Advertisement
Well we left the last entry with the starting of kiwi box making on the monday. Well it turned out we were putting spray covers on kiwi vines at a research centre for kiwis and it started on the tuesday! So we found ourselves with a free day on the monday. We had a bit of a relaxing morning and then in the afternoon headed of to another local waterfall - the Rainbow falls - pictures attached! However we were not brave enough to go swimming with the large freshwater eels - meant to be the biggest in the world! Apprently they bite!
Then on Tuesday we started at Hort Reserach. The job was nice and easy, sitting on our bum most the day stapling green covers to vines. It was very relaxed there with just a couple of workers racing quads around! At this place they are working to get the next variety of kiwi, here they also have a golden kiwi which is sweeter than the normal green one we all know. Apparently they have managed to grow one with a red middle but golden round the outside but not sure if it is going to make the
Fishing trip
This was a first trip out on ANZAC day as a group shops! Mind you rather than eating kiwis whilst we were there, they kept bring us large boxes of maderins, which are a very good round here! The first week of that was only a 3 day week, as the friday was ANZAC day simlar to our rememberance day but here it is a bank holiday.
That day a group of us went sea fishing of some rocks in a place called Opito bay. However it was not the most sucessfull but we did catch 2 snappers between 9 of us! The next day was very wet and cloudy so we headed over to a hot spring which is perfect for a cold day. It is meant to be one of the first in NZ, and is basically 8 out door pools which are volcanic sand and mud with sulparus hot springs bubbling though them with wooden walls round the edge. Each pool is a different temperature, the hottest is 48 celcius! Ian managed that one and I just ran out quick! Then on Saturday night we had a BBQ with a few other backpackers there are quite alot of us staying here probably over 100 and every saturday we
seem to be having a regular BBQ. That night we had the snapper that was caught, which was very nice! The next day we had a quite day and did the washing! Some parts of normal life never stop!
We then did another 3 days work at Hort Research, at which point the work was finished so it was time for the next job. We managed to land ourselves at landscaping gardening job on a plot of land next door to where we are staying. This job pays better and is as relaxed as the last one, we work when we want as many hours as we want. There are no bosses around and they seem happy with anything we do! It also pays quite well for backpacker work! These plots of land are for sale as a land and house package and we basically have to get them looking nice. Which is racking stones, weeding, planting, grass seeding and the bit Ian is looking forward to clearing wood which will involve some chainsawing! These plots are on a ridge which is one of the highest points around and there is a stunning viewing - photos attached!
The
next weekend, we decided on the saturday to do Tourist drive 1, however before we went out we took a quick stop at a sports shop at the end of the road, which Ian loves! It is full of fishing rods, guns, clay pigeon shooters, rugby stuff, snokelling etc. Well we bought a fishing rod! Pictures will follow next time as we keep forgetting the camera! Anyway we then headed of on the drve a couple fo phots attached. There were some stunning bays which had no one on them some lovely views. We tried a bit of fishing at the end but with very smelly squid bate and totally the wrong time, all we managed was to learn how to use the rod rather actually catch anything.
That evening we had another bbq, and on the sunday it rained all day so we just relaxed with some washing and TV. Rain here is common and when it rains it generally does very well! It is called the winterless north as it only gets a couple of frost a year, and temperatures at the moment can still get well into the 20's and it is the equivaliant of an
English November. However as it is subtropical it can also get upto 15 days a month of rain in the winter!
The next week we did a full weeks work of gardening which seems to be coming a long well thanks to Ian's skills not mine! The the Saturday was a lovely day so we headed to Doves bay which was a lovely spot and caught a Kawawhi and 2 snapper fish in the morning then did some shopping washing and relaxing in the afternoon and BBQ'd as normal in the evening however we BBQ'd the fish we caught! The Kawawhi was our favourite! Ian asked me to add that obviously the fish was much better than the others as we caught them! Today is Sunday, and we may work later but still undecided looks like another nice day. will update a again at some point in the next couple of weeks. We may have decided on then what we are doing in the next month, the plan at the moment is to stay here till the 1st and then head up to Cape Reigna which it the most northerly point of NZ, where the Tasman and Pacific oceans
meet.
Till next time......
Advertisement
Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 9; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0469s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb