Sorry all, this post is a little late. I’m getting worse and worse about the time in between each update! I have to do better. That can be my New Year’s resolution, along with drinking more water. Everyone should drink more water, so I think it’s a good one. And attainable, which is the real key here. So New Year’s happened. Happy 2016, everybody! Kind of crazy that it’s a new year, but what was even crazier was that it was 2016 for me but not for any of my friends back home, at least for about 20 hours. So strange! I had to work every day that week, but I had the 31st off, so on the night of the 29th, Sam, my friend Bex (she works with me at the Flat White), and I drove up to Whangamata to meet up with Richard and Dan, who were up there while on break from work. We met Dan at the beach and he took us out to Donut Island on the IRB to meet up with the group there. It’s called Donut Island because it’s got a hole in the middle. Like a donut. It was so cool in there! We had to swim in and then we climbed to the very top. Which was a little treacherous but very worth it. We grabbed fish and chips for dinner before heading into our tents to go to sleep. New Year’s Eve was Thursday and we spent the day at the beach. In the morning we attempted to go hunting for pipis but someone (ahem, Richard) got the tide times wrong so that was a bust. But in the afternoon we went over to Green Island which is kind of like a hidden beach. You have to drive on a rough unpaved road (called the Onemana Forestry Track) and then hike down to the beach from there. We also stopped in at a lookout where you can see the entirety of Whangamata Beach, and Dan showed Sam and I a silver fern, which gets its name from the color on the underside. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing day. We got back to the house to get ready for the night, because we were headed up to Coroglen to see The Feelers play! The venue was real cool and it was a fun night! Just in case you need a refresher on some of their songs, you can click here, here, here or here. I hadn’t been to a concert in a while, so it was nice to have that experience again. Also a drunk woman thought that me and this random girl behind me in line for the bathroom were twins, which was strange, and then it got even stranger when she tried to introduce us to her son. But still, a very fun night! Sam, Bex and I headed back to Waihi Beach early on the 1st because I had work at 8:30 that morning. The weather turned really bad in the afternoon; it was absolutely pouring outside! I got back from work to see a text from Dan that was pleading for him and Richard to come stay with us because their tents and everything in them were absolutely soaked. Dan showed up later that night and Richard came the next day! Saturday Sam and Dan had some bonding time while I was at work, and then Richard arrived from Whanga that afternoon as well. I cooked everyone butter chicken with rice and veggies that night, but it wasn’t my finest cooking attempt. On Sunday I worked for 12 hours (it was so long, it was absolutely crazy) but I got to come home to dinner being cooked by Dan and Richard, which was actually really impressive and made my butter chicken from the night before look like a sad effort. They made pork and chicken sliders and had caramelized onions, camembert cheese, and a ton of other toppings to go with them. It was so nice! I made them put on the apron to my work uniform to pose for a photo with their creation. They even made ambrosia for dessert, which they added the sparkler candles to because on New Years, Sam and I had asked about sparklers (which we didn’t get because they don’t sell them here on New Year's. I know, I was confused as well, that’s a pretty standard item to have but okay New Zealand, just be different, it’s cool) and they remembered that. It was honestly so cute and exactly what I needed to come home to after working for so long. And then we started watching the first Star Wars movie because Sam has never seen them. No, I’m not kidding but don’t worry I’m remedying that situation. We decided to have her watch them in order of being made rather than in chronological order because the original three are just the best and if you’ve never seen them before, that is where to start. At least in my personal opinion. I’m open to discussions on the topic though. Monday was a day off of work for me, so Dan and I headed to the Gypsy Fair that was in Waihi Beach for the weekend. They had hula hoops and cotton candy (which is called candy floss over here) and lots of really neat and quirky stalls set up, with handmade jewellry and clothes and other things. There was even a spin art station as well as candle dipping. It was really neat to walk around and look at everything! After exploring there, we headed over to the surf club to visit Jess and Sam while they were at work and to meet up with Richard. The boys went on a walk to Orokowa while I ran some errands and then the three of us went to the hot pools in Athenree in the evening. It’s pretty cool, the pools are drained and refilled every day and the water is all taken from the natural hot water stores in the ground. It’s a neat idea. Though I will say it wasn’t super hot. We attempted to go to the pub that night, because there was meant to be a band playing or something but it wasn’t that great so we ended up calling it an early night. But it was well attempted. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were pretty uneventful days at work, though I did meet a guy from California who came into the Flat White and told me it was nice to hear a familiar accent. And we did have a tartar sauce situation. So, this woman came up and asked if she could get some tartar sauce. This doesn’t seem that strange, except for the fact that she pronounced it like tar-tier and I had never heard it said like that ever. I must have given her a very blank look because she said “you know, for my fish burger” and that’s when it clicked. I walked back into the kitchen and saw Davi, our head chef, and said “okay, hi David, I need some of the sauce that you put on a fish burger. I have no idea what you call it, but I call it tartar sauce.” He started laughing at me so hard while he was getting it for me and then one of the other chefs, Stef, said “hold on, wait, how do you say it??” and then I repeated myself and then the whole kitchen was laughing and I was giggling and mumbling “okay, whatever, I have to go deliver this sauce, I don’t have time to discuss this, I’m mad at all of you, also you call bell peppers ‘capsicums’ and sweet potato ‘kumura’ so like you’re the weird ones” while I walked out of the kitchen. When I handed the woman her sauce, I apologized for the translation issues but she was kind of laughing too and said it wasn’t a problem. Other than that, pretty uneventful. I discussed it with Dan and Richard afterwards and we realized it’s because they spell it tartare, so having the e at the end changes the pronunciation. But seriously, it’s still weird. And I don’t think I’ll ever live that one down. What wasn’t uneventful was the start of water polo! I will be playing for the Tauranga senior women’s team and we have a couple of tournaments in February. I had practice starting this past week in preparation for that, and it was so awesome to get back in the pool again! They were pretty chill for now, we’ll have more people coming from this week onwards. It’s also cool that we practice with the men’s team as well, which is great for building my reaction time. I missed being in the pool so much. I feel at home again now that I’ve got my goal back! Also, Sam and I bought a rice cooker and a slow cooker at Kmart. Necessities. Friday I worked all day, but I had one last lunch visit from Sam and Dan before Dan headed back to Auckland. Then I made plans with some of the girls after work to hang out and have a few drinks, which was a lot of fun. It’s really nice to be getting to know people and setting up a life down here! Which will make it sad when I leave, but we won’t worry about that for now. Yesterday was my day off, and I spent it mostly packing, as Sam and I move back to the Top 10 today. I’ve also got a busy day with work, so it’ll be a long day! Til next time!
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Meet AnyaHi, Hola, Bonjour, Ciao!
I’m Anya Phillips, a data analyst and travel enthusiast who is always on the lookout for the next adventure! Categories
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