#Katikati - Auckland: week 5

Monday, 07.11.2016

We wanted to prepare breakfast as usual in the morning. Unfortunately, the necessary utensils were not available at the campsite. Eventually, we fortunately found a quite old rusty pan. It seemed to be from the post-war period. We dug out our plastic cutlery and started cooking scrambled eggs and eating toast with hazelnut spread in a cumbersome way. Of course, without plates. Breakfast at a high level. ;) After our breakfast, we washed our clothes as the washing machines on the campsite looked pretty good. Only the dryers were missing, as it turned out. Great. Now what? We packed the laundry heap and set off. But where to? Drying laundry first. 'Thames is big', it occurred to me. Off to Thames. We went to a laundromat and it took 22 minutes until the laundry was super dry. Our next plan was to buy 'camping equipment'. We dashed to the Warehouse, grabbed a shopping cart, and started our shopping spree. At the checkout, we were quite amazed. Almost 300 dollars went towards the camping equipment. Now we were hungry. How convenient that McDonald's was right next to the Warehouse. After our tasty burger, we used the free wifi from Mci and wrote our travel blogs. Then we started to Pak n Save and made a big purchase. Finally, we had to find a place to stay for the night and headed towards Tauranga. On the way, we found a cool parking lot, even with a public toilet, where we settled down. How good that the library was right next door. So we could tap into the library's wifi. Exhausted from today's day, we happily fell into our camping chairs, prepared our first tea with our new camping cooker, and enjoyed our couscous that we brought from Pak n Save. What a successful day :)

Tuesday, 08.11.2016

In the morning, I first went to the toilet. Oh my goodness, how cool was that? A talking toilet that tells you what to do next :D I had to laugh. :D We had croissants and tea in the car for breakfast as it was very windy and cool. While we were sitting in the car like this, there was suddenly a knock on the window. We jumped. Finally, I opened the window. A young German dude offered us two bags full of food because he and his girlfriend were leaving today and would otherwise throw everything away. What luck :D the day couldn't start any better. We couldn't believe it. Unopened Nutella, chips, various sauces, pasta, rice, and much more. Delighted, we continued our way to Tauranga. As usual, we had no plan for what we wanted to do today. Suddenly, Bibi had the idea to stop at Waihi Beach. Why not? Done – dusted. We chilled at the beach there. The sun shone on our faces, the wind blew through our hair. It was a beautiful day. We chatted about this and that and completely lost track of time. We finally made our way to Tauranga around half past five in the evening. We didn't even know where we wanted to sleep yet. Wherever we liked. :D In Katikati, we finally stopped and stayed overnight at a camping holiday park where there were even included warm water pools. We cooked gnocchi with cheese with our new cool camping dishes and then chilled in our bed.

Wednesday, 09.11.2016

We started the morning with delicious pancakes and muesli. Today, we wanted to visit the Bird Gardens in Katikati. Done – dusted. How good that there was free wifi and a coffee house. Tempting. First, we ordered coffee and checked jobs on various job portals. It wasn't that easy. We gathered all our courage and even called the employers. Yes. Bibi got two job interviews for marketing jobs in Auckland. I wasn't as successful unfortunately. Engrossed in our applications, there was suddenly a shrill sound next to us. What was that? A huuuuuuuuge ostrich walked up the stairs to the coffee house. Its tail seemed to never end. Oh my goodness, what a magnificent plumage it had. It shimmered in all colors. Of course, we immediately took many photos. We packed our things and wanted to stroll through the gardens. But, we didn't even have to do that because a whole flock of birds came towards us. The pigeons flew around my face and perched on my backpack. It was almost impossible to move on. The ducks pecked at our toes. At the same time, we had to be careful not to step on the little chicks. Finally, Bibi and I managed to get into the gardens by taking detours. We strolled along the paths and were completely fascinated by the funny-looking birds we saw. Around four o'clock, we set off to our couch host. After we had recovered from our Maori experience, we dared to do Couchsurfing again. Far off from Katikati, we turned into a gravel road and followed it until we finally arrived at the desired farm. It was located on a small mountain. From there, you could see all of Katikati. What a view :D our couch host, Marianne, even cooked for us. Schnitzel :D mmmmmmh we thought. Finally, a delicious meal again. The dinner wasn't great, but it was certainly enjoyable. We talked to Iden and Marianne about various topics, including politics. Afterwards, we promised to do the dishes. It wasn't easy with the pans she had from the 1960s :D

Thursday, 10.11.2016

When we woke up, Marianne and Iden were already gone. Meanwhile, we wanted to thank them. Oh well. Today we had to completely change our plans. We had two job interviews in Auckland. That meant... off to Auckland. We quickly had toast with Nutella and tea for breakfast in a parking lot and then continued on to Auckland. On the way, I suddenly received a call from a hotel where we had also applied. Yes. Another job interview.  Once in Auckland, we parked in a parking garage, where we dressed up for our interviews. Phew. Under time pressure, we rushed to the first interview at the Kiwi International Hotel. Easy going, we checked off our first job.  yay. Room attendant  The other job interviews, which were for marketing jobs, were more demanding. Bibi and I handled them quite professionally and we were both invited to the second round for the following days. Yes. We did it. We were both so happy about the successful day. After the interviews, we realized that we hadn't eaten anything yet. We quickly looked for a campsite. We wanted to stay on a parking lot right by the Auckland harbor. We cooked a delicious vegetable pan with hummus and reviewed the day.

Friday, 10.11.2016

After a delicious breakfast, we started looking for a campsite. Thanks to our app 'Campermate', we found a really nice one in Avondale, a small suburb north of Auckland City. In the morning, we wanted to take a closer look at the bus lines to Auckland City. In the afternoon, the second interview for one of the marketing jobs would take place. I had already decided not to participate. For me, it was clear that the marketing jobs weren't really my thing, and I definitely wanted to have a physically demanding job. I was really looking forward to making beds and cleaning bathrooms.  couldn't wait  Bibi and I checked the bus timetables and then enjoyed a coffee and muffins in Auckland City. After that, Bibi went to the interview and I spent my time shopping since I needed black clothes for my new housekeeping job. I strolled through various stores and let my thoughts wander. Finally, I took the train to Avondale, enjoyed a hot shower, and chilled in our cool campervan. Bibi only came home around 10 o'clock, completely exhausted. She didn't know yet if she wanted to take the housekeeping job. We both fell asleep with mixed feelings.

Saturday, 11.11.2016

My alarm clock rang at half past five. I woke up Bibi and asked if she wanted to come along. Eventually, she got up and decided to check it out. While Bibi was getting ready, I prepared a delicious breakfast for us. Curious, yet tired, we dashed to work by train. We were immediately asked into the staff room. There, we were stared at initially. With a strange feeling, we sat down with the girls. It didn't take long for a dark-skinned, skinny woman to walk in. Our supervisor. In the dark room, her white eyes stood out particularly. It was allegedly a busy day. Aha. We were curious what that meant. First, we were divided into groups. Each group was responsible for a public area of the hotel. Bibi, aka Bridget, and I, aka Linda, joined a team with Zuzana and Adela. We were responsible for the public area. Public showers and toilets. We were quite surprised when the two girls explained the system to us. Spraying a little shower power, scrubbing a little, and rinsing with water – done. What? Is that all? Bibi and I were shocked. After that, we were assigned in pairs. Now it was about cleaning the check-out rooms. The beds were mega complicated. First, you had to lift them up and check for bed bugs. Whaaaaat? Then 5 different layers followed until finally the duvet was placed. What the hell... at first, I couldn't remember where everything was supposed to go. Cleaning the bathroom was initially much easier. After the check-outs, the well-deserved and even paid lunch break followed  Then we were divided into groups again. The public area was cleaned again. Just a quick clean. Finally. The first day was done. As a reward, we treated ourselves to a beer in a Belgian pub.  whew. It was time to work for the next while. Stories about work work work will follow in my next blog 