We went to the Auckland car market this past weekend and bought a van! It came with all the necessary gear (camping stove, camping chairs, cooler, pots and pans, and a built-in BED). We are leaving our WWOOFing in west Auckland right now to head to Northland! 

The place we stayed had beautiful grounds. An extensive garden and orchard was so beautiful to work in. 

The garden needed a lot of weeding and pulling out huge fennel plants that had gone to seed. Almost everything had gone to seed. It wasn't a very well maintained garden at all. It made for busy days on our part. We even had to mow an acre of grass that was over a foot tall! Talk about a tag team job! Phew.

Now that we're back on the mainland, we have lots to share. We spent two and a half weeks on Great Barrier Island which is off the northeast coast of Auckland via a four hour ferry ride. There is no central power or water on the island, forcing its residents to be self sustaining. The ferry was a nice ride, some dolphins swam along with us. They say that's a good omen. 
Our host Robby was there at Tryphena harbor to pick us up, and we took the half hour journey back to his place through gravel roads. His house is so remote, once you put the car in the carpark, you jump on a 4-wheel ATV to go the rest of the way down his unpaved driveway. 

We settled in, chopped some firewood, played some dice games, and made pancakes with sugar and lemon juice (it was the bomb). 

Tending to this stove by night, and baking bread in it made the place feel so warm and homey. 

Our view from the dining table was off the wall beautiful at all times of the day.

Tasty salads abounded during our two week stay. Such fresh ingredients from the garden were easily transformed into this...

Robby was growing cucumbers, squash, cabbage, beans, strawberries, tomatoes, spring onions, parsley, radishes, all types of lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and various fruit trees.  During the day we did a lot of watering, cutting and raking grass, and using the grass to build up the biggest compost pile we have ever seen.  

Robby liked to put sea grass over his soil which he collected from the beach. He said that the sea grass helped the plants retain their moisture and grow faster. We went down to the beach to collect some. 

The beaches on Great Barrier, though varied, were all gorgeous. We took our first hike, of many, down to Robby's beach (Ship's Bay).

Even kitty followed us all the way there! (This is Hayley's dream scenario).

A special part at Robby's was the toilet. It was detached from the house and opened on two sides. This was the amazing view.

Kitty used to follow us to the toilet sometimes. Kitty ended up leaving us early one morning as far as we could tell. She was no where to be found. She was completely deaf and oh so special. After a week we had already fallen in love with her, so this was a sad part of our stay.

Robby took us around the island a few times. Once to a ragin' party, then to hot springs in a stream, and then to the east side of the island. 
This swing produced the biggest rush imaginable. You climb halfway up a tree grab the rope and hold on for dear life.

Things got a little dizzy.

We met a Kiwi and an Argentinean as we made our way through the pools of varied temperatures.
On another day, we travelled from the Tryphena area up the east side of the island. This is the side with white sandy beaches.

We started at Medlands Beach, checked out the Mermaid Pools. It was very windy that day so we didn't swim but the scenery was unbelievable!

Next, we took a short hike through Windy Canyon and we got this 360 view of the island!

The furthest point north we got to was Port Fitzroy. There were many water inlets on this harbor and we saw some dolphins swimming around in the water. 

On one of our last days we rode the ATV up the ridge to the highest point of Robby's 60 acres. We hiked to a lookout rock and enjoyed the scenery. From the top we could see views of the Cormandel Peninsula to the southwest and the east cost beaches on the other side.  

We hiked into the jungle and climbed a giant puriri tree!

On our very last day there before we traveled back up the unpaved driveway to go back to Tryphena harbor, the two of us took a hike down the stream that leads to the beach right next to Robby's house. 

Our stay on Great Barrier Island was one we'll never forget. The island has a little bit of magic to it, putting a spell on people to keep them there forever. It only slightly worked on us. We are off to buy a car tomorrow while we're back in Auckland. In the longer run we plan to make our way to the Northland!
-H&L

Hello homies! Don't forget to check out our first blog post from today. It covers our last bit of time in Fiji! 
So we are here in Auckland staying with a sweet little family in the Kingsland neighborhood. We went out and got some Thai food on our first night and went to bed early. Today, we woke up, had some homemade muesli, and went on our way up the hill to Mount Eden! This breathtaking crater was formed by one of New Zealand's many volcanoes. It provided great views of the city for us to get our bearings.

The GoPro doesn't even do this massive hole justice! It's so steep and deep.

Our shoes really enjoyed the view of the city.

Lorena says my hair looks like it belongs to an anime character. I say I'm Golem.

No no. Now I'm Golem. It got real cold and windy up at this spot, even started to sprinkle. It sure ain't summer yet!

The journey to Mango Bay Resort after the Yasawas wasn't as easy as we expected. The resort was actually pretty far south on the main island and by the time the boat dropped us off at the port it was nearly night time and buses were making their last run. We were advised to take a minibus for cheapest travel, so we did end up doing that.  It was a very local experience. Our driver, Matt (pictured below when he dropped us off at the airport later), was friendly and really into blasting Fijian tunes. 
Our stay at Mango Bay wasn't as sunny as we hoped but the sun did come out for some spectacular sunsets! 

We found the biggest, most delicious smelling plumerias on our second day at Mango Bay.

This was our traditional-style dorm bure! With all the lush plant life around, frogs constantly surrounded the bure. Actually, we almost stepped on a few.

Toes should always be bigger than your head in photos. 

This was the beginning of the sun coming out for the first time in 5 days! We went a little picture crazy from pure joy.

The beach is behind us. In the evenings the tide gets crazy low and exposes some rocky sand.

Blooper shot

This is a good view of the pool area right in front of the beach at the resort...and again, look at that sunset!

It had been raining right before the sun came out, so naturally a rainbow came out! yay! As you can see we're the only ones enjoying it.

Everyone who we told about us taking the minibus gave us the most eye-popping look. No tourists ever take the minibus because it's not considered safe, but it was our only and cheapest option. Matt got us around the island safely and with a local vibe, we won't forget him. At the resort, the receptionist helped us call Matt to confirm our pick up to go to the airport. He showed up over an hour late, but got us there with plenty of time! We even sang Macklemore's 'Thrift Shop' in the car with him! 

We didn't realize how truly spectacular the reef a few steps off shore from our resort would be. Here is the best of the best from our snorkeling experience! 

The pictures below are our last day. We took a picture of our last breakfast there. This is typically what breakfast looked like daily. Then we walked over to the sunset side of the little island to have a look. 

That's all for now! Thanks for following! We are now back on the main island at Mango Bay Resort and we will post pictures soon! - L & H

We started our trip with a red eye at LAX. It was a comfortable 10 and a half hour plane ride. We got about 5 hours of sleep on the plane and landed in Nadi, Fiji while it was still dark out at 5:25 AM Fiji time. From Nadi we took a bus to Port Denarau and hopped on the Yasawa Flyer. 

We were greeted at Mantaray Island Resort by the local staff with a beautiful song in their native Fijian language. They gave us a quick explanation of how things worked at the resort and the different activities we could participate in.  Some of those included: snorkeling, kayaking, swimming with manta rays, coconut ring making, and beach volleyball. Since Mantaray Island Resort is so remote, all the meals are included and provided for us 3 times a day in their main bure. This is the view from the dining bure.

Since we've been staying here we have snorkeled every day and seen so many brightly colored tropical fish. It's a whole new world under there! The beach is 200 feet from our dorm so hanging out there all day is easy to do. 

Hayley misses that California sea weed. -L

We can't forget to mention this little guy. Mantaray island resort has a few pets around including a pet baby goat named Jack, a couple dogs, but our favorite is Fluffy the kitty. We renamed him Perky because as soon as you call him he perks right up from his slumber and runs over to you for pets. Aaawwww. 

We have 2 more nights here at Mantaray Island and then we head to the Coral Coast of Fiji on the main island. We will keep updating when we can. Hope you enjoyed this. -H & L

Hello all you people out there in the soon-to-be far far away land of the U.S. Here is another test post to get all the kinks worked out. Y'all can comment on our posts now, as this is a much needed improvement. 
Our bags are packed up with all the bells and whistles inside. Packing for four months is unlike anything else, all I have to say is ROLL, ROLL, ROLL those clothes into little bundles. It saved me so much space!
The next blog you read will be the real deal! Enjoy
-Hayley

After a 10 hour plane ride and a 4 hour boat ride, we'll be here on a tiny island in the Yasawa group of islands in Fiji. We plan to snorkel, kayak, and soak up the island vibes.

This little fern makes me so happy!

After a few days getting adjusted in Auckland, we are taking a ferry to Great Barrier Island off the coast of Auckland.

I'm going crazy thinking about all the epic views to be seen out there!