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.