Fiona & Jerrys/New Plymouth

We're on the road from Te Kuiti to New Plymouth - we had applied for jobs in the area but the woman double booked us in so she asked around her friends if they knew anyone we could stay with, that's how we got to stay with Fiona & her family. Fiona had never done anything like this before so asked her friend what we had to do. She'd explained we'd do a couple of hours work a day in return for a room and meals. Fiona then made a list of things we could get on with which kept us busy. On the way to their house the roads where so bendy, the scenery was amazing! We were driving along the coast, the sea looked so clear. We got to the town & had lunch then made our way to the familys house. It was a lovely little area & the houses were so lush.

We pulled up to the house & knocked on the door but there was no answer so we phoned Fionas mobile and she said they were on their way home & to wait on the veranda around in the back garden. As we looked around their garden and nosed through the windows of the house we noticed that everything was spotless and wondered what work we'd have to do - it was all immaculate. When Fiona arrived she invited us in & introduced us to Gerry & Ethan (they had a daughter too, Nadia. She was at her grans for the weekend). We had a roast dinner cooked for us and then relaxed on our 1st evening and watched monster house. It was so cosy and snuggly. Grant & Fiona stayed awake to watch the rugby that was on at 11pm. Well, it came on a little later than 11, I got to bed, Grant said he watched 2 minutes of it then nodded off & didn't wake up until 4am & that's when he came to bed.
We got breaky the next day then cleaned the windows & the walls, Grant also cleaned up an old rusty park bench they wanted for their garden. In the afternoon Nadia came home and we met Fiona's parents. We got lunch, had a shower then later on in the evening Fiona home made traditional Kiwi dip and we had chips and dip.

Monday morning - Nadia's CD was playing & half woke me, but soon after the alarm clock went off. Not wanting to get up at all, but then Ethan comes in asking if I'd walk them to school. I agreed but when I got into the kitchen I noticed it was belting down with rain so decided to take the car. On my way back I was driving down the street where I noticed a huge mountain covered in snow!!! At 1st I didn't think it was real, I thought it was a cloud but no, it was right there - a perfect view from the front garden. I told Grant to come look & when he saw it he couldn't believe his eyes. The rain had cleared up & the sun was out so Fiona told us to go & drive to it after we'd finished our jobs. Grant cleaned out the pond whilst I picked out the dead leaves in amongst the plants. Fiona suggested taking a packed lunch so she maked sandwiches and packed up biscuits, fruit and a drink - then we headed off. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the mountain car park. On the way the mountain was in our view the entire time. The closer we got, the bigger the mountain became. It was increadible. We parked up & ate our lunch whilst waiting for the clouds to move so we could get good photos. When the clouds shifted we quickly got a couple of shots before more appeared.

Grant then drove us to a nearby waterfall (I slept on the way), when we got back to the car we noticed that the clutch didn't feel right, which meant the gear stick wouldn't fall into place - which then meant the car stalled. We made our way back to the house which was embarrasing. Every set of traffic lights we came to we'd have to put the hazzards on, turn off the engine, put it into 2nd gear - then when it was ready to go I'd turn the engine back on hoping it would jump start itself and let me drive off. We eventually made it back - when we told Fiona she called Gerry at work to see if he knew how much it would cost to get it fixed. He said what he thought it might be & explained that it would cost 600$ just to get the clutch fixed. Straight away we knew that we couldn't afford to pay out that amount of money and knew that we'd would probably have to go home. When Gerry got home from work he took a look at it & noticed that there was no clutch fluid. He said he'd be able to get us some fluid for cheap from work. Grant & I both went to get the kids from school, we took Fiona's car & parked up behind a car that got reversed into by another vehicle. The driver reversed out off his drive & straight into this ladies bonnet and head lights...then drove off!!! We both got out of the car & ran to see if she was ok. She'd somehow managed to jot down the registration number of the car, she called the police & they came straight away. We gave a statement & our details. The policeman explained that the registration number is from a stolen car! We got the kids & when we got home we made Welsh cakes & chocolate chip muffins, we wrapped up some Welsh cakes & went around to their next door neighbours to hand some out (the one old chap thought that we were selling them & said he'd like to buy a raffle ticket lol, bless him). We played a game called trouble which was lush - it was a game I used to play with my nan.

In the week Grant & I walked up a real steep mountain called Paritutu. Well, I didn't go all the way to the top. On the way up we were right on the edge of the cliff! Grant made it to the top & got some photos of the view of the city.Climbing back down the rocks was quite a nightmare. We went food shopping for ingredients so Grant could make pizza. It was bloody lush! I made wedges - we had a huge feast. In the mornings the kids would knock on the door & ask for is to walk them to school. The one morning Ethan knocked to ask if I'd go on his school feild trip with him, bless! At first I said no (as I'd just woke up) but then felt sorry for him...I didn't know if that was allowed but Fiona explained parents are allowed to go as they need at least one adult to suporvise 5 kids, so I ended up being persuaded to go?!?! I lent Fiona's gum boots, put some warm clothes on & went to the school. I was introduced to Ethans teacher which was wierd. There were a couple of other parents there that I thought would have kept me company - but didn't which was disapointing. We all squeezed on the bus, there were about 60 kids & 10 adults! It was loud & the kids were so annoying. We visited a dairy farm & seen tons of cows. The kids got to put their fingers into the milking cups to feel how they got milked and then went to feed the calfs. We had late morning snacks then got back on the bus to come home, the ride back on the bus was worse, I had girls screaming and singing in my ear & was squished inbetween Ethan & his butty. Fiona came to pick us up & I'm glad she did as I had the biggest headache ever after being around all those screaming annoying kids.
During the week Grant put together the park bench & I trimmed some trees, cleaned up the garden & picked up all the dead bits. Grant also cut a load of branches off their lemon tree & grapefruit tree. We picked a load of the fruits off & made juice - it was a delicious recipe. In the evenings after dinner, Grant, Nadia & I would play trouble & after the kids got sent to bed I'd watch films in bed on the laptop. Nadia & I made more muffins & Welsh cakes, this time the Welsh cakes were for her teacher & class mates - to go with a speech she had to do for school - and it was about us!!! I had told Nadia that if she made them she'd get bonus points lol. Friday night we all got ready to go out to a rugby match that Gerry had got free tickets to, but it poured down with rain so we cancelled & stayed in for the evening! We watched Alvin & the chipmonks lol. On Saturday, Fiona's mum & step dad came round for lunch & made us all white bait fritters, the white bait was what Fiona's step dad had caught himself which was cool. We had the fritters in bread rolls & they were delicous. Later on at dinner time we had homemade Kiwi burgers. The kiwi dip & chips. Nadia, Ethan & I coloured - oh & made yoghurt icepops.

Sunday was our last day, Grant put the park bench out in the garden & helped with the compost patch whilst me & Nadia once again made muffins. Fiona also showed me how to make a Pavlova. The kids went swimming in the afternoon, so Grant & Fiona watched a film & I had a nap. When the kids got back we coloured again then Grant played in the garden with them. We had a roast lamb dinner that evening & Fiona's pavlova for dessert, we were fed so well - we nearly burst from being so full. After dinner the kids gave us cards that they had made for us & a gift wrapped prezzy. The cards had "we'll miss you" on them & we had a kiwi bottle opener & a box of roses!!! It was a lush gesture & it made me realise that we hadn't made them a card or get them anything - it hadn't occured to me, which isn't normally the case. We played one last game of trouble then they got to bed.We packed everything, got to sleep & were up at 6am to set off to get our ferry across to the South Island.