We rode a horse

It’s hard to believe we’ve already been here a month! We’ve already met so many amazing people and experienced things I never thought we would. Example: Blake and I got to milk cows the other day. It wasn’t old fashioned milking by hand, but we got to put the suction cups on as the cows rotated through their three o’clock milking. It definitely wasn’t glamorous, as the cows are not shy about pooping on you while they are being milked, but now we can officially say we’ve milked a cow.

 

Milking a cow

 

To cap off our long week of work, Mike took us to see the regional rugby team, Taranaki, play Auckland on Friday night in New Plymouth. Rugby here has the same popularity as football does for us, so we were very excited to see their national sport in action. I still don’t completely get the scrums and think lifting other people up to catch the ball is strange, but it’s a really fast paced, tough sport that is a blast to watch. Taranaki won too!

At the rugby game

 

We worked a half day Monday and then took off in the afternoon for Egmont National Park again. Last time we went it was socked in with clouds and started snowing, but this time we were fortunate enough to have blue skies and hardly any clouds. We took a path up the mountain for about an hour and got some of the best view of both the mountain above us and the valley below. After trudging down the mountain, we decided to do a loop hike we had partially done the week before. To our surprise, there were several waterfalls we hadn’t even seen last time because it had been so cloudy. Yesterday after work we attempted another hike which can be summed up by “three hours of walking in deep mud with no views” We would like to forget about that one.

 

 

 

When I was seven, I went horseback riding with one of my friends, fell off the horse and landed in a pile of poop. Needless to say, I haven’t been since. The Starsmore kids have a break from school for the next two weeks, so the family decided to rent some horses for a few days. Blake and I were super hesitant to ride them, but we reluctantly got on and had a great time.  Check that off the bucket list. After the evening horse ride, we had a surprise early birthday celebration for Blake. They made a delicious red velvet cake, his favorite, topped with a rugby player. Then, they surprised both of us by giving us going away gifts. We each got the warmest, comfiest black wool shirts, wool socks, and Blake got a Taranaki rugby jersey I’m sure he will be wearing everywhere. Oh, and Sam picked out a plastic cow so will remember the farm. We absolutely loved staying with this family and it will be hard for us to leave later today. They cooked us tasty food, were incredibly nice and welcoming, and we always had a great time hanging out at their house for dinner each night (and making fun of each others accents). We also know more about a dairy now than I ever thought we would! Now we are off a little more south and central to a town called Palmerton North for the next two weeks for our first Workaway experience!

Horse riding!

 

 

Life on a Dairy

Working on a dairy is tough. We just finished our second day of work and are completely exhausted. Yesterday, Blake and I spent the morning ripping heavy duty nails out of fence posts so a new fence could be put up, all through a rain/wind storm. The afternoon consisted of power washing the house for me and doing more fencing for Blake. Today was more power washing and mowing for me and herding calves for Blake. Although the work is hard and the weather is cold, there’s something really rewarding about putting in a full day of HARD work. We are learning lot’s about the dairy in the process and making a bit of money to help fund our adventure, so the work is definitely worth it. Blake has basically given up his vegetarian diet for now. Living on the dairy means lots of animal product, so meals have consisted of a lot of red meat, but Colleen’s cooking sure is tasty. Another perk is being able to walk 400 meters to the tank every morning and get some fresh milk to have for breakfast.

Mt.Taranaki

 

My work attire

Backtrack to this past weekend: We spent a very rainy and cold Saturday by visiting the town of Hawera, about 30 minutes south of where we are staying. They have a really cool museum with tons of handmade model figures depicting the regional history of the area, along with old farming tools and tractors. (This area is big in dairy and wheat farms) We spent a good two hours there, but New Zealand seems to be against insulating their buildings and leaving the doors open to the cold. In other words, I was freezing, so we left and got hot chocolates nearby. As much as we love having the car to go explore the gas (petrol) prices are crazy. We thought gas at home was expensive, but it’s about double the price here!

Sunday, the skies seemed to clear up, so we thought we would head to nearby Mt. Taranaki to do some hiking in Egmont National Park. We were greeted by a very friendly woman at the visitor center who suggested a good four hour hike for us to do that would have great views. Unfortunately, right when we started our hike, the mountain got completely socked in by fog, so we could only see a few feet ahead of us at times. As we got higher up the mountain it even started snowing on us. Even though we couldn’t see much of the scenery, the hike was still a lot of fun. About halfway through, we came to a very narrow suspension bridge. I’m not even that scared of heights, but I was gripping the railings for my life and looking straight ahead. Blake is pretty afraid of heights, so he powered across it before his mind knew what he was doing. Just as we finished the hike and thought our luck of viewing the mountain was gone, the clouds cleared away and we were blessed with the most amazing view of the mountain from a view tower. Blake is mad it’s covered in snow, because he wants to climb it so badly. Sunday night the neighboring dairy farmers came to the house for an ethnically diverse steak dinner. We had the Americans (us), Kiwis (Colleen and her kids), English  (Mike), Scottish (George, who lives and works on the farm), Welsh (owns the dairy farm next door), and French (temporarily working next door), making for some very interesting conversation.

Crossing the suspension bridge

 

The internet connection here is terrible (think how fast your internet connection was in the early 2000s) so communication has been tough. Hopefully the pictures work this time though. Time for bed! On the docket tomorrow is a farm tour, painting, and probably more fencing.

After our hike at Egmont National Park

Gigantic cow milking machine

On to the Next Adventure

After lots of time searching for cars around the Auckland area, we had almost given up when Eric said his friend, Bob, in Wellington found one he thought would work for us. It had low mileage and was in our price range, so we decided to travel down to Wellington to pick it up. We ended our wonderful two week stay with Robyn and Eric with a classic Kiwi dinner- snapper fish and chips before they drove us down to the bus station to board the overnighter to Wellington. I was so excited when I saw that the bus was a double-decker and insisted we sit on the top level. Not our smartest idea, as I got pretty car sick and we each only slept about two hours. We got our energy back though when we made it to Bob's shop to pick up the shiny red beauty. Blake is getting used to driving Heinz (car's name since it looks like ketchup) and is even starting to get comfortable driving through countless roundabouts on the left side of the road.



 

We spent the day exploring Petone (town right outside of Wellington) where I had the best chai latte of my life. They have a beautiful coastline we walked up and down until it started to rain. Good thing we have Heinz to keep us dry now! We stayed the night with Adam's parents, Karen and Bruce, and enjoyed a delicious home cooked meal and arguably the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in. After fixing an alignment problem on Heinz the next morning, we started our five hour drive up the coast to Opunake. We will be spending the next two weeks working on a dairy farm here. Working on a dairy is completely foreign to me, but I've told myself I can do anything if it's only for two weeks to make us a little money. We got all bundled up in some work gear they gave us and we went to work putting up some fencing. I actually think I will really enjoy working here and it will definitely make me good with a hammer. (Yeah Dad, can you believe it?) They have 400 cows here and 300+ acres of beautiful New Zealand land with Mt. Taranaki in the background. Hopefully the weather clears up so we can go explore and do some hiking around the mountain, but the spring weather here isn't looking too good. Alright, well we are off to go watch the afternoon cow milking!

Caroline

The Unknown

One of the many reasons we wanted to spend more than a vacation's amount of time here, is to have the opportunity to face the unknown. For myself, the unknown is an acceptable grey area. I don't necessarily need to know the exact location we are going next, or where we are going to rest our heads at night. It provides some excitement for me. I can relate it to being in the backcountry. I have a general idea of where I am going, but deviations and side journeys to a view or a waterfall, or a large grove of trees are regular. Sleeping? My bag, pad, and a relatively flat space are all I need.

For Caroline, the unknown is a looming stressors. It can be suffocating, frustrating, and frankly quite annoying. She feels more comfortable with a plan with clarity and structure. So how do we move forward? We embrace the moments of tears and fear, while reveling in the butterflies that a new location and new sights will reveal. Simply stated, the unknown is okay. Just, okay. We need plans with flexibility, and we are okay with that.

This week has provided us with a beautiful bike ride Sunday morning in Ruder's Regional Park. We elected to take the farm path, which rides up and over a multitude of grass covered, sheep eating paddocks. The blue sky was all the fuel we needed to ride for two hours without thinking and getting ourselves covered in mud.

The path went right through the sheep pasture, as in the sheep scurrying off the path as we rode through. Definitely a unique ride!

 

View from the top of our ride

 

 This was by far the best weather we've had so far, so we headed off for a picnic lunch to Hanua Falls with Eric and Robyn. To top it off, Sunday was Father's Day in New Zealand, so two of Robyn's sisters Rosie and Carolyn, and their husbands Graham and Ian came by for a potluck. It was refreshing to be around family, sharing stories and good food.

Hanua Falls

 

Monday and Tuesday we took the ferry from Pine Harbour into the central city of Auckland. We spent plenty of time walking through  the streets, from the viaduct to the hills of Parnell and the Domain, we found the city welcoming yet quiet. We stayed in a hostel for the night, the first as such for either of us. Though affordable, we have learned that independently owned hostels may be the better choice in the future. One of the highlights was when we stumbled across a Korean stand called Number One Pancake. For only $4 we each got a delicious grilled dough filled with chicken, cheese and veggies.

Caroline found a huge tree!

Along the waterfront with the sky tower in the background

We made it back to Maraetai and decided that the best way to continue on in our adventure is via car. So that has been the order of the last week. Our mission: find a car. Successful? Not yet, but as Eric and Robyn are in Wellington for the weekend, they may find us a nugget. So that's where we are now, watching a New Zealand television show called The Block whilst eating hokey pokey ice cream and watching over the cats.

No planning allowed tonight.

 

Added bonus: sunset from tonight

 

 

 

-Blake

Maraetai

 

 We've only been here two days and have already fallen in love with this country. This in an absolutely beautiful place filled with beautiful people. Every person we have met (with the exception of a customs agent at the airport) has been very friendly, many going above and beyond to help us. Case in point- Robyn and Eric. I was introduced via Facebook to Robyn, who is Adam's (my tennis coach from Boise) aunt. Robyn and Eric graciously offered to pick us up from the airport (at 5:30 am!) and let us stay at their home. For the first two weeks of our trip we will be calling Maraetai (meaning a meeting place by the sea) our home. Their home has a gorgeous view of the ocean and has an extensive network of bike and running paths Blake and I have been taking advantage of the past two days.



Early morning view from the house deck.


Sunset view from the house last night.

 I was extremely excited to find they have two cats- 15 year old Freeway and the very unique Panda. I think Panda has a shot to become New Zealand's version of Grumpy Cat.

Panda looking ever so happy to be held.

Blake and I took advantage of the mostly good weather today and biked a few miles into the Saturday market at Pine Harbor. A lady selling gluten free treats convinced us to have a sample, which then turned into us buying a delicious white chocolate, caramel, biscuit type dessert. Blake was overjoyed to swap stories with a lady who recently had spent a year working at a coffee shop in Seattle.

Blake enjoying a treat at the market.

Exploring the Ocean by the house.

He always wants to climb things.

 

Other highlights:

• They have really good peanut butter.
• Our homemade Catan board is a success
• Hokey Pokey ice cream is the country favorite- vanilla with crunchy toffee
• We got to be sheep herders for a baby that had gotten out of his pen

Our homemade Catan board

Missing everyone!

Caroline