It's getting hot in here

Since I last wrote, a lot has happened. We worked at a vineyard for a few days, celebrated Guy Fawkes Day, survived an earthquake, bought a car, moved, found a new job, and celebrated my birthday.

My birthday wasn't anything special, but I received a package from two friends that I was really happy about. We cooked and then Zayn came over for a bit. So overall, nothing big, but it was still a very special birthday because it was the first time I had a summer birthday. Instead of a winter coat, I wore shorts and flip flops, and I have to say, I envy everyone who has a summer birthday.

A few days before, we celebrated Guy Fawkes Day with the others from our hostel. It's a day when New Zealanders celebrate their independence from Great Britain and there are fireworks everywhere. For the Asians in our hostel, it was the first time they were able to light fireworks themselves, so it was a very special evening.

The earthquake in Hastings wasn't very strong, but we still felt it and it was a really strange feeling. At first, we thought someone was stealing the caravan.

Working at the vineyard was tiring, but we enjoyed doing something again. Now we're really glad to have a job on an apple plantation. It's tough (yesterday it was 32 degrees in the shade), but since part of our group lives with us on the plantation, we have become a little family. On the weekend, we went to the beach with everyone and then had a huge barbecue. The past two evenings, after work at 5pm, we all went to the river together. We'll stay here until around New Year's and then take a small road trip on the North Island before heading to the South Island.