Kiwi Lifestyle

It has been 14 days already since I traded Manuela in Christchurch for the airport and- almost more painfully ;-) - Ben for an unnamed Nissan (name suggestions are welcome, a picture can be found above). Since then, I have been trying to groove into solo traveling with more or less success and figuring out how I want to shape it. To escape the bad weather, I moved back north pretty soon (everything is reversed here, so north = warmer).

But above all, I have started using my Workaway account. This is a platform that enables a kind of "stay for help". It connects people who are looking for someone to help with household chores, gardening, renovations, etc., with travelers who are willing to do such tasks in exchange for food and accommodation. Cultural exchange should be at the forefront of this. My first host was a young family in Nelson with two children, two dogs, two goats, twelve geese, and countless chickens that constantly multiplied because the family doesn't always manage to find all the eggs in the large garden before they hatch. And no, it wasn't a farm. Both of them had full-time jobs. But I have been told that (attention stereotype!) New Zealanders like to have a few farm animals and grow their own vegetables. They call it "lifestyle" here. In Germany, that word means something else, like weeding weeds in rubber boots... Anyway, I was very warmly welcomed and integrated into family life, including a picnic on the beach and a cinema visit.

Yesterday, I reluctantly said goodbye to my second Workaway hosts, Frances and Keri from Hawke's Bay. Frances is a kindergarten teacher and Keri has his own food truck. Both are about my age, and maybe that's why we clicked from the first minute. In the evenings, we could chat for hours, in the mornings, I was alone with Keri, and we were both glad to be able to surf the Internet at breakfast instead of having to talk so early in the morning. After breakfast, I helped around the house for about two hours or took the dog for a walk, and then I had the rest of the time to explore the sights of Hawke's Bay. And in the evenings, we either had leftovers from Keri's catering jobs or Frances cooked something delicious.

I would have liked to stay longer, but tomorrow my surf and yoga camp starts in Whangamata. In the next post, you will find out if I will become the next Carissa Moore...