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I don't know where to begin! Yesterday checked out from the time share, climbed the beautiful Mount one last time, and headed over the bridge. We had planned on staying in Tauranga for the night, but it turned out to be too expensive. NZ is a commonwealth, and the Queen's birthday is on Monday, so this whole weekend is a big holiday. We were basically driven out of the big city and headed west.
We wanted to take our time driving through the small towns, crash in the last one, and make a short trip the next morning into Auckland. This would give us a day to get our bearings in the city, find a place to stay that night, then wake up and meet with our new flatmates. While driving through the villages, we had time to kill and decided randomly to stay in the second one, Waihi. We had no reason to stay, other than the fact that we were making too much progress and didn't want to pay for two nights in Auckland. Even while we were parking to walk around Waihi, I had thought that we should drive just a bit more to the last town
on the way and stay there. But we walked around anyway and eventually found a dingy hotel called Rob Roy. We were standing outside the doors checking out their prices, relieved that they were almost a third of what we had seen earlier, when a lady and her two girls walked passed us. She glanced back at me, and we made eye contact, then she turned and asked if we were looking to stay at the Rob Roy. She told us it was disgusting in there, not even worth the little money we would have paid, and told us about a place that had just opened up around the corner.
The Burrowing Bullie is a newly rennovated bed and breakfast: part cafe, part bar & lounge, part accomodation. The lady told us we would have a better experience there, even for one night, and that we would really enjoy the owners. She told us to tell them that Dina sent us and to order their hot chocolate. We new exactly the place she was talking about since we had noticed the building on our way in. It's the cleanest looking thing in this whole town. We walked over, paid
$56 for the night, and sat down with the owners. Christoffel, the husband, is from South Africa just north of Johannesburg. His wife, Alison, is from England, and they are both paramedics in Auckland.
They bought the hotel about four months ago and have been working on it on their days off ever since. We can only imagine the work they had to do to clean the place up - everyone describes the former hotel as just disgusting. The cafe and the accomodation are up and running, slowly but surely building up their customer base. It is all very comfortable, very fresh and for having never having any experience in business in general, Chris and Alison have done a phenomenal job with the whole project.
We spent almost three hours just talking to the couple, sipping coffee, laughing, and sharing experiences. Then, they closed the door, drew their guns, and told us to give them our wallets. Just kidding, Jack wanted me to say that. No, they are amazing people. Very easy to talk to, easy to relate to, and nothing but sweet. They had to go back to their house for the night to clean up before
its showing, so we had the whole building to ourselves last night. All night all we could think about was how badly we wanted to help them out. Jack had told Chris to email us if they ever needed help with fixing up their lounge, which is still a work in progress. We both would love to come back and help them with anything, really, and I even woke up thinking of how great it would be to stay here a while and help them out. I kept praying that God would bless them while they are opening up their business, and that he would use us in any way he could to help them out.
When we came down to the cafe after breakfast to thank them before we hit the road, they sat with us and asked if we could work for them! They offered to provide accomodation, food, and cash, but Jack and I declined any pay. If we had a place to stay and food to eat, it would be a dream come true to work for them. To live and work together in a small town with people we enjoy is exactly what we
wanted. If we were to find jobs in Auckland, not many people would want to hire for such a short time, nor would we likely have the same schedule as each other. We came to the agreement that the temporary working visa would not be necessary, and if anyone has a problem, we would just say we are friends of theirs that came from the States to help them out. It saves us all the hassle. Jack and I feel like we have struck gold here, and it's perfect for them, too! They need help soon, as business is picking up. Plus, they take turns returning to Auckland to work while the other stays behind.
We are still going to Auckland today to find the house and meet with the couple tomorrow morning. We are going to ask them if we can stay only one week or so, which they should accept, and then we will come back to learn how to run the hotel and begin work! Even if they refuse to let us stay for this week, Chris and Alison have offered up their home to us. For how random, yet perfect this entire experience has been,
I can only thank God for how it all came together. All four of us are excited and Jack and I are eager to get back here. Oh, they are giving us free internet, too! Amazing! Jack and I will be able to take time off together when they are both here working at the Burrowing Bullie and have time off from their paramedic jobs. Burrowing Bullie refers to one of their five dogs, a bull terrier. We are just a few kilometers from the beach, just south of the beautiful Coromandel region, and centrally located between most other places we will go.
So, quite the change of plans. We love it!
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tiff
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a tee shirt
congratulations on your new jobs! jack, you gave me a heart attack!!! i am so thankful that you guys met two incredible people who can really teach you a lot. linds... you know business, and jack is good for some things. so you have a lot to teach them too! mahamee util naha mat shui...... bring me back a tee shirt, my size is a medium husky..... and i like reetheth any way... if they have tee shirts, im serious. love you, tiff