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  • Charlotte Ellery

Our Adventure

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    One year away from home

    18 febbraio 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    What a week! This week has been jammed packed with special days; pancake day, Valentine's Day and our travelling anniversary. Nick and I had the same days off this week coincidently which was rather awesome because we were able to celebrate these days together. For our first day off we had a well deserved lie in and then headed to a lovely quaint little cafe in Geraldine called Cafe Verdi. It has a beautiful rose garden outside and it's a very cute place to sit and enjoy the sunshine. We had a wonderful lunch and enjoyed a stroll around town afterwards before getting our passport photos taken for our visa extensions. Unlike the UK, photo booths don't seem to exist here so getting our photos taken required sitting in a chair in the chemist getting photographed by a lady with a digital camera. It did feel rather old school. After our trip out we headed home and jointly made our first home cooked roast dinner we've had in a year! We made so much food and ate way too much but it tasted so amazing. What I had forgotten was this day was actually pancake day so when we woke up the next morning it finally dawned on me that we had missed it. We therefore started our Valentine's day with a breakfast of wholemeal pancakes before heading out on a day trip adventure together. We drove the 1 and a half hour journey to Lake Tekapo, a place so close to us but still one we hadn't gotten around to visiting yet. On route we passed through Fairlie and stopped at the Fairlie Bakehouse which is known for it's amazing pies throughout New Zealand. They were so good! So much nicer than the ones at my work that's for sure. We eventually arrived at Tekapo and it literally took our breath away. As you drive along you turn a bend and start going down hill and suddenly this turquoise blue beautiful lake comes into view and you can't help but say "wow". We stopped by the lakeside and after some photos sat on rocks and just soaked in the surroundings with the dominating mountains setting the backdrop. We headed next up to the observatory which is at the top of a hill. You pay $8 to drive up there if you're lazy like we were being and don't fancy the hike up. The winding road is narrow and steep but you are treated to beautiful 360 degree views once you're at the top. There's a cafe up there so we sat and had lunch while overlooking the lake. There's a very picturesque looking church called the Church of the Good Sheppard which is on the lakeside. We'd seen beautiful photos of it but found when we arrived to try and get our photo the place was swimming with tourists so it was impossible to get a photo without someone in it. Luckily on our way back from the observatory there was a wedding service on so the area was closed to tourists so myself and another woman sneakily climbed up the wall to get that one photo I was after. Before heading home we relaxed in the hot pools down by the lakeside which was nice and relaxing although it would of be so much nicer after a hard day's work. This week also saw us hit our one year away from home anniversary. I cannot believe it's been a year, its flown by but at the same time felt like the longest time in the world. We've decided to do at least another year away while we have this chance and we're so excited to finish this section of working so we can finally hit the road and explore this beautiful country we now call home.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Always go chasing waterfalls

    11 febbraio 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    I've been missing the exploring lifestyle of travelling this week so we've decided to try and make the most of any days off or even afternoons off we have together. I've started doing more morning shifts at work which means I get to be home a lot earlier which offers us some opportunities to spent time together. Since my walk with Candy and the girls in Peel Forest I've been wanting to try out another track with Nick. He hasn't actually visited the area before so when the chance of an afternoon together arose this week we seized the moment and headed for the forest. It was rather overcast which actually was quite a blessing when you're hiking through a dense humid forest. We opted for the Rata falls track which takes roughly an hour to get to the waterfall at the end. We did wish we'd bought our water shoes because a good 20 minutes of the walk was walking upstream in and out of the river. I find the walks more challenging than Nick because of my knee problems I can't go as confidently as he can. Even jumping down small ledges can send pain through them and the feeling that they may give way so I do have to be more careful. He's very patient with me regarding that issue though and always lending me a supporting hand if needed. We finally made it to a pretty impressive but freezing waterfall at the end of the route. On the way to and from Peel Forest you pass many deer farms which I haven't really experienced seeing before and also am surprised by how many there are. We both enjoyed the trip a lot and treated ourselves to an Indian take away on the way home to regain any calories lost. It felt good getting out and doing something together and hopefully we can have more trips like this while we continue working. Also this week I met up with a girl from the old farm. Bruce and Candy are away so she's been caring for Tika so she brought her along to the park for a coffee and a stroll. It was nice to get out on my day off and socialise. Seeing as we are going back to the farm next calving it is good to keep in touch with the people we will be working with again.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    The benefit of knowing locals

    4 febbraio 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    This week we have actually managed to venture out and do things! It was so unbelievably hot on Tuesday so the cafe's owner's two daughters who I work with suggested we headed to a river near their house after work that has a few swimming hole spots along it. It meant that all the family came in to help with the clean and close up so we could head off earlier to the river. We stopped by their house on route which was a little strange and uncomfortable being in the owner's house but not too bad. They live on a large farm near the hills with the house being at the top of one them with 360 degree views of the countryside. It was pretty breathtaking and would be an amazing place to live and grow up. The water was rather cold but so very refreshing after a busy day at work. Because it has been so hot it also wasn't as deep as expected so it was more of a paddle than a swim. Even with crouching it only came up to our shoulders. Nick was rather jealous, I could tell, and it just so happened that on one of my days off this week he was given the afternoon off. I suggested we headed back to the river they showed me so he could experience it as well. The scenery we drove through on Tuesday was amazing but I felt I wasn't able to appreciate it fully without asking the work girls to stop the car all the time. Although the afternoon with Nick was much colder it was so nice to be able to fully take in the surroundings and admire the hills and valleys we were driving in to. A couple of months ago we bought wetsuit fabric style water shoes to wear in rivers when we went exploring and we were able to try these out for the first time. It definitely made walking around on the gravel a lot easier and even though the water was freezing it was still fun paddling around in the now fuller river. This week also saw my beautiful niece turn 3. It's quite impossible to comprehend that she's been in our lives for 3 whole years now and how big and grown up she is becoming. We Skyped with my family at the weekend and it was amazing how interactive she was with us. She had a stage of not really engaging with us on Skype so it made me rather happy that she seems to have passed that stage. I can't believe how quickly Zephyr is growing either. He's such a chunky squishy mini person now and it does pull on the heart strings knowing that we will not be involved in the first stage of his life. I do hope not having a continual presence from two awesome people such as me and Nick doesn't have too much effect on him later in life. It reassures me that Aeryn is still very much aware of who we are and hopefully our relationship with her will not have altered too much on our return. Although it makes it so much harder being away knowing they are back at home we just have to remember that this is probably our only main opportunity to do this and we need to make the most of every minute.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Coffee art, sheep traffic and farewells

    28 gennaio 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    This week I've been upping my game at the coffee shop for our most regular customer, Marcia. When I first started I was told she likes it if you use the foam from the milk to draw a smiley face on her coffees for her. I've decided that's far too mundane so have been creating butterflies, bumblebees and even a rabbit this week. Now that I've set this standard I do fear it's going to be hard to maintain and thinking of ideas each day may be a challenge but she absolutely loves it! She's sent pictures of them to all of her family apparently so it's definitely worth it for how much she enjoys it. I work next to the Barker's shop which sells a huge range of fruit squash, or syrup as they call it here. The brand sells in many supermarkets throughout NZ but because this is the original shop they often have discounted products that have gone slightly wrong in production. Our coffee shop has a connecting window into the Barker's store so as I'm making milkshakes I always have a glance in to see what is in the reduced section each day. We've been buying the juices and then using a reusable ice lolly maker to make tasty squash lollies for us to have when it gets hot, which it has been doing a lot this week! On my days off I made us meatballs which Nick very much appreciated and I throughly enjoyed. We do need to make the most of having good cooking facilities because as soon as we go to campervan life we'll be rather limited by what we can make. We had to say goodbye this week to one of our friends from our original farm, Jan. His time working was up and he's all set to go on his adventure around New Zealand. We headed to the old farm and it was really lovely to see everyone again and even meet a few new faces. I was surprised to see that he'd cooked for everyone which was very kind of him. He was quite upset about leaving and it will be sad not having him around but it's too easy to stay in the comfort of familiar people and one place, pretty much like we are doing, and it only becomes harder to leave later on. We've already decided we will be visiting him in Germany at some point when we do our Europe exploration. I got to experience another first this week and that was being late home from work becuase I was caught behind sheep on the highway! A 100km speed limit road and they walked sheep down about 1km of it. I was leading the line of traffic so I tried to keep my distance and help herd the animals forward. They were walking mainly on our side of the road so that meant every so often a car coming the other way could slowly come past us. The worst part was an impatient driver, probably 20 cars behind me, decided to speed up along the line of traffic in the wrong lane, cut in front of me narrowly missing the car facing towards him and then weave at speed between sheep and cars to get through. It was great for him because he was then speeding off but he left a previously organised herd of sheep in complete caos all over the road. Some people have no patience or think about the after effect of what they are doing. I on the other hand quite enjoyed inching along behind the main thing New Zealand has more of than people, sheep.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Went hiking and was rewarded with a cold

    21 gennaio 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    The job is getting a little harder this week. I've been learning how to make coffees and after only 4 hours of trying it out supervised I was surprised to be solely on the coffee machine the following day when we had two tour buses come in at once. I was struggling to keep up and it was rather overwhelming. Unfortunately the manager wasn't in so it was one of the owner's daughters who put me in that role and position much to the manager's disagreement when I told him about it. I'm hoping it was a one off and with more time and sessions learning I'll be able to handle those situations better. On one of my days off this week I met up with Candy and the girls and we went on a hike in Peel Forest. I thought we were just doing a simple walk so Eliza could walk it too, she started walking last week, but it was actually a full on hike Candy had in mind. I did not wear the right footwear! On route we spent half an hour using the car to herd a stray escaped cow back into a fenced off paddock where it wouldn't cause any danger or harm to road users. It always surprises me when farmers put up single wired flimsy fences up with cows in to graze down the grass on the side of the roads. You would think with your animals being that close to to traffic you would ensure you used a multiple wire fence so it's less likely any animals will escape. We finally made it to the walking track and we opted for a 1 and a half hour round trip walk to Emily Falls. With Eliza in a backpack on Candy's back we were set to go. The track had many steep inclines and declines and I was impressed by how well Cassidy was handling it especially when she doesn't yet understand the concept of looking where is best to place your feet. The hardest part was when we had to walk downstream in a river. This is when my poor footwear choice became apparent. We couldn't actually find where the track continued until luckily we met another walker heading back to the car park who pointed us in the right direction. Quite a special moment happened was when a fan tail bird came down from the trees and started almost performing a dance to us and as we walked along he'd fly to the next branch ahead and carry on. By the time we reached the waterfall I realised we were not going to get close unless we walked in the water completely so I decided my $3 shoes would handle it and went for it. We had to climb up a large rock and over the top so it was quite convenient two guys were already there who could take Cassidy from me and lift her down to the rocks below. Standing at the base of the waterfall was quite an achievement and although it had taken over twice as long as advised we had made it even with two children under 3. On the way back I took a graceful front facing fall up a bank and ended up with mud all up my top. We reached a point where Cassidy's legs couldn't handle the walk anymore so I took Eliza on my back and Candy piggy-backed Cassidy for the rest of the way back. All that time being carried wore Eliza out completely and by the end she was slumped down in the backpack sound asleep and didn't even stir when I transferred her to the car. We had a lovely lunch together before heading back to farm. We had to pull over for Cassidy to go to the toilet so Candy found a side road and positioned the potty behind the car so no one would see her. Cassidy being Cassidy told us that it needed to be on the grass so she climbed with her potty up the grassy bank and sat right at the top of a hill where a whole reservoir and 3 roads had her in perfect view and you couldn't help but laugh and the no shame or embarrassment children have. At the farm I was able to see Eliza walk properly for the first time and it was adorable. She came toddling in laughing with both arms raised up for balance just looking so happy with herself. The next day I was suffering, I pretty much had lost my voice and my throat felt so raw from not having enough water on the walk. I did one day at work where I could barely talk and then had the weekend off because it turned into a flu illness which was so much fun! I think the walk just encouraged an illness to emerge and although it's been horrible I'm glad I've been off work to try and get over it as quickly as possible.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Back to working life

    14 gennaio 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    I got a job! Another one! It also seems that all I photographed this week was food and bananagrams. Since we haven't been doing much photographs have become a distant habit and I need to remember to start documenting things more, even places I've been a hundred times because in 10 years without a photo prompter those places will have been erased from my memory, sadly. I looked after the girls on Monday so that Bruce and Candy could drive to Christchurch to collect his mum from the airport, a journey that would of been so much more hassle with two children in tow. It was probably my most emotionally stressful day caring for them. We were all outside because I was hanging washing and the parents had only been gone 20 minutes or so went I hear Eliza scream and drop Tika's water bowl onto the ground. Her scream turned into an uncontrollable inconsolable cry. I ran to her and scooped her up and tried to sooth her but her howling did not subside. I've only ever seen her cry like that once before when Cassidy belly flopped on top of her with a baby gate between them. While I was trying to calm her down I saw the kittens playing with a cockroach only a metre from where she was. I began to panic and inspecting her body and discovered her hand had swollen to double it's size and was very red with two small dots at the tip of her middle finger. She'd been bitten. I rung Bruce straight away before ringing an emergency nurse. I was advised that cockroaches cannot bite so the nurse believed she was bitten by a spider. She was still crying uncontrollably and the next part only made that cry last even longer. I had to wash her hand and wound for 5 minutes under running water before holding ice on the area for 10 minutes followed by raising her arm for 10 minutes in the air. The ice was the worst part, I used a frozen teether and for ten painful minutes we both cried uncontrollably, Eliza at the shock and cold and myself because I was having to inflict this pain on her. She was throwing her head back and just sobbing her heart out. Cassidy kept bringing us toys to try and make her feel better but in the end I had to put a dvd on for her because it wasn't helping Eliza in that situation. An hour after the bite had happened the swelling had gone down a lot and she was using her hand to crawl and eat normally. It was one of the hardest things I've done. The rest of the day we just recovered and chilled out and I didn't put Eliza down for a nap until late afternoon once I knew she was completely okay. The day after I had my trial shift. I seemed to impress everybody pretty well and surprisingly enjoyed it more than I thought I would so I was offered the job. I decided to accept the job and turn down the Barker's position. I asked for Friday and Saturday off so Nick and I would have some last days off together before we both go into full time working again. The cafe position is going well and although it's busy when tour buses come in I'm enjoying the fast pace of the job. It keeps you busy and time does seem to fly by. Working in a coffee shop was the last thing I imagined myself doing but hopefully I will prove myself wrong and enjoy the time I spend there.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Birthday celebrations

    7 gennaio 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    I've turned the big scary 25! After 22 every birthday makes you suddenly realise how old you're getting. I cannot believe it's been 7 years since I went to uni or even the fact it's nearly a year since we left the UK. Time really does fly so you definitely have to do your best to make as many memories as possible. This week has been good for me work wise because I've looked after the girls for a few days now. Nick started his new job on Wednesday but had two days off after working only one day to fit him into the rosta. It did mean he was working on my birthday so we decided to have our celebrations on the 5th instead. He planned a surprise day for me but sadly the rain decided to ruin his plan so we've decided to postpone what he had in mind for when the weather decides to behave. Instead we used the movie tickets I won at the work Christmas game to go and see Jamanji at the cinema. It was brilliant and is highly recommended. Just like Christmas I was treated to cards from home and the most brilliantly perfect card from my fellow fish face aka my sister, Kath. Nick got me some lovely present including bananagrams which I'm rather excited about. He also bought me a birthday cake and candles but forgot about having to light them so after trying the hob and the car cigarette lighter he had to admit to himself that it wasn't going to happen. On the day of my birthday I went and met up with Candy and the girls in Timaru and we went for a coffee and a catch up. Eliza is so nearly walking that it's becoming quite frustrating although we know as soon as it does happen we will be wishing she'd slow down a bit! After coffees we had a stroll down the beach and Cassidy and I rolled up our trousers and went wave jumping together. Her trousers didn't stay rolled up for long so she got soaked but seemed to have an absolute blast in the process. We had an indian takeaway for tea while watching a film. We have bought a dvd player and taken out a library membership so that we can watch series and films as often as we like. It's proving a lot more effect at making us proactive by not having a freeview box to use. I handed out CVs earlier in the week and one local cafe and bakery invited me in for a trial shift. I had already accepted a position at Baker's, a food production company specialising in fruit based sauces and foods, but have decided to give the trial a go anyway. I turned up today all geared up in clothes I managed to get from a charity shop only to be told it isn't busy enough so could I come and do a trial on Tuesday instead. It was a little annoying because I was ready to do it today but these things can't be helped. I'm quite reluctant about working in a coffee shop but am trying to be open minded and will see how the trial goes before I make any decisions.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    First Christmas abroad

    31 dicembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    It's Christmas! Not only is it our first Christmas abroad, it's also the first Christmas I've spent away from my family. I'm so pleased Bruce and Candy invited us to spend it with them because it has definitely made it a lot easier being away at this time of year. Of course we are missing everyone like crazy but at least it doesn't really feel like Christmas because it's been so hot! Christmas day was lovely. Everyone from the farm came over for lunch as well as some other family members. Receiving cards and treats from home was definitely the highlight although it did pull on the heart strings. We bought Bruce and Candy a wooden sign that was engraved with the logo I designed for them. To say they liked it would be huge understatement so I'm very glad we organised that. It's all been a bit up in the air with what we're doing next but Nick met with the owner from a farm in Geraldine for an interview and he's decided to accept work there. The only downside is we found out we couldn't move in until the 30th and having already been in the house a while we didn't want to over stay our welcome so went to Methven for a few nights away. It ended up being rather far away but it was nice having our own space and time to ourselves again. On route we stopped and had a lovely celebratory meal for finally having some direction again but unfortunately said meal decided to make a reoccurrence for me, 5 hours later which did ruin the night slightly. We spent time looking for jobs for me as well as just relaxing with the hotel's cat, Honey. I've decided to write up my cv and hand it out to shops and businesses around Geraldine once we've moved in. I received an unexpected phone call from Bruce while we were away asking if I'd be able to work the next day looking after the girls because Candy is needed for milking. The reason she needed to milk was because one of the new employees swerved on her bike while riding to work to avoid a hedgehog and has broken her leg. They'd only been working a matter of days. It does mean a bit of work for me so I'm not complaining even if we did have to wake up at 4 to be able to leave Methven in time to get to the farm. The day came when we could move into our new home which meant we could do our first big food shop in a long time. I cannot tell you how excited I was for this food shop! We went and got Nick lots of second hand clothes for him to wear while working as well. It's so very handy having a car especially because the new farm doesn't supply a vehicle to use either. It's been quite a busy week with lots of exciting changes so we're looking forward to this next chapter of our trip away.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    We bought our first car!

    24 dicembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    We now are officially a grown up couple because we bought our first car together this week! Our new plan is fully in motion. We spent our last days in Christchurch applying for jobs and then rejecting said jobs. We had offers coming out of our ears and it was so very overwhelming, when we were not fully ready to travel anywhere. We decided we need to buy a car first and then seeing as there is plenty of work out there we will apply for jobs when we have the transport to go anywhere sorted. We went to visit both the museum and Quake City, an exhibition created about the earthquakes. Quake City was very impacting as an exhibition and it's hard to even imagine that the stories happened in the city you are standing in. I don't think until you are there while an earthquake is happening will any tourist ever be able to comprehend just what that means and involves, certainly when you're from a country that is blessed with pretty much zero chance of natural disasters occurring to any sizeable level at least. New Zealand battles with being sat right where tectonic plates meet and if that wasn't enough it also has volcanoes up north. It's the price you pay for some of the best mountains and scenery in the world. The next day prior to going to the museum I treated myself to my first hair cut since leaving the UK and although it was the quickest hair cut I've ever had I'm actually rather pleased with the result. Quite conveniently as well, Ben and Jerry's has only just come to New Zealand and are setting up a shop in Christchurch before launching products into the supermarkets. That meant they'd set up a pop up ice cream van with free ice creams for promotional work. Not only this but the two best flavours of cookie dough and chocolate fudge brownie were on offer. It's amazing how excited you can get over ice cream especially great ice cream that reminds you of home. When we finally did reach the museum, after visiting a shopping area made from shipping containers, we spent the rest of the day soaking up knowledge about the history of New Zealand and the Maori people. I think we are a little like my Dad, we read everything which meant that in one 4 hour period or so we'd completed 3 museum rooms... 3 out of about 25! It was so interesting that we have already decided when we return to Christchurch we will have to pick up where we left off. I'd also like to point out one room was a National Geographic exhibition of 100 of their best all time photographs. So even with just looking photos and reading a small caption about them it still took us that long to do 3 rooms! The stories behind some of the images were incredible and it's amazing the lengths photographers have to go to and the situations they put themselves in to get the shot. I found it most amazing because some just happen by chance and it's not about whether a "perfect" photo is captured it's the story behind the images even if that image is pretty poor or blurry. It's about capturing animal and human behaviour, personalities or a feeling behind an event and I did find it very inspiring. We came back from Christchurch and moved into Bruce and Candy's spare room. Nick set to work straight away earning our keep by digging up potatoes with Cassidy for Christmas lunch. It's quite hard to believe it's Christmas when it's so hot. We went car hunting the next day and found a garage that sells cars for under $4000 and had amazing reviews online and every car comes with a warranty so it was all rather perfect. That's where we found our little gem, Emmy, a 1996 Nissan Sentra with only 94000kms on the clock. After a WOF was done the next day she was ours for the taking. Nick went and helped out at the shed one afternoon, I think he's been missing it and the guys definitely appreciated it! The rest of the time has been spent helping prep Christmas lunch and playing with the girls. It's rather nice being within a family unit for Christmas and it certainly does make being away at this time of year a little easier.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Big decisions, big changes

    17 dicembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Yet another roller coaster of a week with ups and downs trying to figure out what we're doing. The campervan we saw last weekend failed quite badly on its pre-purchase check and both the mechanic and our housemate said they wouldn't touch it. So we ended up back at square one, yet again. There's such a demand for decent campervans but they are either tiny and awful inside or mechanically unsound. This week did start out pretty nicely though with a trip to Chipmunks soft play centre with Nick, Candy, myself and the girls. We all had a great time and it showed when Cassidy, Eliza and myself fell asleep in the car on the way home. That night we had our works Christmas dinner which was lovely although the food was a little disappointing. There was a set Christmas dinner menu so we were expecting a nice traditional New Zealand Christmas dinner but what we received we were told by the kiwis on farm wasn't the usual dinner so that was a shame. We had a nice time though and even landed ourselves some movie tickets in the present game we played. Oh and a car cleaning kit for the van we don't have! We decided we had no choice but to come to Christchurch and move out. We'd spent a week not working and didn't want to take liberties and hang around too long. Although we have ended up doing that slightly by leaving most of our stuff at Bruce's and Candy's house. Packing was horrible especially when it was never meant to be that we packed our bags after working, we were meant to pack everything straight into our campervan we were suppose to have now. We also cleaned the whole house for our final inspection to then discover we only needed to clean our room for it which you had to laugh about really. At least the girl moving into our room the day we left would of had a nice clean house to arrive to! We arrived in Christchurch and after checking in began our campervan search in a very upbeat positive mood. After checking every possible website and Facebook page we soon realised how many other people are hunting for vans in Christchurch and how few are around. The ones available are either way overpriced for what they are or just a car with a bed in the back. We soon realised we may have missed the best window of opportunity to buy one and that we'd end up paying so much for one if we were to buy now. After a few days of discussing and pondering we have arrived at the conclusion that we will extend our visa to 23 months. Our plan is to get jobs for after Christmas and buy a car and work for maximum of 4 months before buying a van at the end of the summer season when hopefully most people leave and we'll get more for our money. We will then travel for a few months before returning to work on the farm in July. We've saved so much money in this job and have both really enjoyed the experience that we've realised we would love to do it again and have the opportunity to. We'd then come home sometime at the start of 2019. That's the plan for now anyway. We've applied for 6 joint cleaning roles today alone and for au pair and farm jobs as well. It's looking promising so hopefully something comes from that in the next few days. It will mean 2 years away from home but we'd be a great position coming home and with even more experiences and memories from it. Everything might change as it usually does with us but for now that's what we're aiming for. Christchurch on the other hand still bares the scars from the earthquake last year with many damaged crumbling buildings and construction works going on. It's a strange feeling seeing a natural disaster up close and it does make you realise how lucky the UK is to not suffer from many if not all of these disasters. We visited Catherdral Square the first night to a street food event which moved me to see the community out coming together in the square surrounding a damaged catherdral that has been in need of repair since the 2011 earthquake. It just shows how long something takes to build and how quickly it can be destroyed. We also went to see a installation of white chairs tonight where each chair represents one of the 185 lives lost in the 2011 earthquake. The individual chairs showcase the person's characteristics, age or heritage from example there was a wheel chair, baby car seat and high chair. It was a very moving and harrowing memorial that really brought the tragedy into perspective even more so than the remaining damage in the city does.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Celebrating 4 years together

    10 dicembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Today has been a pretty emotional week of ups and downs. We worked our last day on Wednesday which was both a joy but also met with the realisation that I wouldn't be caring for these amazing two little girls anymore. On Monday I worked for 6 hours on my day off because the farm owner was coming for a meeting on the farm so as a favour I took the girls out so Candy could be part of the meeting. It was my last time going and doing something with them so we went down to the beach front. Both girls fell asleep on the way so we ended up only going to the playground because of how long they slept for. I did have a lovely peaceful lunch looking at the ocean while they slept though. My next two days of work Cassidy was at preschool so they were pretty uneventful. I did feel quite emotional when it came to say goodbye to the girls on my last day but Cassidy has asked to go to soft play with Nick and we've decided to all go there on Monday so it isn't really goodbye. We spent the next couple of days in a surreal bubble of being together. We've had 4 months with no days off together, apart from when I was ill, so waking up without an alarm and the other person still being in bed was so novel and new again. We watched films, ate rubbish and hung out with our next door neighbour Jan. It was a pretty awesome feeling just being together again. We celebrated our 4th anniversary together by spending the day in Timaru, a town I have visited many times with the girls but Nick hasn't apart from to food shop. On the way we visited a fruit farm and got some freshly picked fruit for the day and had a coffee and a nice cafe in the sunshine. In Timaru we went to the beach, visited a rose garden and aviary, played mini golf, ate ice creams and just had the best fun. For lunch we had amazing food at a resturant called The Oxford and we definitely will have to visit there again before we finally set off travelling. For the night we had booked into an amazing Airbnb which was a little bungalow set in a beautiful garden with huge trees, three ponds and secret pathways. I did feel we were in the secret garden film. There was no wifi or signal so we spent the afternoon dancing to Phil Collins, playing cards, exploring and making homemade pizzas. We had plan to go to a lake the next day and to some hot springs but I managed to get signal in one part of the house so I had a quick check on the backpacker page for campervans. We saw one in Christchurch that looked like everything we'd hoped for and decided we needed to just act on it and go there. The next day we drove until we found good signal and after speaking to the lady on the phone we were on our way to Christchurch. We had to wait around a while for her to be available so we used the time to go to hostels to look at notice boards for other vans. The van itself is so nice inside and a high top but we're concerned by a few leaks and rust so we've arranged a pre-purchase check to happen on Wednesday. Fingers crossed it doesn't come back too bad or with little to do and we can go ahead with this van finally after all this time searching. It wasn't the day we'd planned for our anniversary but we had a great time away anyway just being together again.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Nearing the end

    3 dicembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    There are only three more working days for us which is so exciting, sad and scary all at the same time. I can't believe how quickly 4 months has flown by and it's finally hitting me that I will be leaving these little girl's lives very soon. It's been a week of doing fun things and making the most of our time together. I had two days with Cassidy off preschool this week so for the first one we went back to the beach which has become a favourite spot for her and the second we visited Peel Forest, somewhere Candy had shown me but I hadn't visited yet. It was so lovely with walks for all different ability levels including ones suitable for prams. We talked about different types of plants, the different shades of green and Cassidy showed a particular interest in moss and leaf skeletons. She was in her learning element and the only downside was the walk wasn't longer. We did do it twice though. Seeing as the forest day was my last non preschool day with the girls I treated them too a nice lunch at the forest's cafe which included homemade sausage rolls and cake. The food was lovely and I've already decided that Nick and I need to come and stay here as soon as possible after leaving. Cassidy said the cutest thing to me this week, it went: "Charlotte, are you my nanny?" "Yes Cassidy I am your nanny" "Are you my friend Charlotte?" "Of course I'm your friend Cassidy" "So you're my friend and my nanny... I love you nanny Charlotte." It was so beyond adorable and made the prospect of leaving even sadder. After having issues at preschool she has had a pretty well behaved week with no biting. She was bit herself by another child which I was there to witness and I think it has really brought it home for her how much biting hurts. She's getting on so much better and hopefully it continues that way even once I'm gone. Candy's garden is full of roses at the moment of all varieties so I picked us two new bunches of them for her house which has made the place smell amazing. She also has quite a successful vegetable patch and I've become an expert in blanching and freezing broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and silverbeat. I feel so ready to have my own vegetable patch after all I've learnt from maintaining hers. I spent my day off being super productive until we saw a van we really wanted to buy to discover the bed wasn't even long enough for me to sleep on. My feet were hanging off the end so we've learnt a valuable lesson to always ask for bed measurements before going any further with viewings. It was rather disheartening that once again we're back to square one with the campervan hunt but we do want the van to be right for us so I think we're right to be picky. I have been asked to work on my other day off for 5 hours which means I can't do what I had planned for the day but the extra time with the girls so close to us leaving will be lovely.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Nick the mower man

    26 novembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Nick has become somewhat of a pro at using a ride on lawn mower. Most afternoons that he is not milking he's out on the lawn movers cutting the grass. Cassidy calls him Nick the mower man and has recently developed a fear of the lawn mower which is odd when she had no issue with it before. They are noisy but incredibly slow and haven't come anywhere near her but insists the mower will "get her" so I'm not sure what that is all about. We had an eventual drive home from preschool because a herd of cows were being moved down the road we were driving on. We had to pull over and wait for the herd to pass but it was very daunting sat watching cows power walking towards the car. It wasn't until right at the very end did they move to the side to go around the car and there was a split second where I thought they were just going to walk up over the car. Both girls rather enjoyed the cows being all around us though. I baked rather successful walnut and chocolate button cookies this week for the team. I think they were eaten within an hour as soon as the word got out. It's always nice knowing your baking is appreciated. On my days off I went out and got the last of our leaving presents and spent two hours led on the floor in Bruce's lounge looking at campervans with him. I was meant to be making meatballs but as 6pm approached I realised it wasn't going to happen. Instead I went and got us a rather tasty Indian takeaway which was a lovely treat and one we plan to repeat on the day we finish working. Nick had yet another letter from student finance saying they needed more information from him. This time they wanted a letter signed by our employer stating what date the end of his employment will be. I spent time in the office writing the letter so all Bruce had to do was come home and sign it. We have sent the letter off to them now so hopefully that will be the end of it but after 4 months of them harassing him I won't hold my breath. Cassidy has been having troubles at preschool with her behaviour to the point where Bruce and Candy had to go in for a chat about it. Hopefully with both preschool and us working together with her we can get her back on a much nicer path. I wrote a little card to Nick just as a pick-me-up and rather than being productive and do things towards us leaving I spent 2 hours doodling on the envelope instead. I might not have got much done but at least the envelope looked pretty!Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    I broke the hob... woops!

    19 novembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    This week I had a massive drama and panic because I smashed Bruce's and Candy's hob. It happened when I opened the extractor fan and the front panel on the fan fell down and caused the smash to happen. I felt terrible about it until I discovered Bruce had stuck the panel back up onto the fan with a strip of plaster so I don't feel completely responsible now! It was hard having to create meals with just an oven but on our days off Candy treated me to an electric plug in frying pan and a gas powered two ring hob. I could once again cook properly and it made meal times so less stressful. Another thing that happened this week is Bruce approached Nick and I and asked us to extend our time working while they tried to find more staff. We were originally due to finish on the 20th but we have now agreed to stay until the 6th of December. Neither of us wanted any later than this date because our anniversary is on the 9th and it would be nice and novel to spend the day together after so long with different days off. Hopefully the extra time gives them the opportunity to hire new farm assistants. Nick had a very productive couple of days off this week and was incredibly sweet. The first day I got home from work to all manner of treats. He had made me homemade lemonade, which was amazing, homemade pizza including the base and brownies for dessert. The next day I came home to quiche which is my favourite. I was well and truly spoilt so I repaid him on my days off with a lasange of course. He also got the afternoon off on one of my days off but he was so tired that he napped for 2 hours so it so we didn't actually spend that much more time together. I did another trip to the beach with the girls but discovered a vintage car festival was happening in the bay so we walked around that instead pointing out all the trucks and yutes daddy would like. Jono our housemate decided to host a bbq without asking us which we were a little annoyed about. Our house is very unsound proof so it was rather loud but when it came to us wanting to go to bed they did turn the music down and we put our ear plugs in. Toasting marshmallows on the fire was a pretty nice end to the day however so it wasn't all bad.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    It's getting hot!

    12 novembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    This week the temperature has just decided to creep up and up. We're on the build up to Christmas but it doesn't feel at all right because the weather is so opposite to Christmas back home. It's quite surreal really and I'm not sure even on the day that it'll feel like Christmas when it's 30 degree heat. This week I took the girls to Chipmunks soft play centre for the day with Nick because it was his day off. They have upgraded a lot of the centre since we last went but to pay for that upgrade you now have to pay for under 3's to go in which was a little annoying. I'd already told the girls we were going so we paid it and they both did have a great time so it was worth the money. Nick and I have barely spent any time together over the past 3 months and his days off are a small chance to be together even if it is with the girls too. It always gives me a glimpse of how awesome a dad he will be one day. I was set the mammoth task of weeding the strawberry and pea patch which was overrun with thigh high nettles. It was such a hard job to fit into working. Cassidy wants to help but wouldn't wear her gloves so would get stung and you'd spend time consoling her. In the end I decided it's a job to do when she's at preschool and Eliza is asleep. In the heat it was still pretty tough even without children around. The kittens are now 8 weeks old so are old enough to leave us which is rather sad. I plan to upload them as an ad on Facebook next week so we have a little more time with them. The family plan to keep two as farm cats so at least there will be a couple still running around the place. This week's bake was chocolate cupcakes which went down a treat so I will definitely have to make those again for everyone! The team gets so excited by baking so it's a nice motivator for everyone. I think the most interesting thing to happen this week is I've experienced living on a country farm and it's downsides. The biggest downside is birds decide to nest inside the engines of all the farm vehicles so we now have to do a check before turning the engines on. I forgot to do this and was driving along when I smelt a funny smell and opened the bonnet to see a birds nest with 5 little blue eggs inside. The straw was starting to singe so that was the smell! I spent 20 minutes picking sticks out of the engine when before this I hadn't even looked in an engine of a car really. It was quite an experience and I now need to be more on it with checking the engines before using the vehicles.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    I'm getting paid to go to the beach!

    5 novembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    This week started out very nicely indeed. It's the end of calving season and Laura and Yens the two other calf rearers have finished working and left on Tuesday. To celebrate and to thank everyone for the to work they have put in this season Bruce and Candy treated all the team to a very nice meal at a restuarant. The meal included drinks, mains and deserts and the food was excellent. Both Nick and I had lamb shanks for main and I had a lovely white chocolate and passionfruit cheese cake for dessert. I am the most isolated member of the team in terms of meetint people so I did find it a little surreal sitting next to people I've said no more than hello to in the past 3 months. However saying that it was also nice to all be together and speak to everyone properly. The last calf left the farm this week as well. All the cows have finally calved and now for Nick it's a case of carrying on the work to weaning them off milk and onto grass. Grace has become the person to help the calf rearer working the days when the other is off so that they are not doing the work alone initially. Bruce has a long ongoing back problem which has got very bad recently so Candy's cousin Joel has come to stay to help out on the farm while Bruce looks for a manager to temporarily help him out. Joel has ten years experience dairy farming so he has been a real credit to have. He's living in the house so my meals have been upped to cover an extra mouth but it's not been so hard so far. He has a young dog called Zeus who I am also warming too. Tika isn't too impressed by him but I think she'll come around. This whole experience has really helped me get over most of my childhood fear of dogs and now I love lying down on the ground playing with Tika, something I would never do 3 months ago. Hopefully with Zeus as well that will keep developing. I went into the office on my days off to finalise the logo I designed before the free trial of illustrator ran out. I now have the final options done and Bruce and Candy can simply select which colour arrangement they wish to go for. This week I took the girls to Caroline Bay which has a lovely beach. It's been getting hotter and hotter so running around in the sea was amazing. Cassidy was cautious at first but was loving it by the end. We all had a brilliant time and spent a good few hours there. On day trips like this it's easy to forget you're working because you're enjoying yourself so much. That's now the dream for my future job is to find something I love so much that it doesn't even feel like working and the pay is just an added bonus. I'm sure that's everyone's dream but having experienced that feeling it feels more achievable and desirable.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Watching Nick work

    29 ottobre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    I had to pop out on my days off this week and as I went to get the challenger car to use I saw Grace, Nick and Jono weighing calves in the fire pit paddock near Bruce's house. I headed over and spent time with them watching them weigh and vaccinate the calves one by one. It was pretty cool to see and be involved with something happening on the farm. I plan to ask Bruce if he'd mind me shadowing Nick and Grace on my days off feeding the calves just to see what happens and what Nick does in his job. It also gives a good opportunity to get some photos to remember our time here. I've also taken it upon myself to design a logo for the farm. Bruce and Candy want to get some embroidered hoodies for the staff for Christmas so I said I'd create the logo for them. I've downloaded a free trial of illustrator and I am using that to create the design for them. By the end of the week I had several different versions to choose from and finalised the designs so all that was left to pick was the font. It's actually quite cool that I've been able to use my degree in this way and the experience will benefit my portfolio when I return home. Other exciting things that happened this week were the ducklings hatching near the house where I work and Jono finally buying finding a second xbox 360 controller. Nick very much enjoyed playing against him for hours that evening for sure! I took the girls on a trip to the playground on Cassidy's days off preschool. Every time I suggest taken them there Cassidy now always insists on going to the playground with the parrot. They have a white parrot which we found out this time is called McKenzie who says "tickle tickle" and "hello" to you. She has become a little obsessed with him and despite her initial fears of the birds his talking has helped her warm to them and she no longer hides behind my leg in fear. I treated Nick to a chicken pie this week as well. We have to make the most of being able to make meals in an oven while we still have one. Soon we'll be living off a two burner hob alone. There will be more pies, quiche and lasange to come!Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Nick went on a photo shoot

    22 ottobre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Nick used one of his days off to borrow the calf rearing bike to venture around the farm taking photos. With our time working coming to an end in a month we wanted to get some pictures to remember our time here. He had a pretty good time adventuring around the farm hanging out with calves and cows. He got some pretty good pics too. This week has been jammed packed with doing stuff. On my days off at the start of the week I took Bruce's truck to get serviced for him because I wanted to go to town but the farm car was in use for work. It was going to be a good trade because I was meant to get a borrowed car to use while the service happened. Unfortunately all the cars were taken so I had 5 hours of hanging around waiting for the service to finish. Luckily where I wanted to go was within walking distance and I spent most of the time in the shop's cafe eating cake and milkshake. I had two "firsts" this week; I found a four leaf clover I believe for the first time and I went to my first rodeo. The clover was pure luck because I was walking through a paddock to the chicken coop and through almost knew high grass, glanced down and then saw the clover. I bought it home to give to Nick and it's now living in a shot glass on our dining table. The rodeo was an interesting experience. New Zealand pretty much has taken parts from so many countries and merged them together. As Candy, myself and the girls arrived I felt like I'd walked into America. So many people wearing cowboy hats and checked shirts watching people on horses try and rope calves. We only saw the last two events which included the bull riding. My goodness bulls are massive and quite scary to watch. I wasn't sure how comfortable I felt about it all but it was definitely an experience to say I have been to one now. I asked to leave early from work one day this week and treated Nick to a pizza out in town followed by a food shopping date, I know how to spoil him! It was really nice to have even 4 hours together when in the past almost 3 months we have had very few opportunities to do things. In a way that has been a blessing because we have saved so much more money then we would of if we'd had days off together. The van hunt is still an ongoing process but we are on top of all the adverts and selling pages so hopefully as soon as something comes up we can jump on the chance to view it asap.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    High ho, high ho, it's back to work I go

    15 ottobre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    After a week off work I finally felt well enough to return. I had the hospital confirm that I had caught a parasite probably from the calves, milk or other animals on the farm. It's crazy that I'm the least involved with the farm out of all the staff but I'm the one to catch a parasite! They still believe I had an infection too because of some of the symptoms I had and there may be the potential for future problems from that infection but I've decided to not worry about that until necessary. The first day back was hard because I had to drive Bruce's mum back to Christchurch airport, a 2 hour drive one way, and I was worried about how I'd feel while doing it. The back pain was the biggest symptom I was still dealing with but luckily sitting in one position for a while eased the pain so the drive wasn't too bad. Eliza slept the whole day there and both napped on the way back for a short while. Of all the weeks to get ill it was definitely a great coincidence that the week it happened was the week Bruce's mum was visiting because it meant they had someone to help with the girls while Candy had to go and help with the calves. The kittens have suddenly gotten massive and are fully exploring around the house now. They are enjoying playing everywhere and exploring together and it won't be long before they are venturing outside. On Monday before I went back to work we viewed a potential campervan to buy. We really liked the van and were definitely going to buy it until our housemate Jono came and had a look at the engine and underneath the van and discovered a large oil leak which he was concerned about because he had the same leak on a car and eventually the engine gave out. It's also in an area that would involve removing the engine and gear box to fix and because of that the labour alone would cost over $1000 to sort it out. It was a big blow and we were up for getting a quote for the work but after ringing all the garages we knew about no one could fit us in to have an estimation given. Instead we decided it wasn't meant to be and the guy and van left for Christchurch. I'm so glad we have people on the farm who know about cars because we keep being saved from buying dodgey potentially problematic campervans with their help. Working wise I took it quite easy this week. We did go to the playground on Cassidy's days off preschool and visited the parrot that says "hello" and "tickle tickle" to you. She's pretty wary of the birds but the talking one does help her ease up around them quite a lot. Tika finally got her hair cut and looks like a completely different dog. I was quite glad that Candy took her to the appointment because on that day I was feeling pretty bad again. We got to experience Jono driving through the fort of water in his truck because we came home and no one could be bothered to cook so we decided to head to get a burger for dinner. He enjoys very much pushing his truck to the limit and driving it through water and rivers often. I really think he'd be a good rally driver! Unfortunately the restuarant closed 5 minutes later after we arrived so we had to order a take away instead but it was still a really nice treat for us.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    The worst happened

    8 ottobre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    This week has been pretty horrendous. Travelling can be terrifying at times and it's when bad things happen that you are reminded how far away you are from home and the people you love. I woke up on Monday morning with unbearable back and abdominal pain. As the day progressed the symptoms just kept piling up and although I went to work I had to go home to get more clothes and spent the morning sat in front of the fire wearing 6 top layers and 3 bottom layers, and it was a rather sunny day. It was so horrible and then by 10am I had thrown up. Because of the nature of the job I wasn't able to just leave until someone had come home to care for the children and in the end it took Bruce and Nick telling Candy to come home at 1 for her to arrive. I was finally able to go home and went straight to bed. I managed to go into work again the next day because it began to ease in the morning but as the day progressed everything just started getting worse. I was meant to pick Bruce's mum up from Christchurch airport, a two hour drive away, but luckily he arranged for someone else to do it. I did a full days work that day and in the end just had to tell Candy I needed to leave. By Wednesday things had got rather bad so I decided I needed to go to the doctors. Nick was able to finish at lunch time to take me. That's where it all got a bit crazy really. I had so many symptoms and issues that the doctor was very concerned and puzzled as to what was wrong. She suspected all sorts from pregnancy to an infection and in the end decided I need to go to hospital for more tests and a second opinion. At hospital we were put into the children's room in A&E which was a rather miserable place. Nick was loving it because a St John ambulance worker kept coming around to offer him coffee and tea when I wasn't allowed to drink anything. He seemed to miss everything important from going for a test, to getting the results because at those times he happened to be moving the car, getting food or in the loo. I had blood tests done and a CT scan with dye injected into my blood. The conclusion came back as a suspected ovary infection and that's when I received the news that they wanted to give me antibiotics over a drip and that I needed to stay in over night. The first thought I had was the cost and asked if it was necessary and that's when the dreaded word of potential infertility was mentioned. That's when I realised this is quite serious but luckily all treatment is free to UK residents. It all became very overwhelming quite quickly and I did have a good cry about it especially because Nick wasn't there at this moment in time. It's at times like that when you really just want your mum and I couldn't of been more grateful that I wasn't traveling alone. I was taken up to a ward and given a private room with a sea view which was pretty nice. An elderly woman was moved out of my room to a shared area to accommodate me and she shared her annoyance about this quite loudly as I was wheeled in. Nick was amazing and went to buy a whole bag of bits that I would need but also things to keep my entertained. When he had to leave it was pretty hard. I was kept in overnight and it was a horrible sleep mainly because of the drip in my arm. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink which also was quite hard, I'd barely eaten since Sunday. Finally the morning came and although Nick had agreed to work he didn't want to stay away and came to see me first thing which I really appreciated. I was allowed to go home to wait for the test results and take antibiotics there. I was so glad to be home and spent most of the rest of the week sleeping and sitting on the sofa with lots of pillows and a hot water bottle. Cassidy and Candy picked me some daffodils from their garden as a get well soon gift which was rather sweet. I was so glad to be home but it was still an awful week of feeling rubbish. Sometimes all you really need is a cuddle from your mum and it's definitely confirmed that I will never live away from the UK and my family at all.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    How is it October?!

    1 ottobre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    It's actually crazy to think we left home 7 and half months ago and have been working on the farm for two months now. Time has just whizzed by since we started working here and we only have a month and a half left until it's time to hit to road once again, I'm quite sure we're ready or prepared for that just yet. Bruce has given us our leaving date so it suddenly has become quite real. The biggest thing we need to sort out is a van but I can't even begin to explain how tedious it is looking everyday through pages of Facebook adverts, backpacker website advertisement boards and Trade Me. It becomes so consuming that when you do find something that seems okay you almost don't believe it's real and can't bring yourself to go through the whole process of seeing if the people will be willing to come here to usually be disappointed. We do really need to knuckle down and find something now or we'll end up having to get to Christchurch and just staying there until something good shows up. This week Cassidy had a trip to the museum on Tuesday with preschool which I took her and Eliza to. Sadly only 4 children came but she seemed to enjoy running around. Nothing educational was learnt but she had a good morning at least. She did tell me that tigers eat potatoes and only potatoes so she somehow took that from the experience. After the museum I took the girls to the playground where we had a picnic lunch on the grass before playing on all the equipment. Both girls fell asleep in the car on the way home which always feels like such an achievement. Nothing else exciting really happened this week apart from going food shopping on my days off which is as exciting as most days off get. I did see a pretty rainbow though!Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    I calved a cow!

    24 settembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Lots of animal photos for this week's blog, well we are on a farm after all. After seeing a traumatic birth of twins last week I received a call from Bruce one day this week after if I'd like to see a normal birth. With Cassidy at preschool and Eliza in the car with a snack I headed over to the milk shed to the "maternity ward" where a cow was inside a pen who had just had a calf pulled out of her. The calf was alive this time which was a lot nicer to see then before when they had both died. He was also about to let her out to see her calf but then decided to check for a twin and good job he did because even though the first calf was massive he was a twin. I watched as Bruce helped guide the second one to position and working with the cow's pushes pulled the second calf out. With that the cow was cleaned up and let out to the small yard to clean her new babies while Bruce herded the next cow down into the same pen. She was rather reluctant to go and it involved a lot of shoving to get her to move, they completely don't realise you are helping and probably saving their lives by intervening. Bruce began the process and then I asked if I could have a go so I put on the plastic gloves up to my arm pits and with some lubricant put my hand inside the cow above the calf's head. It was amazing and the same time so weird to feel. Using ropes around the calf's legs I pulled every time the cow pushed and together a healthy baby boy calf was born. He was covered in a lot of yucky stuff which apparently shows that he's been ready to come out for a while and the mum started to push but then more than likely she saw another cow's calf and thought it was hers so stopped trying to birth thinking she'd already done so. Sometimes the cows seem so clever but other times they completely prove you wrong. I'm so excited to say I calved a cow and went to visit the baby later that day in the pens and saw him walking around mooing away (he's the brown one in the middle of the photo). There's also another calf that really looks like a dalmatian because he has so many white and black spots. The kittens are getting bigger by every day and I captured the perfect photo of Tikka looking rather jealous sat at the top of the sofa above the gap where they are. She definitely needs to be a mum because she's so trying to care for these babies herself. I didn't take enough photos this week so I've included two Nick sent me a while ago from out in the paddocks. He injured his chest which was causing him a lot of pain but he managed to see a doctor and has pain killers for it and it seems to be easing up. Overall though I think he's still enjoying it just as much as I am.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    We have kittens!

    17 settembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    On Wednesday of this week, Lucy the cat gave birth to 5 kittens in the dog Tikka's bed. It shows how safe she feels around Tikka to have them while in her bed. I received a text from Bruce that morning saying I'm going to love it when I get here. I instantly thought Cassidy had destroyed something and I had something horrible to clean up but to my happy surprise it was kittens instead. Two looked very weak and were lying away from their mum so we got a large box and lined it with towels and hot water bottles and brought them inside. Luckily they have a large cupboard in their house so we are keeping the kittens and Lucy in there so that they have some time and privacy from Cassidy for the start of their lives. This week has been pretty cool for me. Bruce came home briefly before saying he has to help Jono birth a cow. Usually this can be done alone but if there are problems it sometimes needs two of them. Eliza was asleep and he was happy for me to leave her and invited me to come and watch. Cassidy and I rode in his truck to the cow who was sat down at this point. Bruce had a feel but soon realised they needed her to stand up to be able to get the calf out. They used a tractor to lift her and after lots of feeling around and times when both had their arms inside her together up to their shoulders they soon realised there were two calves in there and one is trying to come out bottom first which is causing the problem. It was amazing to watch. Cassidy found it a little overwhelming at times and stood behind me at points or went to sit in the truck. Eventually after half an hour or so the first calf was pulled out shortly followed by the second. Both were dead unfortunately and Bruce did say it's one of the worse births he's had this season so has promised to invite me to see a more straight forward one where the calf is likely to live. Being out on the farm seeing what goes on was so nice for me when I barely see any side of it. Nick's pretty jealous too! On one of Nick's days off he surprised me by making me a quiche, my favourite and most craved meal! It was amazing and he even made his own pastry because he accidently bought sweet pastry. In return I made teriyaki salmon for us on my day off although it wasn't my idea because Nick had bought the ingredients when shopping so I can't take my credit. I also visited a school fate with Candy and the girls on Saturday afternoon which was pretty cool and nice to go out and do things together. We also had a nice coffee date on our day off so we got to sit down and talk without me technically working. It's been a pretty cool week for doing things and playing with kittens. I doubt how long we can keep the kittens from Cassidy because Lucy did move the kittens into the garage roof while Candy took Cassidy to preschool and Candy and I spent ages trying to find them. We've moved them back but we feel Lucy isn't happy there so we might have to give in and let her take them where she wants to.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Nick's getting some parenting practice

    10 settembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    My week started with a trip to a soft play centre with the girls on Monday. It was Nick's day off so I offered to give him a ride to Timaru with us if he wanted but he decided not too. We'd been there about half an hour when I got a message from a bored Nick wishing he'd joined us so he decided he'd head down and join in the fun. The place was amazing with so many cool areas. The best was a huge inflatable slide that we all went on together and it really made your belly go funny. There was also an area that has hundreds of foam balls with a big air machine in the middle. You can use a small bucket to collect the balls and either put them in the air machine so they shoot out the top or climb up to air guns and shoot them towards targets on the other side. Eliza loved this area and watching the balls hover and shoot through the air. Nick enjoyed it just as much as the kids did I think but he did realise how tiring it can be. We spent a good 6 hours in the place and at one point had it all to ourselves. Eliza also slept in the pram for an hour so we had an hour of just running around crazy with Cassidy. On Nick's second day off I came home to chocolates and iris flowers and he took me out to a great pizza resturant where we had a lovely meal together. It was a wonderful surprise, fantastic food and topped off by having a table right in front of the wood burning fire in the resturant. He spent a long time planning it and even driving there to work out parking and checking the place out. We don't get much time alone so it was a lovely gesture. The sunrises this week have been extra amazing to walk to work in. Every time you step out the door you don't know what sky is going to greet you and every day is so very different. I made butterfly cakes this week and a hidden extras of jam and apparently they were amazing so that recipe will definitely be used again! Candy has been coming home earlier so she can spend more time with Cassidy which I think has helped her. I was worried my hours would get cut but I'm still working to usual time which I'm pleased about. On Saturday Candy decided to take me and the girls out to a daffodil farm not too far from here. It was beautiful but not many daffodils were open so we plan to go back in a few weeks and hopefully more will be in flower. I had no idea how many amazing, weird and wonderful shapes and colours of daffodil you can get. Candy is a keen gardener so she ordered some bulbs and I bought one for her garden as well. They will be available in April when they dig the bulbs up before winter. I managed to take some lovely photos of her with the girls which I think she's very pleased with because like many mum's she doesn't get many photos of her with the children. It's been a good week all round really for both of us.Leggi altro

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  • Charlotte ElleryOur AdventureViaggiatore

    Getting creative for Father's day

    3 settembre 2017, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    This week started off nicely with a nice early finish. It was a bit of a novelty to leave for work during an amazing sunrise and walk back during sunset for the first time. The sky was a beautiful pink and blue mixture with highlights of orange. I went off taking photos and Nick did wonder what took me so long to come home when he had seen me ten minutes before walking towards the house. I couldn't miss this opportunity to take some snaps. Tikka the dog has so much hair on her head now that she is struggling to see. Bruce put her hair in an adorable top knot to give her a day of free sight. They plan to get her groomed but it's finding the time when the farm is so busy. I had two days off this week and used one of the days to visit Ashburton up north. Most of the day was spent trying to sort out my phone and it was a rather frustrating visit. The town is also very far away so it did feel a little disappointing that I didn't enjoy the trip when I'd gone all that way. I did get my phone sorted so that is a bonus at least. I came back from my days off and spent most of the next day working my way through a mammoth amount of washing. I was rather pleased and proud of my clean washing tower that Candy came home to. Candy came back early one day this week and went on a walk with the girls around the garden and to see the chickens. Cassidy came back into the house saying my name with flowers in her hand from the garden. It was a very sweet gesture and they have taken pride of place on our table in an empty pasta sauce jar because clearly Jono has never been bought flowers so we don't own a vase, surprisingly. On this Sunday it is Father's day in New Zealand so Candy asked me to help the girls to make something for Bruce. I spent a lot of time thinking about it and knew I wanted to use the girls hand and feet prints in some way and it had to of course be farm themed. I found the idea of tractors using feet and cows using hands. Actually doing the prints for them was very challenging; I spent a long time making brown paint from Cassidy's 4 paint colours for the cows and finally we were ready to go. We did Cassidy's first and after a practice go came the real thing and luckily it went well apart from a blank space in the centre of her foot. After an instant wipe down I set her up to paint Bruce a picture to give him while I did Eliza. Eliza hated it so it was a matter of going as quick as possible but we managed it although her foot print was higher then I planned. After they'd dried I added in all the extra paint and pen detail and they were complete, one cow themed card and one tractor picture. To say Bruce loved them would be such an understatement. They've been put up in his office already and I do feel the Nanny they get in next year has a lot to live up to! It was lovely getting creative again but just a shame it's quite stressful with children!Leggi altro

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