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New Zealand

September 2016 - March 2017
A 177-day adventure by Nadja Read more
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  • Nadja W.New Zealand
    Day 47

    Hello Wwoofing!

    November 13, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    So I left Paihia and that little bit of civilisation I had left (even found something swissish on the street) and went about 20 minutes further up to the farm of the niece of that woman I was staying with - to start woofing!
    Now for those of you who just had a question mark popping up in their head: WWOOFING (world wide opportunities on organic farms) is working on a farm for a couple of hours and getting some food and a bed in return. In my case its 4 hours a day of f.e. gardening/woodworking/cleaning/cooking, just helping the family with simple stuff they normally dont have time for :)

    I got really lucky! I am staying on a huuuge farm (although they say its one of the smallest in the country, for me its huge!) with a milking station, cheese factory, beekeeper/honeyproducer, timberfactory, mechanic and a kindergarten! Its lovely here! They have cows (even french ones - they're really famous here!), sheeps, pigs, chicken and of course a garden...so actually everything they need!

    The family is adorable! Anna, owner of the farm, is swiss and married to Bob. They have so many children, I have lost counting and the overview, and most of the family works and lives somewhere on the farm as well. In the house with me also lives Nidhi, a girl who works at the kindergarten and has rented a room here - she is currently teaching me how to drive and showing me around the area. And Bob is helping me with effort, trying to find a car as I don't know anything about cars - and we're going to have a look at two the upcoming week! So project car is going well!

    The only real drawback about living on a farm is that massive amount of mosquitos and sandflies! I don't know if everyone knows sandflies, but those are tiny devilish creatures which I firstly identified as cute little fruitflies - they are not cute and they are not fruitflies! They are the evil! My legs are COVERED with bites and they itch as hell!

    But other than that I really enjoy getting to know the kiwi style of a farming life! ;)    Read more

  • Nadja W.New Zealand
    Day 50

    A familiar face in uncharted places

    November 16, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    So I met Beni and his travelbuddy Jakob! They were exploring the south island together and leave the country within the next week, so they rented a car and came up to northland to see firstly me haha and secondly at least a bit of the north island!

    As I have just started to work on the farm I had no clue of what there is to see up here either. But with some tips of Nidhi, the girl who is living with me, we were able to explore some places in Kerikeri, such as the stone houses, a river to go bathing - yes it was damn cold! - and a beautiful rainbow waterfall, where we had dinner!

    So thanks for the visit guys! ;)    Read more

  • Nadja W.New Zealand
    Day 52

    Roadtrip to Russell

    November 18, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    So, while still working on the farm in Kerikeri, Nidhi, who lives with me, is showing me around the area after work. And todaaay we went to Russell!
    First capital of New Zealand, which is beautifully calm, small and quite natty... and the best part is, you only get there by car-ferry!

    After walking from one end of Russell to the other one, we wanted to reward ourselfes with some ice cream and ended up in a swiss chocolate shop with a gorgeous and lovely argentinian owner! We talked for a while and she told us her life story - we walked out of that shop after a hot chocolate and we were completely amazed by this woman, coming from Argentina, living in New Zealand, running a swiss chocolate shop, selling cuban cigars! Bäm!

    We then went to an indian restaurant where I not only got an insight into indian cuisine but also ingo indian lifestyle, culture and society as Nidhi has indian roots!    Read more

  • Nadja W.New Zealand
    Day 54

    Camping Trip to Matai Beach

    November 20, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    So i went camping with a friend to the most beautiful beach I've ever seen! White sand! White sand everywhere! It was astonishing! That part of the island was so small, you could walk from one side to the other side and you were in completely different worlds! One was just white sand as far as you could see and the other one was a pretty and green bay with a campground just above it. So you actually got out of the tent and had this wonderful view over the ocean!

    The weather during the day was perfect! Sunny, warm, a slight breeze that cooled you down -picture perfect! But to be honest, everything has a downside, which this time definitely was the cold night! I almost froze to death! I wasnt expecting it to be this cold at night! I wore everything I had with me - six layers of clothing and a sleeping bag and I was still soooo cold! ❄

    But luckily I survived - and while camping with a czech friend I met two french guys heading up north to cape reinga on that campground and they offered me to join them! So my planned two-days-trip go matai beach suddendly expanded to a five-days-adventure up to the north!    Read more

  • Nadja W.New Zealand
    Day 55

    Cape Reinga - King of the North

    November 21, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    So I drove all the way up to the top of the top of the island, the northernest point of New Zealand: Cape Reinga.
    Its a really cool place, as you drive up there and suddenly you find yourself surrounded by sanddunes and youre asking yourself how the heck you ended up in the desert? And you keep driving and eventually you reach cape reinga, all green again, ocean on one side, hills on the other! So a really diverse but beautiful spot!

    And yes, of course I had to take one of these famous pictures with those signs around the world - couldnt resist! But to be honest I didnt find it that special and I was surrounded by tons of tourists that wanted to do the same so we left pretty quickly again...

    Oh and yes, I do look like a red tomato as I got a horrible sunburn on matai beach as I forgot my suncream at home and here in New Zealand you cant really leave the house without it! 🔥    Read more

  • Nadja W.New Zealand
    Day 57

    Spirits Bay

    November 23, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    So after the trip to cape reinga we decided to stay to days at spirits bay, which was a perfect decision! Spirits bay is the bay where the soul leaves the island and goes to heaven, as the maoris believe... and it truly is a magical place! There were majestic wild horses running around next to the campground and ducks actually sleeping next to my tent! And the beach was not covered with sand, but with tousands of little seashells that were washed in the salty water for decades to make them smooth! It was a beautiful trip.

    And as the boys I camped with were from France and werent really the best students in english, I was able to speak french for four days staight! So that language is refreshed as well! (Point exclamation)    Read more

  • Nadja W.New Zealand
    1
    Day 58

    I SAW A KIWI!

    November 24, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Yup thats it! I made something soo many new zealand folks havent done yet: I SAW A KIWI! And I even touched it!

    The thing is, it wasnt a wild one... the kindergarten organises this event every year and I was lucky enough to actually be there at that time! There is a Kiwi rescue station about 1 hour from here and this guy who looks after the animals comes omce a year to the kindergarten so the kids know this famous animal. And he even brought a friend along: the other black small bird is a tui, also very famous for its sounds and rarely seen.

    And I mean, Ive seen pictures of Kiwis, I knew how they looked like, but I always imagined them to be those little tiny birds, maybe as big as a rabbit. But they are actually as big as maybe a pug! And they have feathers, but theyre really soft and it feels more like a fur than feathers... I sat there for at least half an hour, me and about 30 other small kids magnetised and absolutely fascinated by this fluffy bird!    Read more

  • Nadja W.New Zealand
    Day 67

    Surfing at Taupo Bay

    December 3, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    On this farm, but one house next to me, is another wwoofer, Johannes, from Germany! Now I met Johannes once at a family dinner; we started talking and he tells me, hes a passionate surfer travelling the island, staying wherever he can surf. As I have never been surfing before, I couldnt really understand this kind of devotion and so he simply invited me to experience it on my own!

    So we went to Taupo bay, about an hour away from the farm, and I got my first surfing lesson! Apart from having sore muscels and drinking about 10 litres of salt water, I have to admit: its so much fun!! 🏄    Read more

  • Nadja W.New Zealand
    Day 70

    Christmas is coming?

    December 6, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Soo, its december! Wow, it feels so weird! Theres christmas carols in every shop, ads on tv about christmas and people having a barbeque on christmas eve, employees are forced to wear a red santa hat and you see plastic christmas trees everywhere. But a christmas feeling? No way!
    When I think of christmas time I think of christmas markets, lots of biscuits, gingerbread, the cold rainy weather with grey clouds everywhere and hot teas next to a fire covered in a woolen blanket - but not of 25 degrees, sunburns and barbeques!?

    So luckily the woman in charge at the kindy is german and so she organises stuff at the kindergarten like saint nicholas bringing sweets amd fruits on the 6th and christmas carols and she even created this annual small christmas market! So Im getting a bit closer to my christmas feeling, by helping selling waffles at the market, crafting dwarfs and magical boxes, baking gingerbread and packing saint nicholas' gifts for the kids 🎅    Read more

  • Nadja W.New Zealand
    Day 72

    Being creative at its best

    December 8, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    So today electricity went off completely in the whole town. Meaning there was nothing to do as everything was shut down and it was raining outsidd. So I decided to make the best out of this day and be creative!

    Not only have I baked an apple roulade (yes, with a manual shaker and yes, it took me forever and a day), Ive also started sewing curtains for my car and decoration stuff to make it a bit comfy! (Yes, I also drilled holes into seashells with a manual driller and it was a real patience-challenge as it took me an eternity!)

    About my car, theres news! So atm it looks like I can buy the car from one of the sons of the family and hes even gonna build it into a campervan! Yes, Ive struggled finding the right car from up here as most cars are being sold in Auckland. But Im really excited and happy it worked out in the end and I got some great support from the family here, as they know waaay more about cars than I do... the only thing currently missing is one mirror, and once that one is on, everything should turn out to be great! Fingers crossed! 🚗    Read more

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