First things first, check out our photos link as we have just updated them...
so, we apologize that it has been so long since we last wrote (almost a month ago?), but as we said, we were kinda limited by dial up and also our psycho live-in employers & their possesive internet nature. anyways, lets start with christmas...
We went to Waiheke Island just off the coast from Auckland for our Christmas holiday. It was absolutely beautiful and we spent Christmas Eve lounging on the beach and catching up on our tans (while most of you were enjoying snow &/or cold!). Our hostel was really laid back and a few minutes to the beach, so we chose a great spot to relax for a few days. Even better, our hostel put on a big Christmas spread on the deck(above the pool & hot tub!) so we were also fed well! (we also met the most laid back cat in the entire world and were seriously considering bringing it home with us) Although it was great having a sunny hot Christmas, it still was weird without the cold!
For New Years, we went down to Auckland with 2 guys we worked with at the alpaca farm - we made up quite the international crowd, representing the US, UK, Czech Republic, Chile, Argentina & France! We enjoyed a mellow house party, watched the fireworks above the Sky Tower (Auckland's try at creative architecture that actually looks like a giant hypodermic needle instead), and spent too much time looking for a party that didn't exist.
After surviving the night in a dodgy as hell baking caravan we returned straight back to work for more joyous fun with our Dutch employer. A few days into the new year, our employers then left us in charge at their farm as they left for their own holiday leaving us with 120 alpacas, a herd of cows, 2 goats, 5 cats a dog and some chickens to look after. Needless to say we had our hands full and we had to care for a weak new born baby alpaca. Unfortunately after lots of care the baby didn't make it, but we were glad to say we did everything we could to help it.
On a funnier note we were also chased after when trying to take a short cut by a goat that thinks he's a human but also has extremely sharp horns. We however managed to manically run away with feed buckets in hand and vaulted over the closest 6 foot fence, thanks Billy. We think this could be a great scene in our forthcoming horror movie set at the farm. They genuinely have all the settings required for a slasher film: maze like buildings, freezer chambers, lots of industrial steel, rooms to be trapped in and dilapidated power tools that could cause serious harm. Watch for it in theaters.
So only a day into our boss being back, we endured probably the hardest day of our time at the farm. It was hay day! And the weather forecast was rain (which isn't too great for hay). So we actually spent the first half of the day up until about 3ish making concrete ramps (of which Sarah is now a master concrete spreader) and then finally the hay balers turned up.
Turning 6 fields into 1000 bales of hay which then need to be loaded and unloaded onto the back of trailers driven by a crazy dutchman, you can begin to see why this wasn't our favourite day. So after soon becoming very irritable and almost crushing Gary's foot while giving him a quick-fire tractor lesson, our Dutch boss reached new heights in our opinion of him. After a 14 hour day for Sarah, and a hurt shoulder for Gary, we didn't even get all the hay in! Hans wanted to start work again at 6am, but Sarah said no way jose. We finally finished the next day right before the heavens opened up and went back to bed. Needless to say we were beginning to think about handing in our notice... and by the end of the week we were on our way. We were sad to say goodbye to our favorite dog Jess and Swiper, aka Sniper, the cat that eats anything (including lasagna off a fork) but otherwise glad to leave behind fanatic bosses, awkward family members and people that talk only about themselves.
We spent a night in Auckland - saw the Kings of Leon and then met up with our friend Chrissy for a night out. Just for the record, nights out in Auckland are nothing to write home about, so we won't say any more.
We have now moved to our new home in Thames, in the Corammandel Peninsula (south east of Auckland). We were really lucky to find a great job at an art & design shop that sells all NZ made crafts (and they needed someone to start the day after we left South Head). The guy that runs it seems really sound & is actively trying to create an art scene in a small town. Thames is the biggest town in the region (with the only grocery store too!) and once was almost made the capital of NZ b/c there was a gold rush in the region... in reality though it is a pretty small town, 10,000 people and one long main drag. (it reminds Sarah a lot of Pittsfield!) - But we are happy to be living IN a town and not 1/2 hour drive from it!
So we are absolutely blessed by magnificent scenery right on our doorstep and while we so far have lightly searched for jobs, we have so far hiked a bit and spent days on the river, or in it in fact. The area seems really cool with a strangely organic feel and an insane amount of gluten free products on the shelves. Throw in a few salvation army type stores, a scrap yard and a bunch of junk stores, as well as some art and craft stores, and we have the perfect setting to go and create what ever the hell we want. While working at the store we have access to studios that come equip with sewing machines and also full workshop facilities to do most things with wood and every other piece of junk that has been collected there. We'll let you know what happens there! Hopefully we can sell some stuff at the store during our time. We also will be partly looking after a laundromat/internet cafe, (which is genius by the way) with all the free washes and internet time we want, wahoooo! So hopefully we can keep this a bit more updated now!
In even better news you (and those that sold him to us) will be pleased to know we have made some great new modifications to Gerald (our car), by producing a stunning made to fit and fold away platform to sleep on in the back. We're hoping to make great use of it and camp as much as we can while seeing the rest of the country! So now we will move onto to bigger things in our mission to pimp Gerald and we've been getting some good exterior ideas in. Yet another project!!
Alright, that is enough for now! Make sure to check our pictures out at
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
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