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After destroying my liver, friendship and bank balance in Queenstown and returning once more to kerikeri in the Northland, for work, I was relieved to come back to Hideaway Lodge for a bit of rehab and to work at Orangewood packhouse. We would be repacking kiwifruit, packing and grading kiwifruit for softs and rots. Working 10-13 hour days from 7am to 7:30pm with one day off in 9 days and no day off in 13 days our precious time outside of work was very limited and not much time to socialise.
When the job came to a finish and everyone making their own plans to find work elsewhere, my plan was to go to Sydney Australia and spend a week with friends ( whom I regard as my Aussie family) and catch up with former work colleagues from 3 years ago and to meet a friend's newborn baby who was 9 days old. Excited like a kid at Christmas, flying to Sydney was like opening a present. My 'family' met me at the airport and it was like I'd returned home. Jet lagged from
an early am flight just 3 hours across the 'ditch', we drove back to their house in Cherrybrook NSW where I stayed my entire trip with free accommodation, comfortable bed and home cooked dinners with no backpacker 3 minute noodle in sight and had a much needed coffee with vegemite on toast before we spent the afternoon at Castle Towers shopping mall.
The next day visiting Hornsby ( the town I worked 7 months in ) to surprise former work colleagues was high on my agenda. When I wondered in their look on their faces was priceless as they stood there thinking it was a dream that I walked in. With hugs and kisses we had a good catch up and was so elated to be back.
Balmoral beach was our next destination for coffee and cake and reminded me why I love Sydney so much, the air, beach, beautiful scenery and good company make it home for me. Witnessing wedding parties ( an ideal photographic location) and a friend discussing her upcoming wedding, something hit me I never thought it would what would my wedding be like ? 100% sure it would be on Sydney harbour. Walking round circular quay to stand in front of the opera house and harbour bridge made my heart smile and soul dance. Forget Disneyland as the magical place on earth for me this was and always will be.
Darling Harbour is one of my other favourite spots, armed with a latte from Starbucks, sitting in the sun, people watching is a pastime I enjoy and is the essence in the heart of the city. Dinner in Parramatta with my Chinese gal Crystal was a fun time and made me realize how fortunate I am to be with people I love even for a short time. Lunch with friends, time to visit Kelly and her newborn Chloe before heading to meet Kaveh, my pharmacist friend for drinks in the evening. Coming back to Sydney was amazing. Returning back to the land of the long white cloud Aotearoa, my time in Australia was short and sweet
and this time heading down to Tauranga to bid farewell to a Chilean friend Mari, I'd not seen since April. The funny thing was we happened to be on the same Intercity bus and spent 3 great days together. My favourite was the day where it turned into the biggest shopping spree from groceries to souvenirs and our favourite shop : Kathmandu. Our addiction to this store resumed with sale items and limited edition items. That night would be the start of the rugby world cup 2011 and both dressed in black t shirts and jeans to support the All Blacks. With the silver fern temporary tattoos on our faces we were ready to watch the opening game against Tonga after the ceremony beamed live from Eden Park, Auckland.
It was stunning, the traditional Maori calling to the journey to bring people from all over the globe to this little amazing country in the southern hemisphere. The fireworks in Auckland city were better than NYE efforts, the all blacks performing the haka : ka mate, the game commenced. Watching from a bar on Tauranga's waterfront, we were joined by a group of friendly kiwis who congratulated us for supporting their boys. They had us laughing all night and when Sonny Bill took his shirt off (amen) to replace the ripped one, all the ladies in the house screamed and whistled.!!!! More drinks and we were ripping up the dancefloor. Back to Auckland and again Kerikeri at this time I needed work as funds were disappearing so going online, I found a job listing in Napier. With the promise of work starting that week in a kiwifruit orchard and travelling more than 11 hours on a bus, my optimism died when the next day we heard there was no work at all. Feeling cheated and annoyed that I just paid out $200 to get there and stay, we asked the hostel manager ( who was English) if there was work at all. Other backpackers had been sitting there for 4 weeks. Picking asparagus was the only job that came available. However, speaking to the Japanese guy who ran a Singaporean restaurant in the town gave us an ill feeling that something wasn't right about it. The piece rate was $12.50 for 12 kgs with nz min wage being $13 an hour seemed little for 4 hours a day, he didn't think we had the right ethic if previous work was in vineyards and he didn't ask for our bank account details.
With the hostel manager making false promises and giving people bs and others finding their own jobs for 4 hours a day, I shelled out again and came back to Kerikeri. Back to Hideaway Lodge, I know Brian doesn't give you bs, he's a kiwi a sharp shooter tells it like it is within a week he got me a job and for that I'm grateful. September 30 2010 departing the UK for a kiwi adventure mixed with California flavour and Fiji tropics a year later deciding against going to Japan and then UK, I'm still in NZ living the dream. However, this am we woke up to
the news that one All Black dream was over for the hottest and greatest fly half in the world of rugby: Dan Carter. Gutted for him and the All Black team to lose one of their best, but we are still backing black all the way to the end!!!
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