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Published: August 7th 2007
Whakatane (Fuk-a-taw-nee) Paddles like a man . . . long story
Ohope (O-ho-pee) Love
Bach - (bach) beach house, cottage
Ange - (Ang-ie) Kiwi spelling
Sweet as - awesome
Tamarilo - tree tomato, half fruit, half vegetable, all good
Gallon - approx 4 litres
Long line fishing - 2 km long mono filament line that is deployed by paddling out in the Bay of Plenty in a kayak. 24 baited hooks are attached to the line unless you get dumped on your way out to sea, then use the 19 remaining baited hooks.
We first cruised through the Whakatane- Ohope Beach area in late November. It seemed we had been in NZ for ages at that time, almost a whole month, and we were ready to settle. A month and a half later Ange started work in the Emergency department at the Whakatane Hospital. During our 11 week tour of the north and south islands we hit some fantastic places but realized our chosen home was truly one of the best. In fact I would say Taranaki is the one place that rivalled the eastern Bay of Plenty for desirability.
When we wrapped up our tour we took up
temporary residence in a vacation rental apartment. Since we planned to stay five days in a row we unpacked the van for the first time since we bought it in Auckland 10,000 km previous. Amazing how we accumulated possessions on the road trip. Nature abhors a vacuum and any excess space in the Previa was soon occupied.
The search for places to stay for the long term began in earnest and before long we had several good leads. Most of the good ones weren’t coming available until the end of February so we either needed more temporary digs or to keep looking. The one thing that was for certain, there was no way we wanted stay any longer than we had to in the moth ball apartment. I only call it the moth ball apartment because it smelled strikingly like moth balls. Must have been the dozens of fricking moth balls in every drawer and closet! Two minutes to the beach was one redeeming feature of the place and we settled in to our routine of home schooling and Ange prepared for her first day of work.
Ange met many people on her first day of work and
ended up explaining our living situation several times. You can imagine how it might have played out . . .
Nurse 1: “This is Ange, she’s from Canada.”
Nurse 2: “Nice to meet you Ange what brings you here”
Ange: “I am here with my whole family; we’re taking a year off from our regular life . . .”
Nurse 2: “That’s sounds great, where are you living?”
Ange: “Ohope, but we don’t really have a place yet . . .”
Nurse 2: “Well good luck with that.”
You get the picture. This is when the Kiwi hospitality came to our rescue. It played out something much like this . . .
Nurse 1: “This is Ange, she’s from Canada.”
Nurse Mary: “Nice to meet you Ange what brings you here”
Ange: “I am here with my whole family; we’re taking a year off from our regular life . . .”
Nurse Mary: “That’s sounds great, where are you living?”
Ange: “Ohope, but we don’t really have a place yet.”
Nruse Mary: “So what are you doing then?”
Ange: “We’re paying $500 dollars a week to live in a little moth ball smelling basement apartment down by
the beach.”
Nurse Mary: “That would physically hurt me to pay that much rent for that place. You’ll stay at our bach!”
Two days later the four of us moved in to a cabin on Nurse Mary’s property about 10kms out of town. A postcard NZ pastoral setting, the one room cabin was reminiscent of the old panabode cabin we lived in at Jasper’s west gate, only slightly smaller. Where Decoigne had frequent freight trains to interrupt the tranquility, this place had the local Maori kids on their motorcycle, and in place of the bears, albeit less menacing, possums. The generosity of our hosts was heart warming but we knew we still needed a place that would shelter us for the long term.
Just to keep things from quieting down too much let’s toss a couple of pesky relatives into the mix. My mom and aunt showed up for a 5 week stay. My new job, that of tour guide, was about to begin and the road trip was on again. The kids and I were about to abandon Ange in Ohope with no home, no vehicle and one very new job.
Ange arranged a couple
of rides to work and some more Kiwi kindness produce the offer of a bachelor flat by the beach. The kids and I shuffled her effects to this place, Ohope accommodation # 4, while she was on shift then we blasted off for the airport. We returned a week later after a tour of the Northlands and moved into Ohope accommodation #5, a tidy 3 bedroom bach that was simply sweet as! This place had it all except availability and our family and guests enjoyed it for the few nights we had. But that old highway was a calling and we hit the road again. The guiding work I had lined up on the south island put a rush on the schedule so there would be no relaxation for the vacationing ladies.
No relaxation for Ange either, she needed to move out of the sweet as bach to the bachelor flat, Ohope Accom #4 for a few nights then back out to the pastoral cabin, Ohope Accom #3 and work at her new and very exciting job. With all this running around there was no way Ange could reliably get back and forth to work by car pooling, let
alone move house 4 more times. We considered a scooter for her so she could commute the 10 km to Whakatane but in the end we found a car that cost half as much as a used scooter. The Proton Saga in an amazing driving machine built with pride in Indonesia using the second hand factory equipment that once manufactured Mitsubishi’s. Much like the quality Mexican made VW’s beetles of the 70’s and 80’s the Saga is quite a veritable work of vehicular art.
After looking at 15 places of various quality, from glorified garden sheds with ocean views to a beautiful timber frame mansion with a spectacular ocean view, we narrowed it down to two places. The landlord of the mansion decided he didn’t trust our children running around on their $70,000 Persian rug so that left us with one prime option. We checked out other leads but in the end we were able to swing a sweet deal on the sweet as bach (Ohope Accom #5) we had stayed in a month earlier. Bikes, surf boards, a kayak, fishing gear, two minutes to the beach, fruit trees, concord grapes. . . like I said, sweet as!
The south pesky relatives tour was fantastic but quite high paced so that left the kids far behind in their home schooling. When offered they both chose to attend school in Whakatane, Jordan for the socialization she lacked while spending 24-7 with her brother; and Quin because they got to take a bus to school. More fun and games with the immigration people, not to mention a few hundred bucks, and we got the illegal alien childrens’ passports in order. Two days later they were enrolled in school.
Now this whole time I have not really mentioned any details of Ange’s job. After much to do, she got the one available position at the Whakatane hospital, working in the emergency department. After her first few days, that lack of a vehicle thing was really no inconvenience at all since she just flew home from work. Now, three months later, I read an email she sent to a nursing friend back home. Basically the quote goes something like this, “I love, love, loooove my job!” I am not sure what she is eluding to but I think it’s good.
So, Ange is working a near perfect 0.8 position in
the ER, the kids are in school, what of me you ask? I have been failing as a full time surf bum, my first real day as a man of leisure I landed a little contract re-laying a brick driveway. Since I have been landscaping, house painting, chauffeuring, chief cook and bottle washer . . and I’m not kidding about the bottles, I have needed them for canning the tamarilo chutney and salsa and soups I have been making by the gallon.
So when we’re not otherwise occupied, as outlined above, we might just be found, by chance, somewhere along the 10 kilometre long, white sand beach. It could be surfing, beach rugby, yoga, sunset walks, or long line fishing. What can I say; we do what we can to get by . . .
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Elli
non-member comment
Will we ever see you again?
Well look at you all living in what appears to be beach blanket paradise! If I were you I'd never leave. But I hope you do so we can bike together and be neighbours again. Enjoy!!!!!!!