We left Gisborne this morning, after a late breakfast (our last 2 muffins!) around 1030am. Again, both Ross and Robyne had left for work. I had said my goodbye to Ross the night before, but K and I will be saying goodbye to Robyne in town later where she works.
After packing and loading everything into the car, which we are both getting really sick of already, we drove to town, met Robyne, passed her the house keys and said our goodbyes. Then it was off to Hastings to meet up with Ah Ming, Adreana and look for some work!
The ride to Hastings took about 2.5 hours. Poor K must be so sick of driving on all the stupid windy roads already. I feel so guilty not learning to drive and having a license so i can take turns driving with him.. = (
We had lunch on the way in Wairoa town. We drove past this bakery that has "Baker of the Year" on it's shop front, so decided to give that a try. I never looked back. I had chicken pie and home made vege and ham soup. The shop was adorned with so many awards for all kinds of pies, bread and pizzas that i was amazed. The chicken pie was quite good, but not as good as my favourite ones from York Hotel back home.. = )
We hit the roads again after lunch and arrived at Hastings around 3pm. Then our search for accomodation began. Initially, we had planned to stay together with Ah Ming and Adreana, cause they rented a room in a 3 bedroom apartment. But when we text them before arriving in Hastings, they asked us to look for our own accomodation first because the extra room in their current apartment was too small for a couple.
So K and Iand drove around and went in to several backpackers, lodges and motels to enquire. All of them were either too expensive, dodgy or totally cannot make it. We hunted for about 1.5 hours until 430pm, and still no suitable accomodation. By then, i was getting a bit restless and irritated. K had promised we would look for a place to stay that is like Seagulls Guest house in Mt Mauganui where we had stayed: Clean, warm, big kitchen, bathroom inside the bedroom, and reasonably priced. But after 1.5 hours of searching, no luck. We did see one motel that we liked a lot, but they were willing to give us cheapest $80 a night for one week's stay. Seagulls was $35 per night.
Eventually, we got recommendation from one of the lodge owners to visit another lodge called "Atrium Motor Lodge" nearby. Which we did. The lady at the counter showed us the room, which i fell in love with almost instantly. It was warm, cosy and very homely. And it comes with a TV and small little kitchen. All in one. The lady wanted to charge us $630 for a week. Then bargained down to 10% off. We managed to get ourselves the room for $300 in the end. We told her our story, that her price was above our budget, that we were looking for work and would stay more than a month if we get a job. The lady told us it was her birthday, and also told us she had a Malaysian guy staying who helps people look for work in Hastings. Maybe because it was her birthday and she wanted to do something good and help us, that's how we managed to get the good bargain. = )
After checking into our "new home", the lady introduced us to the Malaysian man, Michael. Michael stayed 3 rooms beside us. When we introduced ourselves as Singaporeans, Michael immediately asked if we knew Ah Ming. What a small world!! Apparently, Michael is the boyfriend of Ah Ming's sister, who also lives there. We got ourselves jobs at the vineyard and were to start the following day.
30 mins later, Ah Ming and Adreana arrived and we all laughed over the whole coincidence. How of all places, we chose to stay at the same lodge as Michael. Few days ago, Adreana added me on her Facebook and as i was browsing through her profile, i realized that we both had the exact same birthdate, only she's 4 years younger. So when we met again, we laughed over that as well.. I think the 4 of us are going to be great friends... = )
Dinner was microwaved leftover Hawaiian pizza. K and I tried to sleep early, cause work at the vineyard will start at 730am tomorrow, and we have to leave the lodge at 630am. I am so NOT looking forward to it. Actually, the plan was for K to work while i stayed home, but there was some miscommunication, and Michael had told the "boss" that both K and I would be working. So in order not to cause inconvenience to Michael, i agreed to work for one day tomorrow. And according to Adreana, work will be cutting plastic bags at the bottom of the grape vines, so there will be a lot of bending and squatting. That will definitely NOT help with my already painful lower back. Still can't believe i have to get up at 6am tomorrow!! Sigh.. I miss my beach house!!
After packing and loading everything into the car, which we are both getting really sick of already, we drove to town, met Robyne, passed her the house keys and said our goodbyes. Then it was off to Hastings to meet up with Ah Ming, Adreana and look for some work!
The ride to Hastings took about 2.5 hours. Poor K must be so sick of driving on all the stupid windy roads already. I feel so guilty not learning to drive and having a license so i can take turns driving with him.. = (
We had lunch on the way in Wairoa town. We drove past this bakery that has "Baker of the Year" on it's shop front, so decided to give that a try. I never looked back. I had chicken pie and home made vege and ham soup. The shop was adorned with so many awards for all kinds of pies, bread and pizzas that i was amazed. The chicken pie was quite good, but not as good as my favourite ones from York Hotel back home.. = )
We hit the roads again after lunch and arrived at Hastings around 3pm. Then our search for accomodation began. Initially, we had planned to stay together with Ah Ming and Adreana, cause they rented a room in a 3 bedroom apartment. But when we text them before arriving in Hastings, they asked us to look for our own accomodation first because the extra room in their current apartment was too small for a couple.
So K and Iand drove around and went in to several backpackers, lodges and motels to enquire. All of them were either too expensive, dodgy or totally cannot make it. We hunted for about 1.5 hours until 430pm, and still no suitable accomodation. By then, i was getting a bit restless and irritated. K had promised we would look for a place to stay that is like Seagulls Guest house in Mt Mauganui where we had stayed: Clean, warm, big kitchen, bathroom inside the bedroom, and reasonably priced. But after 1.5 hours of searching, no luck. We did see one motel that we liked a lot, but they were willing to give us cheapest $80 a night for one week's stay. Seagulls was $35 per night.
Eventually, we got recommendation from one of the lodge owners to visit another lodge called "Atrium Motor Lodge" nearby. Which we did. The lady at the counter showed us the room, which i fell in love with almost instantly. It was warm, cosy and very homely. And it comes with a TV and small little kitchen. All in one. The lady wanted to charge us $630 for a week. Then bargained down to 10% off. We managed to get ourselves the room for $300 in the end. We told her our story, that her price was above our budget, that we were looking for work and would stay more than a month if we get a job. The lady told us it was her birthday, and also told us she had a Malaysian guy staying who helps people look for work in Hastings. Maybe because it was her birthday and she wanted to do something good and help us, that's how we managed to get the good bargain. = )
After checking into our "new home", the lady introduced us to the Malaysian man, Michael. Michael stayed 3 rooms beside us. When we introduced ourselves as Singaporeans, Michael immediately asked if we knew Ah Ming. What a small world!! Apparently, Michael is the boyfriend of Ah Ming's sister, who also lives there. We got ourselves jobs at the vineyard and were to start the following day.
30 mins later, Ah Ming and Adreana arrived and we all laughed over the whole coincidence. How of all places, we chose to stay at the same lodge as Michael. Few days ago, Adreana added me on her Facebook and as i was browsing through her profile, i realized that we both had the exact same birthdate, only she's 4 years younger. So when we met again, we laughed over that as well.. I think the 4 of us are going to be great friends... = )
Dinner was microwaved leftover Hawaiian pizza. K and I tried to sleep early, cause work at the vineyard will start at 730am tomorrow, and we have to leave the lodge at 630am. I am so NOT looking forward to it. Actually, the plan was for K to work while i stayed home, but there was some miscommunication, and Michael had told the "boss" that both K and I would be working. So in order not to cause inconvenience to Michael, i agreed to work for one day tomorrow. And according to Adreana, work will be cutting plastic bags at the bottom of the grape vines, so there will be a lot of bending and squatting. That will definitely NOT help with my already painful lower back. Still can't believe i have to get up at 6am tomorrow!! Sigh.. I miss my beach house!!
Posts
June 20, 2009 at 4:57 AM
get a good massage from keson at night!