New Zealand
So my first proper write up in a long time as there has just been too much to write about to carry on everyday. I spent a total of 7 months here in new zealand and had some amazing experiences. My first job was to find a car for me and gen while she was in tonga. The diliema was whether to get a self contained van or just get a normal family wagon and kit it out. Self contained gives you more places to stay as i later found out but the trade off is more money. I decided that a Mazda MPV was the best option and found an unconverted one for $3500 with 125,000km on the clock. This was a pretty good find and i wanted a car that hadn't been around new zealand 10 times. After a week of work it had been kitted out with a bed, safe storage and curtains for about $300. Our trip took us all the way to the top of the north (cape rienga) and down to the bottom ( the bluff). We saw so many places in between that there are too many to mention but some of my favorites were Mount maunganui We spent about 1 month here doing helpx, house sitting and living in the van. The beaches were awesome and the surf was great. We met up with friends that we had met in sumatra and spent christmas with there family which was amazing. Nelson We spent about a month here aswel and it ended up feeling like home. We had an amazing helpx at fairfield house with catheryn (the owner) and some amazing people. I learnt so much and got to build a pizza oven, do wood turning, learn some carpentry and landscaping. If i had to live anywhere in new zelaand it would be here. The thing that really got me down in new zealand was Freedom camping. Turns out new zealand has become pretty pissed off with people coming and camping where ever they like and being disrespectful, and rightly so. This has meant that they have passed a law imposing $200 fines to anyone caught camping where there shouln't be. Although we didnt recieve any fines or hassle, the stress of finding somewhere to sleep really wore me down. We ended up mostly waiting till it was dark, pulling up in a street with other cars and jumping in the back. Luckly our car looked like a family car and nothing like the other traveller cars (estimas) so we never had any problems. One of the best expierences was Helpx and the people we met. We stayed with so many amazing people who would just go out of there way to help you and make you feel part of the family. Lauren,John,Eli,Tasman and Bodhi were our first helpx near helensville and honestly one of the most welcoming familys i've ever met. They gave us great food, great conversation and showed me what family can be like if you just chill out. They even sorted out our last helpx with Friends Dom,Judy and Louisa which was also amazing. I was here for my 30th birthday and they made it feel like home. Fairfield house was like living with friends, something i miss. We made geniunue friendships with Mike, Trish, Ronan and Ami and will really miss them. Now money wise for the 7 months here i only spent ..............£2029!!!!!!!!!!! We sold the car for $4000 so made all our money back on that. We never once paid for accomadation, which is a massive saving. We either slept in the car or got a helpx. Now the plan was to work for awhile but i decided that i just wanted to enjoy my time here and not spend it working. New zealand has been amazing and has been a home from home but it will never be home so off to catch a flight back to Sri lanka for a month hoilday before ending our trip and heading home.