December 28th

So I found this burger joint not far from where I live. I thought you would enjoy it. Just a little taste of home…literally.

Ok. So I thought I’d give you all an update on what I have coming up. Starting next Sunday (Jan 3rd) I’ll be heading down to Raglan to WWOOF at a place called Solscape. it’s an eco retreat center. They have camp sites, tipi tents, little cabins, and more. It’s all eco friendly, including solar showers and compost toilets. I may be doing some gardening, cooking, or helping with accommodations. In free time, there is horseback riding, kayaking, laying on the beach, surfing, bike rental, and lots of hiking.

I have had a really great time here in Auckland, but am more then ready to get out and enjoy the rest of the country.

December 26th

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas for me was incredibly different from the usual, but also really nice. On Christmas eve, Sarah, Hugh and I went out to dinner at super fancy, really really delicious French restaurant. We ate way too much food and drank way too much wine. It was prefect.

On Christmas morning we (Sarah, Hugh and I) woke up, made some coffee and had a present opening extravaganza. It didn’t last long. But I got everything I needed, along with some Jif peanut butter from the states- what a treat, thanks mom and Wendy. After we all got to chat with your families, we were off to the beach. We found a beautiful beach about a half hour south in the town of titirangi. The day was maybe the most perfect day we’ve had here so far. It was warm, sunny with not a cloud on the sky, yet a slight breeze. Wonderful. Then we came home and cook an amazing dinner for all of us five flat mates to enjoy. Gotta say I was pretty proud of the apple pie from scratch…yum.

December 22-24th

On Tuesday morning My flat mate Hannah and I took off on out way down the coast to Waiuku, her home town. I got to spend a lovely afternoon with her mum, dad, brother and his fiance and her grandma and grandpa. We had a huge Christmas feast of steak, pork and NZ crayfish, yum!. Then on Wednesday Hannah and I drove out to the coast and went to arua bay, big bay and the Wailuku lighthouse- all incredible sights to see. Sadly it was very overcast and even got down poured on a couple of times. I was also lucky enough to get to go swimming…with all of my clothes on (I feel off a rope swing). Then last night we went out to a fabulous restaurant that over looked the ocean. It was delicious food and an even better view.


This morning we woke up and headed back to the city. It’s a beautiful Christmas eve…even though it doesn’t feel like it at all. You have no idea how nice it was to spend some time with such a wonderful family around Christmas. They were way too kind to me, and I don’t know how I can ever repay them.

Here are lots of photos.
The beach at arua bay:

The beach at Big Bay:

The view from the lighthouse (both pictures):

December 20th

It finally feels like Christmas. It started mid afternoon and only lasted an evening. And is now back feeling like July. Sarah and I ventured to Mission Bay in the morning/afternoon to lay in the sun on the warm sandy beach for a bit. Then spent our evening making gingerbread cookies and listening to Christmas music. We even created a New Zealand beach-ready gingerbread man/woman series. It was lots of fun.

This years Christmas will hopefully consist of relaxing on the beach in the morning (depending on the weather), and a huge flat mate Christmas day feast in the afternoon. Can’t wait. Then on boxing day (day after Christmas) Sarah and Hugh will be moving out for good :( and it’ll be back to the three of us for about another week until I move out of the third.

I’ll be heading south about 2 hours to Raglan, a fun little surf town on the west coast. I’ll be WWOOFing at an eco retreat center called Solscape (www.solscape.co.nz if you wanna check it out) for about 2 weeks. I’m pretty excited to move on and try something new. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

December 14th

It has come time for me to start making plans for my next adventure. It hit me the other day that I’ll be leaving Auckland in about three weeks, give or take. Time has gone by so fast. From here, I’ll be spending some time WWOOF-ing. WWOOF-ing, which stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, is basically an exchange of work for accommodation and food. The work I’ll be doing (depending on the establishment) could include: weeding, picking, cooking, housework, looking after children (if any) or anything else they may happen to need help with. I’ll have weekends off and afternoons to do with as I please. I’ve emailed about working at meditation centers, bed and breakfasts, cheese makers, vineyards and more. Stay tuned to see what happens.

December 13th

I’m gonna go throw on my jandals, togs and a jumper, grab some muesli and red capsicums, head to my bach and it‘ll be sweet as. What! In American English that means, I’m gonna go throw on my flip flops, swim suit and a sweatshirt, grab some granola and red peppers, head to my cabin and it‘ll be good.

“fresh as”…packaged spices. Here is NZ (N. Z-ed as they would say here) they tend to add the word “as” onto just about any phrase. Sweet, is sweet as. Good, is good as. Nasty, would be nasty as, etc.

Today Sarah and I went across the big harbor bridge to Takapuna Beach. Takapuna is a great little beach town, full of cafes, shops and of course the ocean. It was a beautiful day, perfect for laying in the sun (on December 13th…who knew). I can’t get over the color of the water here, it’s a light aqua blue, unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

December 8th and 9th

Yesterday morning I woke up early and drove through the mountains about 45 minutes south to Piha beach. Piha is a glorious black sand beach set on the coast of a cute little town consisting of a gas station and a café. When I arrived, the waves were jam packed with surfers, who were very entertaining to watch. I spent 4 wonderful hours in the sun. it was so nice to get away- minus the fact that I lost a hubcap on the way down (its ok, they didn‘t match anyway). Here are some pictures for you to drool over and enjoy.

Today I went to the Auckland City Zoo. Its just a short walk from our flat, through Western Springs Park. Its an awesome zoo! It has your standard monkeys, lions and tigers, but it also has elephants, hippos, kangaroos, kiwi birds, red pandas, wallaby’s and a ton of other animals I’ve never seen before. It was a beautiful day, but since I had gotten a bit sun burnt (oops) the day before I didn’t want to over-do it. :)

December 6th

BEACH DAY!! Finally.
The weather has officially started looking up. After five straight days of rain, the last two days have been beautiful. Yesterday morning Steve (my car), Sarah, Briar, and I drove up the coast about 40km to a white sandy beach in Orewa. The wonder lasted about an hour or so before the clouds started rolling in. We packed up our gear and decided all could be righted with a good cappuccino. It felt so great to get out of the city for an afternoon. I had almost forgotten how insanely beautiful this place is.

I happened to stumble upon a last minute babysitting job for the evening, so I gladly spent my night entertaining two really sweet boys (and by entertaining I mean watching a movie…pretty easy). My flat mate’s friend- who works in early childhood education and had more babysitting jobs then she can handle- had offered to hand out my number to anyone she couldn’t cover. Yay for making money! Then came home to an awesome family flat night consisting of cards and too much red wine.

December 4th

Rain rain go away....

Well one things for sure. I've made proper use of my rain jacket here in Auckland. It is yet another rainy day outside...fifth one this week.

Ready for some sunshine!

any day now...