Oak Tree Cottage

G’day!  

One week left in New Zealand! The host that we have been staying with is the best host that Nolan and I have had for our HelpX experience. That is saying something with ten hosts under our belts in the last four months. Nicola is such a warm-hearted person. They family is so outgoing and they love to have a good time and just have a good laugh. They have a very relaxed outlook on life. Money and things are not quintessential necessities for the Kerslake family. They just take the willingness of good people and love around them to make them happy. Having said that they do have some bumps along the road, but what family doesn’t? My point is that they are a special family that I have grown close to in the last week and a half and I can say in confidence that I will be sad to go when Monday roles around. I feel like this is what Helpx is all about. I have been asked a reoccurring question several occasions by many different backpackers. Why would you do HelpX, don’t you just work all day and sit around the house afterwards? My answer to them is no. Helpx actually is entirely different from what tone may perceive. It’s not just work for a free bed to sleep in at night and free meals during the morning and evening. It is more about experiencing another person’s way of life and way of living. I’ve learned so much in the last four months that I wouldn’t have learned sitting in a classroom in a university. I’m not saying that traveling is for everyone. Although I am saying that traveling is for me. I believe I have made one of the best decisions in my life to travel overseas and do this amazing program. I’ve learned a lot about my self along the way and the people that also live on the wonderful planet of ours. There is so much to offer out here and such little time to discover it all. I’ve grown to really love this as you can see with my blogs. I believe that the world is our playground. If we decide to take that first big step out of our comfort zone and gain the courage to book that flight and take that step onto that plane then your world can be flipped upside down. The beauty of it is that my travels our now taking a new and interesting chapter to a new foreign land. Similar to that of New Zealand but a bit different at the same time. I’m eager to head to Christchurch on Monday then fly out on Tuesday to Sydney. I have already got my next Helpx host all lined up for my next adventure to Australia! 

The past two weeks Nolan and I have just been doing serious amounts of landscaping. Cutting down trees and taking off limbs! Two chainsaws and two young men that are eager to get out and work are asses off for Nicola and Russ because they are such lovely host. Our little saying at the cottage is, “Work hard, play hard”. Basic saying indeed, but it is the truth. Nicola is a big believer in what you put into work is what you will get out of it at the end of they day. She has taken us down the coast so we could get pictures of the seals and see the rugged coastline. Also, today she took us to Yealdans Winery, which is the largest privately owned winery in the entire southern hemisphere. We had a wine tasting for free and that was really nice of her! I’m sure having a blast at the Oak Tree Cottage!