Been in beautiful Waiheke since last Wednesday, just about a week.
Weeding has consumed my life, I see weeds when I close my eyes! But I had a few chances to do fun things like harvest peas for the market in town.

The Saturday market was adorable - it reminded me quite a bit of Sebastopol's.

There's a plethora of critters here to play with:
Violet the kunikuni.

Kitties!

A praying mantis or two you are sure to find in 6 hours of weeding a day.

Frizzles.

And we just got 20 new hens from up north (Warkworth area) today.

The views are beautiful, day or night.

Fiona drove us down to Oneroa on Sunday.
We had a walk around the little town. Went to an antique musical instrument museum run by an adorable older couple who have been collecting for years. We were just a short walk from a beautiful beach.

On Monday Fiona gave us a ride to Onetangi beach, which is a beautiful long beach, perfect for lounging and walking. Spent most of the afternoon and got a wee bit burnt!

Off to a new farm tomorrow near Glen Eden!

Our first WWOOFing

Tuesday, our goal was to get in touch with a WWOOF host that would take us in until our next scheduled gig (March 14th). We called a handful of families that we found intriguing according to the WWOOF profile. The one that agreed to take us in is named Fiona. She has two young children (7 and 8) named Willy and Sasha and a partner named Steve.

Tuesday night we wanted to at least get a peek at night life while we were still in the city. We started by getting dinner a few blocks from our hostel

It was called Food Alley, and was a long, well lit, aromatic, selection of ethnic foods. There was Malaysian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Turkish, and about a dozen others. We deliberated over our overwhelming choices before we selected Turkish. I've never had it before!

We got a delicious plate to go and wrapped it up like a taco - even though we would probably be shamed for doing such.

Wandered into a beautiful park, and then another and found a high perch near a museum in the Auckland Domain where we feasted.

We walked home.

One of the bars that had previously appealed to me was the Occidental Belgian Brew pub. Mostly because of it's name. I got a hoegaarden which is a wheat beer. Much tastiness!

Wednesday we took a Ferry from the CBD (Central Business District) where we had been staying to Waheke island. If I had previously thought the cicadas were loud, they're practically deafening at times here. Especially if you're in the bush. Fiona's home is paradise. We have our own cottage with all amenities (even a little kitchen). Today was our first work day. In the rain and mud pulling weeds. Not bad for free lodging and food. I think we have some exciting adventures in town or maybe in the bush planned for later today.

Auckland Arrival

After hours of waiting in lines and trying to sleep on extremely uncomfortable planes, we arrived in Auckland only two hours later than originally intended. 

We had absolutely no idea where to go from there so we started by hopping on an airport bus to downtown. Unfortunately, making reservations at a hostel to accommodate us in our jet lagged stupor, was something that was never conquered. So we wandered the streets in search of a hostel with any open beds. The one we ended up booking is called Frienz and was one of the few that I had circled in the tour book. Their atmosphere is composed of quirky old fashioned wallpaper and a consistent aroma of cigarettes. This was my first hostel experience and wasn't quite as dirty as I had anticipated. Im sure there's plenty of hostels that do live up to my expectations though. Maybe I'll encounter a few.

The part of town we're in vaguely reminds me of Chinatown in San Francisco. Those cheap, hanging, lit up signs in every tiny storefront. We're also in walking distance of the harbor and ferries to nearby islands. 

Today, we awoke to the grunting of an unfamiliar roommate. I would estimate that he took 2 hours of shuffling and moving and stuffing items into his backpack before finally leaving. Successfully purchased a (really cheap - 2 NZD) tarp for under the tent and a mini notebook for writing addresses and information in. Currently at a modern-ish cafe drinking a latte and eating banana cake. Omnomom :-) Also, they don't refrigerate their eggs here!

One week

until my departure! I'm gorging myself on as many super burritos as I can during my remaining days!