HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!...

How stressful to be the only one around to celebrate a birthday. Pressure was on but thankfully we pulled through. Breakfast was a success thanks to Alton Brown and his French Toast (I can't wait to watch the food network back at home, they only show rachelray out here...blah). Mimosas were simple enough. Adair wanted to go to TE MATA CHEESERY for some lunch. It was a beautiful day and the cheese plate Adair ordered was AMAZING. Heaps of cheese and some yummy chutneys. The cheese was all local and real smelly. We came back to the farm and started making pizzas. I made some dough earlier in the day and it was ready to start knocking back. Adair made the tastier of the two pizzas. Hers was as follows: Lamb sausage with apricot, topped with roasted capsicums, onions, and two cheeses (gouda and havarti ?? i think). Instead of a red sauce she made a her own garlic spread using goodies from the garden. IT was sooooo good. Since it was her birthday she got to boss me around and tell me how to make my pizza. The ingredients weren't my first choice, but the pizza turned out to be delicious, unreal how good. Mine was as follows: home made pesto, though not fully a basil pesto, more so heaps of spinach and sarrow and mint. It was topped with wild smoked salmon and pear, some roasted garlic and a small sprinkle of cheese. We barbequed the pizzas and enjoyed them with a salad over a candle lit setting. WOW>where did I learn all this?? Who would of thought I could be so romantic. We finished with banana splits with sparkler candles. Her Birthday was special, and I hope she had fun.

Before her birthday we set out on our last roadie...It didn't last long. Apparently they take a little planning, which to our surprise, neither of us did any. Our first clue was when we stepped into the car and both asked WHERE TO, followed by a JINX. After some unassuring laughter, we decided to just head north. We made it half the distance we wanted and stayed in Rotorua. This was our third visit to the town. We had every intention of heading to Auckland, then further north to Paihia. Then we remembered that petrol doesn't come cheap and it would be some $400 worth of it to get anywhere near where we wanted. We were spoiled by sharing the price of petrol with our friends Tom and Jeremy. After a long night in Rotorua discussing the logistics of our trip to come, we woke up and headed to Auckland. We had the intention of handing out flyers to hostels and other postboards (anybody want to buy a car?). We made heaps of copies, and only passed out three. Auckland is a dirty place, nothing fun to offer the two of us, and we scurried out. Instead of continuing on to Paihia, we went back to Rotorua. Rotorua is along the THERMAL HIGHWAY...aka HOTPooLS. It is a serious tourist trap. The hotpools are mainly owned by the local maori, and they are a rip off. But, if you are keen enough on finding one, a short bush walk leads you to some amazing secrets. We found two amazing hotsprings, one with a hot waterfall, the other with two streams, one hot one cold. We spent the next two days at the pools. We met some crazy and some fun people. We gave ourselves facials using the mud (in which the local shops sell at about $50 per application). I think Adair had five facials in five hours. Our skin has never been so nice.

We came back to the farm earlier than expected. The weather in Hawkes Bay is something like San Clemente..always perfect. While the rest of the country is either in a drought (Auckland and north) or being flooded (the whole South Island), Hawkes Bay offers slight breezes, and a perfect temperature of 24 degrees C. It wasn't a hard choice for us to forget about the roadie and come back to paradise. We now see why people don't get out of Southern California much.

Since we have been back.....
Ken left for Europe. He is on a two month holiday and left his farm to a friend. So now we are working for George, from Scotland. He has four kids, all teenagers. The oldest is out of the country, the second is keen on horses. She breaks them, trains them, sells them, buys another. The third is a runner. He breaks all the local records and has all the flash coaches looking after him. The youngest is a mountain biker. Such a lively group, it has been only a few days but heaps of fun. George really doesn't make us work at all, so we pittle around doing whatever odd job we can find.
Our time here is short and we are taking in all the experiences we can
See yall sooner than I want
Much love