Auckland and Workworth

We fly from Singapore to Sydney overnight, then hang around in the airport for a few hours then it's another 4 hours to Auckland, so we get into the city in the evening. We find our hostel easily enough and, after a steak I was craving, settle in for an early night. We're woken up a few hours later, however, by people in the room's common area at around 2a.m. We were aware there was a pub crawl tonight. The next day we're both pretty tired, but we have a new place to explore and a few things to do. We walk around and make some purchases before heading back to the hostel. Chilling there, we meet a British lad called Gary who is very friendly, if a bit loud. We meet a few more people and get some tips - a lot of people have been n the country for months.

We have another early night but are once again woken up in the early hours. This time I can't get back to sleep. My tablet's out of battery, so I head to the common room where there are many books people have left or swapped out. I'm about to give up as nothing is peaking my interest until I see the last book on the bottom shelf - The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pick-Up Artists by Neil Strauss. It's something I've wanted to read, plus I have it on Kindle so I can continue it if need be. I sit down in our common area, thinking that after a chapter or two I'll be tired enough to go to sleep. Several hours of reading and speaking with fellow insomniacs and other nocturnal beings (plus a 5.30am trip to burger king) I finish the book. As a result, Saturday is a bit of a write-off. We go out in the morning for a wonder and to buy a few things but when we get back at midday, I fall asleep for a few hours.

I'm curious as to what Auckland's nightlife is life, and so I find a Techno night on the Saturday at a club called Neck of the Woods. I head out around 10pm, and when I get there there's not many people. I grab a drink then take a seat. After a while I head to the toilet, and when I get back two guys are at my table. I manage to spark up a conversation, the two are actually part of a group of five, and we get on quite well. We start dancing as the dancefloor grows, but just when I start really enjoying myself, one of my new single-serving friends is ejected out of the club for having a line of cocaine in the toilet. Gutted. 

I dance for a few hours then head back to the hostel. Pre-empting another sleepless night I stay in the common area until everyone goes to bed. On Sunday we have a busy one starting by the big walk up Mount Eden. This is the previously volcanic mountain just beside Auckland. We walk up and get some great pictures of the city - you can see for miles from here. The crater in the centre, considered sacred, is also very cool. In the afternoon we go to watch the UFC in a nearby sports bar which is great. We round the day off by heading a bit out of town to the Stardome Observatory. The museum bit is free but we pay to see a night show, both of which are very interesting. I can't remember any fun facts, sorry.

Big City, Cloudy Skies

Crater

By Monday we're just killing time so we go to the cinema to see Pete's Dragon, which is pretty great. Monday night I have another jetlag/insomniac experience and this time read Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale. In case you didn't see the DiCaprio film, it's about the world's greatest impostor, who posed as a pilot  (amongst other things) and made hundreds of thousands of dollars in cheque fraud. Once again, I read it cover to cover. The common theme between the two books is perception equals reality. Or reality equals perception. Or something.

On Tuesday we are moving north to our first WWOOFing experience. WWOOF is an organisation that allows hosts, mostly organic farms, to advertise placements for work in exchange for accommodation and often food. We are staying with Jo, a British woman with a multi-faceted business - It's a health clinic, horse riding centre, accommodation and art gallery. She needs some help painting the inside of her house. It's in a place called Workworth (pronounced walkworth) which is described by our guide book as someway you stop on your way somewhere else (I'm paraphrasing, but not much). Also staying with Jo is Pauline, a french lady who is having horse riding lessons from Jo.

We get to work shortly after arriving at the house and do a few hours. The next morning we do the same and it's clear I'm coming down with some cold I've caught, presumably from the hostel. Jo then takes us for a tour of the area, including a bush walk where we see an 800 year old tree, the first cement works in New Zealand, plus an organic food shop where we buy some 'healthy' cakes.

The next day my illness has gotten worse - It's full blown manflu. We work our normal 3 hours (with a generous tea break) then I crash out. In the afternoon we head out to McDonalds. This might sound terrible, but free, unlimited wifi here is rare and McDonalds provides. We do a few things online then head back.

View from our lodge

This photo was actually taken at night, that's the moon in the background

After another day of working and chilling, we go out for some pizza's at a real nice place called the Saw Mill. Heidi and I have the Big Ben, which has roast beef on it. It's pretty marvellous.

On Friday, we're painting Jo's bathroom. During the tea break, it's clear that we won't finish it today but Jo asks us if we want to finish it, and she'll pay us for our time. We agree and we finish before 2pm. Later in the evening, I find a note from Jo saying that the painting is all done now and we can leave either tomorrow or Sunday. This is a bit surprising as she had originally suggested the work would take 10 days, but Heidi and I accept this as the life of the WOOFer and decide we need to make a plan tomorrow.

On Saturday Jo takes us to the farmers market in Matakana. This is pretty cool, and again the focus is on organic food. We buy a super healthy smoothie to walk round with. After a lengthy chat with the lady selling a huge variety of loose leaf tea (we don't buy any because we'd need an infuser!) we meet up with Jo and Pauline at a cafe. After this, we go back to the organic food shop from the other day because they're having a launch event. We get some free samples, buy some curry powder, and are dropped off at Mcdonalds on the way back. Here we make some bookings, then walk back to Jo's in the rain. 

We're leaving in the evening on Sunday, so in the morning I ask Jo if there's any jobs Heidi and I can do. Heidi focuses on getting our room and kitchen clean, whilst I move some logs and wash Jo's car. Jo drops us off at around 4 and we wait around for our bus to take us north....to Paihia!