Working on an apple plantation 🍏🍎

Since Tuesday, I have been working and living on the 'Glenmore' apple plantation in Hastings. The owners, Ingrid and Glen, are incredibly nice, and we are having a fantastic time here. We have to work from 8-12, but that already includes the half-hour tea break that we always take at 10 o'clock, so it's really relaxed. So far, we have already cycled 20 kilometers because there is a 200-kilometer network of cycle paths here that runs along the 3 rivers in the area and the coast. We also visited the aquarium where we saw penguins, kiwis, rays, and sharks, and a honey farm where we could taste every type of honey. A few days ago, Ingrid and Glen took us to a dinner at the flying club, where Glen is vice president, and then we went to the cinema with them. Living with a local family gives us a whole different insight into normal life here, and we get to meet so many new people, which is really great. Yesterday, we had incredibly good weather, so Zayn (their son) drove us to Te Mata Peak in his convertible. There is an ancient Maori legend about the mountain, where there was a dispute between two tribes that was supposed to be resolved through a marriage, but the bride's tribe wanted revenge, so the groom had to fulfill a series of seemingly impossible tasks. During his last task of eating a hole through a mountain to reach the sea faster, a rock fell on him and he fell dead to the ground, and that's why you can still see his outline today. Today, we went to the farmers market, where we were allowed to taste everything, and to Bluff Hill, but the view was pretty bad due to the bad weather. Since we had a day off today and so much time, we just cooked Käsespätzle earlier, so Ingrid and Glen could also enjoy German cuisine. :D