Houses and Planes

Over Easter we also managed to get away, this time down to Taupo and Rotorua. We didn’t get to see much of Taupo, but we did get a pretty good view! Easter Saturday morning dawned to a beautiful warm and sunny day and what better way to see Taupo than to jump out of a plane! We went skydiving! It was AWESOME! An absolutely amazing rush of adrenaline. On the way up, they gave us oxygen because we were jumping from 15000 feet (5 kms!) and the views are spectacular. You can see Mt Ruapehu in the distance and the whole town is spread out beneath you. Now, I’m not that great with heights but it was definitely worth it. You don’t have time to think about what you’re doing when you are half way out the plane and then falling. We’ll try to get the videos up soon… technology is proving difficult. That same afternoon, Aaron took me Zorbing at Rotorua. It was awesome! Afterwards, the nice warm bed at the B and B in Rotorua was very inviting. One can only handle so much excitement in one day! On Sunday we headed out to the Wai-U-Tapu Thermal Wonderland to see they geyser and the thermal pools. The first two or three were interesting, mainly because they were filled with nice things like arsenic and cadmium but they were interesting as gold and silver were precipitating on the edges. After that, the next 20 pools were pretty boring. We sure we glad to get away from the stink and find some lunch. That night, it was time for some pampering and relaxation so we booked in to have a mineral bath and a massage… bliss! Monday morning we were meant to see the kiwis but honestly couldn’t be bothered… It was time to head home and get the new house properly unpacked and cleaned up before heading back to work for another week.

And so nothing has really changed much lately. We have the home phone and internet finally hooked up and my coffee machine arrived! Its starting to get a bit cold and I’m going to have to get a load of firewood some time but we’re looking forward to more visitors. My mum and grandmother will be here in 2 days, then we’ve got Aaron’s family and mine here in July with Clare, Joe, Jenny and Phil visiting during the holidays. It's going to be a busy time!

So, keep in touch everyone. There’s always a spare bed for anyone who wants to visit.

Our First Holiday in En Zid...

Whilst we’ve been here, we’ve had a bit of a chance to get out and see a few sights. The weekend before Aaron started shiftwork we decided to get out and travel north up the Coromandel Peninsula. Its very picturesque and we stopped at places like Hot Water Beach, Whitianga, Coromandel Town and Thames. Hot Water Beach is literally a beach with hot water. The surf is cold but underneath the sand there are remnants of volcanic activity which heats underground water and pushes it to the surface. By the time it reaches the sand, the water has cooled down to between 50 and 60^oC and so you get yourself a shovel and dig yourself a warm bath on the beach. We arrived a little early, and so had to wait for the tide to recede a bit before we could start digging. In this time, about 50 crazy, pasty white poms and other assorted tourists turned up and started shovelling sand like crazy. We got to have a bit of a splash around in the warmth but left them too it after a while. We also made a visit to the Kauri Grove to check out the massive Kauri trees, to the Coromandel Town Smokehouse where got some lovely hot smoked salmon and lime and pepper smoked trevally. Combine that with the cheeses we bought just outside Thames and dinner that evening was sorted. Delicious! All in all, a good weekend.

Our First Visitors!

Aside from work, we had our very first visitors last month! Stan, a mining engineering exchange student from the Netherlands and his lovely girlfriend Diana came to visit whilst on a big tour of the country in early March. They came during the week that Aaron had some time off and so he took them out and about to show them the sights! First up was Karangahake Gorge, an old gold mine where you are able to see the old workings. Next was over to Mount Maunganui for a climb up the mount. The views are spectacular as it is on the coast and you can almost see Waihi Beach from the summit. The three tourists had an interesting stroll up there and were met but a strange man prophesising the end of the world… never the less, they had a great many stories to tell me over dinner than night. The next day was a bit of a mine tour of Favona underground and then an afternoon trip out to Rotorua. It’s only an hour and a half away and so they decided to go Zorbing. It’s when you sit in a big plastic ball, filled with a bit of water and then you’re pushed down the hill… fantastic stuff! I made Aaron take me back one weekend just so I could try it, having heard about all the fun they had had. Unfortunately, Stan and Dia’s visit drew too quickly to an end, but not before Trivia Night at the Flat White Cafe! It’s a bit of an event each week in the social calendar for the graduates so we brought our guests along to have a go. Split up into girls vs boys the boys unfortunately prevailed but we came second and got a bottle of wine, so there were definitely no sad faces! Stan and Dia left the next morning to head over to Auckland and then back to Europe. It was fantastic having them over and look forward to visiting them in return!

The First Week: On Site and at Work

Hello again and welcome from Waihi Beach! I figured it was time for an update, seeing as the last one was from weeks ago and so much has happened since then!

After we arrived in Waihi, we set about checking out the town and generally getting a feel for the place. The pit was literally 100m from the front door and the lookout gave a fantastic view of the operation. I can't help but think how weird it is to have a pit right in the middle of town, although you would forget that it's there, it's so cleverly hidden! Saturday night saw us check out the local nightlife and it was very disappointing. We thought we'd try the Stirling Hotel, one of two pubs in town, and there were only 5 people there, basically your average kiwi bogan. We thought it was very quiet for a Saturday night. So when we bailed from there at about 10, we all realised that we were starving and the only place open to get food was the night window at the BP. Welcome to Waihi!

After finally getting some rest (we were all knackered after the red-eye flight from Perth on Saturday morning) we figured we should get some real food, and so ventured over to Tauranga to go to Pak 'n' Save on Sunday. This is a bit of a kiwi thing, basically its like Bunnings, just filled with food instead of hardware and they don't give you bags... Instead you pack everything into cardboard boxes, cold stuff gets wrapped in newspaper and off you go from there. So that just about filled out our weekend and come Sunday night we were looking forward to see what site looked like so we were into bed early and eager to see what the next day would bring!

For the first week or so, they had us with the training department before handing us over to our designated department and supervisor. Aaron was bored out of his brain sitting in the underground mine office watching people work and doing inductions but luckily for him, they eventually got him underground after 3 weeks of boredom so he could actually start earning his money. I was put to work in the maintenance department with the fitters which was great. All the guys are great to work with and I got my wish of getting my hands dirty, well and above expectations! So far, I’ve changed out pumps, pipe work, conveyors, learnt to weld (very badly), grind and mill all kinds of things. It’s been a great experience because I’ve been able to get to know the plant, all the operators and most importantly the maintenance crew. As of tomorrow I’ll be working with the projects team so it’s back to being a ‘shiny bottom’ as they call it. Its been great being close to the beach. During the first week, we took advantage of some nice weather to have a swim after work. It was a bit chilly at first but you get used to it eventually!