of in Waiau waterfall where we saw a cool halo like rainbow around the intense sun. Went for a walk around yet another Kauri grove then stopped off at a honey shop for Max to buy some of New Zealand's famous Manuka honey. Here the woman told us about a 'nice little track' to a waterfall. We set of along this 'track' and soon found ourselves wading through the river and beating our way through the bush attaining countless cuts on my legs from the grass. It was all worth it though when we reaches the waterfall. It had two falls with a jacuzzi like pool (but colder) at the top of the second one. Jumping off the top of the waterfall (after much depth checking) was excellent. 
Finally we head home where we cooked ourselves a meal as Saskia and Jelte were at their grandchildren's violin recital. Made a flowery salad and bolognese which we ate with the spectacular back drop of the sunset pictured to the left.

As you can probably see I'm loving it here on the Coromandel with lovely people and awesome surroundings, looking forward to what the next couple of weeks here have in store!

Northland with a couple of Italians

It's been a while since I last blogged; I've been busy travelling the very North with two Italians, Matilde and Amanda. 
I now have time to write as I've just arrived at the place where I'm WWOOFing for the next 2 and a half weeks. The couple are really nice with the most amazing house which they have built themselves, overlooking the sea with a back drop of native bush. More about this in the next post.

Day 1
I've now finished my first trimester at Vic uni so am currently of no fixed abode here in New Zealand. My first adventure started on the 17th November when I set off at 5am for Auckland where the 2 Italians and I hired a car for a week. 
After stopping at the Howes to drop off some luggage and for a lovely lunch we drove up to Paihia; our base for the next 5 nights. We were staying in a friendly hostel called 'Peppertree lodge' near the centre of town. After a trip to the supermarket and a planning session for the week ahead we fell into bed, already exhausted!

Day 2
A day of many waterfalls. We first set off for the famous Haruru waterfall, a nice waterfall but a little touristy, about 10 steps for the edge of the road. After this we drove on to the little town of Kerikeri where we found a nice little walking track starting at the oldest European building in New Zealand. After 1.5 hours of walking through fantastically green New Zealand forest, complete with vines and ferns of course, we reached the rainbow falls (pictured about). This was more my sort of waterfall; 27m high with a refreshing pool in front and a moss covered cave behind. The Italians found the water too cold so stayed on the bank but under the intense New Zealand sun I was more than happy to swim across, have the waterfall pour down on my head and explore the cave behind. 
Once back at the car we drove into the centre of Kerikeri and had a look around the sweet little town before returning to Paihia for a walk to Waitangi along the waterfront before dinner and bed.

Day 3
East coast beach hopping. We set off under thick clouds up the East coast to the north of Paihia. We stopped off at many beautiful sandy beaches along a winding road where we just paddled in the water because of the not so inviting weather. By lunch time we reached Mangonui and as we sat on the water front the sun came out, changing the temperature completely; so much so that once we'd finished our mountain of rice (travelling with Italians meant a lot of food) we went for an icecream.

In the afternoon we drove down the Karikari peninsular to Matai Bay; paradise. Here was one of the most idyllic beaches I've ever seen; the picture above definitely doesn't do it justice! Turquoise-blue sea was met by soft golden sands with craggy rocks to either side and a huge expanse of blue sky above. Despite slapping on suncream we all got rather burnt here. The weather was even warm enough to get Matilde and Amanda in to the water where we had a great swim despite the hundreds of tiny, non-stinging jelly fish. That evening we BBQed lamb, sausages and pepper for dinner and ate strawberries we had bought from a road side stall for dessert, yum!

Day 4
Right up to the North of the North. We set off at 7am with a German who needed a lift up to Kaitaia where our bus tour started. We hopped on to our Harrisons bus where we felt quite young compared to most on board; it was ok though as the tour guide was very sweet and chatty.
Our first stop was a Kauri tree gallery, then a few stops along the East coast including an incredibly white beach with sand almost as fine as flour. Lunch on a very windy beach before travelling to the northern most point of Cape Reinga where the famous lighthouse is and the turquoise Tasman sea can be seen meeting the darker blue Pacific Ocean. It was a shame the weather wasn't nicer but it was probably welcome relief for our sunburn.

Next stop was the sand dunes leading up to 90 mile beach. Here we stopped of and went tobogganing down the dunes which was great fun; got coated in sand! Even the oldies from our bus had a go (not from the top though). 
Drove through a river on to 90 mile beach (actually 55 miles), immediately saw a man who obviously had ignored the warnings and got his campervan stuck in the sand. Felt surreal driving along the beach in our old coach. 

After the tour we stopped off to buy some salmon and steak for the next 2 days' dinners, then took the winding road back to Paihia. After a long day we decided to go out for dinner to a restaurant in an old boat; I had the mussel chowder as I wanted to try sea food from Paihia.

Day 5
Trees. Went across to the west coast where the largest trees in the country live. On the way we stopped of at a 'scenic point' with breathtaking views overlooking Hokianga harbour. 
To the left is a picture of the second largest tree and largest kauri in the world; safe to say it was pretty big! After viewing this we went on to view the 2nd and 7th biggest kauri trees in the world and the '4 sisters' whilst on a 2 hour walk through a forest which made me feel exceedingly small.
On the way back to Paihia we stopped off and caught up with the outside world via wifi; once back we ate our salmon before retiring to bed.

Day 6
Dolphins. Friday was glorious weather wise so we spent the morning strolling through the small town of Paihia before taking a dolphin cruise where if the conditions are right you can swim with the dolphins.
We whizzed off in our boat with just 7 on board, bouncing off all the waves. After just 10 minutes we found a large dolphin pod who were more than happy to swim right up to the boat. Unfortunately they had a young baby with them so we weren't able to swim.

We're not allowed to swim with a pod that has a baby with it as the young dolphin needs to be fed every 3 minutes from it's mother in order to keep warm. After watching this pod for around 30 minutes we cruised between some of the bay's 144 islands in glorious sunshine (got burnt again) and watched gannets diving for fish. A great and relaxing afternoon despite not being able to swim. Amanda and I then went for a short walk to Whaitangi before returning to the hostel for BBQed steak and eggplant.

Day 7
Travelling back to Auckland. We set off early and slowly made our way back down South to Auckland, stopping off at Whangerei Falls and some fantastic beaches along the way.
Relaxing on the golden beaches in the 26C heat was fantastic and wonderfully relaxing.
Finally made it to the Howes around 5pm where Karen had made a delicious banana cake. Then made our way to our next hostel in Auckland, not quite as nice as the other but it did the job.

Day 8
Auckland. After dropping off the car we set off on foot around Auckland, strolled along the water front, visited many tourist shops for the Italians to buy some last minute presents and then went for a huge, very tasty lunch at a little chinese place. 
That afternoon was the Christmas parade in Auckland; most surreal seeing thousands of people lining the streets in antlers and sunglasses, slapping on sun cream whilst watching Father Christmas drive past. Definitely doesn't feel like proper christmas here.
In the afternoon we spent a while in the art gallery before getting some scrumptious ice creams from Giapos. 

Met Matilde's kiwi friend who she'd met when he spent a few months in her town in Italy.
The evening was then spent re packing Matilde and Amanda's 30kg suitcases before they set off for Italy at 3.30am the next morning.

Day 8
My first day as a lone traveller. Spent the day wandering around Auckland, buying a few presents. In the afternoon I found a shipping container which had been turned in to a pop up out door library so I sat out reading in the sun for a while before catching the bus to Karen's work and returning to the Howes. Had a lovely dinner and managed to catch up with Mum and Dad on skype whilst they were at Michael Mcintyre. 
So that's it, my week in the North; I'm already on to my next adventure and having a great time; I'll update you on that next week!

The last of Welly 2013

 Just finished packing my bags ready to set off on my adventure around New Zealand. Every nook and cranny in my rucksack has been filled; and that's without the large box I'm leaving in Wellington. How I'll cope when I come to go home I have no idea!
 I've had an action packed week trying to see everyone and join in with their last activities in Wellington. The week started with a bang (sorry) as I went to Lisa's house to watch Wellington's fire work display for Guy Fawkes (Why they celebrate this I do not know).
Many of my friends hadn't yet tried Strawberry Fare's mega desserts, so a group of us filled up on sweet delights there on Sunday, leaving us so stuffed we were barely able to walk home.

The weather was pretty miserable towards the beginning of the week so some of us took a trip to the observatory where we learnt about both the science of outer space and the Maori legends derived from the stars. It was interesting to see the night sky from this up-side-down point of view;  the stars which make up Orion back home depict a pot here. That evening the University provided all the internationals with pizza, a nice break from cooking.

 The weather picked up on Thursday, so after doing my last cleaning job of the year (the couple were really sweet and left me a bottle of wine); about 10 of us made the most of living on the coast by jumping into the (rather chilly) water.
It was great fun despite the large crowds that gathered to watch us jump. I regretted being so daring when I got to the top of the highest platform and realised how many people were there, armed with cameras, no chance of backing out! I now have a rather burnt nose as despite slapping on layers of sun cream the sun here was too intense for me.
It was my flat mate Matilde's birthday so I made enchiladas and baked her an chocolate and orange drizzle cake to eat, accompanied by my cleaning wine, with Russell and Amanda. 

 Today Matilde finally finished her exams so we took a walk, with Amanda, up to the wind turbine on the hill overlooking Wellington. The views across the city were fantastic, we could see right across the bay, clearly showing how Wellington is surrounded by water.
 We're going out tonight to say a final farewell to everybody before we all head our separate ways; still can't believe we've been here over 4 months already!

Here comes the sun

 This week started off a little lonely as I was free from the stress of exams but all my friends were still locked inside studying; a shame as they were missing some beautiful, hot weather. 
On Sunday it was Russell (on the left), one of my American flat mates' 21st birthday. Sadly he had an exam the next morning but we had a flat meal of roast lamb and I made a cake to celebrate. The picture to the right is of my flat, just missing Tony our Kiwi mate.
I spent Monday and Tuesday relaxing in the sun, buying presents and attempting to organise the next 3 months of travelling that lie ahead. Tuesday evening was a goodbye party for Maxence (French) as he left for Australia and won't return until everyone else has gone home. Luckily I'll be seeing him again next trimester as he's one of the few staying for the whole year.
 On Wednesday I did my penultimate cleaning job then met up with a much smaller than expected group of geologists, most were apparently put off by the rain (weather had a blip on Weds). We went to the library for cocktails then they showed me a hidden Alice in Wonderland themed bar.
Today, after a misty morning, we had a glorious day so a group of us went to Wellington's sandy beach for scrummy gelatos and a swim. The water was bracing but we soon got used to it/went numb! In the photo to the left we felt like true Kiwis as we wandered down the street barefoot.

I thought I'd pop in a few photos of my room before I leave it for 3 months; just to give you a feel of where I'm living.
I'm looking forward to the next week, as we make the most of what will be many's last days in Wellington, but it will be sad to see all my friends depart.