I hadn’t taken part in any fence building activities since the summer of 2004. It was time to get back on the horse.
That was pretty much all I was responsible for during my Workaway at Pete and Kyra’s house. Thankfully, Pete would be directing traffic — I was just “the muscle.” Aka good luck, Pete.
What I lack in bicep mass I make up for in…drinking beer?
To be fair, I dug almost all of the post holes by myself with a shovel and pry bar. Manually. As in, without an auger. It actually went pretty seamlessly. I think Pete was surprised at how much we got done across the 5 days. All posts set and cross beams bolted; on top of some general yard maintenance with accompanying runs to the dump. It was productive.
[Not Pictured: Everything discussed in this post]
My favorite thing about my time at Pete and Kyra’s is a toss up between a sushi salad we had for dinner (need to get that recipe) and Pete’s “go on then!” mantra.
They’re both fit and energetic people, so we ate a lot of tasty, healthy meals. My waist is a reflection of my diet while in New Zealand — I’m on a new hole in my belt. Withering away. Average weight, above average beer gut is probably more like it.
Anyhow, Pete and Kyra are British transplants to New Zealand. So anytime he was saying “go on then” it was essentially him being agreeable to something.
Kyra: Would you like some muesli bars?
Pete: Go on then!
Me: *Pushing a wheelbarrow of soil up a ramp onto the trailer*
Pete: Go on then!
Kyra: Let’s watch the poop program.
Pete: Go on then!
Yes. I’m not exaggerating. There’s a show here (The Good Sh*t) that followed a few obese teens who were in a drug trial that consisted of taking poop pills — literally pills containing bacteria from a fit persons feces. They were trying to prove that changing your gut bacteria would help a person lose weight.
There was an entire show about this. And I watched episodes of it.
I don’t know what to think. What I do know is that the results of the study seemed VERY inconclusive, if not outright a waste of time.
Moving on…
Apart from the odd television choices, they were great hosts with a comfortable house in a solid location. It was walkable to the Nelson city center. Even though it was only a few square blocks, it was by far the closest Workaway I had to civilization. At least I had options. I didn’t end up making it to a trivia night, but we did go out to a craft beer bar to meet some of their friends which was nice.
Timing is a funny thing. I was just thinking, this would’ve been a much better place to spend two weeks as opposed to Ngaruawahia. But if I’d done that, I would’ve been a week early in Taupo and probably wouldn’t have had such an epic experience on the Tongariro Crossing and getting that promo rafting trip.
Things work out. Sometimes with mixed success, as you will note from my trip into Abel Tasman National Park.
That post is on its way…