First Day of Spring!!

Yesterday was the first day of spring! It is still getting dark at around 6:10 pm but the weather should be warming up a little more each and every day. Jesse and I are spending about 2 more weeks in Warkworth and then will be off to our next location. We are traveling again to Whangarei (I think I spelt that wrong) to clean a home that our host had rented out. We leave tomorrow and I think that it will be an all day affair. It is a 4.5 hour round trip drive and so I am wondering if it is even worth us coming back the same day.
Last thursday night we had lamb for the first time. It was very tender and delicious with a pepermint sauce. For desert we have Pavolova, which reminded me of an angel food cake but not so spongy. Okay, so it mostly reminded me of the really crunchy part of the angel food cake that melts in your mouth. I think it must be an aquired taste and I don't think that I will pick that one up while I am here.
Gotta go and get back to my tasks. Today I am doing book keeping and budget maintenence and Jesse has left with Geoff to take the rubbish to the dump. Of course they call it something much cooler than the dump, but I can't remember. -Beverly

Tawharanui

Hello all, today was sonnie's 1st birthday party, he is liz and geoffs babe-what a cutie. the day before a few friends from the lodge and i(jesse) went to Tawharanui-pronouced tafra-newie. it is a national reserve on the east coast about 25minutes from where we are staying. it was amazing we hiked down to the edge of the penisula and climbed a near vertical spine to the beach, it was crazy how the terrain of the beach changed from large ballast stones to smaller stones to salt and pepper colored sand then to pink sand it was really neat. we saw dolphins and even a whale. when we walked back to the beginning the tide and gone out so we were able to explore the vast array of connecting sea caves. i think it was the nicest beach i have seen so far.
besides that beverly and i and another friend from the lodge went to the old cement works factory on the edge of town. it was built in the late 1870s as the first hydralic limestone fluid factory as well as a cement factory, it was the first one in the southern hemisphere. it closed in 1924 and off the to the near side is a 90ft deep quarry lake that has crystal clear water, supposedly they were working deep in the quarry and a natural spring broke open and filled the huge hole so fast that several workers where killed. kinda spooky when you look at the whole thing late at nite.

Missing my hat

Jesse and I went to Whangarei yesterday for a drive and had a lot of fun along the way. We stoped in Waipu cove at the beach and had a great time walking up and down the beach. There were so many sea shells that were in tact it was nuts. I felt like we were on a desserted island and that we had our pick of any of the shells that we wanted. Jesse even found a conch shell that was quite big. He picked it up and the creature inside spit at him. It was funny. He put it back and we walked away. The road was really curvy and narrow pretty much the entire time. It wasn't as bad as when we went to goat island last weekend. We both felt carsick last weekend but fine this weekend. We ended up being gone for about 6 hours.
When we got to Whangarei we went to a park that we found called Mair park. We ate an organge and then went for a walk. I had strapped my hat onto my pack. The sign said 40 m and so we figured it was 40 meters. Turns out it was 40 minutes to the summit. When we got to the top there was a huge group of people with their dogs and their children. We didn't stay long as it was crowded and the view wasn't really worth looking at. We started down and about 10 minutes into it I realized that my hat wasn't hooked onto my bag anymore. Jesse went up to find it and I asked people who passed me going down if they had found it. They all said that they had seen it at the top. Jesse came back empty handed. I really loved that hat. Jesse got it for me in Boston for Christmas a few years ago. It went everywhere with me: Hawaii, Washington DC, Mexico, New Zealand, Omaha, Maine (you get the point).
Back to work tomorrow. Liz said that her dad is taking his boat somewhere down the coast and has room to bring a few of us. Jesse and I might get to go for a boat ride=:)
We have the kilo conversion to pounds down. Now I have to master the kj to calorie ratio. We went to Subway yesterday=:) It was very tasty. Their daily specials are 3.90 for a 6 inch.
Cheers,
Beverly

Driving

We bought the car. It's a 1993 Toyota Sceptor. AKA Camry back home. It is a nicer car than a pair of backpackers need, but it has been really taken care of. It would have been stupid to let it pass. Our host Jeff knew the owner and it's clear that the car has been taken care of. The first thing that needs to be done when one gets a new car is to come up with a name. We have named it Yota. It is a four door sedan with fold down back seats. If worse comes to worse Jesse can sleep in the front and I can sleep in the back. It has a ton of extra feautures such as push button traction control, electronic fold in mirrors and electric seats. It's an automatic. I think we would have been fine with a manual but having an auto just makes it that much easier.
Dinner is on the table. Better go and eat before its all gone.

Differences

Alright, so there are a few things that I've noticed. Nothing major but tiny differences that seemed like a big deal at the time. Liz (one of our hosts) was talking with me about Capsicums today and so I asked her what they were because they were on the pizza that we got last week and I didn't really notice what they were. Turns out that they are bell peppers. Figured it out when she said that they come in green, yellow and red. Another small item: courgettes. Any one know what they are? We call them zuccini back home. Our hosts have a baby who is almost one year old. His birthday is the 28th of this month. He loves to eat Sultanas. I like to eat them too. Especially when they are covered with dark chocolate. Any guesses? Raisins. Now for the mind blower. Jesse and I couldn't get over this yesterday. We finally got over it a day later. Everyone in the house, including the kiwis, the canadian and the english folks all say 'Zed' for Z. So, I was trying to really listen today to everyone talking when I was about and for sure, they do say Zed in place of the Z. I guess in Australia they really pronounce the H and it sounds more like "h-a-ch"? Hm....
We got to talking about Cuba a few nights ago and no one believed us when we said that we are forbidden to go there. If you think about it that seems very bazaar. Especially when you have to explain why to someone from another country who is allowed to travel there.
Figi is in the middle of a coo and so tickets are really cheap to go there right now. Too bad its the rainy season.

New car, maybe?

This is my first post as Beverly is probably sick of hearing me complain that i dont know how to post, so now i do. We looked at the toyota again today and was very excited to see in Garths garage a v-12 allison engine out of a kittyhawk airplane. it was beautiful sitting there with its 4000 ft lbs of tork and some 3500 horsepower. he also had a boat with a 350 chevy engine in it that could top 100 mph on water! what a site. he said that the allison was worth about 200,000 bucks and that he had 3 of them awesome. well this is all for now. Beverly and i will hopefully have a car soon. as we need to do some wheeler dealers on him. later-jesse andbeverly

Long Week=:)

The week is over and the fun begins! I think that we are going to the markets again in the morning (Matakana, which are world famous here in New Zealand). It is a farmers market that is okay. Lots of stuff that we don't really need. Speaking of stuff we don't need we drank an entire bottle of wine tonight. It is made out of a fruit that I have never heard of before called Feijoa's and it is delicous. I can't wait to try an actual piece of the fruit. I think the growing season is in May, so I've got a while to wait.
Jesse made his chili for supper tonight and it was a hit with everyone. It was actually pretty awesome and a much welcomed departure from the food that we have been eating. Not that it has been bad, as it hasn't, but food that makes you think of home is a great thing. Weirdest thing. Our host hadn't heard of tomato sauce as we described it. The tomato sauce that she has in her cubard is pretty much what we would call ketchup. It was interesting trying to find the ingredients to make the chili as the basic necessities like the sauce were hard to find, disguised as other things. Speaking of calling something by a different name, we are discovering these things daily as there is a couple here from england and a girl from canada. In england, as well as in new zealand, they call a period a 'full stop'.
Hmmmm....The obvious question then is, 'do you call it a full stop com?' Turns out they call it a dot com, same as us.
I think we are going to have a look at that car again tomorow. See if we can get him to lower the price. Jesse has watched a lifetime of 'Wheeler Dealer' and so he should be able to put his skills to use. The weather here today was crappy and it is supposed to be even worse tomorrow. Solid rain. Most of it fell at an angle as it was coming down so hard. I guess it could be worse. Could be snow!!

So much to say...

Well, I can't believe that we have been in Warkworth for a week and two days already!! The days are just floating by and melting into each other. Jesse continues to scrape and paint while I spent time cleaning rooms and sewing and washing. Warkworth is a fairly small town and so when we get off work things are mostly closed. It is hard to explore a sleeping town. JT and I went out for pizza on Monday night. No, there was no marmite on it. I did end up trying vegimite yesterday. Actually, it wasn't vegimite but a new kind that is creamier and less salty. I don't really get what it is and I've tried it. It is a salty spread that they put on toast? It has a ton of B vitamins in it. Very healthy that way. The new kind has a cheesy taste to it. Picture spreading something brown on your toast and having it taste like salty cheese. The pizza was good. We went because there was a 2 for 1 special.
Jesse and I sat in the hot tub last night and that was nice. They have both a pool and a spa on the property here. The pool is saltwater but always too damn cold to go into. I have to keep reminding myself that it is winter here now, even though there is no snow and everything is bright green. Another girl came to stay and work and she is from Canada. She has been trying to find employment in town but it looks like a dead end.
We test drove a Toyota Sceptor yesterday. Basically it is a corolla. Getting to see the islands and actually explore new zealand, I think that we will need to get a car. The test drive was a bit hairy. I made Jesse drive first and he drove us out of town. He is a lot better at the right hand drive than I am. Lots of the roads are really narrow and if there is a bridge it is more than likely a one lane bridge. They have a wierd intersection that they call a spaghetti intersection right on the corner by the lodge. It is kind of a roundabout, but not really. So that was nerve racking.
I am not sure if we have anything exciting planned for the weekend, as we were going to go jetskiing last weekend, but with the water warnings we cancelled. The weather was also pretty windy. There have been dogs dying and dead dolphins and penguins washing up on the beach, not to mention loads of dead fish. They think its an algae, but who knows. So lets just say we haven't ventured downt o the beach just yet!!
Jesse is getting into rugby but I find that there are just to many variations. There are something like 3 different classes of play and they have similar but different rules. Such a vicious sport. I will take my chances with ice hockey any day!
Jesse wanted rice crispy bars last night and so we went to the store and all they had was a mix of pink and white marshmallows. They sell them as a novelty here and not a baking suply. Needless to say the bag of mallows cost almost 5 dollars!! Luckily the pink ones were normal flavor. The other colored ones all had their own flavors. Mostly raspberry. Hmmm.

Livin it up in Warkworth

Hello! So today will be our third day of work in Warkworth. The owners of the lodge are very nice. Jesse has spent the past two days scraping old paint off a large window payne to get it to the point where it can be primed and repainted. I must say that he has gotten the short end of the stick, as he has been on a ladder for most of the day and I at least have both feet on the ground! The first day I ironed sheets for almost all of the six hours and yesterday I handwashed sheer curtains. It is kind of a cool feeling to wake up in the morning and know that you have to work in order to eat (they feed us three times a day) and have a bed for the night. I guess its the same back home, but this is more immediate. Obviously if we were to become lazy and not work then we would have to leave.
The town of Warkworth is pretty small. All of the shops close up at5 or 5:30. It gets dark here at 6 now and that makes the nights seem pretty long. Jesse has taught me to play chess and so we have enjoyed some pretty spirited games. Jesse has agreed to make his famous chili next week for one of our supers and we are all looking forward to that. I think that I might make a nice tatertot hotdish sometime too. It got down to 8 last night and so that is about 46 degees farenheit.
There was a rugby match on the television last night. I am not sure which leauge it was, as there are numerous different ones. All I know is that jesse is starting to understand the rules and follow the game and I am as lost as if watching an american football game. There is a student staying at the lodge who used to play rugby and so jesse was talking him up last night asking about the rules and what certain calls mean.
I have been told that we are going to a large farmers market on Saturday in a neighbooring town. That should be a fun time.

Leaving Auckland Tomorrow

Okay, so yesterday was pretty cool. We ferried out to an island that was created by a volcano 600 years ago. It is called Ragitoto (like the dog on the Wizard of Oz). We walked and walked and then walked some more. I think we probably walked close to 10 miles. We walked, we cried and then we walked some more. The ground was really hard, as you can imagine it would be considering it was a volcano!! Just kidding about the crying. At the summit we saw breathtaking views of downtown aucklund, including the sky tower. It was a really fun day. We were there for about 6 hours. There is nothing on the island, in terms of commerce, so no water or food or people, besides those the ferry brought over. It was peaceful. I think I will have to buy new hiking boots, though, as I had a total of 4 blisters. You should have seen us, we were so prepared for a crappy rainy day and it was a beautiful sunny day. Better to be prepared than freeze to death (that's the boy scouts motto).
A few days ago we went to see Public Enemy. They actually mention Fargo, ND in the movie. That was wierd. Good movie though. Jesse is in love with the oranges here. He claims they are the best he's ever had. I think they are delicious. We picked up a present for Alex for his birthday today. Knowing us we probably will mail it in a week or so!!
We are leaving for Warkworth tomorrow afternoon. We are going to work at a hotel in exchange for room and board. It will be good to get out of the city. The only thing left to do here is to go to the planetarium and we may do that tonight.
Two days ago we thought we would catch a rugby match. After all it was free to the public to get in. Well, on the way there the weather was fairly nice and we decided to walk. It was about an hour walk. We found the location (Eden Hill) and then decided that to kill a few hours before the game we should find a pub. Hm....small problem. We walked and walked and could not find one. In NZ it is perfectly legal to drink in public, as long as you are not in the Central Business District (which is where we are staying). Years and years of upbringing in the states has taught me that being drunk in public is wrong and drinking in public is much worse. Jesse finally convinced me that we should just go into a liquor store and then drink on the way back to the rugby match. I finally relented and we had just gotten the booze and turned back to Eden Hill when it began to downpour. I mean the sky opened up and it was all directed onto us. We ran into a bus stop and sat on the bench. Our parents would be so proud!! Here we were, 2 unemployed and homeless people drinking in a bus stop in broad day light. It was a moment.