Shortly after Nick and I came back from our January ’17 South Island tour we left to go camping in Whangarei for a few days. It was Nick, his son, Duncan, his girlfriend with daughter, Joel (our flatmate), Niklas (german guy that will stay here with Duncan and Nick for a few months) and me.
We left on Saturday 21st in the afternoon, picked up Niklas from the airport (he literally just arrived in New Zealand), and drove to Pataua Bay. The campground we stayed at is also known as Treasure Island Campground. We had a lovely view from on top of the little hill where we put up our tents. It was already getting dark and we had to improvise a bit with that big tent, as pieces were missing or used somewhere else als a pole, but we did manage to get it up somehow. A big storm was blowing over us that night, and Niklas and I had to go outside in the rain at 1:30am to fix one of the tent’s corners again. Joel and Niklas got soaked inside, I got a little wet as the water also got into the tent. It is one really big tent, so we only put up this one for the night and set up another, a little smaller one, the next morning.
The sunday morning was so sunny and warm, the storm was all gone like it never happened. The nice weather now allowed us to go bodyboarding on the beach, climb the little mountain (more like a big hill), where you have a stunning view of Pataua Bay and Whangarei, and to go fishing. We didn’t pick the perfect spot or time for fishing, but I caught a fish!! I think it was my first time fishing and I was so happy when I cought that fish! It was about 30cm long, so not the biggest one, that’s also why we released it back into the sea.
With no fish for dinner we went up that hill again at night and enjoyed the amazing view of all the stars and the milky way. The night sky is so impressive, there is so many stars and you can see the satellites and some shooting stars.
The next day we jumped off the footbridge in Whangarei (into the water ^^ no worries mum) and went to the beach again. Also we went for a nightwalk to the bench next to the foot of the mountain/hill and enjoyed the night sky.
Soon after I woke up the next morning we packed up everything and drove back to Pukekohe, with a stop at Te Arai Point to jump off the rock.
That was the weekend in Whangarei 🙂
The rest of the week I spent on enjoying the summer sun, which was quite nice that week, and noticing how freezing cold it becomes at night! I remembered 3 weeks ago when you easily could run around in shorts and a singlet at 10 pm.. Great times.
We also went for two possum hunts that week. In the first night we went out I shot the possum as well, but that one was really tough and it took so long for it to die. Sounds cruel, also was kind of cruel. Usually it only takes one shot and they fall out the tree, which is way better than them taking so long to die, in my opinion.
We gave the possum of the first hunt to Zephyr (dog) who loved it.
The second time we went for a hunt, a few days later, we got the possum in one shot. Because it had such a beautiful fur we decided to skin it before giving it to Zephyr. And I did the skinning. It took me quite long, but after about 2 hours we had its skin and Zephyr enjoyed ‚the rest‘. The saddest thing about it was that the possum we shot was a mum.. she had a little baby in her pouch. Almost every possum has one though, and this little thing was too small to keep it and trying to raise it.
Okay and now to some fun part:))
We had some really nice and sunny summer days! Niklas and I made some really good Kaiserschmarren the other day as well 🙂
Last Monday Nick, Joel, Niklas and I went to Whangarei again and went out to Poor Knights Island with Nick’s stepdad’s boat. It was a pristine day and we snorkelled and jumped in the water, went free diving a bit and enjoyed the day out. here’s a video Niklas edited of our day out at Poor Knights: Poor Knights Island
On Tuesday I started work on the maize farm here near Pukekohe. For the first two days it was all a but confusing and the people didn’t really tell you the procedures of the day and how they handle stuff, but after two or three days I eventually got told about most of it or found my way around.
Today was the 7th day I worked there. Yesterday, Monday, I took a day off and we all went to Port Waikato to the beach and to sand dunes nearby. We took the body boards for rides down the dunes. It was so nice to sleep in and have a day of relaxing and spending time on the beach. I also really loved sandboarding the dunes! This video Duncan edited for Tylah’s birthday (his daughter in law), but it kinda shows our day at Port Waikato.
My work on the maize farm is alright, it definitely is nothing for me to do for a long term, it is very exhausting and my back hurts after working in the blocks with the little plants.
The company I work for employs students over summer to help in the whole pollination process in the nursery. That includes shoot bagging, hanging, pollinating as the main tasks.
Shoot bagging: isolating the shoot from stray pollen by putting a clear plastic bag on the shoot before it silks
Hanging: collecting pollen from one plant that will be used to pollinate the same plant the next day. You do so by putting a bag on the tassel once it has anthers on it
Pollinating: Usually we do self pollinations (also cross pollinations): removing the bag from the tassel and shaking the pollen on the silk on the shoot under the shootbag. Removal of the shootbag. The pollination bag now is to be fixed on the plant, around the shoot.
I can give you more information about all that corn stuff if you’re interested in it^^ Just won’t bother everybody with more details.
I will do this job for a couple more days and then I have a few plans for my last days here in New Zealand.
Erfahrungen am besten Ende der Welt 