Time Off

Due to Cyclone Cook coinciding with Easter weekend, we somehow ended up with nearly an entire week off of our work at the packhouse. The first few days off were full of some pretty intense rain, but the last few fortunately granted us pretty good exploring weather. And just a week later, we got another day off for a public holiday. As a result, we've now made trips to the lovely nearby Golden Bay area twice: visiting Takaka and Cape Farewell. We also hired kayaks from Kaiteriteri Beach which we took into the lower reaches of Abel Tasman National Park to see the area's famous "split apple" rock.

Sorting Kiwi Fruit

At the packhouse, we have officially moved on from sorting apples. With apple season behind us, we moved on to smooth, green-skinned golden kiwi fruit for the first week and a half. Then, we've only just now started sorting fuzzy "traditional" kiwi. "Golden kiwi?" you ask. Yes, golden kiwi. I'd never had one before coming to New Zealand. They're not bad - their flavor is a much milder version of the green kiwi's tart taste. 

Technological Difficulties

Recently, I stepped on our Chromebook while it was closed on the floor and cracked the screen. As you can see from the picture below, our Chromebook is now virtually unusable. The visibility is shot except for one long rectangle in the lower bottom corner. Yikes. :(

We thought about fixing it ourselves because you can buy a new screen from ebay or Amazon. That is, if you're in a place where you can receive packages from those sites. We are not. Getting a replacement screen in New Zealand would almost cost more than a new Chromebook.

Just using our phone was a poor substitute. (Honestly, I hate typing on that danged thing). But, luckily, CJ ended up saving the day! Long story short: she spilled water on the keyboard of her laptop shortly after arrival in Auckland. She bought a new one but still had the old one repaired. She mailed us the now-fixed old one by NZ Post. Yahoo!

That's not all, though. We also somehow destroyed our camera charger and haven't been able to charge the camera in over a month. All the pictures from recent activities are from the phone or the GoPro which has made taking decent photos challenging. (The GoPro is wide angle & can't zoom, the phone's picture quality is low). Our camera is somewhat older and it's difficult to seek out a new charger for it. We know this because we've already done it once this trip when our original charger got left behind at a hostel.
.... Anyway, thanks for tuning in to this month's episode of "First World Problems."

Last but not least... Autumn has arrived in the Southern Hemisphere!