Oratia, so far

We're currently in a magnificent place near Oratia, Glen Eden and Henderson. Our host Monique is unique because she's not a Kiwi. She's a Dutch woman who teaches High school French. She lives in an older farm house just enough off the beaten path to allow pleasures of the country (I.e. a huge backyard and plenty of privacy), but simultaneously within a decent proximity of little towns and even some city life.

Friday night she had a council meeting in Piha, so we got to tag along. The reputation of Piha is that of a killer surfing region and also one of the most dangerous rip tides on the Northern island. To the extent that they have a cheesy reality tv show depicting the almost daily scares of injured, lost, or drowning visitors.

Monique bought us dinner and beer at a local pub and hang out spot. For the duration of her meeting, we were left to our own devices. Took a walk down to the beach and hiked up to the lookout to see this infamous coastline.

Amused ourselves with attempting to deduce the rules of Rugby from a game that played on the television in the pub. A rough storm had blown in and kept us from continuing our explorations as the night crept in.

Saturday Monique took us to a local patisserie owned by a short little Swiss man. He actually worked out of the industrial district of Henderson and only opened his business for drop in once a week. The rest of the week, he wholesales his delicious pastries to the surrounding region.

Been doing a lot of garden work here. Only three hours a day instead of 6 (like at Fiona's), which is really nice. The garden resembles an old English style garden with really extensive paths. More like a labryrnth than anything else. When we weed an area it's almost unrecognizable. Keep finding crazy fungus and bugs here.

Mutant mosquitos here, I counted 30 bites on my right foot this morning. My calves and ankles are covered as well. More to come, I'm sure.

And the best thing about this new home is that Monique doesn't mind us playing around in her kitchen. So far we've made somosas, ginger soy stir fry, zucchini pancakes, fresh applesauce, chicken satay, and much more. And we've only been here for 4 days.

More cooking and adventures to come :-)