We're in Blenheim

We're viticulturists! That's right, we're working in 'canopy management' here in Blenheim (in the north of the South Island). Today was our first day and we found out that canopy management is just a fancy phrase for back breaking work. Oh well, it helps the wallet a bit. Sorry, we don't have any pictures to load yet because we are staying in a hostel and the computers cost two bucks for 35 minutes. We will in a few weeks, I promise. By that time I hope we will have moved on from this management business back to WWOOFing and cycling. We couch-surfed with some lovely people in Wellington (a really cool city by the way) who are camping in this area in a few weeks so we'll hopefully get to meet up with them again. Oh, and since the last post, we took the train from Hamilton to Wellington, the ferry over to the South Island, biked 40+ to a farm near Blenheim, stayed there for a week and a half, had Christmas with the family there (it was a scorcher! and their grandma was hilarious; at one point she was looking for her daughter, who was tending the chickens, and said to us 'Blow the chooks! I need tending!), found this job through our hosts, and moved out to a backpackers! Whew, that's a lot without much detail (we're on the clock, sorry!) but we miss all of you and hope you have a lovely New Year's!

Another set of pictures to share

Hi everyone. We're about to head to the South Island and before we get on the road again we would like to share some pictures. Hope everyone has a merry Christmas.

A mosaic tree on the way to Huka Falls

Huka Falls (or are they rapids?)

Us at Huka Falls

Some friends at Tauhara

Simon and I in Cambridge

Lindy and Simon

Angie

Joybell, Angie's mom

A sunset in Cambridge

Simon enjoying his ride into town

We went to the farmer's market and Simon found his soda.

Where we are been staying these last few days; That is me and Goesta playing soccer with Indie, the dog.

The gardens

Indie looks beat after playing soccer with us

 

Picture Update

Our view from the tauhara center















The rainbow gardens















Aaron moving the compost



















Our lodgings on the left and hippie kitchen on the right










The outdoor toilet


















Sunset on east cape





























East cape at Tokomaru bay













Lindy at hicks bay on east cape. Big hill!














We searched for lunch with our fellow bikers (sea weed and booboos - snails) I know that dad is drooling over the geomorphology!










Where we spent the night.

















East cape

We're in Lake Taupo

A long bus ride winding through hills and speeding passed vineyards got us to Taupo a couple of days ago. After using bikes as our only mode of transportation for a month, a ride on a bus was exciting (because of the speed) and nauseating (because of the speed and the terrain).

Once in Taupo we explored the city hitting up used book stores as we are starving for new literature, were introduced to the triple scoop ice cream cone (Aaron had to try it, of course), enjoyed to the farmer's market and hiked to Huka falls (which are really just bright blue rapids). On our second night in the city, we arrived home just in time to see the drunken parties of the people attending the hot rod convention in town at our campground and listen to their engines roar all night.

Thankfully, we're now we're at Tauhara center WOOFing for our second time. It is beautiful here. The hosts are so loving and welcoming, and our accommodations are fantastic. We have our own house really, with a wee hippie outdoor kitchen and a composting outdoor toilet. Aaron and I mostly work in the 'rainbow gardens' where we live. We work in the gardens everyday after breakfast and work until the afternoon, where we have free time to devour books, and take walks and bike rides.The center hosts gatherings and we help cater for the groups that come and use the center. Most of the meals are vegetarian and quite gourmet, which is a nice change of pace from noodles and whatever vegetable we can find....with some cheese....sometimes. We're really enjoying it here and will post pictures soon so you can see for yourself how pretty it is.

We hope you are all wonderful and hope you have a tasty Thanksgiving feast and communion with family and friends.

Much love to you all!

Finally a break!

The 81k (50 miles) ride from Mrs.Cook's house to Tokomaru bay was a challenging day. We rode into the night for the first time because my 20+ year old tire retired and the 'one or two big hills' were quite large! We made it into the Gisborne district, which has free camping, and have camped in the park at Tokomaru bay and next to a beach and several expansive cemetaries in Tologa Bay (an interesting place to put campers). We met a kind and Tanner-sized german touring on his bike in town and had dinner with him on the beach. We cooked our beans and rice over a fire in the sand with a pot found on the side of the road and an aluminum pot with a wooden handle (bad idea). In the end we ate our aldente rice and watched an amazing sunset.
We arrived in Gisborne yesterday after the 30 mile bike ride from Tologa Bay, just in time for my nursing school interview. (The interview went well!) After the interview this morning we took an unexpected nap for several hours trying to recover from the week of sleepless nights and biking days. We're really excited to spend a couple days in one place for the first time since leaving the farm. Next we're off to Lake Taupo via bus to WWOOF and see Mount Doom!

We're still alive!

Yup, we are still alive even after the monster climb from Hick's Bay to Te Araroa. We were blessed to have been welcomed by the Cook family to pitch our tent in their yard. Mrs. Cook and her sister Curly have treated us like long lost family, giving us a place to shower (at long last) and some lovely food for breakfast; and Mrs. Cook insisted that we update everyone to let you know we are safe and still biking. We had our first flat tire two days ago. The connection for one of my panniers fell off yesterday. But overall we have had a great time on the East Cape; it is beautiful and, compared to further west, is sparsely populated, which makes for more enjoyable riding. We have run into 3 other groups of cycle tourists in the last 4 day: one lone lady headed the opposite direction, a young Brit and his Chinese girlfriend with whom we camped last night, and a pair of Britons in their fifties to sixties biking the entire country tip-to-tip for charity. It has been fun to speak with them and to get to know some of the local citizens of this part of the country. Look out Tokomura Bay, here we come! It will be a nice long 77 kms today, our longest day yet.

Hope you are all well! Sorry no pictures this time; we'll try to upload some once we get to Taupo in a few days.

The first farm and travels in between

Hi everyone. We miss you all. Time seems to be flying for us and we hope you are all well. Don't hesitate to email us or comment and let us know how you are doing.

Sorry for the lack of updates. It turns out that wi-fi is very prevelant in New Zealand; almost every camp ground and cafe has a hotspot. However, it also turns out that almost every wi-fi network in NZ costs money; even when you buy something at a cafe; thus, the lack of updates. BUT... we've made it to our first farm and they let us use their connection.

We made it here (a farm in Wainui, near the larger town of Whakatane (pronounced fhuk-a-tan-ee)) last Thursday after a week or so of riding from Auckland. As mentioned in the last post we were hoping to WWOOF in the Coromandel; we couldn't find anyone that need help so head for the Bay of Plenty. We'll be here until Tuesday when we will then commence on leg 2 of our bike tour, this time around the East Cape towards Gisborne (pronounced giz-ben). This part of the tour should take 10 or so days and goes through the center of Maori country and is quite remote from what everyone tells us; it is supposed to be a lot better ride than going through Roturua, though about twice the distance, so no geysers and corn boiled in thermal springs for us just yet. Then it is on to our next WWOOFing appointment in Taupo (near Mordor!... um, I mean Mt. Tongariro National Park).

Well, click through for the pictures of our first leg of the journey and the farm we working at.

We made it!

We're safe and sore. Our sunburns hurt. We forgot to put on sunscreen before biking the 25 k from the airport to our hostel. Now we are paying for it. On the positive side, we saw a bunch of cows and sheep on the mini volcanoes that dot Auckland's skyline. One tree hill was very tall, though, there wasn't a tree on top, hmmm... Oh, we also met this guy that owns a bike business in Auckland and he told us where to stay, eat, and where to travel; so, we've decided not to head north to Cape Reinga and the Bay of Islands (this would have taken us 3 weeks of constant biking) and, instead, to stay closer to Auckland and ferry out to islands for day trips, including a bird sanctuary, a really brand new volcanic island (it is only 700 years old, the Maori sing songs about its birth), and Waiheke Island, then, we will catch a ferry to the Coromandel Peninsula and hopefully find a place to WWOOF and camp. Well, time to catch some shut-eye to get ready for an exciting day of volcanoes!

We leave in 4 days!

I'm just testing this thing out... feel free to follow our trip through New Zealand. We'll start in Auckland on Wednesday; it is pretty outrageous with that whole international date line thing: we leave on Monday but don't get in until 6 am on Wednesday morning. The weather is calling for 2 degrees warmer than Seattle! Anyway, this is the place to look for occasional updates from us as we embark on our slightly crazy adventure.