From Island Life to Wine Country

It was almost a month exactly that we were on Slipper Island but it was about a week too long. With a total of ~8 nice days within the month and barely any guests on the island until around NYE, we began suffering from some major cabin/island fever and boredom.

Not the worst weather photo we could have taken but you can still get an idea of how bad it was some days. A big thank-you to Australia for the aftermaths of their cyclone this day.

It wasn’t all bad though. Our work schedule was very relaxed. After a few days of cleaning the chalets and the lodge, it was more just a matter of keeping ourselves busy and finding small projects to do around the island. Adrian enjoyed fixing some small plumbing and heating problems and maintaining the lawns while I enjoyed doing some MAJOR weeding and tidying up the flower beds. In the afternoons, on the nice days, we did some kayaking, swimming and hanging out on the beach. After some suppers, we went exploring around the island to some quieter bays, old craters and the lighthouse. Not too much exploring having to pass through the paddocks though because those cows were intimidating!

In my opinion, this is the best sunset picture we got while we were there - so many beautiful colours and right out our door step!

This is another one of our favourites, taken off the dock at Home Bay

Christmas was a different sort of Christmas but as to be expected being on the other side of the world. It was nice to have somewhere to spend it. We described it to some of you as a “white sand” Christmas instead of a “white” Christmas. Christmas Eve day we spent bringing the owner’s family in along with all their food and gear. That afternoon, Gordon and Michelle (the oldest of the three daughters) went and cut down a Christmas tree that was growing on the island. Michelle couldn’t find any decorations around the house so decorated it with Hawaiian leis and candy canes. It wasn’t nice looking to say the least but I liked that there was now a bit of Christmas around (I forgot to get a picture of it). Christmas Eve supper we all spent together. Trelise (the middle daughter) cooked the whole meal which consisted of steak, beef patties, potatoes and a nice dark green salad.

After dinner, Adrian went to go help Gordon on the barge to bring some building supplies onto the island for a house that was being built soon. The daughters were going for a walk around the island so I asked to join them. It was nice to 1. Talk to females, 2. Talk to females around my age and 3. Do something active in the evening after all that food. The walk lasted about an hour and by the time we got back, Gordon and Adrian were getting back as well. As you can imagine the barge doesn’t move too fast and it was also quite choppy out. Nonetheless, it was a cool experience for Adrian because he got to drive it for a bit!

The morning of Christmas Day, we were surprised to find Santa had made a stop by the island and brought us some gifts! Ok so it turned out to be the Needham family but we thought it was very sweet of them to give us a bottle of sparkling wine and a box of chocolates. I also got to spend a bit of the morning talking to my mom over Skype. Adrian and I made a traditional breakfast for us- french toast. It wasn’t quite the same as we were used to using thinly sliced bread and maple “flavoured” syrup but it was still nice to do some traditional. After it was too late, we found out that Christmas Day dinner was going to be at lunch (dinner, lunch, supper, tea time, we haven’t quite got the hang of what each term means :p). Some of Gordon’s family and some of Barbara’s joined us for lunch so it was a big Christmas meal- 17 in total I think. Christmas lunch wasn’t a bbq like so many Kiwis do for the holiday but it was still delicious!- ham, crayfish, salmon, some type of white fish, scalloped potatoes, pasta salad, couscous salad, green salad…and for dessert, pecan pie, lemon coconut cake and chocolate trifle. Once the “kids” started opening up their presents we did our own thing. The rest of the day was low key and Christmas Day supper was just leftovers from lunch. In the late afternoon, Adrian has a Skype date with his family so we both ended up getting a decent dose of family time for the holidays. The weather turned out to be beautiful for the few days surrounding Christmas too. All-in-all it was a pretty good Christmas.

Our Christmas goodies from "Santa"

Merry White Sand Christmas! (hanging out on the beach Christmas Day)

 After Christmas, the guests started to come to the island. Our first guests arrived on Boxing Day but they were easy because they were campers. The guy out of the pair was actually the 2nd director’s assistant for “The Hobbit” and had also worked on “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Lovely Bones” so it was fun chatting with him. We only had one major group to worry about and that consisted of a group of 32 twenty-something year olds who had booked the chalets and lodge for a week. We were always expecting it to (and hoping it would) get busy but the most work we ever did while on the island was help bring this group’s food, booze and gear onto the island. Lucky for us they seemed well off and brought way too much to the island so Adrian and I got a bunch of free stuff including a zip-up, a pair of jandals (flip-flops; just in time because my pair had just broke), a bottle of Canadian Club, a cooler bag and sunscreen. Ooohh yes, we are definitely learning to take advantage of any free stuff and to spend frugally!

We left the island as fast as we came. Just in time too, as the generator burnt out the night before! By the 3rd, we had finished cleaning all the chalets and the lodge again after the guests had left and Gordon was heading into town (Thames) the next day. After a month of minimal work and poor weather, we had become pretty anxious to start traveling again, or at least get off the island. So we booked our bus ticket that evening and the next morning we were being dropped off in Thames. We spent almost a whole day exploring as much as Thames as we could. It is a cute old mining town of about 20,000 and prides itself as “The Capital of the Coromandel”. If we go back to the area, we would like to do a hike through The Pinnacles. It’s a well-known 6-8 hour hike with opportunities to stay in small huts overnight.

A good-bye photo (Adrian-Gordon-Trelise-Barbara-Dana). In the background is the family house which we stayed in. We are departing from Home Bay.

From Thames we caught a bus back to Auckland and stayed there for a couple days. Just to do some shopping for toiletries, etc. On the third evening, we caught a night bus to Wellington to eventually make our way to Blenheim for vineyard work, as we had mentioned in the last post. The bus ride worked out to be an 11 hour trip with stops and breaks along the way and minimal sleep. We originally thought it would be a good idea to do the night thing so we could sleep through most of it. Not so much…although the seats reclined, they were not very sleep-able. We were able to get a bit but I think about max. 45 mins at one time. It didn’t help that the second part of the trip we changed drivers and he turned out to be crazy! It’s hard to sleep when you are fearing for your life.

We eventually arrived in Wellington but with major cricks in our necks. Two hours to kill then a three hour ferry ride to Picton. From Picton, a half hour bus ride. Surprisingly once we got to the hostel, we had a shower but didn’t have a nap. Instead we went to go check out a “work and stay” hostel just outside of town to see if they had any room and work. (Duncannon - duncannon.co.nz) The next day (Sunday the 8th; marking 2 months since we left Calgary AND a year since Adrian and I reconnected at the Roughnecks Home Opener - big day!) we moved in and Monday Adrian was already working in the vineyards.
Unfortunately girls who have worked in the vineyards before haven’t done the sex justice and wimped out after a few days. As a result, many vineyards are only taking on males. I am on a waitlist for vineyard and seasonal work but there won’t be anything for me until they are done all the wire lifting (which only males can handle apparently).

So the past three days I have been job searching like crazy. I don’t think I have ever worked this hard to find a job. I’ve asked around at gyms, fitness centres, pools, supermarkets, a sports apparel store, Subway…funnily enough my three years experience at Subway may just get me something! But if Subway doesn’t work out, I’ll just have to wait for some new seasonal work to come about.

While I keep busy job searching, Adrian is keeping busy on the vineyards. He gets picked up from the contractor at 5:40am then is driven about 40 mins out of town to the vineyard. He works for 8 hours with minimal breaks because he is on contract/piece work. The wire lifting work he does consists of moving the wires up higher on the posts to ensure the vines grow upwards. Then he is usually back to Duncannon around 3:30pm. This contractor seems like a good one to work for because you don’t work longer than 8 hours/day and you have the option to work Saturdays if you like but no work on Sundays. Adrian says it’s tedious and strenuous work but overall he is enjoying it because he’s getting in shape and has amazing sleeps :p

Thank you to the guest who left this hat on the island. Adrian now has a well-protected head while working in the vineyard!

So the plan is to work in Blenheim for a month and a half (until the end of February) and save up some money. Then we will head back up to Auckland to meet up with our friend Kris and travel with him for a bit.

MAJOR SIDE NOTE: One thing I have been meaning to note in this blog and will now do so after confirming it exists in all the cities and towns we have traveled so far and seeing it right in front of me sitting in the library….WHOA, ‘90s!!! Like the 1990s…I'm not sure if they are making a come back or if they ever left but they're full-blown here! I’m talking mullets, rat tails, side ponytails, high-waisted jean shorts, cropped tops, All-Star high tops…We might even get Adrian to grow his hair out to fit in a bit more :p

That's the update for now. Once again, I hope (but am confident) that next time we post, we will both be working and will have saved up some to continue traveling!