The last 2 weeks have been relatively calm and stable after the first 2 weeks of GO! GO! GO! We've been staying at Arron's house (GV counselor of 2010) and our current life revolves around taking care of Stella: walking and feeding her twice daily and making sure she's in her cage at night. Well, that's a bit
of an exaggeration...but it has kept us from running off over the weekends or having (too many) crazy nights out. But I'm not complaining! I've actually come to love Stella and this structure has given us plenty of time at the house to surf the net and plot our next steps like finding a car and jobs and a place to live... more to come on all that later.
I want to take a moment to say that Stella has actually been really lovely to look after. I feel like she's been my project; Stu has pretty bad dog allergies I've been the one to walk her and take care of her (he's taken responsibility for the car hunt instead which suits me just fine). She's got a few typical big dog things that I don't quite like (namely the drooling and the pooping) and having to take care of her with such regularity has taught me I'm definitely not ready for a dog of my own. But for 2 weeks it's been quite nice. She really is very easy going (when other cats and dogs aren't around) and generally listens pretty well. Plus she is so friendly...all she wants is a little love and I've been pretty happy to give it to her! She has been a wonderful dog to get to know. Just look at these photos and you guys can see just how cute she really is!
Okay, so in between walking Stella and researching "the next steps" on the net, we did manage to get out a little. Arron was kind enough to put us on his car insurance and let us use his truck while we're staying here so we've been navigating the city on our own! Well...I say we but really I mean Stu. He's really the better driver so we had him put on the insurance and he's been doing really well considering the kiwis drive on the wrong side of the road and he just learned how to drive manual 2 weeks before we left America! It was a bit nerve wracking at first but with the help of the GPS Arron's parent's loaned us and a little practice Stuart has become a pro.
So what have we done with this new found freedom of driving? Well, we went to our first ever cricket game where we arrived just in time to watch our friend bat (I think that's the proper term?). It was pretty fun considering we didn't know the rules or what was really going on in the game. We also went to a big Bathurst (Australian 1000 kilometer motorcar race) watching party with a bunch of people who are involved in motorcar racing (read: people who care about such NASCAR-esque events). The fact that the fellow viewers actually cared and even knew people in the race made the 161 laps a little more interesting than I expected. We also spent a day at the famed "Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter Underwater World" which is an underground aquarium complete with penguins and stingrays and sharks. The penguins were by far the best bit as we got to ride on a little train around their enclosure and hear all about the Antarctic weather patterns simulated within
the enclosure and penguin behavior and all that. We also spent a day hiking around Rangitoto--one of the many volcanic islands just off shore from Auckland. The weather was beautiful that day and we had some amazing views. (2 photos from Rangitoto are included in this post--check my new facebook album for more!) I've also been doing lots of cooking which has been fun. We were finally in a place long enough to really stock up the fridge and we took advantage of having a kitchen to ourselves. No new pumpkin pie endeavors but we definitely ate well and I got to try a few new recipes: chicken fried rice with veggies and pineapple & a tasty white wine/lemon/butter pasta sauce. We also had lots of good
omelets and cereal and plenty of yum sandwiches too.There were also a few mini-GV reunions over the past few weeks. First Karly (08) came to Auckland over the school holidays (she's a teacher so school holidays means she's off work). One day Judy (08 & 09) picked up Karly and Stu and I for a trip to Piha beach which is apparently still in Auckland but out on the West Coast. Our visit was complete with black sand beaches (typical of NZ's West Coast) and fish & chips from Judy's favorite place. We also grabbed dinner with Mike Parr (10) one night at a little middle-eastern place. After dinner he drove us up to the highest point in Devonport (a neighborhood in Auckland) which offers an AMAZING view of the water and the city all lit up at night. Let's see, there was also a BBQ one night at Rick's (08 & 09) with other GVers (Allison, Paul) and some of Rick's friends. Plus over the weekend there was classy night out on the town complete with dinner and drinks for Judy's birthday which included nearly all our 2008 kiwi friends who live in the area (Judy, Paul, Liz, Rich) and lots of Judy's other friends too. Sunday we went out to brunch with Paula and Grant and their 2 kids. Paula worked at camp for a couple summers in the 1990's and this summer she came back with her husband and kids for one more session at camp and the GV 75th reunion. Considering we only knew them for the week of E session, their hospitality was absolutely INCREDIBLE and really heart warming. They took us out to brunch at a cute little cafe in Devonport and let us relax in their house for awhile which doesn't sound so over the top but we just felt so welcome, almost pampered. Over here I've found the GV connection is such an amazingly strong one, more so than I anticipated before leaving the States. Everyone has been so welcoming and so willing to take us around and let us sleep in their homes and feed us delicious food. Maybe this is just the New Zealand way, but I think some of it has to do with the connection of having both experienced Gwynn Vally. It's amazing to think in August of 2007, 2008 and even 2009 for a quick visit I said goodbye to so many kiwi friends thinking that I would probably never see these people again. But here we are, getting together for dinners and celebrating birthdays and hanging out half-way across the world as if it's the most normal thing in the world. It's a wonderful feeling to find out that the friendships are real and extend beyond the Gwynn Valley Summer Utopia. And to think this is just the start! We hope to meet up with so many others as we continue to journey on through NZ!
I guess that brings us to our next steps. Arron comes back this Wednesday meaning we are relieved of our Stella-care duties and also technically homeless. We have decided this is the perfect time to head out of Auckland for a little while. We found a car (Arron's sister Nicola is selling us her blue 1995 Mitsubishi Station Wagon) so we'll be driving that southward towards the vineyard/orchard job we found in Napier. We will spend at least a month living in a hostel that has deals with a couple of different orchards and vineyards in the area, and they will send us to work wherever the help is needed. On the way down to Napier we plan to stop in Rotorua and Taupo to visit GV friends from 2007 and 2008. Should be exciting to see some more familiar faces and some new places!
There will be more to come as we work our way south and the adventure continues to unfold. For now, I think I'll put Stella up and head to bed.
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