This is gonna be big. Just saying.
Rathmoy
Ok. So. Rathmoy was awesome. I was doing mostly functions down at the lodge. Oh! I should warn everyone that this is going to be one of those overly descriptive blogs that are filled with unnecessary details that are supposed to create a beautiful word picture for the reader to enjoy while secretly the reader reads and wishes the whole thing would just get to the point. You have been warned. The lodge at Rathmoy can sleep about 10 people and has two bedrooms on the ground floor and one large bedroom on the top level. There are three bathrooms, full laundry, a gorgeous kitchen with a window facing the cliff base, a sitting room, and a fireplace/dinning room area with floor to ceiling windows making up two walls. It is rustic and comfy and complete will that the amenities that “comfort campers” such as myself look for. While it only sleeps 10 people, we had functions with anywhere from 10 to 100 people. When I arrived it was just before the busy weeks hit. I had a couple days to do stuff with the pheasants, build stuff for campsites and hack at thistles (which I got massive exploding blisters from). I think I mentioned all this stuff early. What I haven’t really talked about is the functions. We had 7ish functions in a fairly consecutive sting. I was put in charge of cleaning the lodge (usually took about 4 hours to get it up to snuff), setting up for the evening function (usually about 3 more hours), and then assisting with the smooth pulling off of the poorly organized and set up for functions. Lack of organization and set up was not my fault, just in case you were wondering and beginning to point nasty grizzled fingers my way. The wonderful gents I was working for and with definitely ran on Kiwi time (very similar to Mexico time, or Fiji time) and were super relaxed about organizing the details until the guests started to arrive. Regardless (irregardless?) we managed to pull all the functions off swimmingly. I mostly served alcohol and then assisted with passing “nibbles” and then cleared plates after “tea” was finished and then plated up “pudding” and cleared those dishes and then washed all the dishes, maintained the cleanliness of the lodge in general, and then entertained guests by getting dance parties started, or joking with them about Canada, accents, my future as a psychologist, and whatever else their little hearts desired to talk about. Right! So. Ya. That went on for about a week. It was tiring, long days. But! The people were amazing, kind and generous. Oh, I did have catering staff to help me out with the food related stuff and some of the clean up. Tineka and I became pretty good friends and we would chill out before and after functions together. Overall, I loved working the functions and eating the steak that they served fresh off the barbeque every night. I basically lived off steak for two weeks. I’m still living off it now as I conveniently stored a ton of it around my waist. Anyone want a spare tire? I’m trying to get rid of mine.
Somewhere in this mess a German boy/man (age 32) named Jan came up to work at Rathmoy. He was fun and we spent a lot of time together at the lodge cleaning and what not. Unfortunately, he really didn’t like loud music so he kept on turning my tunes down to barely perceptible levels. Insert uber sad face here. Thankfully, Tineka like loud music too so when the three of us were together the tunes were bumpin’! Anyway, Jan and I managed to finagle a day off and we went (in the pouring rain) to the National War Museum in some town I can’t remember, and then to another town I can’t remember for lunch, then just for a cruze cause the weather was still bad and we couldn’t find anything to do. We ended up in Wanganui where we tried to go to an art gallery (it was closed), and then successfully went to a stationary shop where I got supplies to write letters and create a travel journal, and then (also successfully) went to a cute little cafe where I wrote said letters. We then swaggered off too watch Easy A at the local theatre (good movie). After that it was home time, and eventually bed time. Good story. I know.
When Christmas came nearer I arranged with Cath to spend Christmas day and a couple days after with her and her family at Bland Bay where her parents live year round. I booked a bus for Dec 24th to Auckland and then Dec 25th from Auckland to Warkworth. Her friend Ross was recruited to snag me at Warkworth and scoot me up to Bland Bay with him.
Once all that was sorted, I half requested/half demanded that my Rathmoy bosses give me one full day off to go on a road trip to see some stuff. Mark told me about some glow worm caves and waterfalls that were pretty cool and a local walking/hiking path that would provide me with exceptional views. I was like “Score! Yes Please!”. So I woke up early, all packed the night before, and ate a super fast breakfast. Then I grabbed my bag, skipped happily outside to get in the car and go when!... There was no car. I ended up waiting 3 hours for a car to become available. Little did I know that this incident was forwarning of a terrible terrible day. Here’s the skinny. I went the to Hunterville (the local town) mailed some letters and headed out. The wrong way (north). Got going the right way (south). Got half way to my destination of Palmerston North to realize I had about a ¼ tank of gas. “No problem” thought happy me “I won’t be doing much driving”. Got to Palmerston North after an hour and a half of driving, went to the I site and found out that the caves I wanted to go to were actually about a 20 minute drive from Rathmoy (east). Tried to find the highway. Got flipped off my angry lady, who admittedly I had cut off in my confusion about traffic circles. Got onto the right highway and drove 30 minutes. Missed my turn. Figured out where I was (still going the right direction!) and drove another 30 minutes. Noticed that I was running on fumes. Made a wrong turn and ended up driving an hour back to basically where I started. Bought some a half a tank of gas which cost me $50. Asked for directions and ended up being told not to bother, it was too far of a drive and I wouldn’t make it in time. Gave up. Tried to see some local sites. Got confused. Got angry. Got fake happy. Drove home. Didn’t get lost, and only missed one turn. In the end, I did about 7 hours of driving and about 30 minutes out of the car. I also spent about $75 total (I bought some chocolate and other food with the hope that it would cheer me up... it didn’t). To top it all off, I had been shooting to get back to Rathmoy at 5:30 so that I could go to a carol service at 6. I managed to get my grumpy self back to Rathmoy at 5:30, was ready to go to carol singing at 5:45, and was then informed that carol singing wouldn’t be til 7:30. Lovely. So I sat around brooding until 7:30 at which point my boss grabbed a case of beer and hopped into the car to go to the carol service. Turns out that the carol service was a drinking, fooding, and carol singing party in a recently refurbished church that the owners bought so that they wouldn’t have to pay taxes on that section of land. Haha. Oh dear. That my friends, is the epitome of the icing on the cake. The next day I left. Haha. Caught the bus at 11ish going to Auckland.
Auckland and Christmas Eve
This was good. I strolled around Auckland from about 7:00pm til about 9:00pm. I stopped in at K Road Hostel and saw some old friends that are still staying there. Then I scooted off to a proper candlelight carol service in a proper church – St Matthews in the City. It was supposed to start at 10pm but I think it got rolling closer to 11pm. There was a small brass group playing carols while everyone settled in. It was really chill. There were tealights everywhere and the lights were turned down really low. I wasn’t expecting the performance of secular carols such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer by the brass band or the explanation of emergency procedures that began the ceremony, but the rest was pretty standard. There were some readings and some carols (including a Maori one), a mediation, and more carols. It finished around midnight. As I left, these super cute older ladies told me that I had a beautiful singing voice and that I should try out for America’s Got Talent. I’ve put it on my bucket list.
Bland Bay and Christmas
The next morning (CHRISTMAS DAY!) I was up bright and early (about 7am, not nearly as early as the usual 3am eh Mom?) and off to catch my bus. That went smoothly and I ended up in Warkworth right on time. Ross, on the other hand, was not on time. I waited for about 4 hours at the bus stop in Warkwork listening to a CBC Radio 3 podcast. It was actually really sweet. I have been meaning to reconnect with Canadian music and that definitely gave me the chance. Ross popped by eventually and we drove to Bland Bay.
We arrived just in time to get settled a bit and then had Christmas dinner. There was turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, kumara, potatoes, pumpkin, fruit cake, and a chocolate log. It felt about as Christmasy as possible without being at home with your own family. New Zealanders really do Christmas improperly. Haha. It’s almost an afterthought. I suppose that’s because it’s in the middle of summer and everyone is already on holidays so Christmas is just part of that. Whereas for us, Christmas provides a much needed break from the bland dull winter.
The next couple days were spent just hanging out and playing with the kids. The weather wasn’t the most cooperative but I still managed to go kayaking, get a wicked sunburn (which is now a glorious tan), and swim almost every day in the ocean. While there was a proper shower and proper toilet up there, I chose to go bush style and only used the “dunny” (outhouse) and “bathed” in the ocean. On a more respectful note, I organized a photoscavenger hunt for the kids the day before I left. There were about 27 things that they either had to do or had to take pictures with. There were 3 teams of 2 kids. Each child had to get their picture taken for each thing on the list so we ended up with around 160 pictures. I compiled all the pictures into a slideshow and we showcased the kids later that evening. It was superbly cute. I don’t think I’ll put those pics on Facebook (sorry team) just cause I don’t feel comfortable with putting other people’s children’s pics on the internet. So ya, the next day I was outta there and onto Paihia. I’m currently in Paihia now and the more astute of you might be thinking “Weren’t you already there?”. Well you smarty pants, I was. But I didn’t get to see 90 Mile Beach (which is actually 90km long) and Cape Reinga, so I’m doing that tomorrow. I saw the Waitangi Treaty Grounds this morning and am currently hanging out with a super cool Romanian guy and his friends from Romania and Russia who are all staying at the hostel. We are going to play cards, watch the fireworks, go dancing, scream the countdown, swim in the ocean, and go to bed for our New Years Eve. Should be barrels of fun! Tomorrow I am off to 90 Mile Beach/Cape Reigna, then on the 2nd it’s back to Auckland where I’ll start my New Zealand bus tour experience with Stray Bus. For the more involved reader, I have some extra reading. Google stray bus and check out the Max Pass. That’s what I’ll be doing for the foreseeable future. Huzza!
In conclusion, my Romanian friend says I must say “Cranberry juice makes me sugar drunk”. The “me” in that quote refers to Julia, not to Romanian dude (whose name I shan’t mention in order to protect his anonymity).
love love love
Julia
