Ben & Emilie in New Zealand

Kia ora whanau,

about a month ago we got an e-mail from new HelpX hosts Helen and David inviting us to come and give them a hand at the end of April. Before we replied, we quickly had to look up their location on the internet as we had never heard of it. And so imagine our excitement when we heard they lived on Kawau Island, a small island off the coast of Warkworth, a lovely town situated a 45 minute drive North of Auckland. The island is well known in New Zealand history and is now a great little get-away haven for both local travellers and tourists alike. It has no roads nor does it have shops. All you can hear is birdsong and occasionally a boat coming past. If you are looking for a little piece of paradise, this comes very close and we feel so fortunate to have been chosen to be Helen and Dave's first helpers!

Dave and Helen run an accommodation business from home. They are the only one operating such a thing on the island and seen as there are no restaurants around, they of course also have to provide their guests with breakfast, lunch and dinners. And as if that isn't enough, Dave also picks them up from Sandspit and makes sure to take them on little boat trips to Mansion House and other worthy places on the island - he runs a charter business with his boat, so he knows the waters and the area better than anyone else. Their guests are incredibly spoilt, so imagine our luck in being able to experience this as well!

Friday, 27th April

The day started off with a long morning of bus travels with the following itinerary: Tauranga - Hamilton - Auckland - Warkworth which lasted six hours in total. We met Helen at the Information Centre where she volunteers once every fortnight. We had a few minutes to walk around until she finished work and then we all went for lunch together. It was really nice.

Warkworth

Helen's husband Dave would come and pick us up by boat at 4pm, which have her enough time to get groceries and show us around a little bit. Then it was off to Sandspit, where we unloaded all the groceries and our luggage onto the deck, after which Helen drove her car to the car park, where it stays until she next comes to the main land.

Sandspit

Not much longer, David arrived with his "Dolphin Endeavor" boat. He was just as lovely as Helen and we really enjoyed our boat trip to the island. It was such a fun way to arrive to our new home for the following weeks and we were very excited. Despite the weather turning a little funny, the island still looked gorgeous with its lush vegetation, cute jetties and its handful of houses scattered along each bay and inlet. Dave and Helen's property is set high on the hill, with many steps to get to the house. Could have been somewhat problematic if it weren't for Dave's incredible handmade train-cart trolley thing, which can carry all the heavy things up with a handy motorised cable. Our backs were very thankful! Ingenious!

We were given one of the three guest rooms, which was absolutely stunning. Dave and Helen have thought of everything when laying out the rooms, even providing fluffy dressing gowns for each guest. And if there is something I truly miss, it is my fluffy dressing gown, so I was definitely in seventh heaven! Ah, the simple joys of life! Then, we went up for dinner and had a lovely first evening with our new hosts. They were nothing short of welcoming and kind and it was good to have our faith restored in HelpX again!

Saturday, 28th April

We got up and had our breakfast upstairs with Helen. David is an early riser, so he was already busy doing his odd jobs, while we all ate our bellies full on the lovely deck overlooking the water. It was a great way of starting the day. Then David came around and showed us what he wanted done. And so our first job was to cut down a tree to the same size as the deck, so that we could rest a plank on it, which would ultimately serve as a standing platform from where we could paint the sides of the house on a sunny day. The weather was very strange and went from humid and hot to sudden short outbursts of rain within minutes. All seasons in one day, right? Then, we trimmed down the plants next to the walking path and Ben finished the day chopping wood, while I got the little train cart up and then stacked the wood next to the house. Our working day went by really quickly and when we finished, Helen had already prepared a really nice lunch for us.

In the afternoon, the weather did not seem to be improving so we decided to have an afternoon of blobbing (or "comatosing" as David called it), which was actually really nice! Just before dinner, we took a look at Dave and Helen's DVD collection and chose some movies to keep us entertained for the next nights. And after a lovely meal and time with our hosts, we were able to retreat to our room, cuddle up and watch one of them, which was really nice.

View from our room.

Sunday, 29th April

Our second day on Kawau Island and despite the prevailing iffy weather, we are still thanking our lucky stars for being in such a magical place. Ben continued with the wood chopping, while I helped Helen to trim the Flax plants. These native plants are really great except for the fact that as soon as their flowers stopped blooming, random leaves start to die down, leaving a grotty mess. It was a real pain trimming them down, but being able to work by the waterfront with such a stunning view makes the working hours fly by. The last hour or so, I helped Ben to take the chopped wood in the train trolley up to the house and then stacked them neatly as only Germanic people pedantically know how to do (apparently).

After lunch, Helen and David insisted we should try to kayak around the nearby inlets. Even though it was clouded over, the water was ideally calm for a little paddle and we really enjoyed making our way around the bay past the scattered houses with their gardens and jetties. It was so peaceful. I did not paddle around too long as big thunderous clouds were closing in above us and I did not fancy getting soaked. Ben stayed on for a while longer, despite Dave pointing out that the tide was going out. And that was a good point as it made the banks very slippy, which was only proven when Ben finally showed up to the room with a muddy bum. Silly bugger!

For the rest of the afternoon, we watched a movie, listened to music and had a lovely 'blobby' afternoon as only Ben and Emilie can.

Monday, 30th April

Today, Dave took out the mulching machine, so we spent the first three hours mulching all the plants and trees which had been trimmed during the previous days. It was quite physical work, but unlike at Liz and Mike's we did not have to slave away. During our last hour, Ben chopped some more wood, which was then stacked in the little wagon and transported up the cable lane, so that I could then stack it next to the house.

Time just flew by and before we knew it, we were having a nice lunch all together. Helen gave us some instructions for some of the walks that can be done around the area. We planned to do the quickest of the walks to Beaumont Point look-out, but Ben took along the wrong set of instructions and so we ended up in a completely different location, by the beach, as opposed to high up on a cliff. We really could not be bothered to go back to the house, get the right instructions and try again, so we just ended up walking back and having a nice lazy afternoon before dinner. The walk still turned out to be very nice and Helen and Dave enjoy sprucing up the walk-way across their land with really funny signs. They even created "The Valley of the Lost Soles", which you can see on the pictures below:

Valley of the Lost Soles

We thought it was hilarious. And at the end of their property, they have created a gate with an old door with the following funny sign. They sure know how to keep people entertained!

Trespassers will be composted!

The day ended with yet another one of Helen's delicious creations and a night of watching the latest David Attenborough nature series called "Frozen Planet". It has long been shown on TV, but Dave and Helen recorded the latest episodes, which they were happy to watch again with us. It was a really nice evening.

Tuesday, 1st May

We woke up to a lovely sunny day and so it was the perfect opportunity to get the pain jobs done, which have been waiting for the past three years. Only part of the exterior of the house had been painted and so we were asked to do the remainder. Some of the bits were really fidgety and as we were painting away, the weather seemed to be having trouble figuring out what it wanted: it went from scorching hot to a sudden rain shower, to hot and humid, to a sudden rain shower and so on. We were a little worried about the walls getting wet, but luckily they were covered enough to avoid any disasters. We managed to get one layer of paint onto the whole surface, which was excellent timing. Although the timing of the start of our free afternoon was not so great as it suddenly started to pour down - buckets of water came out of the skies in all sorts of directions and so there was nothing more to do than to have another day of blobbing and relaxing. In all honesty, we have come to quite like it that way!

In the evening, we offered to cook dinner for Helen and Dave. We prepared them some rice on a bed of red lentil Dahl with some New Zealand lamb sausages. They made all the right noises, but we don't think they were overly impressed with it. I think this may well be the last time we'll cook for them. In the evening, we went to our room to watch a movie.

Wednesday, 2nd May

One of the major tasks which Dave and Helen wanted done was painting the roof of the house. As with most New Zealand homes, the roofs are not much more than corrugated iron, so a lick of specialised paint enables the roof to stay properly waterproof. Obviously there was quite a technique as to where to start, so that we did not paint ourselves into a corner. Especially with the nights drawing in quicker and getting chillier, this would not be ideal. We finished the first coat of paint and then decided to go out kayaking again, as the weather was really lovely.

We did not kayak very far, but were just happy to hobble along the waves and watch the world go by. There are so many birds on Kawau island and hearing them from your kayak is such a lovely experience.

Kayaking

Dave and Helen went out to see some friends across the bay, so we just sat upstairs in the warmth of the fire in their house and used the opportunity to use their internet. The island is only equipped with dial-up internet through the home-phone, which is something that has long disappeared from most Western countries, probably because it is so atrociously slow that you are close to wanting to slit your wrists out of frustration. Helen and Dave need the internet for their accommodation and charter boat business and every time it is used, their phone is engaged, which can obviously lead to them missing out on prospective clients' calls. We therefore prefer not to use their internet on a regular basis.

When they returned, we had a lovely meal and then Dave suggested we work two full days in a row, so that we can have the weekend off when the guests arrive. That way, we can tag along with any of the activities which they are doing. And it also meant we would actually see something of the island. Dave and Helen were also really happy to treat us as one of the guests, so we were about to get incredibly spoilt!

Thursday, 3rd May

So as planned, we were going to work a full day. We spent the whole morning putting a second coat of paint onto the roof with Dave and then after lunch, we put a second coat of paint on the side-wall of the house, which we had started painting a couple of days ago. Painting is quite rewarding in the fact that you can look back and see what you have achieved. And it also makes the time seem fly by, which is always quite nice. We got it all nicely done in time and then had an hour or so to wash the paint off us and relax before retreating to the house for dinner.

As the guests would be arriving tomorrow, we were asked to change lodgings. As we were staying in one of the luxurious guest-rooms, Helen had arranged for us to stay in a sleep-out, further up the property, but then decided to "upgrade" us to their neighbours' bach (typical Kiwi basic holiday unit). It lays nestled on their property, but belongs to friends living on the mainland, who rent out the back when they are not needing it. Helen helps them keep it clean and takes care of their guests, so as a pay back to her, her friends allowed us to use it for however long we needed it, which was great. The bach was basically one big room with bedroom cum living room cum kitchen area all in one, which was very handy and gave us plenty of space and privacy. It had another unit underneath, with more beds and a strangely located shower unit in the corner of the room. The toilet is in a separate unit outside. It is quite quirky and the views from the deck are very special. We liked it. Obviously I initially missed the fluffy bathrobes from the guest rooms, but I soon got over that.

Helen and Dave seemed really happy with what we achieved and in the evening, after dinner, they insisted we all watch one of their recorded movies. It was a really funny Australian movie named "The Man Who Sued God", which has the famous Glaswegian comedian Billy Connelly as the lead actor. "It's a hoot!" as people over here would say and it was definitely a lovely end to the day.

Friday, 4th May

Second full day of work and painting was yet again on the programme for us. Helen went into town on the mainland in the morning to do some grocery shopping and to get a haircut, so Dave was the only one around. He was having a massive burn up of all the garden waste on the beach and almost smoked us out, while we painted another outside wall of the house. In the afternoon, while Dave collected Helen and the first set of guests from the wharf, we trimmed some flax and bird of paradise plants and then cut the flowers off the agapanthus, before ending the day chopping some kindling for the fire. By that time, Warren and Paula had arrived. They were a Kiwi couple, who recently got married and received a weekend away to Kawau Island from their work colleagues. They were really lovely.

When we were done with work, we relaxed a while and then went to the house, hoping to be able to help Helen out, but she wanted us to entertain Paula and Warren instead. While we chatted away with a drink and some nibbles, Dave came home with the other guests: Sarah and Paul. Sarah is from the UK and has lived in London with Paul for the past 17 years and were now relocating back to Paul's native New Zealand with there three kids. Paul treated Sarah to a weekend away from the children as well as to show her some more of this beautiful country. They were nice too. We all sat down and talked for a while, and then had dinner. Helen had set up this beautiful table, but it was not until dinner was served that we realised that there were only enough seats for six of us, meaning that Helen and Dave were sitting on their own in the kitchen. When Ben and I asked them if they wanted to swap with them, they laughed and said "hell no, we are happy to have some time off!", but we still felt a little guilty. They luckily joined us for dessert, which made it really nice.

Sunset over Kawau Island

[We are very sorry about the delay of this blog post - as always it has been due to internet restrictions, but we are hoping to get back to track as soon as we can! Keep tuned!]

Hello dear blog readers,

as you may remember, we did not have the nicest of times at our last home-stay on Lake Tarawera (understatement of the year). To our surprise, our good luck charms were still intact and we went from a horrible experience to a wonderful one. It was very hard for us not to let this bad experience cloud our HelpX memories of the past ten months and even now, we still look back on it with a sick and uncomfortable feeling in our stomach. Often things hurt most when you have invested a lot of energy, kindness and hard work in something. But as it turns out, we should have left their place a lot earlier than we did, because what came next, was more than we could have hoped for...

Tuesday, 24th April

After having to pack our bags and leave our hosts at Lake Tarawera, we were driven to Rotorua from where we had absolutely no idea where to go next. We thought of all sorts of outcomes and possibilities and for the very first time during our ten months of travelling, we felt alone and vulnerable. It was too last minute to find any other hosts in the area and so we had to rely on the contacts we already had established to find a place to stay. It was then that we thought about giving Karen and Mark a call to see if there would still be a chance to take them up on all their offers to come and stay with them. We met Karen and Mark during our first home-stay in the Waitakere Ranges. You may (or may not) remember that our hosts Kenny and Mandy had them over for a few days and we kept in touch with them ever since. As they were at work, we did not get through to them until the evening and by that time, we were really starting to panic. Where were we going to go? Where would we spend the night? How was this going to turn out? Thankfully, when we got through to them they welcomed us with open arms without hesitation. And what's more, they even came all the way to Rotorua to pick us up. It was so comforting to see a friendly face again!

And so after a nasty day, the evening came as a welcome relief. We had dinner somewhere along the road and then made our way to Papamoa, which is a small suburb outside of Tauranga. Karen and Mark have a lovely home and after showing us around, we were finally able to put our feet up and relax. There is most definitely sunshine after the rain!

Wednesday, 25th April

We were hoping to do some odd jobs for Karen and Mark, but they would not hear any of it and told us to have a lie-in for as long as we wanted to. I cannot remember when we last had a proper lie-in without having to worry about our hosts or about our tasks - it was heavenly. Karen and Mark had the day off due to 'Anzac Day', which remember the fallen soldiers during the war. Not sure which one, but the point is that they had a day off, which was nice. Their grandchildren came over for a brief visit. Little Phoenix (2.5) and Faith (1.5) are absolutely adorable and put a smile on everyone's face! After that relaxing morning, Karen and Mark then took us sightseeing at Papamoa Beach, which is like a little piece of paradise.

Papamoa Beach!

Then they invited us to the hot salt water pools, where we stayed and bathed for a few hours. If it weren't for the fact that we were all getting hungry, we would have gladly spent the whole day there! What an excellent remedy for getting over horrid hosts!

We went for some food at the mall, where Karen had a manicure done. This gave us time to walk around the shops, which is something we have rarely been able to do during our ten months in New Zealand. Not that we were looking to buy anything, it was just nice to have a snoop around and see what people are up to. And then the day ended in a lovely evening watching TV.

Thursday, 26th April

Karen and Mark are back at work today, so we had the day to ourselves. Seen as there was nothing on our agenda, we had another lovely lie-in and relaxing day. We did go out for a walk to the beach, but when we arrived, the weather suddenly turned. We really did not want to get stuck in the big rain showers, so after a short walk, it was already time to get back to the house. It was still lovely to get out and about, however short. Back at the house, we made a 'chili con carne' for Mark and Karen, as well as a chocolate cake, to which Karen added some scrumptious custard. Happy with our bellies full, we then watched some DVDs which showed all the pictures of when Mark's family visited New Zealand over Christmas and Easter. We don't know the people, but it was quite nice to see the sights which we did not get the chance to see. At least we know what to visit when we come back to New Zealand, whenever that is!

The lovely Ruddell Family - taken from Facebook as I would not be able to get a greater picture than this!

And so ended our stay with the Ruddell family. It was a completely unexpected addition to our trip, but in hindsight, we should have visited them a lot earlier! Despite it all happening under rushed and unhappy circumstances, they turned our bad experience around and we loved staying with them in Papamoa. We are so grateful for their generosity, kindness and hospitality! They have a lovely house, a lovely family and three adorable cats, who even had Ben converted! It was nice to be invited as guests, as opposed to helpers, which made these three days feel like a little holiday. And it also confirmed our view that Tauranga and surroundings is a great area to be in! Looking back, we did not take any pictures whilst we were there, which has everything to do with the fact that we were so relaxed and happy to take it easy and simply enjoy. And that says a lot! Thank you, Karen and Mark, for taking us in at the last minute and for making us feel at home in your beautiful house. We loved catching up with you and if the chance arises, we will definitely take you up on your offer to come and visit you again! Thank you!

[We are very sorry about the delay of this blog post - as always it has been due to internet restrictions, but we are hoping to get back to track as soon as we can! Keep tuned!]

Our 33rd home-stay is near Lake Tarawera, one of the many lakes surrounding Rotorua. We came to this smelly town five months ago, when we had a three hour stop-over between our home-stays in Tauranga and Gisborne. It is the unofficial Maori capital of New Zealand and an important stop for many tourists and travellers, so when the opportunity came to spend some time there, we figured we should return and do it properly. And so we got in touch with Liz, Mike and their daughter Talia. Their profile seemed really interesting and we were looking forward to meeting them and spending time with them.

Monday, 16th April

Our bus from Taupo to Rotorua had a slight delay and so by the time we arrived in the smelly town, it was already pitch black. The evening creeps in much sooner than before and we are constantly being reminded that the Winter is not that far away anymore. Our host Mike picked us up from the bus stop, while his wife Liz and their two small fluffy dogs Sherpa and Chances waited for us in the car. We had a nice chat during our drive to Lake Tarawera, although it did feel strange to arrive at a new place in the dark. There would be so much to look forward to in the morning! Unfortunately, it had to wait until the morning as we were shown around the "wwoofer and guest flat" below the house with a firm "if there is nothing else you need, we shall see you in the morning then. Work starts at 9am!" and that was it. No offer to prepare us dinner or something to eat, or even an invitation to have a relaxing cup of tea upstairs. This had never happened to us before! Luckily, we would be having our breakfasts in the flat every morning, so there was some bread in the kitchen that we could fill our hungry bellies with. Needless to say our home-stay started off a little disappointing...

Tuesday, 17th April

We were ready for our first day of work at 9am as expected. We made our way up to the house and were immediately trusted the rubbish and recycling bins as one of our daily jobs would be to empty them accordingly. And with that, they meant that we had to pick every individual item out and place it into the labelled recycling categories. It seemed a little over the top. Then, we were shown to the "helper jobs booklet", which laid out all our daily jobs as well as the main tasks we were expected to do during our stay. Liz laughed about it and referred to it as being a little pedantic and even though we could not agree more, we kindly kept quiet about it.

Mike had recently cut down some trees, so our task today was to clear the area by splitting some wood, stacking it and putting all the branches through the mulching machine. It was quite physical work, but luckily it made time fly. Before we knew it, it was time to get showered and have lunch, which is served every day at 1.30pm. Liz has this amazing "solar oven", which she uses on sunny days to bake home-made bread in. In the afternoon, we walked to the lake, where we sat down for a while. A great black swan swam over towards us and then suddenly jumped out of the water and spread its wings in a territorial statement, which almost made us pee our pants! Apart from that little bit of excitement, there was not much else and so we went back to the house and relaxed until dinner.

Helpers are expected to come up for dinner at 6.30pm and it was quite obvious that Liz and Mike did not usually have them stay on in their house afterwards, because as soon as we finished doing the dishes, we were sent off with an "alright, see you tomorrow then!" and that was it. And so we disappeared off to our "flat" after only spending 30 minutes with them. It felt very disconnected compared to our other home-stays. We did both make an effort to connect with Liz tonight, but her mind tends to wander off if you don't keep your answers short enough. There is simply no interest in getting to know us... Then again, we were also pleased to have time to ourselves and to watch a movie. And maybe they were just very busy tonight.

Wednesday, 18th April

Mike and Liz are part of a "Toast Masters" class, which is a group that gathers and gives talks, apparently to improve public speech and boost confidence. We were invited to come along and we considered it for a while, until we were told that we had to leave the house at 6.30am. Our decision was made soon after that: we would just stay at home and continue with the tasks. Plus the thought of public speaking for fun sounded more like torture in Ben's eyes! And so we finished mulching and stacking wood. When Mike and Liz weren't back when they told us they would be, we just continued on with some weeding. We were expecting them to be pleased with all the hard work we had done, but all they did was inquire whether we had started work at the correct time and then they gave us some old carpet to cut up to use as a weed mat, before spreading the mulch on top of it. We got a lot done in just four hours and we were pleased when our working day was finally over.

Liz kept prodding us about what our plans were for the day, but we had none. The work had been quite physical that day and we just wanted to take it easy. So we rested a while and then decided to make the most of the lovely weather and go for a walk. There was meant to be a walking path along the shores of the lake, but the strong wind made it hard to get past the crashing waves, so we just walked along the road instead. We stopped where there was an opening from where we could have a better view of the lake, but the wind was very chilly, so all we had in mind was getting back to the house as soon as possible. We had not realised how dense the bush was around the forest, which, as nice as it looks, makes it incredibly hard to do any walks. Most of the walks require a boat to take you to one end and pick you back up. And the populated area around the lake was minimal compared to the full size of it. We were a little disappointed...

Lake Tarawera

For dinner, we were given all the ingredients to make our own sushi, which was quite a fun experience, although we wouldn't refer to ourselves as experts just yet. As per usual, we felt that Liz was hinting for us to retreat back to the downstairs flat as soon as we had done the dishes, which is what we did after raiding their movie collection. We might as well enjoy our evenings on our own then!

Thursday, 19th April

Mike and Liz have a first aid course that they need to attend in Rotorua tomorrow, which would give us a chance to tag along to town and have a day to explore on our own. Of course Liz wasn't going to be giving away a day off just like that, so we had to make up for our working hours on other days. And so we continued spreading the mulch in the native garden, then cleaned the glass bottle wall outside of our "wwoofer and guest" flat, planted the new Winter vegetables and then helped Mike to mulch the gum trees (eucalyptus) which were newly chopped down today.

Glass bottle wall.

Wwoofer and Guest Flat

When it came to lunch, we realised there was so much more mulching to do that we could just as well make up for tomorrow by working a little extra today. In total, we did seven hours of work, so we would only have one more hour to make up on another day. We were really pleased with what we got done and were happy to see that Mike was equally pleased with it. He even gave me a hug to say thank you, which was really sweet. No reaction from Liz though.

We weren't going to do anything special that afternoon, so since we only had a couple of hours before dinner, we just decided to chill out and watch a movie. It was actually quite nice to sit back and not force ourselves to get up and do something. It made for a lovely relaxing evening before the evening even properly started - heavenly!

Friday, 20th April

Day out in smelly Rotorua! As mentioned before, we had already spent three hours in this town in November when we had a stop-over. It was definitely no where near enough time to really get a feel for the place, so we were happy to get this chance now. We departed very early in the morning and immediately headed for the information centre to get our usual free map and brochures. As we had the whole day to explore, we asked one of the I-Site people to give us some tips on what to do and that is where we got a little disappointed... It turned out that the walk we did in November, visiting the local park with thermal activity, Lake Rotorua and the Government Gardens is in fact all there is to do if you A) travel on foot and B) don't want to spend any money on tourist attractions. Oh, and to get the free map which we received in November you now have to pay $2! We were incredibly disappointed! All the geysers and mud pools were turned into tourist attractions which cost a fortune and even the museum had a high entrance fee. If it had been reasonably priced, we would have been tempted, but unfortunately it cost an arm and a leg. And as for the walks around the area, apart from the one we had already done, most of the other walks were either around the other lakes or around the forests, which we could not get to on foot. Had we known, we would have probably stayed at home. Mind you, it was our own fault that we did not do any research about what else there was to do!

Anyway, we sat around for a while, discussing what to do with our day. As we sat there, a woman asked us if we could pretty please fill out a survey on New Zealand's most touristy destinations, with emphasis on Rotorua, on iPads. Ben referred to it as being the highlight of his day and we were quite sad that we had to give the iPad back to her at the end of it. But we did get a voucher for a "2 for the price of 1" lunch deal at a local restaurant, which was nice. A little happier than before, we came to the realisation that my old camera had been playing up the last time we were here and that as a result, we did not manage to take as many pictures as we wished to. And for that reason, we decided to retrace our steps and do the walk around the thermal park, Rotorua Lake and end at the Government Gardens.

It was really nice to be able to leisurely walk around as opposed to our rushed walk five months ago. We spotted some things we had not seen before and in the end, the disappointment soon melted away. For lunch, we made use of the voucher and treated ourselves to a nice meal. It had been such a long time since we were able to eat out together and it felt rather special! Then in the afternoon, Ben had gotten a little nauseous from the sulphur smell (which smells very much like rotten eggs) and we were both getting bored, so we spent our last few hours at the local library. Ben read up on books, while I nodded off for a while.

Saturday, 21st April

Mike was chopping down some more trees, so after doing the usual daily tasks of sorting out their rubbish and recycling and fetching fire wood, we continued on with the mulching and chopping of wood. Both Mike and Liz were heading out at lunch and would not be back until later that evening, so we had our meals to ourselves. We don't spend much time with Liz and Mike, except for during meals and even then we feel it is rushed and distant, so it was actually really nice to have the whole remainder of the day to ourselves instead of forcing ourselves to try and make conversation with people that aren't interested in us.

View from the House

Sunday, 22nd April

Same tasks on the programme as yesterday. At lunch, we were told that there was a new "wwoofer" arriving in the afternoon. I don't think Liz reads her helpers' profile thoroughly as all she could tell us was that his name was Moritz and that he was "German or something like that". It is quite upsetting when hosts don't take the time to read up on you, especially as it is a requirement that you have a description of yourself, your intentions and your experiences. Fair enough if they cannot quite remember how old you are, or haven't thoroughly browsed through your reviews or experience list, but you just wish for people to at least take a minute to read it all. After all, it really is not that much to ask... And so in the afternoon, Moritz arrived, exhausted from his travels. Liz and Mike invited him up for a cup of tea and a while later he came back down. It was quite obvious that just like us, he expected to be the only helper, and just like us, he was not too impressed with the welcome he was getting. He also referred to the "flat" as being very much like a backpackers, with laminated instructions everywhere you turn your eyes to. Having a common topic to complain about, we hit it off immediately and loved his company. Despite not being sure about having someone else join our "flat", we were really happy to have someone else to talk to and share our free time with.

Monday, 23rd April

Mike drove Moritz and us to one of the holiday properties down the road and gave us the task of mulching all the trees he was about to trim, as well as cleaning up all the other mess that was lying around. The work was physical as always, with the added strain that we were on a time-limit as everything had to be tidied up in time for the next guests to arrive in a few days time. So it was nice to have Moritz as an additional worker. We got through a lot of work that day and were all happy when our long four hours were over. Not that we got much time to relax as we had to quickly rush to the house, get showered, have lunch and then get ourselves ready to leave to the boat jetty. Mike and Liz volunteer to count an endangered species of birds named dabchicks, and Lake Tarawera is one of the few areas where they can still be found. These miniature ducks spend their entire lives on the water as apparently their feet are too far apart to walk on land. They only use the shores of the lake to nest, which makes their young ones an easy target for rats. Both Liz and Mike also volunteer to set traps around Lake Tarawera for the rats and according to them, the dabchicks have increased in numbers since the rat trapping project begun.

"The Fat Pigeon Too" Boat

Anyway, we were joined by Margaret and Owen, who recently moved to the area. Owen is currently filming a documentary and so he was keen to come along to do some filming on the water, while Margaret took note of the dabchicks which were spotted. It's a thorough job, as you have to locate the spotted dabchicks onto a topographic map of the lake and, where possible also record their numbers according to age group and gender. We thought we were coming along for the ride, but Liz soon turned us into 'dabchick counters'. There is never a free pass with her. Unfortunately (or not), I had forgotten to take my glasses along, which prevented me from distinguishing the little creatures from the ducks, shags and other birds. I think Liz thought I had forgotten them on purpose, but I am nowhere near that cunning. Mike was happy to have company inside though and it was really nice to look out onto the beautiful lake and enjoy the views.

Lake Tarawera

The dabchick count took a good three hours and covered one half of the lake. Apparently the Department of Conservation (DOC) are not interested in knowing the numbers for the other half, which was fine with us. We had a tea break and then Mike took the boat to 'hot water beach', where you have to be careful not to dig your feet to deep in the scorching hot sand. It was quite the experience.

Hot Water Beach

Then, we moved on to a secluded area with natural hot pools, only accessible by boat. It was nice to have a soak in the warm water. Ben and I cooled off in the cold lake before getting back to the boat. As we all got dressed, Liz prepared some burgers on the barbecue for dinner. Mike then drove the boat out onto the middle of the lake and we enjoyed a lovely dinner together. It was really nice.

The afternoon turned out to be really lovely and at the end of the evening, the three of us wondered why Liz and Mike could not always be this invested in their helpers. There is no need for the fancy boat ride, but a little bit more socialising would go a very long way in improving the stay. It was in a way very exhausting to spend so much time with people who usually keep their helpers at bay, mainly because there is so much you don't know about each other. Usually that's why the first days are always tiring for both helpers and hosts. Though as we never got that time to connect, we found ourselves feeling that exhaustion after a week of being there. It was quite sad in a way.

Tuesday, 24th April

- not really a day we will remember fondly... After our daily tasks, we got into the car and were yet again driven to the holiday properties to continue to clean up the garden. Everything went alright until we were having a break, talking about all sorts of things and well, it did not end up too great. I am not going to go into details as it will only upset me again, but basically it started with a discussion and exchange of opinions, which then led to Liz blowing off steam and hinting that we should maybe pack our bags. Nothing bad happened, but it just came down to yet another disappointment about our stay (well, mostly with Liz) and when she implied that we might as well leave, we figured that this would be the wisest thing to do...

... to be continued ...

The main disappointment with this stay was its difference to most of our other home-stays. There was absolutely no involvement from our hosts and every day we spent maybe 30 minutes with them over lunch, and maybe another 45 minutes over dinner. Apart from instructions on what to do and the occasional 10 minute tea-break, there was very little time spent with them and it certainly was not for lack of trying. From the start there were very clear, almost military, guidelines that we had to follow: All helpers have porridge for breakfast, as "this is the most sustainable breakfast a person can have". When Moritz explained that he really did not enjoy having porridge, Liz just laughed, even though Ben and I knew that she had plenty of other breakfast foods in her pantry to offer him instead. And when you are doing physical work, it is important that you at least enjoy the food enough so that you can sustain yourself until lunch. All helpers start work at 9am and after sorting out the hosts' rubbish and recycling as well as cleaning the kitchen after the hosts' usage of it, they were expected to work until 1pm, no minute earlier and without breaks, unless Liz invited you to have one. And she will make sure that you are kept busy at all times. Lunch at 1.30pm, where helpers get given one slice of bread at a time and only when offered by Liz, as well as a variety of salads. Then you are expected to make your own plans and keep yourself busy until you have to come back up to the house at 6.30pm for dinner. Helpers are in charge of doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen after the meal. There is no room for spontaneity from the helpers as there are laminated instructions every where you go. In the helpers' flat there are signs on how to prepare and eat porridge, on how to clean the kitchen, on what to do on your last day, etc. Then there is a full "wwoofer" manual available with more instructions on what is expected. And upstairs, there are laminated instructions in the kitchen, in case you were planning on walking away without helping out. It feels very uncomfortable and very much like a cheap backpackers, as Moritz pointed out.

It makes it feel as though Liz and Mike have had so many helpers in their house that they can no longer be bothered to teach them anything or to let them be spontaneous. There is no room for discussions or improvements and their tolerance is very low. And the sad thing is that no one is forcing them to host helpers - it is all out of their own choice. So why did they get so many lavishing reviews from previous helpers? Because their daughter Talia, who moved to Auckland for her studies two months ago was the heart and soul of this exchange. It is not until you see all the pictures hanging around in the "flat" of Talia having fun with helpers, and messages being left from previous people explaining how much they enjoyed their time with her and how kind and welcoming she was to them. If this is really the case, which we assumed it would be when we first decided to come here, we would have certainly enjoyed it more.

You can view our photo album on Facebook for free via this link: Lake Tarawera Album

Kia Ora,

We have made it to Taupo! At last! Yeay!

You have know idea how happy we are about this, as Taupo has caused us quite some trouble... twice! The first time we tried to go there was in October, after our home-stay with the lovely Pullyn family in Tauranga. We desperately tried to find hosts, but alas, everyone was either fully booked or on holidays. This ultimately resulted in us having to prolong our stay with the family (thank goodness they were wonderful!) and we had to rethink our travel plans and go Southwards via Gisborne. You can re-read the blog post here: http://Ben-and-Emilie-NZ.travellerspoint.com/65/
In hindsight, we are happy, as otherwise we would have given Gisborne a miss, but it hasn't been that much easier the second time round... Due to our horrid experience in Mapua, all our plans got buggered and without any internet access and with limited phone reception, we were yet again struggling to make it to Taupo. Our timing was not great, because it fell right in the middle of the Easter holidays, but we persevered on. And after contacting almost 10 hosts, we finally ended up being able to stay with the Elliott family. Looking back, we are yet again happy with how it all turned out: what a great family!

The Elliott family consists of Michelle and Steve, their twins Mason and Blake (12) and daughter Grace (10). They live in a stunning house in the country side, a handy 10 minute drive into town. We were welcomed with open arms and just had the most wonderful five days with them!

Elliott Family: Mason, Steve and Michelle, Grace, Blake and dog Tia.

Wednesday, 11th April

We were dropped off in Turangi by a friend of Chris and Tania and from there we hitchhiked to Taupo, which all went a lot easier than expected. In Taupo, we were picked up by our new host Michelle, who quickly had to dash into the supermarket. We were quite happy to tag along and help her out a little. Then we drove to their beautiful house and she showed us to our room, where we had some time to unpack and get familiar with our new surroundings. We talked to Michelle for a while until Steve and the three kids came home. It was all a little hectic at first, but then they all decided to watch a movie together, while Michelle left for her evening shift at work. She is a nurse and so once in a while, she has to cover shifts when there is a shortage in staff. And so we joined Blake, Mason and Grace and watched 'Real Steel', which Steve made us dinner. He was enjoying the movie as well, so seen as mother wasn't home, we all indulged in dinner in front of the TV. It was really nice.

Thursday, 12th April

We woke up early and after breakfast, Michelle asked us if we could clean the windows. It was raining heavily and so she was kind enough to give us jobs inside the house. There were a lot of windows to be done, but we got through them so quickly that we were able to help her out with some dusting of the kitchen cabinets and pantry as well. Michelle and Steve judge your work not by the hour, but by whether or not it is done, so in their eyes, we were done for the day when we finished cleaning the windows. We did not think we did anywhere near enough hours, so we were happy when we could do the dusting as well. The tasks they set are so reasonable that you can easily get them done within a few hours, giving you ample free time. We really liked it!

After Michelle prepared us some lunch (aren't we spoiled?) she was very keen to take us out. Ben had read somewhere that there was a really nice café in neighbouring Acacia Bay, which was decorated with mosaics. Michelle had just told us that she was going to make creating mosaics her new hobby, so she was very happy to take us there. And even on a wet day, it was a really great little spot! The owner of the café had turned her hobby into a real work of art, creating mosaic sculptures, garden paths, furniture, etc. It was wonderful!

Mosaics

The kids were then dropped at their grandmother's, while she went into town for an hour and a half, giving us the time to have a nice wander around. By the time we walked to Taupo's lake front, the sun had managed to squeeze itself through the clouds and it soon turned into a lovely sunny day - yeay! We were quite happy to sit by the lake for a while and then we went to the I-Site (Information centre) to get some brochures and a free map of the local area.

Lake Taupo

Friday, 13th April

The sun is shining again and so we were able to do some work outside. We were asked to clean out the gutters and do some weeding, which took up most of our time before lunch. It was quite a fun task to do and all the while we were kept company by the lovely Tia. She is a great big white-coated Labrador, which is so unusual that it makes her look more like a small polar bear. Tia is moulting at the moment and so we made sure to give her a good brush as well.

After yet again a lovely lunch, we dropped Mason off at the skate park and were then taken to a visit to the Aratiatia Rapids. There is a big power dam, which opens up three times a day to flood an entire valley. We arrived just in time for the last opening at 2pm and after a quick run to the first look-out, we were ready to see the spectacle up close. It was an amazing sight! The dam opens up and within mere minutes, the whole valley gets flooded. But it drains back out just as quickly as it fills up.

Aratiatia power dam

We then walked to the next look-out from where we had another great view. The kids were keeping themselves busy by trying to throw stones over the rock formations into the lake and they kept us entertained with their bickering. Then afterwards, we were brought to the power station, where the natural hot mineral water is used to generate power. It was just phenomenal seeing all the big stainless steel pipes running across the countryside, carrying boiling hot water of approximately 300 degrees.

Power Station

Saturday, 14th April

We woke up early today and were dropped at the famous Spa Park by Michelle. Both her and Steve were working all day, so the children were staying with their grandparents and we were getting the day off to visit some local sights. It was really lovely of them to give us this opportunity and we were making the most of the stunning whether. From Spa Park, we followed the walking trail right to the Huka Falls. It was a beautiful walk there along the Waikato River.

Waikato River

Unlike most falls, the Huka Falls are more like extreme rapids, which end up in a smallish waterfall. It was amazing to see the sheer strength of it and to see the beautiful colours of the water, which ranged from snow white to ice blue. Just beautiful!

Huka Falls

We walked up to the various look-outs and then returned to the start of the walking trail again, ready for the next bit of excitement: a hot water stream, which ran into the Waikato river. It is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike and it was hard to believe that it was all naturally formed. The hot water spurts out from the ground and through mini waterfalls makes its way into the icey cold river. The combination of the two extremes, means that there are several patched in the water where your feet feel freezing cold, while your legs feel toasty warm. It was a strange sensation, but a great way to adjust the temperature according to your wish. Sit closer to the banks of the river and it soon gets cooler, sit closer to the hot water source and you will be warmer. We loved it!

Hot water stream!

We stayed on for a while until we could no longer ignore how hungry we had become. And so it was time to get back into town and go on a hunt for some lunch. Then, we walked along the town centre and walked into a few shops searching for a new suitcase or travel bag for Ben. Remember how I bought a new suitcase in Motueka, not even two weeks ago? I repeatedly asked Ben whether he needed a replacement too, but no, it still worked fine... until it suddenly broke down the next day when we tried to get from the South Island back to the North Island. Talk about irony! Luckily, he found a bag which he liked and which seemed big enough. It is more like a big sports bag with the added bonus of having wheels, which was perfect. And thankfully it was a bargain, as we could not afford to buy anything fancy. We were really happy!

At 5pm, we met Steve at the Home Show exhibition in town, who then brought us to Michelle's little doctor's practice. I had told Michelle on our first night that she would have to excuse my constant asking to repeat things, because I had a blocked ear and just like that she offered to syringe it for me! This would have cost me approximately $85 per ear to do, but she was so kind as to do it free of charge for me! And I only realised how generous that was until it turned out that both my ears were severely blocked and that she had to do it in two sessions. To think that this would have cost me a good couple of hundred dollars is just scary! Thank you, Michelle!

In the evening, Ben and the kids had a "bouncing" and balancing competition on the big exercise balls. He was beating all of them when it came to balancing himself, but as for the bouncing side of it, Grace was definitely ahead of all of them. Like a little kangaroo she hopped along and beat all their butts! I am truly pathetic at it and was happy when Steve had a go and turned out to be even worse than I was - it was good to have company on the loser front! Then we all watched a movie together.

Sunday, 15th April

Today, we were planning to make up for yesterday's day off, but neither Michelle or Steve would hear any of it. They told us that they loved having helpers over not just for the extra set of hands, but also for their company and they thoroughly enjoyed ours, so it was all good. And so we just did our tasks for that day: I was in charge of cleaning the tiled kitchen floors, by first vacuuming the area and then using their awesome steam mop. It is such an easy thing to use and I was done in no time at all, so I went and helped Ben mow the lawns. Their sit on lawn mower was refusing to start up, so we had to use the heavy manual one. Not that it was any more hassle, as this one came with a handy little switch that pushed its own weight along, making it super easy.

We were just done in time for lunch, after which Michelle's nurse shift started for the day. She wanted to get there a little earlier in order to do the last bit of syringing of my right ear, which had been previously completely blocked. With yesterday's preparation, the job was soon done and it was such a great feeling being able to hear properly again! Wow! I was so incredibly grateful, as was Ben, who was getting a little tired of having to repeat himself constantly in the past months.

After my miraculous hearing recovery, we walked around town again and then joined Steve at the Home Show exhibition, where his business had set up a stall. As we were going to help him dismantle it all, we received complimentary tickets, so we made sure to arrive a little earlier so that we could have a snoop around. It was quite fun. And once we dropped everything off at his office, we got some fish and chips and had a really nice dinner at Michelle's parents with the kids. We waited there until Michelle finished her shift and then all went back home, where we had a lovely last evening. We had such a lovely day again and it was so nice for me to be able to hear properly again. Although after having been partially deaf for such a long time, it was quite a shock to adjust to the noises of everyday life again and it gave me quite a migraine! I had no idea how loud life in general is

Monday, 16th April

Our bus from Taupo to Rotorua would not be leaving until the evening and we did not want Michelle and Steve to feel like they had to keep us busy all that time. So after packing our bags, we quickly stripped our bed, vacuumed the room and helped with hanging up the laundry before suggesting to Michelle that she could just drop us off in town when she next went in. And so we were dropped off in town, where we quickly dropped off our luggage at Steve's office before saying goodbye to Michelle, Blake, Mason and Grace. The kids kept thanking us for coming to stay with their family and it was just really sweet! After the past few days, we were pretty much all "towned out" so we spent most of our day in the library, reading books and magazines and using the internet. Time went by and before we knew it, it was time to get back to Steve's office, collect our belongings and say goodbye. We were really sad to leave this lovely family and after all the hassle of trying to get to Taupo, we are happy how it turned out. And it truly is a lovely township!

Taupo Library

And how organised am I again? You can view our Facebook photo album for this stay, here:

Lake Taupo Album
Enjoy!

Welcome back to the North Island, my dearest blog-readers! It is great to have you back!

We have arrived at our 31st home-stay, more specifically in the small town of Raetihi, close to the stunning Tongariro National Park. There we shall be staying with the lovely Chris and Tania and their adorable seven month old baby boy Zak. Organising this stay was a little hectic: our plans had been buggered up due to our shortened stay near Nelson and that was followed by a couple of weeks without internet access and limited phone reception. We had already arranged to stay with Chris and Tania for about 3 days or so, but contacted them again to see if there was a possibility they could either take us on longer or refer us to someone else. We were desperate! Luckily for us, something came up, which meant Chris and Tania changed their initial holiday plans and which meant we could stay on until we found our next home. We were very grateful!

Monday, 2nd April

Early morning with a long bus trip from Wellington all the way to Ohakune, where we were picked up by Tania and baby Zak at the bus stop. He is just the happiest little boy and we were immediately smitten by him! We were dropped off at the house and shown around. Tania and Chris own a large property, which they separated off in two parts: a large main house with five double bedrooms, which is rented out to travellers and a smallish annexe/ flat, which is their home. As there were no guests booked in, we got the "main house" all to ourselves. What a luxury!

View of Mt. Ruapehu from the house!

Once we familiarised ourselves, we were taken for a walk to the coffee roasting business to meet Chris. He has been operating it independently for seven months and its a great place! We talked for a while and then Chris made us a delicious home-made pizza for lunch. I think we were good advertisement as we could not stop raving about how good it was! We had a walk around the town and then relaxed at the house for a while until we were asked whether we wanted to come for a walk further along town in the evening. We had a lovely time and little Zak was happy to fall asleep in his mothers arms while we walked along.

Tuesday, 3rd to Wednesday, 11th April

Instead of writing our usual day-to-day blog I will sum up our experiences for you, as many of the days sound similar.

Tania and Chris run three businesses: they rent out the main house as holiday accommodation for large groups or families, they run the cute 'Volcano' café and pizzeria and also roast coffee for businesses and clients, which they deliver from door to door. Oh, and then of course they had little Zak to care for as well, so with Easter coming up, they were incredibly busy. We would get up around 9am and meet them at the "flat" for a hearty breakfast after which Chris would head off to the café and Tania would show us our tasks for the day. The tasks mainly involved weeding of some sort, which was not too hard. Then she would go and help Chris out whenever needed and at times, we would take care of little Zak, who was just a joy to look after. We absolutely loved being with him and it gave me a chance to show Ben how to be a little more comfortable around babies, teaching him how to put their clothes on, how to change their nappies, how to hold them properly, etc. By the end of it, Ben was a real pro and Zak was smitten by him!

Ben reads Zak a bedtime story!

Zak shows Ben his awesome "jolly jumper" moves!

During our first two days there, Chris had the day off, which meant we could do some walks together with the family in the evening. It was nice for Chris and Tania, and it usually lulled Zak to sleep. The first walk was around the township of Raetihi, the other walk was a lovely long bush walk with gigantic Rimu trees.

Sunset over Raetihi, overlooking Mt. Ruapehu

The other days, Chris had to work until 8pm and often Tania would help him out, so we did not get to see them very often. Luckily for us, little Zak would come and keep us company, which provided us with excellent entertainment And during the days we were kept busy weeding, creating a fence for the new free range chicken area, as well as getting the main house ready when a set of three Indian families from Auckland booked it for their holiday. We made the beds, cleaned the house, chopped them some firewood, and welcomed them at their arrival. We really enjoyed the evenings, when we could all have dinner together and generally coo over what a lovely boy Zak was.

Zak asleep in Emilie's arms!

And so after about nine days in Raetihi, despite having a lovely time, there isn't very much for us to tell you. It was nice to take it easy for a change. Chris and Tania were wonderful people and such great doting parents. We would have loved to include the famous 'Tongariro Crossing' walk into our stay - voted one of the most beautiful one-day hikes in the world! - but we were very busy. And in all honesty, we were incredibly grateful that we were able to stay with them for a longer period than first planned, which helped us through a hard period! Hopefully, we will be able to do the walk some other time in the near future, giving us a chance to visit sleepy Raetihi and this lovely family again! Thanks again, "Winzini" family!

Lovely Tania and sleepy Zak

Yeay! For once I am ahead of it all! You can view our public photo album here: Raetihi/ Zak Photo Album