Freedom!

We're finally on the road! It's been 8 months since we came to New Zealand and it's now time for us to see this country we have been calling home for all this time. I made my last coffees and served my last customers. For Marcia's last coffee I asked her for a request and she wanted a self portrait of me. I think it turned out quite well except the nose is rather huge! Everyone loved it and I had Marcia, Georgina and Steve taking photos of me with my coffee. I am sad to be leaving such a nice bunch of people but at the same time excited to be setting off again. I went out for leaving drinks with them all on Monday night which was very entertaining to say the least. It was paid for with the $289 we've earnt in tips in the 3 months I've been there. It's amazing how many tourists chuck all their change in the tip jar because they are leaving the country soon and won't be able to change it up. We've had a little trouble with the house and with leaving. Nick cleaned the windows with a microfiber cloth and towels and it wasn't until we saw them in the sunlight did we notice loads of scratches all over them. Turns out the glass has a UV filter mixed into it, something we were not made aware of, which makes it scratch easily and can only be professionally cleaned. We're hopeful it's all sorted out and our landlords insurance will cover it as accidental damage but we will see. One thing I'm so grateful for is our relationship with Bruce and Candy. They've let us store heaps of stuff at the farm that we won't need in the next 3 months so we don't have to take it all with us or throw it away. When we pick up the camper as well they are letting us store our car in a garage on farm so we can still have a car to use the other side of travelling. I can't imagine how much harder our time would of been for these past 8 months without them and all these small things they have done for us. We had our final house inspection which went surprisingly well because all she did was look in our fridge and oven and said everything was great. You wonder if all the hours of cleaning walls and ceilings were even necessary. After a quick lunch in Geraldine we hit the road to Methven, to the same hostel/hotel we stayed in before Christmas. It was nice to be reunited with the hotel's cat, Honey, although she has put on a little weight so I think the guests have been sneakily feeding her. So that's us now, away from the farm, away from responsibilities with the ability to go anywhere and see anything. It's rather a surreal feeling but a feeling we've definitely both missed. I now need to somehow get back into the routine of blogging daily or there will be just too much to fit into a weekly post. We'll see how that goes!Weiterlesen