6 days no shower, going strong, smelling strong.

Living in a van is the best, why we didn’t do this sooner in our lives is a mystery. We are basically human turtles, we take all our crap where every we go. If we get tired, no biggy, pull over take a nap in the back. Running out of sunlight on a crazy adventure, no problem your home is already there. Buying groceries at the store go directly from the cart to the kitchen. It’s by far the best way to get rid of any stress in life at all. The only slight problem is showering, we have a portable shower we just haven’t found a place to fill it up. This past week we went 6 days without showering, but you know there are worse things.

So far we have yet to meet just an ordinary person, everyone in New Zealand leads an extraordinary exciting life. Staying with Mike (OG) has been very interesting. So far there are 3 Mikes here; Mike (OG), Other Mike, and New Mike (sometimes we call him Jacob). Mike (OG) has been everywhere and has the most exciting stories about how he has slept in a bed of a truck he found or how he had to drive a car with no breaks across Europe or how he drove a car using only crutches. He has seen all of most countries by fixing up cars or being a driver.

Other Mike is basically The News. He comes from a well-connected family and used to do media reporting as a profession and he has been to some of the most dangerous parts of the world. He knows about crimes before they are even in the police crime log and gives educational speeches to the High Courts. I secretly think he runs New Zealand.

New Mike went to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished 5th in the Kayak sprint. Enough said!

Other Mike took us to finally do laundry; we stopped by an Op Shop (a good will type place) to ask for directions. While inside we talked to this lovely 88-year-old woman, it was the first time I have ever been called a Yank, and she said it in a positive way. She told us she was so happy when the Yanks came in to New Zealand to help during World War II. While we waited for our laundry to go through the cycle we went to McDonalds because we are American trash…and because they have free WiFi.

In the McDonalds, which was so nice and clean nothing like American McDonalds, there was a wall with a mural of a waterfall. We found out it is Hunua Falls and that it was only a 10 min drive from where we were staying. We ended up going the next day. All the signs and research we did said it was a very easy walk for anyone to go on. I don’t know what these people think at moderate trail is but I’m not sure I want to find out. This simple walk showed us just how out of shape we were. The sign said it would take us about 4 hours and we did finish in 3 but man it kicked our butts. Also because there are so little people in New Zealand we were the only ones on the trail, which was a bit scary at a moment when we thought we were lost and couldn’t figure out which way to go. That’s the one thing we have found out: New Zealand is terrible at signage, which makes every outing an adventure!

The next day we felt bad about how out of shape we were so we went right back out and hiked another trail. This time we went to the Clevedon Scenic Reserve. The view was amazing, but even better, there were puppies. I’m not talking a couple of pups I’m talking 6 pups all at once ranging from little white fluffs all the way to large pit bull sweat hearts, so basically it was the best day.

The next day we took a break from hiking and Other Mike took us into town because he had to give a speech and we still needed supplies for our van. We went to the most beautiful shopping center. The woman at the information desk, Kate, was so sweet she gave us her name and number and said if we ever needed anything while we were in New Zealand at all Auntie Kate could help us! We picked up storage and figured out a less expensive phone plan. We also tried to find an All Black jersey to prepare ourselves for rugby season but they were all $100 or more. We did find out they seem to love American sports apparel even if they have no idea what they are supporting. We found a bin of athletic team hats so of course Mags rearranged the bin so all the Yankee hats were at the bottom (go Sox!)

Mike gave us his car to drive while he was in his speech so we drove to the hardware store to pick up mosquito nets because you guessed it, Mags along with all her ailments is also prime mosquito meat! However it’s not really a day out with Paggie if there is no crisis. We couldn’t figure out how to turn off Other Mikes car!! We turned the key and the key came out but the car didn’t turn off, panic ensued. We had broken Mike’s car. Our quick fix was Maggie go inside buy the nets I take Other Mike’s car and drive it around until Maggie came out. This meant I looked like a lunatic or a predator because I essentially drove a circle around this small parking lot for 20 minutes. We drove back to the shopping center where thankfully they had wifi and we googled our way out of this crisis. After 30 minutes of trying everything every website suggested we found out that there is a button on this model of car that you have to push before you turn the key to turn off the car.

After our hour of crisis we deserved food. We finally had some famous New Zealand sushi, and anyone from California, Boston, or NYC will tell you the best place to find authentic really good sushi is actually at the strip mall. That is exactly where we headed! That day both the Scottish boys left and the 3 French left so it was down to us 2 Americans and a lovely young couple, Olivia and Alfie, from England.

Since we have been at Mike’s (OG) we have been earning our keep by watching the 2 most adorable girls Charlotte and Kate. Charlotte is in Kindy(Kindergarten) and says Ashley like Ash-O-Lee and I love it! However Mike (OG) and his wife Svetlana had a friend coming in from Germany that needed picking up from the airport. The Mikes were too busy working on cars trying to get promises met and Svetlana only has her learners (she is in the process of getting her NZ license it just takes a while, she is from the Ukraine) that means it was up to us to drive her to the airport! Anyone who even vaguely knows me knows that airports scare the living shit out of me; flying out of them or driving to them, there is just too much traffic and commotion and signs are never good and panic always happens. I kept my panic and played it cool on the outside, but even worse than driving to the airport, I had to drive with an infant in the car (Mike (OG) and Svetlana also have a 6 month old named Logan). I was in a sweat before we even left the driveway; driving, airport, and a child in the car…not a good mix. Then when we picked up Patrick (the German friend) and his family, Svetlana and baby Logan rode with Maggie because there weren’t enough seats in one car so we had to take 2. So now I am driving with this lovely German boy his wife and their one year old(another baby, I cant catch a break) that I have never met and it’s 5:00 traffic and I don’t have directions I just have to follow Maggie and hope to god no one comes between us which is really hard because they don’t have traffic lights they have round-abouts.

We all made it home safe and sound and Patrick even tried to teach me some German and we talked about Berlin (they live right outside Berlin) so not a bad 1 drive with strangers.

Today is Thanksgiving, well kind of. It’s Thursday here so we are making everyone celebrate! We are going to teach the Brits, the Kiwis, and the Germans about over eating it’s going to be great! However this morning is not going to plan. We have lost water so everything has been put on hold hopefully all will be fixed soon!

Things we have learned

plaster – band aid

Pudding – dessert time. They don’t have actual pudding here. You try explaining the food item, pudding, to someone who has never had or seen it, it’s quite hard.

It’s officially summer here and man is the sun strong! We are going to be fried. I reapplied the blue lizard 3 times in one afternoon and I am still joined the redneck club.

Maggie should write a cookbook called Making a Meal Out of Nothing. I’ll look in the van and see that we are down to basically rice and Maggie will make a beautiful delicious filling meal out of it, it’s magical!

We have fallen in love with Hokey Pokey ice cream, lemon bitter, Tim Tams, and New Zealand honey, there is nothing like it!