After a much needed sleep in the Hari Hari Motor Inn, we were given a nice little job in exchange for the amazing food and sleep... cleaning cobwebs from around the building. Now, compared to the spiders and webs in my house in Australia, this job was a piece of cake! The spiders were so small if we did even see any, and I knew that none of them had the power to kill me, so I didn't mind at all! And we both always appreciate the chance to work on our upper body rather than our exhausted legs!
When the spiderwebs were all gone, we got back on the bikes, although not very enthusiastically, since we were enjoying our time in Hari Hari so much with our new friends, and also because it was raining, and we weren't looking forward to another cold and wet day on the bikes. But we kept going anyways, hoping that it would clear up later on. 40kms later we got to Ross, and the rain still hadn't let up. We found a nice little cafe with a fire and got some hot sandwiches and decided to take a little rest. After a couple of card games and dart games and 2 or 3 hours later, we figured it was time to get back at it, even though we really weren't in the mood for it! But thankfully, the rain was way less than it was before!
When we finally came into Hokitika, we were greeted by our next Couch Surfing host, Jason! Jason is an absolute angel for a weary traveler. He promptly made us all comfortable with a shower, hot tea, and a nice chat, and even let us wash our desperately dirty clothes! We immediately fell in love with his home, filled with creativity and openness, and his friendly dog and cat! After looking at the weather forecast and seeing that torrential rain was coming on the day we were to ride out, it was obviously a very painful decision that we had to stay an extra day ;)
The next morning, we set out to plan our next fundraiser...the Car Wash! After checking 3 places, we finally found the perfect location...the New World (grocery store) parking lot, where they agreed to let us use their space, their hose, and even to provide the buckets and cloths and everything we would need for the event! Gary and Robin, the managers of New World, were amazing and were more than helpful to us! We are so happy to have met such wonderful people here in Hokitika.
Friday morning, it was pretty cloudy and cold, and we were a bit worried that it might rain, which would be a disaster for a car wash! But we put on Jason's bright orange rain jackets and hoped for the best as we set out to do the car wash anyways, and see what happens! After about 2 cars, we had worked hard enough that we were warm enough to take off the jackets, and then the only thing that was cold were our hands...well, mine at least! We had the music pumping, and cars were lined up to get washed, and the donations were piling up! We had a great start to the day, however by about 3:00, the clouds were getting thicker, and then the rain started up. We had a couple cars trickle in after that, but then we just decided to call it a day. We made about $230 by the end of it, which we were happy with, but we think it would've been much better if the sun had been out. Thanks to everyone who came out to get your car washed, and also for those who made a donation without even a car wash. And especially a big thanks to Gary and Robin, for your help and support. We couldn't have done it without you! Also, we want to thank Marik, who we met in Bruce Bay, who was randomly in Hokitika and decided to come out and help us wash cars! It got way easier when he came!
After the car wash, we spent the evening playing pool at Jason's house! Jason and Andrea beat the pants off of Marik and Sheree! (I'm the one who gets to write the blog though, so keep that in mind :) hehe) but we all had a great time! Hope you made it back safe last night Marik!
When the spiderwebs were all gone, we got back on the bikes, although not very enthusiastically, since we were enjoying our time in Hari Hari so much with our new friends, and also because it was raining, and we weren't looking forward to another cold and wet day on the bikes. But we kept going anyways, hoping that it would clear up later on. 40kms later we got to Ross, and the rain still hadn't let up. We found a nice little cafe with a fire and got some hot sandwiches and decided to take a little rest. After a couple of card games and dart games and 2 or 3 hours later, we figured it was time to get back at it, even though we really weren't in the mood for it! But thankfully, the rain was way less than it was before!
When we finally came into Hokitika, we were greeted by our next Couch Surfing host, Jason! Jason is an absolute angel for a weary traveler. He promptly made us all comfortable with a shower, hot tea, and a nice chat, and even let us wash our desperately dirty clothes! We immediately fell in love with his home, filled with creativity and openness, and his friendly dog and cat! After looking at the weather forecast and seeing that torrential rain was coming on the day we were to ride out, it was obviously a very painful decision that we had to stay an extra day ;) The next morning, we set out to plan our next fundraiser...the Car Wash! After checking 3 places, we finally found the perfect location...the New World (grocery store) parking lot, where they agreed to let us use their space, their hose, and even to provide the buckets and cloths and everything we would need for the event! Gary and Robin, the managers of New World, were amazing and were more than helpful to us! We are so happy to have met such wonderful people here in Hokitika.
Friday morning, it was pretty cloudy and cold, and we were a bit worried that it might rain, which would be a disaster for a car wash! But we put on Jason's bright orange rain jackets and hoped for the best as we set out to do the car wash anyways, and see what happens! After about 2 cars, we had worked hard enough that we were warm enough to take off the jackets, and then the only thing that was cold were our hands...well, mine at least! We had the music pumping, and cars were lined up to get washed, and the donations were piling up! We had a great start to the day, however by about 3:00, the clouds were getting thicker, and then the rain started up. We had a couple cars trickle in after that, but then we just decided to call it a day. We made about $230 by the end of it, which we were happy with, but we think it would've been much better if the sun had been out. Thanks to everyone who came out to get your car washed, and also for those who made a donation without even a car wash. And especially a big thanks to Gary and Robin, for your help and support. We couldn't have done it without you! Also, we want to thank Marik, who we met in Bruce Bay, who was randomly in Hokitika and decided to come out and help us wash cars! It got way easier when he came!
After the car wash, we spent the evening playing pool at Jason's house! Jason and Andrea beat the pants off of Marik and Sheree! (I'm the one who gets to write the blog though, so keep that in mind :) hehe) but we all had a great time! Hope you made it back safe last night Marik!
Hi Andrea,
ReplyDeletehow are you? My way back to Grey was ok. It was great time with you and Sherre. Thank you for this nice idea. I didnt forget to my promise. Iĺl try to prepare some plan how to involve other people for last stage of your trip. I will send you during the March, when I will be in Prague.
cross finger
MArek not Marik :-)