Eggs Benedict

I really like poached eggs and the other day I had Sandy, the chef here at the restaurant, teach me how to make poached eggs like they do at a restaurant. I've been practicing the last few days and now that I've kinda got that down I decided to try and make eggs benedict tonight with homemade hollandaise sauce. Making the sauce was a bit daunting, mostly because the lowest flame on the stove top is still really hot and you have to be very careful about not cooking the eggs in the sauce and making scrambled egg sauce. I was patient and careful, however, and it turned out really good. Here's a photo - please excuse the lighting issues:

After dinner I went for a short walk over to a nearby house with a beautiful garden. I took a few photos of some really pretty flowers they had:

I've started to notice I'm getting a bit bored around here. We work about 35 hours a week but outside of that there's not that much to do. In the evening we usually all sit around and read or play on one of our devices and I'm starting to get a bit restless. I could get another job somewhere in town for the evenings but then I'd have to walk home alone at night along a road with very few street lamps - not really my style, plus I've watched so much SVU and Bones that I'm slightly paranoid someone is always following me in the dark or lurking around the next corner. I'd like to say that if we were closer to town it would be better but I'm not sure it would be since town is so small, plus I'd likely just end up spending more money. I really need to find a hobby or something to do with my free time. I'd almost like to say some homework would be nice now, just give me something to do at night and something to challenge my brain. Crazy, right?! Looks like I'll be going back to school at some point in the future if I'm not turned off by the prospect of homework.

I've known for a while actually that I really need a new hobby. I'm not sure what I'm going to choose - or how to even start finding hobbies - but I guess I have all sorts of time to work on this now. I would like to do more baking/cooking but there aren't enough people here to eat what I cook and I don't think the cafe would be very happy if I used their ingredients to bake/cook and then gave it all away to other people. I guess I can just work on cooking myself intricate dinners and then bake occasionally and throw out what we don't eat - isn't that horrible!!! I need to make friends with the neighbors or something, people who want to eat things I'm baking. I guess this is a good time for me to practice my vegetarian cooking skills - or gain some vegetarian cooking skills. If I spend time at night trying to find fun recipes to cook the next day that'll take up some time as well so I guess that's another idea.....

I'm just getting bored. If anyone has ideas for me, please let me know. I might just be bored today because I didn't work. This is so weird! I'm finally maxing out on time off from work. Who knew this could happen so quickly. No wonder so many people get jobs after they retire. What are you supposed to do with all your free time? And I'm living in a foreign country! But I guess it's the small town life I'm not used to. There's always something to do in a big city. That's good for me to know while planning the rest of my trip - look for big city experiences! Okay, enough rambling for today - time for me to look for some good recipes to try out for breakfast and dinner tomorrow, the two meals where I can use the kitchen.

Best!

Nothing Much to Say....

Monday, December 30th, 2013 - 5:30 pm

Nothing really has happened in the last couple of days but I don't want to get out of the habit of blogging so here goes a post about very little...

Last night Alanna and I went into town just to get away from the Cafe. Alice's brother was arriving yesterday as well and Alice had to work at night so we invited him out with us. His name is Paul and he's staying in Coromandel Town here for a week. He's 20 and on a little tour around New Zealand. He had made a friend since arriving here, Peter, a kiwi, who is walking around the world. Pretty cool. I haven't worked out completely how he's managing that with the oceans and all, but that's quite an amazing goal. Henry, Lars, and Alice met us three out later and we had a good time in town.

Today Phoebe and I were off work so we went to a small beach just down the road from here, Golden Bay. We had a bit of a hard time getting rides in both directions - no one want to pick us up on the way there, on the way back there were hardly any cars going in the direction we needed to go. Eventually, however, a nice Kiwi family picked us up. They really went out of their way to give us a ride, moving car seats and themselves around to find room for us. It was very nice of them. Since Alanna and I were up late last night I've also been napping today - interspersed with reading HP #5. I finished the third book and Saturday and don't have the fourth book yet so I've just skipped ahead to #5. Obviously there's lots I'm missing but I've gotten into the story of this book okay.

I really think that's all for now.

Lars and I are likely going to hitch over to New Chums beach tomorrow. Lars hasn't been there yet and we're both free during the day so it'll be fun. And I guess tomorrow is NYE so we need to figure out what we're doing! Yikes! We really need to get our act together!! Okay, now I've gotta run and figure out what my New Years plans are!

Later!

Best!

Wait, something else I'd like to remember for later.... yesterday at work we were slammed! At one point I was making smoothies straight for like 1 hour. I probably made like 25 smoothies and juices. It was crazy but fun. I was also back in the dish room doing dishes later and two glasses fell and broke everywhere. That was really fun! - Not! But we eventually got it cleaned up. That's finally all.

MOLD!!

Yesterday I had a very terrible mold incident. For those of you who've ever seen me outside of work, you've probably see me wear my cowboy boots at one time or another. I've had the boots for about 4 years, since I first stole them from my mother's closet, and have worn them regularly ever since. Over the summer I noticed the leather on the toe had started to crack - I'd never conditioned them in my life, I didn't know this was something you needed to do. I started conditioning them and decided I'd just see how they hold up since I love them and they're been everywhere with me. I brought them with me on my world tour as well and have worn them maybe times since leaving the States. Not only are they my favorite pair of shoes, but they are all also a great symbol of my American-ness. Yesterday night Phoebe and I were getting ready to go out in town and I went to pick up my boots to put on to wear out. I've been storing them under my bunk bed in the bunk house, sitting on concrete floors. Maybe some of you know where this is going already, but I had no idea. I took them out to put them on and the whole foot part of the boot was soaking wet. I had no idea what was going on since I hadn't worn them in a week so I picked them up to smell them to try and see what had been spilled on them. When I picked them up I saw the bottom of the sole and it was covered in fuzzy white mold. It was so gross. I picked up the other boot and same thing, except this one had a whole in the bottom where the mold had eaten away at the leather sole. It was so disgusting! I rubbed all the mold off the bottom but took them to wear anyways because I'd already decided on my outfit. As they dried during the course of the night they turned all white on the foot of the boot with mold. I ended up buying a new pair just now which will ship to my parents then have to get shipped to me here. Thank god they still make the same boots! It was not my plan to have to incur this expense during my travels but the ones I have have been well worn and I know another pair will be as well.

Moral of the story: If you are in New Zealand, don't put any leather sole shoes on a concrete floor. They will mold!

That's all on that story.

As for last night, Phoebe and I had a great time. We met all sorts of people, from Australia, New Zealand and Ireland as well as saw some of our other backpacker friends from town. Tonight we are heading out again. There is a "big" concert at the bottom pub, Admiral Arms. Sons of Zion is performing - a reggae band - and it's supposed to be good. We may go to a neighboring bar and try to listen to the music without the $30 cover. Either way, I think we're all going out and we'll get to see all of our friends. Yay!

Best!

Blueberry Coffee Cake and India Visa

Friday, December 27, 2013 - 6:45 pm

So last night I also made a blueberry coffee cake. They sell a blueberry cake in the cafe that we always admire but cannot eat. We can eat it if we want to pay for it but none of us want to do that so I decided to make us one instead. Here it is:

Here's a link to the recipe. If you decide to make it, my one suggestion would be putting a layer of brown sugar in the middle when you do the first layer of blueberries. Not that you need the extra sweetness, per say, but it would just make the cake more exciting. Oh and also to note, I used sour cream instead of yogurt. We only have greek yogurt here and I was worried the flavor of the greek yogurt would overpower the coffee cake. I'm glad I used sour cream, it turned out very nice.

This morning Lasma and I hitchhiked into town early and I got my visa application in the mail for India. Wish me luck! I think I'm going to buy my plane ticket before I get back. The ticket can be canceled, for a fee, so I can change my plans if needed.

That's all for now. Tonight is Friday night so I think we're gonna head into town and see what's happening. Nothing too special.

Best!

Homemade Pizza

Thursday, December 26, 2013 - Boxing Day - 6:45 pm

In celebration of Boxing Day I decided to make a pizza. (Actually I just wanted something to write about on my blog so I decided to cook something - better than nothing.)

Here's a photo of the pizza I made - crust is from scratch and super delicious:

Here's a link to the crust recipe.

I put sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, grilled red peppers, sliced tomato, parmesan cheese, and olive oil on the pizza (a few ingredients of which were "stolen" from the pre-prepped food).

That's all for now. Hope you all have a good Boxing Day tomorrow back in the States.

Best!

Happy Boxing Day!

Thursday, December 26, 2013 - Boxing Day - 8:45 am

Happy Boxing Day everyone! I have no idea what this holiday is all about but it's happening here - and all over the commonwealth - and I'm gonna celebrate it, whatever that means. I've got a full day of work today, 9:30 - 4:30. Hard life! Who knows what kinds of celebrating we'll get into tonight - maybe some more cookies, another nut loaf, crazy stuff happens here in New Zealand!

Hope you are all having a great Christmas Day back in the states. Please send me photos of the snow and presents and the Christmas Trees!

Best!

Our Christmas Feast

Wednesday, December 25, 2013 - Christmas Day - 8:25 pm

Phoebe made this delicious Christmas feast for us all:

Wedges, Sautéed Cabbage, Nut Roast and Bread Sauce.

Click here for a video of Phoebe telling us all about the delicious meal.

Best!

Skyping with the Family

Wednesday, December 25, 2013 2:45 pm

Skyped my family just now. Here they all are:

Clockwise from top left corner: Uncle Dave, My Mom, Jeff, Aunt Barb, My Dad, Uncle Jim, Aunt Terri, Aunt Peggy, Uncle Ed, Aunt Terese

Merry Christmas!

A Tropical Rainstorm on Christmas

Wednesday, December 25, 2013 - 10:00 am Christmas Day

Woke up this morning to a very cloudy day - the thickest clouds we've had since we got here. It doesn't look like it's going to clear up anytime soon, likely no beach for us today. But I did get a video made of this morning's rainstorm. Here it is. That's all for now. Check back in later.

Best!

More Videos from the Sailing Trip on Christmas Eve

The view from the boat of some island.

Looking down at a Mussel farm from the boat.

Another check-in from the sailboat - I'm actually in this video.

Best Dream Ever

I almost forgot to tell you all about the best dream I've ever had, which I had last night. I got to go on a date with Kid Rock in my dream - it was amazing!! When I woke up this morning I was not very happy that my dream was over. Going to bed shortly here now. It'd be great to do right back to my dream last night, unfortunately dreams never seem to work that way... darn!

Night!

Best!

Christmas Eve on the Water

Tuesday, December 24, 2013 - 7:20 pm

Today I went sailing off the coast of Coromandel Town with Tri Sail Charters. It was a very great time and a totally new Christmas experience for me. Sailing on Christmas Eve?!?! Unheard of! On board the boat was me, Tony (the skipper/owner), and a German family (mother, father, and 18 yr. old son). We left about 9:30 am and got back around 6:00 pm. Here's a video I made when we were waiting to leave the harbor. I have other videos from the day but it's gonna take ma while to get them all onto youtube so I'll post them throughout the next day or 2.

Here are some photos from today:

A cool volcanic rock formation.

Island where Gannets (look kinda like a sea gull) live. It's white on top because it's covered in poo.

Rock formation inside Elephant Cove where we stopped for lunch.

Another rock formation in Elephant Cove.

Cool rocks.

More cool rocks.

A mussel farm.

A family celebrating Christmas by camping and fishing on the beach - and no, they're not camping inside an ice house on top of a lake and ice fishing.

Look how far east I am!

The boat sails.

Overall, the ride was really great. It was cold during the morning hours so I was wearing a fall/winter jacket over my track jacket - you can likely see this in some of the later videos. In the afternoon, however, the sun came out and it was quite nice. I didn't get too motion sick at any point throughout the day - granted I did take 2 Dramamine but still - so that was good. As long as I stayed above the water I was fine. If I went down below in the boat it was terrible in the rocky waves but I only went down for short periods - use the bathroom, reapply sunscreen, etc.

The boat we were on was built by Tony, the owner/skipper. It took him 4 years working mostly full time on the project. I couldn't believe it! It looks like a boat you would find at a boat store (is that what places that sell boats are called?). I know people can built wooden boats and such but I'd never heard of anyone building their own fiber glass boat. Crazy and really cool!

The family that was on the boat lived in Germany but the parents were from other countries - the father from Russia, Siberia to be exact, and the wife from Kazakstan. It's crazy that I was just writing about the Trans-Siberian Express like yesterday and then I meet someone from Siberia. When the wife told me she was from Kazakstan she then started to describe where it was ("It is a former Soviet Union country....") I really wanted to be like "Yeah, I know Kazakstan. I've seen Borat." but then I didn't know if that would be offensive or not. I'm not sure how people from Kazakstan feel about Borat. I mean it's pretty amazing the one person pretty much single-handedly put an entire country on the map. Without Sasha Cohen I'm pretty sure almost no one in America would have ever heard of Kazakstan let alone know where in the world it is - even remotely. The family was nice though and we had a good time. I tried to stay out of their way as much as possible since it was really their trip, I was just tagging along.

We didn't see any dolphins or whales on the trip today which was too bad but we did see little penguins. They were too far away and too small to get a picture of but it was cool to see them in the wild. I didn't know they had penguins in New Zealand so that was cool. I don't think I've ever seen penguins in the wild before. I can't think of any time I ever would have had the opportunity before today.

Let's see.... what else.... It was just as hard for the German family to believe that it was Christmas as it is for me. It's just so hard when it's warm, with long days, and the A/C on inside, not the heat.

Tonight we're just chilling at the cafe. Tomorrow we're going to go to the beach. I'm sure I'll get some good photos and videos then.

Merry Christmas to you all back home! I hope you are all having a great holiday season and feel free to e-mail a photo of your Christmas Tree if you'd like - I'm always up for seeing what's going on back home.

Best!

A cute little bird.

Monday, December 23, 2013 - 7:00 pm

I saw this bird trying to break a nut out of a shell as I was walking home from town. Made a short video. Watch it here. Unfortunately that's all for today folks. I went into town to get my visa sent off - there were a few problems so it won't be going until Friday now. Then I worked and nothing exciting there. Sailing tomorrow so I'm sure I'll have some great photos and videos - a much more exciting day for my blog. Chat then.

Best!

Sailing on Christmas Eve

Monday, December 23, 2013 - 8:30 am

I just found out that I get to spend the day sailing tomorrow. About a week ago I e-mailed a gentleman, Tony, about going on a tour with his company. He typically requires 4 people minimum to go and I'm by myself, but I asked if he ever has other people who want to go and also are not a complete group that I can go with them. He replied and said he'd keep me in mind. Then yesterday I found out Tony and Sandy, the cook at the restaurant, are partners. Today she came in and told me that he has a couple going out tomorrow on the boat and he'd be willing to take me along for the whole day at the half day price if I'm willing to help out on the boat - yes, definitely! So now I get to spend my Christmas Eve sailing! This will really be a first!

Here's a link to the website for his company, Tri Sail Charters.

I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes!

Best!

Stopover in Singapore?

Sunday, December 22, 2013 - 10:15 pm

I just started re-looking at tickets to Bangalore and Singapore Airlines is coming up as the cheapest option for Auckland at just under $800 USD. Plus, you only have one layover in Singapore - and you don't have to travel through Australia which most other airlines require. Patricia, a Canadian woman working at the cafe with me, has flown Singapore Airlines before and said it is the nicest airline she has ever flown. Plus, she also said the Singapore airport is amazing. I can take a flight with a 13 hour layover in Singapore where I guess there are free movie theaters, free liquor tastings, and other great things. I'm also considering taking a stopover in Singapore and staying at a hotel for a few days and exploring the area. I might not get back to Asia for a while so this might not be a bad plan. It's a bit pricey when you're traveling by yourself as you have to cover all the costs for rooms as one person but the airline handles everything for you and even provides transport back to the airport for your outbound flight. Pretty nice! Once I finalize a date for my departure then I'll look into this a bit more seriously.

Now I think that's actually it for tonight.

Best!

Christmas Carols, Quails, and Visas

Sunday, December 22, 2013 - 9:30 pm

Tonight Lasma, Allana and I went to a service at a local church where they were telling the story of Jesus's birth through a series of readings and songs. It was a bit more religious than I was expecting - I guess it's weird that I would've been expecting anything less religious since it was at a church. I thought it would include more well known carols, more holiday like - less Christmas like, but they were all quite religious. There were also a handful that I didn't know, maybe they are more specific to NZ? Either way, it was something nice to do this afternoon since Sundays in a small town are pretty sleepy. It didn't however, put me in any more of the Christmas spirit. It was really warm in the church and some of the readers were hard to hear over the birds chirping. Nothing like Christmas back home. Here's a few photos:

Onto the Quails... Here's a photo I took from the doorway of the cafe the other day. I don't think I've ever seen a real living quail before.

And now for Visas - 

I believe I'm sending my passport into the Embassy for my visa to India tomorrow. I have to send it away in the mail and will be without a passport for probably 5 weeks. Hopefully nothing will happen in the next 5 weeks that will require me to leave Driving Creek Cafe since my passport is being sent back here (fingers crossed). 

I also started looking into visas for the other countries I'm going to. For Nepal it looks like I can get the visa at the airport when I arrive. For Thailand it's the same thing. For Laos I can get it at the border when I show up. Vietnam it appears it's much easier if you get it in advance. The easiest place to do this is Cambodia so I may rearrange my travel plans to do Cambodia before Vietnam so I can get the visa there. We'll see. It does appear, however, that most of these countries require you to pay for the visa in cash in US dollars. I brought some with me but more for a back up plan in case I'm ever in a jam and need to pay for something. I may dip into this reserve for a visa or two but I'm likely also going to have to withdraw money somewhere and then exchange it for US dollars. I did, however, see ATMs in the Sydney airport where you can withdraw money in multiple currencies. I'm not sure how those work - I'll have to look into it - but maybe I will run across another one of those ATMs either when I'm flying out of Auckland or when I'm in Bangalore. 

That's all for now. Tomorrow I've just got work - nothing else too exciting - then I have Christmas eve off and the cafe is closed on Christmas day so probably the beach! 

Best!

Fundraising to Fight Mining in Coromandel Town

Sunday, December 22, 2013 - 8:15 am

Last night we did end up going to the fundraiser in town. It was to benefit a campaign against mining for gold in Coromandel Harbor. They are not scheduled to start mining anytime soon, it is actually illegal to mine in Coromandel Harbor, but they are going to be prospecting for gold, taking core samples from the sea floor. After that, they will dredge the sea floor vs. doing actual mining. The concern with this is that it will dredge up sediments where toxic chemicals are currently locked, such as mercury and lead, and release them into the water. This will poison the mussels - a huge industry here - and make them not fit for human consumption. Here's some more info it you're interested:

www.claim.org.nz 
www.watchdog.org.nz

Anyways.... at the event they were selling raffle tickets. If you won, you get a 24-hour cruise on a 52 foot boat for you and 7 of your friends. Pretty sick, right? Well me and the other girls from the Driving Creek Cafe were standing by the table were they were selling tickets, t-shirts, and having people sign the petitions. The woman who was working jokingly said to us "You your female charm to sell some tickets" to which I responded that I would be happy to sell tickets if I can earn my own free raffle ticket in return. She said sure. I asked how many I'd lave to sell and she said 7. I thought "7? Piece of cake!". So I spent the next hour selling raffle tickets at the event and in the end sold 13 tickets at $10/piece, 1 t-shirt at $20, and 1 bumper sticker for $2. I raised $152 in just a few hours without knowing anything about the cause before showing up. It was really fun and a great way to meet people. I ended up meeting one guy, Luke from England, who lived in Vietnam for 4 months and is going to help me plan my time there. I was totally in my element all night, I had a great time, and Phoebe and I ended up making a full night of it - staying out until almost 1:00am. Super fun!

Here's a photo of me - I would've made a video but I didn't bring my camera:

Oh, and I also met a really nice guy Evan, from Seattle, who came to the Coromandel 8 years ago on vacation and never went home. It's crazy to meet people like this! He said I'm never going home either but I doubt that. I like the USA, but I can't promise I'll ever be moving back to MN permanantly - this warm weather is just too nice!

That's all for now. I'll post again later today if anything exciting happens.

Best!

A Tour of the Driving Creek Cafe

Here's a video tour of the cafe.

And here's a photo of a new friend we made last night:

Nothing too exciting happened today. Worked in the morning - made lots of smoothies, washed lots of dishes, cleared lots of tables, etc...

Tonight we are going to a fundraiser concert in town. They are raising money to fight mining in The Coromandel, gold mining I believe. I'll let you know more of the details about the mining issues tomorrow. And maybe we'll get to see more of the friends we made the other night!

That's all for now, I'll check in later if anything exciting happens.

Best!

A Birthday Party and Cleaning the Oven

Friday, December 20, 2013 - 7:00 pm

Last night we went to a birthday party for Alice, a Swedish girl who is staying in Coromandel for the summer. She is staying at a hostel in town, the Lion's Den. It was great to get out and meet some of the people who are living/working in Coromandel town this summer - people that we'll likely see if/when we go out and about in town.

Today I worked and spent a good amount of time cleaning the one of the racks from the oven. It took me close to an hour and a half to get one of them clean - I'm going to clean the other one next week. It was a tiring job but it looks so nice now. For those of you who maybe can't believe I'd clean the oven (my parents) here's a video. And here's a photo of how nice it looks now that it's clean:

That's all for today.

As for HP, I'm maybe 1/2 way through the 3rd book... Now that I'm working again I'm not able to devote as much time to reading. In each book they keep talking about Christmas and it's just so weird to think it's in 5 days. It doesn't feel anything like Christmas here. It doesn't even feel like December. Its going to pass without any celebration this year for me - or at least no "true" Christmas celebration.

Okay, that's all.

Best!

New Chums Beach

Friday, December 20, 2013 - 8:30 am

Okay, so here are the last of my photos from Wednesday's trip to New Chums Beach.

And here's a link to a video of the beach.

Best!

The Hike to New Chums Beach

Okay, I'm trying to see if the technical difficulties have remedied themselves....

Here are some photos from the hike from Whangapoua to New Chums beach:

The path through the jungle...

The view of New Chums Beach as you come over the top of the hill.

The path as you're coming down towards the beach.

The rocky beach you have to traverse as you leave Whangapoua Beach.

And here's a link to a video I made inside the "jungle" I hiked through. 

Best!

Oh, and one last thing... I finished HP Book 2 today! Yay! It looks like they might not have book 3 here at the cafe. I'm not sure what I'm going to do... I might have found it online for free. I hate reading things on my computer but that might be my only option here, at least for the next 2 books. They do have book 5 in print at the cafe.

Hitchhiking to Whangapoua and Back

Wednesday, December 18, 2013 7:15 pm

I had the day off again today and decided I should try out another beach. There is a beach, Golden Bay, about 1 hour walking from the cafe in the opposite direction of Long Bay which is supposed to be nice and I was planning to go there. There is a bike here I can use but I knew that Phoebe wanted to go to the beach using the bike when she got off so I was gonna leave it for her. Then the idea of hitchhiking came up and they all said if I was gonna hitchhike go to Whangapoua (pronounced Fangapoua) on the other side of the peninsula. I have never hitchhiked in my life and was not super keen on this idea but two of the WWOOFers who are here got to Coromandel Town by hitchhiking so I figured I could give it a shot. Plus, all of the locals who work at the cafe said I'd be just fine. So I figured, you only live once, I really should see this part of NZ if possible, I might as well try it. There's a lot of bad things that could happen but I'm in NZ, probably one of the safest countries in the world, so if I'm gonna try it might as well be here.

So I walked into town - I thought about hitchhiking into town but I was way too nervous! - and then walked outside of town to where the road turns off to Whangapoua and waited. It was about 1-2 minutes before the first car came along, I put out my thumb, and they stopped. It was an older guy, maybe late 50s, by himself, in his work van (not a creepy white van like they have in the states - this one had lots of windows!). I didn't get any creepy vibes form him and since he was on the clock I figured nothing too bad could happen. He was going to Whangapoua which was really convenient so I hopped in. He was really nice, we chatted about traveling and NZ and the Coromandel and it worked out great. He took me right to the end of the beach. Just perfect!

Here's a link to a video I made right when I arrived at the beach.

When I decided to head back I obviously had to hitchhike as well. If I would've tried to walk it would've been miserable - it was a steep, twisty road over a large hill/mountain in the middle of the peninsula. Google maps told me it would take me 4.5 hours but I think it would've ended up in me getting run over so there was no other option. Leaving Whangapoua and trying to get a ride was a bit trickier, however. There weren't very many cars leaving the town and I had about 4-5 card drive by that didn't pick me up. There's a road that leads out of town to the nearest highway, 25, which is the road that goes over the hill/mountain. I started walking down this road and stuck my thumb out hoping for a ride every time a car drove by, which was only occasionally. I was thinking worst comes to worst I will just walk to the highway, which was likely a 30-45 minutes walk, and then I'll for sure get a ride there. About half way, however, a younger guy picked me up. Once again he was by himself but once again I got no creepy vibes, and he had a North American accent, always nice to hear someone from home. He wasn't going to Coromandel Town but he wasn't really going anywhere so he told me he'd take me - very nice. His name was Mike and he's in the Navy for Canada. He came to NZ on business but stayed on after for vacation. We chatted the whole way and it worked out just great.

I'm not sure I'll ever take up hitchhiking in any other country but it seems like a great way to get around NZ on the cheap (free). I'm sure I'll be doing more of this on my days off as I want to get around if possible and don't want to spend all my money on bus tickets and the buses run one occasionally anyways.

So now, about the beaches - I went to Whangapoua and New Chums beach. You have to hike to New Chums - you can't access by car - and it was amazing. Felt like it was straight out of Jurassic Park. Whangapoua was nice but nothing compared to New Chums. I'm not really sure why they sent me to Whangapoua as I didn't think it was all that special. The water was much colder at both of these beaches as they face the Pacific Ocean. I didn't go swimming because it was somewhat cloudy today and not that warm. It's funny here in NZ, the temperature doesn't have to be that warm but once the sun comes out you get super hot - I think it's because there's no Ozone Layer here. Since I couldn't tell how long it would be sunny after I got out of the water I didn't want to be sitting there cold. It only got up to maybe 70* today, air temperature. In the sun, however, it feels much warmer. 

Anyways, here are some photos of the beaches.

Whangapoua:

Okay, I'm having some technical difficulties... I'll have to post the rest of the photos and videos tomorrow. Sorry!

Best!

HP Book 1

Done! HP Book 2, here I come! 

Long Bay

Tuesday, December 17, 2013 - 1:15 pm

This morning I went into town to Long Bay - well actually into and then out of town. Long Bay is one of the nicer beaches in Coromandel Town. I loved it but apparently it's not event that nice for New Zealand. I can't even wait to see what really nice beaches I find! I didn't stay long as I needed to get back to Skype my book club and the sun is really strong here and I don't want to get burnt again like I did in Australia. Yikes!

Here's a link to a video I took at the beach.

Harry Potter is coming along quite well. I'm almost done. I'm sure I'll finish today. Good thing they have most of the rest of the series here at the cafe/secondhand book store. And good think I'm here for 2 months so I can read them all!

I had so many other things to say but now I can't remember any of them.... Let's think...

Oh yes! This morning I rode a bike to the beach. The bike belongs to the owners of the cafe. The last time Michal, the husband, rode the bike the chain fell off and he went flying over the handle bars onto the road. I typically don't wear a helmet when I ride, bad I know, but today I did. Here I am, looking all nervous, with my helmet on:

Riding the bike was so nice. It cut my travel time to the beach in like 1/3. I think going to/from town will be much less miserable if I can use this bike. It will take like 10 minutes vs. 30. I like to go slow on the bike just in case the chain falls off and I fly over the handle bars. I'll probably survive better at a slow pace than a fast one...

I really feel like I had more to share but it's just not coming to me now... sorry! I'm sure I'll check back in later today.

Best!

Escaping Christmas

So for those of you who don't know, Christmas is my least favorite holiday. I am happy to be missing it and especially to be in a place that couldn't feel less like Christmas. I was just looking on cnn.com and saw this article about escaping Christmas. Apparently I'm do exactly what I'm supposed to doing to avoid the holiday - except I don't plan on going to Spain anytime soon....

Today

Monday, December 16, 2013 5:00 pm

So today I didn't do much. I walked into town this morning to pick up some toiletries - shampoo, conditioner, body wash, sunscreen, aloe vera, nail clippers - and visit the information center. I got a few good ideas on places to go. There is one nice beach here in town. I also got a recommendation on a sailing trip to take so I'm sure I'll do that one day while I'm here. It's $55 for 1/2 a day and $115 for a full day. Those prices are considering you are in a group but hopefully someone else's group will let me tag along.

Random: Phoebe showed up yesterday so now our bunk house is 3/4 of the way full. Turns out she's not American but rather from Toronto. Maybe Alana, the other girl who is coming, is from America? She arrives on Wednesday or Thursday so we'll know then.

Something from yesterday - the bartender at the Star and Garter yesterday was a nice girl from Canada. He name is Karen. Maybe I've made my first friend here outside of the Driving Creek Cafe? She in town for another month so hopefully I'll run into her again.

Back to today. This afternoon I worked from 12 - 4. Not bad, eh? I took over the dish room as my territory. I was washing dishes most of my shift - which really isn't all that bad. I got a good system down and kept up with the dished pretty well all day. We had a slump in the middle of my shift so then I got some other cleaning done around the dish room - scrubbed the floor, swept the floor, cleaned up in general. I think I wouldn't mind keeping this area organized while I'm here. Although I don't want to be the dishwasher, it gets really confusing when different people keep washing the dished all day - each person has their own system, we all think we know the best way to do things, and the systems don't work well together. I guess I don't really care if it's me or someone else doing the dishes I just feel like it should be one person and one person only. Things get too complicated when too many people keep switching out on dish duty.

That's all for now. I started Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone today - the first Harry Potter for those of you who are like me and aren't big Harry Potter fans. I'm excited to read it this time around. As I've gotten older I've gotten more into fantasy books like this. Plus I have so much time on my hands here it's crazy. I have the next two days off though and I'm hoping to spend at least one day at the beach and maybe the other day in town? But the town is quite small and I could probably go into every shop and look over most things in 4 hours or so. I guess we'll just see what the weather is like and what I feel like doing each day.

The walk into and out of town is already starting to get old and I've only done it 3 times round trip. It's 30 minutes each way and fairly boring. Plus, when it's sunny there really isn't any cover at all on the walk so you get very hot very quickly. I've got to make sure I wear nice breathable clothes when I do the walk in the future.

Okay, that's really it for now.

Best!

A long day at work, dinner in town, a beautiful sunset

Sunday, December 15, 2013 9:30 pm

So I had my second day at work today and it was hard work! The cafe got pretty busy in the afternoon and I was the only WWOOFer on. There were dished like crazy as well as tons of juices and smoothies that needed to be made - both of which are my job. Plus I was trying to bus tables and do the closing tasks. I ended up finishing about an hour late but I get to start an hour later tomorrow so that's nice. I have a short shift 12-4. Not bad! I'm gonna go into town in the morning to get the toiletries I'm in need of an then have a good short day of work in the afternoon.

Tonight Nick and I went into town to eat some meat - something we can't have at the cafe. We ate at the Star and Garter restaurant. I had a delicious lamb burger and Nick had a pizza. After, we walked down to the shore and sat and watched the sun set. Here's a few pictures from tonight:

This is the first place I've ever been where high heels weren't allowed... I'm surprised men even show up to a place like this! 

The view from the end of a dock.

The setting sun...

The sun has set.

That's it for now. I felt like I had something else to say... oh yes, I've got it. Here's to those of you at MoneyGram:

A MoneyGram sign in the window of a convenience store in Bondi Junction, Sydney, Australia.

A MoneyGram ad covering the doors of the entrance to a shopping mall in Manukau City outside Auckland, New Zealand.

That's all for tonight.

Best!

A few photos from my morning walk.

Sunday, December 15, 2013 10:30 am

This morning, before work, I walked into town just to see what it's like. It's Sunday morning here so it's a bit slow in town and not everything is open on Sundays but I just wanted to see what kinds of stores are in town and how big it is and such. It seems like a cute little town. They should have everything I would need while I'm here, bank, library, post office, grocery stores, general stores, cafes, restaurants, etc... On my walk I took a few photos so I just wanted to show you guys what it's like here. The photos will never do the place justice but at least it will give you an idea.

This last photo is the view from the patio of the cafe where I'm working/living. 

That's all for now. 

Best!

P.S. I'm going to start time stamping my posts at the beginning so I know when I made posts in the local time. I know that they are all time/date stamped by blogger but since I keep changing time zones I want to make sure that they are being time stamped in the local time zone and will keep that timestamp forever.