A Barbecue a day keeps the Veggies away XD

Welcome to the third Wwoofing station. From November 19th to November 28th, we spent our time with another young family. The bus ride started in Kaitaia and took us back towards Auckland. After four hours, we reached our destination, Warkworth. The small town is about an hour north of Auckland and was our meeting point with Mr. C.-J. We had some time to kill in the city, but the numerous 'OP Shops' always offer a good conversation and a way to distract ourselves. OP stands for opportunity and is equivalent to the understanding of second-hand shops. We bought two shirts and a nice top for Caro. All three pieces were in great condition, almost like new, well made, and only cost 10 NZD, a real bargain :) .

Afterwards, we met at the agreed meeting point and drove together to the estate. The first impression was great. A very relaxed conversation. The exchange went very well, it was really fun. But it was about to get even better...

We drove onto the farm and immediately realized that we would like it here very much. The property was very large, as always. In this case, so was the house. To top it all off, our accommodation was completely private in a small separate cottage. There was a kitchen in the living room, with a couch and dining table, a bedroom, a small bathroom with a shower, and even a small elevated terrace overlooking the pasture.

After settling in for a short while, we got to know each other better and Mr. C.-J. showed us the property and explained the planned tasks. The work during these days was very variable and therefore interesting. Of course, we had a lot of gardening work ahead of us, but household chores also took up a large part of our time. For example, we were supposed to clean the large windows on the upper floor, which turned out to be more complex than initially expected. Initially, Tim wanted to take on this task alone, but the construction did not allow for cleaning the outside of the windows from the inside. So someone had to go through the narrow, tiltable side window onto the roof. A slim waist and less weight on the roof were needed here...

In addition, the fence and all wooden floors were to be repainted. This certainly took up the majority of the work. The fence was laborious and had many hidden corners. The paths had to be treated with a high-pressure cleaner first and could then be painted after drying. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures for a before/after comparison, but it was a really great feeling to see the progress and ultimately the results at the end of the days.

This was especially true for Tim's favorite work so far. On the last two days, he was allowed to load a whole container with rusty scrap metal, old fabrics and carpets, and a really big heap of garden and plant residues. This hard work sometimes drove him almost mad (since I was performing this task alone on the other side of the house, there are unfortunately no recordings of cursing or wilfully breaking branches, disappointed throwing away of tools, jumping around in the container, or the broad victorious grin when the stupid pile of shit was finally loaded).

As a real reward for all of this, we had our free moments. So we had the entire weekend 'day off'. That meant sleeping in completely twice, two days of doing whatever we liked, and still getting a warm dinner. Two days like at home ;) (the weather didn't quite play along, but we can recommend the series 'Sneaky Pete', very funny and exciting, on Amazon Prime).

And we really needed this relaxed weekend to distract ourselves. Because as always in life, it hits you when you least expect it. On Wednesday, we wanted to advance our further travel planning. We tried to book an Airbnb. As before, we wanted to pay online with a credit card. In vain, both cards showed no success. At first, we didn't think much of it and suspected maybe an error or irregularity on Airbnb's website. The same thing happened on Thursday evening. First, we booked the accommodation with an instant transfer from the German account. Then Tim had the idea to check the credit cards... WHAM, we both logged into DKB's online banking and were very shocked. Caro's card was still shown, but in the negative, and Tim's card was simply gone. The credit card account, including the amount of money, was not displayed. After numerous attempts, it quickly became clear that something was very wrong here. But it didn't get any better. We couldn't get in touch with DKB. We had already given up our German numbers and with the New Zealand prepaid card we had, it was not possible to make paid phone calls abroad. Now we had to find a way to make contact. The time difference only helped to a limited extent. Caro contacted Lena, her former roommate from Bamberg, who immediately offered very helpful and energetic support. On two consecutive days, Lena connected us to the DKB's service hotline. We simultaneously made a WhatsApp phone call and a German domestic call on two mobile phones. With the help of Lena's instructions, the communication was successful. It turned out that our cards had been blocked as a precaution due to data misuse. Fortunately, the money was frozen in the full amount. But the problem was, we needed new cards. Doesn't sound funny, and it's not. And now in a nutshell:

- Cards were automatically sent to the old address, 7 - 10 days

- Forwarding with a mail forwarding order to Tim's dad + 1 day

- Cards sent to an office in Auckland + at least 7 days

- Contact upon arrival of the letter + 1 day

- Shipping to a location on the South Island, of which we currently have no idea + 2 days

So it will take at least three weeks, if no further complications arise *phew*. As always, Vattern Fleischmann was right, because the cash that he quickly exchanged at Frankfurt Airport is now our life insurance. We will keep you updated on the matter.

Nevertheless, we had a fantastic time. Good conversations, lots of hearty laughter, daily barbecuing, fantastic food, and the occasional cold drink in the form of rosé or beer. We felt extremely comfortable, safe, and warmly welcomed.

We would like to emphasize once again our special thanks to dear Lena, who supported and helped us so actively.