Ian is a half Māori have Irish older man with a very cool past! He worked in construction but for large band venues he has met everyone from AC/DC to Guns and Roses, to Metallica, to ZZ Top. He now lives in a river front rancher and he needed help fixing it up. He can essentially live off the grid at his house. It’s going to be all solar powered and he uses tank water not from the city (there is no city we are kind of in the middle of nowhere). He grows everything—bananas, oranges, apples, peaches, peppers, beans, lemons, herbs, etc. and he has chickens for fresh eggs. Oh and it happened again, with in 10 min of meeting Ian he asked if I always smile that much, I thought in New Zealand where everyone is so friendly and happy I wouldn't get that comment anymore.The only bad part about it is there is 0 Internet or wifi anywhere which usually would be fine with us but we are on the hunt for a van to call home, which we needed the Internet to find. So stress became our new best friend.

Port Waikato is a super cool place. It’s where the river, which flows south to north and is really glacier run off, meets the Tasman Sea. We set all our stuff at the house and took a mini tour of the town. We went sliding around on sand dunes, which I can only assume are like the Outer Banks, I wouldn’t really know though because I have never been, cough cough parents (just kidding thank you for letting me go half way around the world no questions asked! And for everything else you have done for us!) We got back to the house and found out where Maggie and I were staying…I’m going to call it our little bungalow.

Our Bungalow use to belong to a Millionaire lady named, Shirley but she was selling all of her huts so she can move to Australia to retire! Luckily we got to meet Shirley before she left! Ian loaded our new home on to a trailer and used his digger to place it in his front yard. Luckily I had just bought a sleeping bag the night before because I was going to need it. It is freezing at night here. Luckily though it wasn’t as cold as we were expecting; I only had to wear 4 layers and Mags had to wear pants.

Ian really kept his end of the bargain when he agreed to feed us, oh boy did we eat! He also taught us a few recipes we could use that are easy to make while living in a van. We ate so many potatoes for every meal. One night I swear I ate a whole chicken (Maggie says it was a fourth but a fourth of a very large chicken) be proud parents I hate meat off of a bone and didn’t cry. João told us that in Brazil when you are very full at the end of the meal you say “I am sad”, if this is the case we were chronically depressed. João would also put my love of ketchup to shame, the boy puts loads ketchup on everything. The next morning we woke up at 730 to start working but Ian said we would eat breakfast at 10…pshhh um no that’s not ok I wake up at 730 I’m going to eat at 732. Luckily Mags and I actually thought ahead and bought snacks before we left, so breakfast chips were in full swing. Our first task was to chop down a lot full of bamboo, which we thought was pretty cool. I also took it as a good sign because mom or maybe Grams always said bamboo was good luck! Finally at breakfast we had mashed potato pancakes with bacon and eggs and toast. We did some weeding and then João took us on a hike on a Māori trail, which turned into straight up rock climbing going straight up. The view at the top was fantastic though. I think we got a little lost because it took us 2 hours to get home and we somehow ended up in the sand dunes.

We were starving by the time we got home! We were having fish for dinner. It was my first time ever eating muscles and Mags and I shucked the muscles ourselves, it was disgusting. But then Ian mixed it with potatoes, of course, and fried it so it was delicious. We also had sweet fish and fries (more potatoes). Maggie also added hair cutting to her repertoire—João needed a trim.

The next morning was fantastic because Ian made sweet corn fritters and hot damn they were so good! They were like Chicken Express corn nuggets but 100 times better. We immediately asked for the recipe. We chopped a little more bamboo and then to heal my wounds from being all cut up from the bamboo and to heal Mags’, well, everything, Ian drove us all to the Miranda Hot Springs, which are 100% natural mineral water. We made a pit stop at the local dealer ship just to see by off hand they had any campervans. The bamboo must have helped because as we drove up we saw it, the van made for us! We haven’t officially bought it yet because it has to be inspected so we aren’t going to jinx it yet but it will obviously get a post to itself! On our way back we had to stop for ice cream in Pokeno. The ice cream was huge and pretty inexpensive and most of all was delicious.

That night was bonfire night to celebrate our last night at Ians. We made a huge stack of all the bamboo we chopped (not before saving a stick to take with us just incase it was actually good luck) with all the wood we could find in the area and set it ablaze! It was also our 1st time seeing a New Zealand sunset, which was pretty awesome! Ian made stew in a cast iron pot and put it in the fire along with potatoes wrapped in foil to make baked potatoes. It was so good! We also introduced João to how great America is with the tradition of s’mores. The boy has been through 29 years of life with never having eaten a s’more, can you even imagine? How sad. So we ate, we drank, and we lit things on fire… a good night I would say.

The next morning we packed up, hitch hiked our way to Sue’s, and that’s where we are now!

Māori Words

Wai – water (all these towns with Wai in them are on or near the water – Port Waikato)
Maunga – Mountain (the town Maungatapere )
Rua – 2 (Rotorua – because the town has 2 lakes)

I now have a copy editor for all my spelling and grammar! Thanks Mags!