It's been a while since the last update! Time to look back on the first few weeks in New Zealand. About 6 weeks ago, we landed in Auckland and naturally froze :D
For the first few days/weeks, we planned to set up a bank account, apply for a tax number, buy a car, and find a job as soon as possible! On our first day, we wanted to schedule an appointment at the bank and on the way there, we met a New Zealander who showed us that everything we heard about the Kiwis' (New Zealanders') hospitality is true! We were invited to have dinner with him and his wife every evening for the next few days and we were allowed to use one of his cars to take care of all the administrative tasks. Incredible! A friend of Neill's also helped us find a car that completely matched our expectations! We couldn't thank everyone enough :)
In order to convert the van into a bedroom, we needed to get a few things and went to a hardware store. Well, I already find hardware stores in general annoying because you can never find anything, but in another country, it's an even bigger challenge :D We received help from Neill again during the conversion :)
The van is getting cozier :)
After the car was ready, we set off for Whatipu. Here, we spent the first night in our beautiful van :) From the parking spot, we could even hear the sound of the sea, which we headed straight to the next day. Just a few minutes' walk and we were at the beach! From a lookout point, we had a great view of the sea and the coast!
In the meantime, we had also found a job on a sweet potato farm. But before we started, we had a few days "off" and next, we went to Piha Beach.
Here, too, we were greeted by a beautiful beach and the wonderfully fresh sea air!
May I introduce you - Clarky, our new home :)
After one night in Piha Beach, we spent 2 nights in Muriwai. Here, too, the campsite was right by the sea, and you could hear the sea rumble at night! The coast and the beach of Muriwai are beautiful!
The bird colony on the cliffs is particularly unique! The birds, the sea, the coast, and the beautiful light of the evening sun really impressed us!
We even got to watch some surfers! An impressive place that we will definitely visit again :)
But now it was time to start a new chapter and get back to work. We were very curious about what awaited us and how exhausting the farm work would actually be!
On the sweet potato farm in Dargaville, on the first day, we sorted cuttings. That wasn't really exhausting except for standing for a long time and the struggle against monotony :D on the second and third day, we planted the cuttings and that was really exhausting! There was a row of 10 seats, which was pulled by a tractor. A cutting had to be planted about every 3 seconds. The cuttings had to be planted very deep into the ground and that was incredibly physically demanding! Especially at that speed. After 2 days, we were pretty tired and had 4 days off due to the weather conditions. We were there to work and were quite annoyed about sitting around for 4 days without knowing if the work would continue the next day or not.
We used the free days to take a walk along the coast :)
The organization and communication were definitely not the best. So, during our free days, we looked for another job. We were lucky and on the fourth day, we received an offer from a watermelon farm!
This is the view that awaits us every morning and evening after work :)
We have been here for almost 4 weeks now, and we haven't regretted this decision for a single second!!!
We hope to be able to participate in the harvest. After all, we want to taste it :P
We are living together with 3 other people, and it's a super funny group! Although we work 7 days a week, sometimes up to 10 hours a day, we really enjoy the time here and we already know that saying goodbye will be very difficult!
We never stop learning :D
So far, we have planted various types of melons, worked in the greenhouse, pulled weeds, and planted.
It's also exhausting here, but after talking to some workers, we found out that planting sweet potatoes is one of the least popular farm jobs... but honestly, it doesn't surprise me :D
This is what it looks like when we plant :D
I have received some messages asking why I haven't written a post for a long time. I'm glad that some people are already looking forward to the next entry and checking regularly :)
Since we will be working on the farm for a few more weeks, I will probably write a new post at the end of December :)
