Week 9 - Housesitting in Whangarei and first Rugby Experience

On Sunday, we returned to Whangarei. A new experience awaited us. We will be undertaking a house and pet sit for two weeks. Specifically, we will be looking after the home of an elderly couple who are visiting friends in Australia for two weeks. Additionally, we will take care of their two small dogs, Buddy and Dora, and their cat, Miss Molly.

We want to use these two weeks to relax a bit from the constant travel, which involves many location changes and ongoing searches for water, toilets, and showers. We can once again enjoy the comforts of a home, especially an oven for lasagna and pasta bake, the always available hot shower, and of course, Wi-Fi.

Moreover, we want to plan the next part of our journey a bit, or rather, get more information about our upcoming destinations and activities.

A very important point is that our van needs a new WOF, which is the New Zealand equivalent of the German TÜV. Basically, there are two different types of TÜV in New Zealand. First, there is the so-called 'Warrant of Fitness' and then the 'Certificate of Fitness'.

With the 'Warrant of Fitness', or WOF for short, the most important functions and areas of the vehicle are checked, similar to TÜV. In principle, all vehicles used by individuals or companies that weigh less than 3.5 tons are required to have a WOF.

The 'Certificate of Fitness', or COF for short, is somewhat stricter than the WOF and checks more points. The COF is intended for all vehicles over 3.5 tons and for all vehicles used for commercial purposes. This includes rental cars, tradesmen's vans, and transport vehicles.

While the WOF is valid for 12 months, the COF must be renewed after 6 months. Additionally, the inspection for the COF is significantly more expensive than for the WOF. The WOF costs about 80 NZD, while the COF can cost up to 220 NZD.

When we purchased our van, we weren't fully aware of this and didn't think too much about it. Currently, our van has a valid COF, which expires this July. After all our research, it was not entirely clear to us why the van still has a COF and not a WOF since our van is used privately and weighs less than 3.5 tons. Therefore, we wanted to see if we could switch to the cheaper WOF.

Unlike in our country, you usually don’t need an appointment for the WOF inspection here. You drive up to the inspection site and simply line up. Since we could not determine 100% through our research and also via phone whether and how we could switch from COF to WOF, we queued up and first went to the office. The very friendly lady understood our concern immediately, typed our license plate into the system, glanced at the screen, and then explained to us that our vehicle currently has a COF because it is marked as a rental car. When we assured her that it is indeed our vehicle and no longer a rental, she nodded briefly and then gave us the documents for the WOF inspection. To our surprise, this issue was resolved very easily and satisfactorily. Now, the inspection just needed to be passed.

After about 30 minutes of waiting, it was our turn. After another 10 minutes of waiting, the inspection was already over. Unfortunately, the examiner had no good news for us. Repairs are necessary before we can pass the WOF. One light was defective and the height of the lights was too high. A workshop needs to take a look at this and adjust it.

Additionally, we have a leak at the right rear axle. We noticed this defect during the inspection and had already budgeted for the repair. Thankfully, these issues are not major damages, and we hope that we won't have to dig too deep into our pockets. Since the inspection site does not repair vehicles themselves, our next step was to find a workshop that could carry out the repairs.

Fortunately, that wasn’t a problem, so we can have the repairs done on Monday.

Otherwise, the week was very quiet. We enjoyed the sofa and Wi-Fi, went jogging, did workouts, drank lots of coffee from the espresso machine, and enjoyed this on the terrace. Franzi will become quite the barista by the time we have to leave here ;)

We also cuddled a lot with the dogs. Anyone who knows Franzi knows that she isn’t particularly fond of dogs, but Buddy and Dora are very sweet. Since the two only go for a walk once a day, we don’t have to put in much effort. Otherwise, they can go into the garden at any time.

The cat, Miss Molly, hasn’t really warmed up to us yet, which the owners have already informed us about. However, we will keep trying; with food and careful petting, we hope to win her over, too.

We did manage two small outings this week. One was to the Quarry Garden and the botanical garden, and the other was that we hiked up Mount Parihaka, the local mountain of Whangarei. This is located by the Hatea River, and the whole area is beautifully laid out with walking paths, playgrounds, and benches.

A real highlight for us was on Saturday. We had tickets for two rugby games. The first game was between the two women's teams, the Black Ferns, which are the national rugby teams of New Zealand (we couldn't figure out exactly what the difference between the two teams was). The second game was the match between the Maori All Blacks and Scotland. The Maori All Blacks are essentially the national team consisting only of Maori players. Rugby is likely the most popular sport in New Zealand and comparable to football in Germany.

For us, the layout of the stadium was new, but certainly positive. While there was a main stand with seats and boxes like we have, the opposite side or the ends were just a fairly steep slope with green grass. Here, everyone can choose their spot and make themselves comfortable on their picnic blanket. Additionally, the following items are allowed inside the stadium: empty water bottles to fill with free water in the stadium, food, bags, and umbrellas. All things that are unimaginable in Germany. So, we enjoyed the games on our blanket with our snacks, and during the rain shower, every spectator simply opened their umbrella.

Especially impressive and also known even to rugby novices is the 'Haka' that the New Zealand teams perform before each game. The Haka is a type of traditional dance, featuring rhythmic movements, clapping, and strong emotions, all expressed in a traditionally Maori manner with striking facial expressions. Typically, the tongue is also extended out of the mouth.

While the men's game was narrowly won 29 to 26 by the Scots, the entire experience was worth every cent of the admission price for us.