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It's official...I ran a business for two days..does this mean I can grossly exaggerate and add to my CV?! I ended up staying at the farm in KatiKati an extra two days to take care of things for Jess and Chris until they returned from Christchurch. Although nothing crazy happened and I wasn't inundated with orders or work I did get a small taste of what it would be like to be solely responsible for the running of a hydroponic farm. It might seem breezy to some but it's certainly no 9-5. Small jobs add up and a belligerent chicken who resisted going into her pen meant I didn't finish up until 7.30/8.00 Monday evening. I really enjoyed my short time ruling the roost if you can even call it that! The sad thing about my extended stay was that I had to say goodbye all over again to the awesome twosome bugs and Jess but I sincerely hope life will arrange it so we get to cross paths again...Tuesday afternoon saw me back onto a long haul bus which I am all too accustomed to at this point! I met two ladies both roughly my mam's age, one from Scotland and the other from England. We joked about finding a Welsh native to complete the circle! It was very interesting to hear their stories. The Scottish lady sadly lost her husband last year and decided to holiday in NZ in his memory as they had both been here 30 years previous and had fallen in love with the place. The other lady was on her way to Hastings for three months to do help exchange with a lady who is having trouble managing her house alone! How awesome is that! She also told me she had been doing help exchange all over the world for the past five years, I was truly astounded and of course full of respect for her vim and vigour at an age where most are in full swing retirement! I arrived in Napier and was picked up by Chris's mam, Debbie, who brought me to their home and had a beautiful salad ready for me to sit down to. Malcolm and Debbie's home is like something from a catalogue with decking and a sweet sea view. Far from budget backpackers I was with this one! Next morning whilst Debbie and Malcolm worked I took myself off into town had a mosey about and booked myself onto an Art Deco tour to learn more about the fascinating history and architecture of Napier. I stopped in a little cafe for lunch and by chance bumped into Sheila the Scottish lady from the bus. We took lunch together and had some very thought provoking chats..much food for thought for a youngster like me. How serendipitous life can be..The next day I decided to embark on a bike ride to the next city down called Hastings. As with many of my adventures or misadventures if you will, this turned out that be anything but straightforward. I'll give you a snapshot - two hours into cycle commence heavy heavy rain, wrong turns involving lifting bike on shoulder over gates, flash flooding which I cycled through and barefoot cycling due to soggy socks and shoes. I didn't clock up the mileage of the Queenstown cycle but it was close and considerably wetter! Debbie came to my rescue and brought me back to a feed of warming soup and toast. And so ended my short jaunt in Napier and my imposition on the Miller family who were beyond generous the whole time. I am currently in Hamilton after about 6 hours on the bus again! Ready for bed soon..
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