Days 85 - 99

Hi, we're back to provide a couple of weeks worth of updates. Still kickin' it in Kaikoura. (so don't expect much exciting in this update)

Day 85,
Today Andrea got up a little early to do some paperwork for her job at the cafe. After a little breakfast we did our cleaning at the hostel then had a quick shower and some lunch. After lunch we talked with our friends Cally and Fran about moving into a flat together. We have decided that we need to get out of the hostel. It is way too loud and we are getting sick of cleaning. Andrea headed to work after we did a little research into apartments and I headed down to look at Cray Cottage where Cally lives. Along the way I stopped to ask about jobs at a Thai restaurant (no luck). In the evening we relaxed and watched a little television.

Day 86,
Andrea got up early to clean because she had to go to work at the Cafe. I did the normal cleaning shift and relaxed at the lodge waiting for Andrea to come back from her split shift. We spent a couple of hours hanging out together before Andrea headed back to work. I went to the local internet cafe to do a little bit of internet stuff before I headed back to the Dusky to cook dinner and relax.

Day 87,
Andrea went into work, but wasn't feeling well, so she came home and rested. I did my regular bathroom cleaning (actually, I have been doing more bed making lately). See below...













Then went down to talk to Cally about a house that we were going to look at. Andrea was feeling better, so we went to look at the house. The house is rented by a coworker of Andrea named Jana and her husband David. It was a nice house and not too far from town. After our visit Andrea headed to work and I went to the movie store ($1 for old movies every Monday!!). Then I headed down to Cray Cottage to watch a film. Back at the lodge Andrea and I watched another movie before heading to bed.

Day 88,
We woke up and had our typical free breakfast before Andrea headed to coffee training at Hislops and I went to do more cleaning. When Andrea got back we had a nice brunch and hung out with our friends from the Lodge. Then we watched the classic, "Caddyshack". We had some great fish n chips from a new shop just up the road and then watched a movie down at our friend Mickey's flat with our friend Sara. We ended the night doing some laundry and relaxing in our room.

Day 89, (May 20th)
Our last day at Dusky Lodge!!
We woke up had some breakfast and did some cleaning. After completing our last day of cleaning (yippie!!) we packed up our stuff and got ready to head out. We said bye to some friends and got a ride down to our new house. We moved in with Andrea's coworker and her husband. They seem like great people, the house is nice and the price was right. After moving in we unpacked a little then headed down to town to have some lunch and watch some local rugby.

It was really cold and windy, so we didn't stay too long. Instead we headed over to the grocery store to stock up on some good stuff. Back home we made a nice dinner then watched some TV with our new housemates.

Day 90,
We slept really well in our new house. It is really quiet (except for the trains). After a nice breakfast and some e-mailing, Andrea headed to work for a little while. She came home and we had some lunch and watched a movie. Then Andrea headed back to work. I relaxed at home a little longer before heading out to support our friend Jessica as she led a karaoke night at a local pub. After the karaoke I headed down to say hi to some friends at another local pub, then headed up toward Hislops to meet Andrea and walk home with her. We made it home and went to bed.

Day 91,
We slept in and relaxed most of the morning and early afternoon. I took a ride back down to the lumber mill to see if they had any work (no luck). When I got back we watched a movie and then Andrea headed into work and I headed to Cray Cottage to hang out with Fran and Cally. When Andrea finished Fran went and picked her up and we played some cards at their place. We headed home after a game of rummy and hit the sack.

Day 92,
Andrea worked a split shift and I spent most of the day inside relaxing, reading and watching TV. The day was pretty rainy and cold so my only adventure out of the house was to meet Andrea on her way home from her first shift at work to look at running shoes at the local sports store. Nothing in stock, but some coming in soon, not sure if I will get some because they are pretty expensive. Later that evening we just relaxed and took it easy.

Day 93,
Another cold and rainy day. Not much happening again today. Andrea headed to work after a nice breakfast and some internet work. I stayed home reading and relaxing. When Andrea got home we watched her favorite TV shows (Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice).

Day 94,
Andrea had a triple split shift today with a morning meeting then working the lunch shift and the dinner shift (wow!). I had a zero split shift (no job yet). Anyway, we had some breakfast when Andrea got home from her meeting and then I chilled at home while she worked her second shift. I met her at work to get a cup of coffee (free) and walk with her back to our house to get some late lunch. We watched a little TV, then Andrea headed back to work and I stayed at home being productive (not really). After work we watched a movie and relaxed.

Day 95,
One of Andrea's days off so we took advantage. We slept in (fyi sleeping in for me is now sleeping past 9:30 am, it used to be sleeping past 7:30 am) and had a late breakfast. We did some internet stuff and chatted with Jana. She is from the Czech Republic and Jana and David are heading to the Czech in a few weeks for a month. Then we headed out on our bikes to do a big exciting trip to the grocery store (yeah food). After unpacking our groceries we went down to have "a cuppa" (cup of tea or coffee) with Cally and Fran. Then headed back home to have some dinner. After dinner we headed down to one of the local pubs (there are only 3) with Jana and David to compete in Quiz Night. We won (thanks David) and got a $50 bar tab. We finished the night playing pool and drinking our tab.

Day 96,
Andrea's second day off, so we slept in again. The weather was poor, so we spent the day watching movies, TV, relaxing and signing up for Facebook. Yep, we have taken the leap and opened Facebook accounts. We now feel like we are really hip, and in with the in crowd!

Day 97,
No much happening today. We did a little laundry, went to get a couple of things at the grocery store, did some internet stuff and watched a little tele. Then Andrea went to work and I went to look for work (nothing yet). I stopped by Hislops Cafe to get a free coffee and then went home to do a little more internet stuff. When Andrea got home from work we did a little reading then went to bed.

Day 98,
We woke up and had some breakfast before heading down to town to do a little shopping (Queen's birthday weekend, so big sales). Andrea had to head into work, so I walked around town a little more before going to get a free coffee (boy do I love free coffee drinks). After a coffee drink I headed down to Cray Cottage for an adult drink with Fran and Cally. We had a couple drinks then went down to a local pub to listen to and dance to a New Zealand DUB band called Soul System. Andrea came down and met us after work and we had fun enjoying the band and our friends.

Day 99,
We woke up and had a quick breakfast before heading down to "Meatworks" surf location for the O'Neill Coldwater Classic surf competition. It was a little cool and windy, but the suring was awesome.

The competitors had the coolest place to warm up.

It was a nice old bathtub with a bonfire underneath. Way cool.

The surfers also had interesting transportation, living quarters, clothslines...

We had a great time...













and the surfing was really amazing...

including the longboarders...

What a cool competition and what an amazing location...

Unfortunately, Andrea had to head to work, so we went back into town with Fran. Later that afternoon I headed back to the surfing competition and then went over to Cray Cottage for some drinks and cards. Fran went to pick up Andrea after work and we played another game before heading down to a local pub to see what was happening. We were really tired, so we headed home after just a couple of minutes in the bar. What a cool day watching the surfing.

days 75 to 84

We're Back!

We are still doing pretty much the same things we have been doing the past few weeks, so I will just give you a recap of some of the highlights. And actually there are a few exciting things that have happened over these 10 days. If you can't remember our typical daily activities they go something like this: cleaning at the hostel, eating, reading, watching movies, looking for work, walking around town, etc.

Anyway back to the highlights.

Day 75
We made french toast and sausages after cleaning...yummy. French toast is my favorite and I haven't made it since we left the states. After our awesome brunch we just relaxed, watched a few movies and read as it was rainy and nasty outside.

Day 76
It was a beautiful day so after our cleaning we enjoyed the view while chatting with our friends. Below is the view from the back porch of the hostel...














and a view of the pool area at Dusky lodge...

(Note we have not used the pool (closed for work) or the hot tub (nasty people and things happen in the tub), but we have been in the sauna (nice and hot) which is located just to the left in the picture)

We had a nice walk down to the beach then headed back to the hostel to hang out with friends and celebrate the birthday of Mickey our Irish friend. We had a good time having a few drinks and celebrating (John may have had a little too good of a time).

Day 77
Not much happened today, just some cleaning, relaxing, reading, napping and eating.

Day 78
DAY OFF!!! Awesome. No cleaning. We took advantage of our day off by doing some internet stuff, having lunch at the local Thai restaurant and going to the grocery store. What an exciting day off...okay maybe not too exciting, but nice.

Day 79 - May 10th - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to our Moms and all other mothers!!
Another rainy day, so we had another movie day after cleaning toilets, sinks, carpets, sheets, etc.

Day 80
We took advantage of being about 18 hours ahead of our mothers, and made a few calls to wish our moms a happy mother's day. After making our calls we headed up to the garbage dump to try to find some pants and shoes...No not actually in the dump. There is a second hand store just next to the dump. They had some real interesting stuff, but nothing I had to have. We walked around town and ran a few errands before heading back to the hostel.

Day 81
Pretty much stuck to the routine of cleaning, eating, looking for work, drinking tea (new activity? not really, but we have been doing it more lately, especially since we have been hanging out with a lot of Brits.) We also changed our room around a little (don't tell the hostel managers).

Day 82
BIG DAY!! Today is Andrea's first day of work at Hislops Cafe. They have been closed for a couple of weeks, so she went in to help clean and get things ready for when they reopen tomorrow. Andrea is going to be waiting tables at this nice little organic restaurant/cafe. She is excited to start working. To celebrate her first day at work I cooked a nice dinner of steak, potatoes and salad. Good stuff.

Day83
We did a little cleaning and had some lunch before Andrea headed to Hislops to start her first day of waiting table. I did some of those other activites (looked for a job, read, relaxed) while Andrea was at work.

Day 84
Andrea headed to the cafe to do some waiting and I headed to clean the hostel. After making sure the kitchens were spick and span I had a little lunch while waiting for Andrea to come back. Once Andrea got back we headed up to a seal colony just north of town with our friend Cally. It is really cool.

There is a small river that runs into the ocean and the young seals swim up the river to a waterfall and small pool.

The baby seals relax on the banks of the pool and spend hours playing in the pool. They are very curious and come up to us on the edge of the pool to see who we are.

The seals were very cute and we had a great time watching them play in the pool. What an incredibly cool spot!

SORRY!

Sorry we haven't made any posts lately. We have heard a few complaints, so we will post a nice long update soon (as in today or tomorrow). It's not like we (I, John) have been really busy it's just that I (John) have been lazy. New posts very soon I promise.

Also, we have joined Facebook, so look us up if you want.

Day 74

Day 74 was a pretty big day. We woke up and did our cleaning then we ate some banana pancakes ("pretend like it's the weekend, now..." - a little Jack Johnson) made by our friend Smith. After brunch we got cleaned up, got some coffee and said goodbye to our friend Claire who is moving up to the North Island.

It was a beautiful day so we decided to head out to the seal colony and do the peninsula walk. We walked along the coast and enjoyed the scenery (note the snow covered peaks).



























Once we got to the seal colony we headed up the hill to the top of the cliffs. From the top we had a great view of the mountains, the ocean and the seal colony below. It was a fabulous day.

The walk goes around the peninsula on top of the cliffs through cow paddocks and grasslands.

Below is a beautiful view of Whaler's Bay. This area is known for having whales close to land and was one of the prime whaling locations in New Zealand during the 19th century.

So many beautiful views during the walk. This is looking southwest from the peninsula. Kaikoura is northwest from the peninsula.

There was also cool geology along the walk. The water is very shallow in places and just skims over the rock surface below.

At the end of the walk we came across some Maori carvings along the South Bay entrance to the peninsula walk.

We finished the walk by heading back across the peninsula further west through South Bay and back into Kaikoura. It was a very beautiful day and an incredible walk, even though we didn't get to see any whales today.

Days 67 - 73

Days 67-73,

We pretty much stuck to the routine throughout these days. We did do a few things out of the ordinary so, I will list some of the more exciting (or not so exciting) things we did.

Day 67-68 we got and lost a job. It was probably a good thing it didn't work out.

Day 69 we went to the used bookstore and bought a few books.

Day 70 (May 1) was actually a pretty exciting day. We called Mom (Betty) to wish her a happy birthday. We also went up to Blenheim with our friends Smith (from South Carolina) and Claire (from Ireland) to get out of town and do a little shopping. It was a beautiful 1.5 hour drive North up the coast. While in Blenheim we made our first visit to a Warehouse. Warehouse is the New Zealand version of a Walmart or Target. It is probably a little more like a Walmart because it is a little ghetto, well not ghetto in Blenheim, but you know what I mean, it is not high class like Target, but it does have a lot of cheap stuff! We did a little shopping, then got a quick beer and some chips before heading back down to Kaikoura. It was good to get out of town and a really nice trip with great people!

Day 71 was our first day off from cleaning. We work 2 hours a day 6 days a week, so it is nice to get a day off. We didn't really do much with our day off, just more of the job hunting, reading, etc. In the evening we had a really nice dinner and a few beers with our cleaning friends and one of their friends who used to be a cleaner here at Dusky Lodge. He was a really cool guy and we had some great deep discussions over a few Speights.

Day 72 we took an afternoon nap!

Day 73 Andrea found out she got a job at Hislops Cafe. Hislops is a really cool organic restaurant/cafe that is just a few blocks down the street.

Days 64, 65 and 66

Day 64 (April 25th - Annika's Birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :)

Another day in Kaikoura. So, we have only been here three days, but already have a routine. We wake up, clean, take a shower, have lunch, then we either a) read, b) watch a movie, c) walk around town, or d) look for jobs, next we have some dinner, then we either read or watch a movie. We may change it up now an then, but that is pretty much what we do every day.

So today we woke up, cleaned, took a shower, ate lunch, walked around town, did some internet stuff, looked for jobs, had dinner and then watched a movie.


Day 65

Today was one of those days that we did something a little different.

We got up a little early today to call our niece Annika to wish her a very happy birthday. We are 17 hours ahead, so it is still the 25th back in the Minnesota. It was great to talk to her. We miss all our nieces (Caitlin, Annika, Kiera) and nephews (Conor, Tanner) so very much...and our parents and brothers and sisters and friends and extended families and coworker friends and (anyone else we may have missed)!

Now back to the routine; we cleaned and showered and ate lunch and watched a movie and...

walked out to the Seal Colony! Whoa, something new. It was a beautiful day and we needed to get out of the hostel, so we decided to walk down to the seal colony at the end of the peninsula. It is a very nice 5-6 mile round trip walk along the coast. Along the way we stopped at the Kaikoura Veteran's Memorial Park.

Those are whale bone arches.













We also stopped a few times along the way to take photes of the ocean and the mountains.


























Kaikoura is an incredibly beautiful spot.













The picture below is some reminants of a building from some of the first European settlers in Kaikoura.













We (Andrea) also took some cool artsy photos.













A fluffy lamb with little horns.













Incredible scenery!













After walking for awhile enjoying the beautiful scenery we ran into this...













a sleepy seal. The road is very close to the beach and the fur seals like to lay in the little area of grass/shrubs between the beach and road so we got very close to a few of the seals. They were sleeping or relaxing and would just ignore all the humans. It was neat to see them so close.

It was starting to get dark, so after a few minutes watching the seals we decided to head back to the hostel. Along the way we got to see a really beautiful sunset.



























What a great break from our routine.




Day 66
Back to the routine. We woke up, cleaned the hostel, took a shower, had lunch, Andrea had a meeting about a job, did some reading, went to the gocery store (awesome), watched some movies, had some fish and chips, then read a little more before going to bed. Sweet as.

Days 61, 62 and 63

Day 61,

We got up early today to head up the coast to Kaikoura. We had a meeting about a job up in Kaikoura so we couldn't stay any more nights in Christchurch. We met the bus just after 8:00 and started our journey up the coast. It was a beautiful drive along the pacific ocean. We arrived in Kaikoura a little before lunch and checked into our hostel.

We had a bite to eat, then headed up to our meeting with the owners of a small hostel who needed a manager for a few months. It was a good meeting, but unfortunately the job didn't work out. The job market is tight and people really like to take advantage of backpackers, same with this position, so it is probably a good thing it didn't work.

After the meeting we went to the grocery store and made a little dinner. It was a nice dinner and we met up with a friend from Canada who we hadn't seen since our first few days in Auckland. It was great to catch up with her.

After dinner we took it easy and went to bed early because we have a big morning tomorrow!


Day 62,

So I bet you are wondering what our big morning is about. Well, we have become cleaners. We do cleaning at the hostel from 9:00 am to 11:00 am 6 days a week for free accomodation (well almost free, but we don't like to stay in dorm rooms, so we pay a little extra to get a double room). The work for the most part (except bathrooms) isn't too bad and it is kind of nice to have something to do everyday. We do anything from cleaning kitchens, to vacuuming, to changing sheets, to picking up garbage, to cleaning toilets. A nice way to get super cheap accomodation.

After the cleaning I (John) went straight to bed. I hadn't been feeling well since we got up and I started to feel really ill after cleaning. I was sick all day and through most of the night. I think I must have had some type of food-borne illness. Andrea made sure I had fluids and kept an eye on me. She made some soup for me for dinner. Other than taking care of me, I think she did a little reading most of the day.

Day 63,

I was feeling better, so we both did our second day of cleaning. After cleaning we got cleaned up and had some lunch. Then we decided we needed to get out of the hostel so we headed downtown (one street about two blocks long with about 10 store fronts on each side). We stopped in the internet cafe to do some internet stuff. Andrea stopped in a few places to ask about work (One place looks like it might have an opening when it reopens in a couple of weeks). Along the way to one of the restraunts she stopped on the beach and saw this...































It was a gorgeous evening with a little fresh snow on the mountains.




















































When Andrea got back to the internet cafe we headed back to the hostel to make some dinner and watch a little TV before heading to bed.