Level One: Adventures (trying not to be a hermit) and Projects (yay being a hermit!)!

Travels

I was on a trip with other friends who escaped the Bay Area, in a grocery store to be exact, when I found out New Zealand was moving to level one- that night.  At midnight.  And a friend from the Bay Area was the one to tell me.

I've let two months go by before writing this post.  And I'm writing it right after Auckland has returned to level 3, the rest of the country level 2.  I'll leave that story for another day.  Right now reminiscing level 1 which lasted June 8th - August 11th.

We were on a two week adventure to WFH in Korito, Taranaki at an "eco bach" and then Wellington.  Jacqueline suggested we stop off on the drive and go to see "the Three Sisters" and Elephant Rock.

And yet I'm not showing you photos of either the sisters or an identifiable one of the elephant.  The above was from beneath the elephant.

The bach had a little walking trail.  It was refreshing to be working alongside other people for a change, and people keeping roughly the same kind of schedule.  They were a couple on their own, though, and still communicated in PDT which led to confusion a couple of times when they asked if I wanted to join them for dinner at 6pm.  Which was within an hour after I ate lunch (1pm NZ time).

I suppose this was my first going out into nature.  I was feeling much of a hermit and hadn't gone out that much during level 2 (May 13th-June 8th).  I kept putting off going on a WFH trip with them, having become a little afraid of leaving the house/Jacqueline/my town.

There was a friendly goat that was super excited to see me.  Later in the stay I saw a note that it liked to head butt women.  Well- I reasonably kept my distance though it was nice to see how excited the goat was.  See Mount Taranaki in the background?  On a clear day you could see it from the little window in the kitchen.

There was an outdoor bath that I was super excited about.  It was heated through solar power.  I tried it out one day and thought I got a little warm water out.  So- I decided wine, cheese and a phone call with putting my feet in the bath one day.  But it was too darn cold.  So- wine, cheese, onesie and phone call instead!

Mmmm... cumin Gouda, which I've come to associate with New Zealand.  Why so many Gouda/Holland cheese shops here?  Don't know but it makes me happy.

I needed to stop in at an internet cafe for a meeting between Taranaki and Wellington and I got some very sage advice.  The cafe was full of great advice!

Onto Wellington!  The exciting bit of the trip I went out bar hopping with a dear friend of Jacqueline's.  We had a very lovely afternoon of going to several different spots in Wellington, some of which I had gone to with Jacqueline.  When I arrived he had two gin and tonics waiting: what a gentleman!

The bathroom of Hippopotamus had such great lighting I couldn't pass up selfies on the couch.  I think Jacqueline's friend thought I fell in while in the loo.  I don't know that he was very excited for me for the lighting.  Who puts a chaise in the restroom if they don't expect you to sit down and rest?  The crew of Avatar were rumored to be staying in the Hippopotamus (and in managed isolation) and the upstairs bar/restaurant wasn't open.  We made do with the downstairs.

I don't remember what these were but they were probably pretty good.

Delicious espresso drink in a rooftop bar.

No pictures from The Library?  How'd that happen?  I guess I must have thought I probably bombarded him with photos all afternoon.

View from AirBnb at the end of the evening.

Well- time in Wellington was cut short.  Two women were granted compassionate leave of managed isolation and travelled to Wellington and then tested positive.  Jacqueline and I talked and we both felt more comfortable if I got out of there immediately.  Luckily it turned out there was no community spread.  Initial news said that they hadn't seen anyone else, but Jacqueline and I didn't believe it and it did turn out they visited some friends in Auckland.  So- went home and we both felt relieved.

Back home and venturing out

Jacqueline and I went out on "my Sunday" (aka Monday) to Hamilton to a tapas restaurant we had heard about.  We decided we wanted to take a trip every weekend as it was so good to get out.

I must have said something very clever.  We were the only ones in the restaurant.  Late for lunch, too early for dinner.  We thought we'd drink and nibble until dinner but we were done way before then.

Little walk behind the restaurant afterwards.

Another day we went to Taupo and I had a lovely old fashioned and we went back to the restaurant we liked so much in Taupo.

Jacqueline bought a bike off Facebook marketplace and then I did the same.  When we got them home we realized we had gotten the same kind of bike.  Never ever would I have guessed the two of us would go on bike rides together: we are more the type to sip wine or tea.  But, with covid comes changes.  And now we look forward to our bike rides whenever the weather permits.  Apparently we've made some of the neighbors happy as they've seen us tooting down the road.

We see sunsets from the living room each day.  I keep buying lights for the place and putting them up.
And I got us a smart colored light bulb for the living room.  We were thinking of naming our place "The Lighthouse" but I already know a house called that.  Then "The Lit House" but once I explained what it meant Jacqueline didn't want us to become that popular and having random visitors.  Think we are going to be "The Vines" for the grapes that grow outside the front door and all the vines that we plan to someday plant.  And for all the roots and things that'll grow from our place.

Day out to "op shops" and I found some shoes that are almost exactly the shoes I wear everyday, but one is velvet and the other patent leather.  So- I got them and just have to ensure there isn't rain or mud before wearing them.  How serendipitous is that?  I also found a springtime cover jacket in an OP shop a few months ago that was the same as I had left behind and had been missing.  Imagine that!  I love serendipity.

Jacqueline had suggested a wallpaper mural for my room.  So- here we go- we are now "experts".

Fush and chups.  Oh yeah- and wine.  I am supposed to be talking about wine.  I've made it through my stockpile.  Jacqueline did "dry July" so the finishing was all me.

I ordered new wigs in April and finally got them.  We went to Tauranga to pick up some wallpaper that we bought off someone off Facebook marketplace.  Little did we know we'd be making new friends on the trip.  We had such a lovely time and bought more things from the woman, including a green table and she threw in the paint.  Yay: paint for projects!

We finished the day at a french cafe.  I was so exhausted from walking around the mall.  I've learned I hate malls.

We stopped off at Colson's hill and took some photos because the lighting was so nice.  I was super excited to finally get the jacket I ordered back in April as well.  During covid some things took months to get here.

There was a birthday party in the family complete with petting zoo.  I think Jacqueline looks very good with a chicken as an accessory.

Village People and Gloria Gaynor did an AARP & Daybreaker's event.  And I got up at 3am to join in.  And then had video problems and didn't get to see Village People doing the YMCA with me.  BUT I did get to see Gloria Gaynor sing.  And my super bestie joined in from California.  They started the event with dance lessons from a famous choreographer whose name I did recognize.

The smart lightbulb to green and the new wallpaper from the new friends in Tauranga.

Jacqueline convinced me to get a Groupon for a photoshoot during lockdown.  So- we went up to Auckland, I got my makeup done at MAC (where the inspiration was Christina Aguilera from Moulin Rouge.)  I showed the makeup artist tons of photos and then she suggested the Christina Moulin Rouge look which turned out well.  Mid way through the makeup session I pulled out my necklace that is almost identical to the one Christina was wearing.

Unfortunately the photo shoot didn't go so well and I don't think I've ever seen myself look so horrible.  If the photoshoot is worse than when you look in the mirror- that is bad.  I had made Jacqueline watch YouTube videos about preparing for the photoshoot and they said things like I'd be sore from all the contortions.  I was not.  Didn't they see I had the Moulin Rouge makeup and I needed to attempt to look like I could do acrobatics?

We intended to do a before and after photo in front of this sign but we were in a rush afterwards.  Notice I'm not sharing any of the professional photos.  :(  Well- I bought new makeup to play with.  Did I say Jacqueline has training in cosmetology?  There are many things she can teach me during these covid times and I've had one makeup lesson so far.

He's getting fresh pizza with me at the Pizza Library in Tauranga.  We must have had some other trip to Tauranga to pick up something or another.  We were very tired by the time we ate here but it was such a great atmosphere and great pizza.  For Jaqueline's birthday we'll come back and order all the pizzas.

Projects!  And more Projects!

Jacqueline's friend came over to help us with projects and she bought a onesie at the op shop so we had a onesie party!

We *finally* opened the bottle of blue bubbly that we thought we'd drink when we moved into the new place.  We finally had a mini-celebration before the days of projects began.

You saw the photos of the wallpaper I did?  Well- when it dried it moved and then there were white lines.  The company sent me a new print, I ripped off the old print and we decided to glue the old prints to the kitchen cabinet doors.  Another friend from the Bay Area who had moved to New Zealand in January was going to come and visit for a few days so we were in a rush to get many projects done before he came.

I had the idea of covering the print with resin but we decided maybe that was expensive and went with shellac.  That did *not* produce the shiny result we were looking for.  But we ended up very happy with the end result.  Too bad we don't have a before photo of the absolutely terrible blue.  Somehow putting in the darker cabinets made the room feel bigger.  And much happier to be in.

Jacqueline found a wardrobe on Facebook market place for $50.  The guy delivered it for $10.  That was a steal.  It was heavy.  Jacqueline was not approving of the $30 plastic wardrobe I bought online.  So- while Jacqueline and her friend were figuring out the kitchen cabinets I was sanding and painting the wardrobe.  Finished photos to come in a future blog.

Celebrating the finished project of the mural, perfect this time!

My other project was the disco toilet.  I'll report more on that in a future blog.  It is still a work in progress.

Visiting and getting out

So- my friend came down to visit and we went to natural hot springs (complete with waterfall!) and an evening redwood walk in Rotorua with an amazing light display.

He offered to do a photoshoot in our lounge, which was super nice.  He gifted beautiful headshots.

Photos from photoshoot with Chris Gagne:

We also went for a little walk along the Waikato river and to the Okoroire hotpools.

We went for a sound healing class in a yoga hammock in Tauranga.  We had ice cream for dinner beforehand.  I'm super excited to go back for my yoga hammock classes.  BUT- darn it!  Covid is back, lockdowns are back.  Maybe if I had been more timely with blogs that wouldn't have happened.