When in Rome...

It's crazy how fast a month passes - it feels like just yesterday that I wrote my last blog. In my last blog, plans were a little 'up in the air'. We were very keen to work, and although there seemed to be a lot of jobs available, many required you to stay at a certain backpackers and surprisingly, quite a few wineries only wanted male workers. Anyway, we finally found work and we have been very lucky indeed! I will tell you a little about our journey up to the Bay of Plenty and about the work we are doing.

We were lucky (again) with the island crossing. It was a sunny sail back to Wellington. We ended up spending another day in Welly - we really like this city so enjoyed another wander in the Te Papa museum, and we tried out a few more eateries. We went back to Weta Cave, but this time we took the tour which gave us way more information about what they do. It's definitely worthwhile! We also tried out a local open mic night - that was an experience!

We then headed along the east coast, stopping at one of the LOTR filming sites - Rivendell. Cape Palliser was our first main destination - a beautiful coast line with a classic lighthouse (252 steps up), hundreds of fur seals and a free camp by the beach. Perfect sunset situation. The next day we continued our LOTR hunting - the Putangirua Pinnacles (Dimholt Road). Wow I have never seen anything like it! You walk along a river bed of 12 million year old gravel to see the earth pillar formations. Very cool! 

Our next stop was another lighthouse - Castlepoint. What a beauty she is. It felt like a summer's day sitting out in the sun reading. The lighthouse sits on a cliff only connected to the mainland by a sand spit.

We spent a bit of time around Napier - the art deco capital of the world! There was an awesome free camp by the beach and we enjoyed spending a couple days there. It's a pretty cool town to wander around, taking in all the deco buildings. Here you can see gannets at Cape Kidnappers but, unfortunately, it's difficult to access at this time of year. We headed to an urban winery instead - an afternoon tasting wine and listening to Fat freddy's Drop on vinyl was not too bad at all. There's also some decent views if you climb up Bluff Hill! 

We decided to make the long journey out to Lake Waikaremoana but wow, it was worth it. It was so quiet there and there are so many walks to choose from. We explored Shine Falls and Aniwariwa Falls, and walked through the forest to see an 1000 year old Rata Tree. My favourite walk was up to Lou's Lookout. It's a great track past caves out to a lookout of the bluff. 

My next highlight was Rere Rockslide near Gisbourne. It's a natural 60m long waterslide. We used our bodyboard. It was amazing. You go so fast and drop into the freezing water - very fun. I'm glad we had still been swimming, or I think the cold water would have been a huge shock.

Then we basically drove up to the Bay of Plenty. We had heard great things and it does not disappoint. This is where we wanted to find work and luckily we did. We are working for an amazing family in Pongakawa. They have a gold kiwi orchard and an organic development orchard we have been working in. There are 6 of us and we are staying in the family bach by the beach (we even have a bedroom!) with kayaks, surfboards and paddle boards to use! Swimming every night after work? We have definitely lucked out. We are working Monday - Friday 8am-5pm and optional weekends. We have been working for 3 weeks and have helped with a variety of jobs. In the gold orchard we pruned the trees and stringed up the growth strings, ready for growing season. Now we are working in the organic development - we have been setting up irrigation pipes and staking the kiwi trees. It's been really fun. There's an awesome farm dog, Otis, who gives us plenty amusement. We also have Friday drinks with the family every week and cakes every break time. Not bad at all. Oh, and the family took us all out on their boat last weekend - we went to natural hot pools and jumped off cliffs. At the weekends we've enjoyed exploring Mount Manganui and having pizza/crepe nights with our fellow travellers. It's been nice having a big kitchen again - we've been baking, making our own pizza/rolls and scott has mastered poached eggs and homemade baked beans. We're hoping to stay at least 3 more weeks. Then we have a few more places to travel to - Taupo, Rotorua and Coromandel. 

Thanks for reading!

Ciao for now x gf v x