wwoofing up the joint, part 2

Ok you get lots of posts today. We've got lots of catching up to do.

Here are pictures of us working. We did such a good job painting the ceiling in the bathroom that they want us to do the living room too! Here is the start of this project.

This was the sanding day. We spent all day sanding the wood to get it ready to prime.

Jason and Uwe (he's the foreman of the operation)

Corinne looks like a Christmas Zapatista sander!

wwoofing up the joint

For those who don't know what wwoofing is, google it. Basically we live with people, we do stuff, they let us stay there. Nice, right?

So, here's the deal. We came to a place called Waiheke Island, just off of Auckland. It is this nice hippy island that is starting to become home to rich people. We're staying with a family, a momma and a poppa, and two little ones (age almost 5 and 6 and a half). We're going to paint their ceiling, and the let us stay in their sweet guest house and feed us! Awesome deal!
If any of you have witnessed just how much Jason can eat, especially when it is free, it is a really sweet deal! (one day, and I kid you not, Jason ate as much as the family).

The island is nice... we drop off and pick up the kids from school and kindy and mingle with the other parents. We went to co-op night with Pauline (the mom) and picked up two weeks of fruits and veggies. (there is a small little family co-op and they order food straight from the wholesalers on the mainland.)

We "work" for four hours a day or sometimes eight hours and get the next one off. Uwe (the dad, he's German) tore his tendons in his knee and had to have surgery, so we've been doing a lot of the driving errands. Surprisingly, we haven't seen much of the island yet as there is always something to do, or someone to visit with.

Ok here are some pictures of our sweet flat.

PS: there is an orange tree and a lemon tree and a banana tree. Right now there is a storm and the oranges are falling on our car.

Look! Corinne is enjoying a delicious golden kiwi! Have you ever tried a golden kiwi! sweeter but good. and more golden too.

Vegans and Possum Skinners!

Hello All!

Our travels have taken us off the beaten track to meet some colorful NZ folk. We stopped at a tavern outside of Rotorua. It said it had places to sleep, so we checked it out. A few hours later, we had a place to sleep, and were closing the bar drinking beers with local farmers. For those familiar with Colinton, imagine us at the New Zealand equivalent of the Colinton Bar drinking with farmers. We talked about possum skinning (it's easier when they're still warm!), where to get the best meat pies, milking cows (we were offered a job "pullin titties" at a local farm), and fishing. The conversation ended with a frozen trout slapped down on the bar. It was awesome! They bought us all our drinks too!

Then, the polar opposites... The next day we were ordering some vegetarian pies at a thermal tourist place... (we had to try the pies after the high recommendation from the farmers!). While we walked, two friendly Aussies wanted to be friends with us because they were vegans and we were vegetarians. We walked all over the thermal wonderland and had nice conversation while taking in the sights. Then they invited us (and a random German girl) back to their camper van and they whipped up some delicious vegan lunch, accompanied by beer and wine. (who knew that only some beer and wine are vegan-friendly? Lots are filtered with fish products. weird, eh?).

Then we hit the road. We've camped five nights so far (half our time here). It is bloody cold. I think that Jason's circulation is better than corinne's, so last night we stayed at the "settlers motor inn". It was quaint. We slept in a parked motorcoach attached to a cabin. We had an electric heater! Awesome!

We're done with the typing. Internet is costly here.

Want a few random pictures? Here they are:

bye

our sweet new ride!

behold, in all his glory... "Lefty"!





(that's its name)

Isn't he a wonderful spectacle to behold?? IT's a 1991 Mitsubishi Gallant! Him and Betsy should mate..but then we would have a purple offspring, so maybe not?

That is all.

-Jason and corinne

PS. We are in Rotorua. it is cold and rainy. but we are still tenting in the -2 degree nights. against corinne's better judgement and harsh criticism. flip flops and shorts... HA! try boots and three layers on every part of my body! Today Jason wore a thermal hoodie, a soft shell, and a rain coat for our walk. (All three hoods were firmly engaged.)

We saw the NZ sun today!

and here is the photographic proof!

Quiz of the day...

Regarding the following photo, what is the country of origin (Canada, USA, New Zealand) and what does the sign mean?

more photos! (bigger this time)

Vancouver!

Corinne in Vancouver

view from our room in Auckland!

pretty! (also taken from our room in Auckland)

There will be more pictures later. It's been rainy and not so photo-good.

-Jason and corinne

Photos!

us leaving Edmonton...

Jason having a beer on the beach at Whiterock, BC

Corinne and Sarah lookin fine

Hollywood!

Quote of the day...

"Even the porn stores are nicer here!"

-corinne (in Auckland)

We have Aucklanded!

I'm pooped.

After a rediculously early start in Vancouver (3:30 am) we flew to LA, took the subway through Compton (Long Beach, Inglewood! shout out to my homies!) and then we went to hollywood. we thought it was all weed and hookers, but then we walked further and found the nice hollywood. we saw Mann's(?) Chinese theater and some other foolish hollywood nonesense. fake pirates and the like. then we finally made it back to the airport and boarded to NZ.

now we're here. I like the trees the best. they're funny looking.

-Jason

you know when you wake up from sleeping in a public place with your head leaning back on the seat, and your mouth is really dry as if it's been hanging open for the whole time, and you just know in your heart that you've been snoring really loudly for the whole nap...that's how I woke up after a seven hour nap on the airplane to NZ. I feel sorry for the english guy sitting next to me! Auckland is great! Very clean, and Europeanesk. We plan to go visit some sharks tomorrow.

-corinne

and my feet got really swollen on the plane! wierd right? I wonder if my brain got swollen too. And the ocean water is nice and green here. pretty.

-Jason

the last day in Vancouver

Why the heck do we need to leave Canada? Vancouver is flippin awesome! The weather is nice, the plants are plentiful, and the beach is watery. Watery? does that even make sense?

Well, we went to the beach and I'm working on my flip flip tan. ("flip flop" is such an antiquated word). We saw crabs and mussels. sweet!

-Jason

Jason do so good. I have had an excellent time with Sarah and the other Makepeace's in White Rock. This blog entry is actually cutting into my reminiscing time of me and sarah's fat days in austria, so it has to be extra short. I believe what Jason meant to say above was that we had a good time watching people catch crabs on the wharf in Vancouver. Eating gelato and laying on the beach was also a good time. We also were able to say goodbye to Richard and Brad!

We leave now and you won't hear from us again until we become adopted New Zealanders! Till then....

-corinne


alas you hear from me again! Corinne's a liar and a jerk. not a jerk. she's pretty good. now that we're done blogging Corinne and sarah can get back to their fat pictures and I can get back to my Lord of the Rings and beer!

-Jason