When we returned from our trip to Wellington, we learned that Richard had sent out a "help!" request for assistance on getting his rental house painted, and ready for a new occupant! His request for help resulted in 8 of us traveling from Hamilton and environs to Turangi - about a 3 hour drive. Peter and Bryan outfitted us in appropriate paint attire (silly us - we hadn't brought any!) and we made egg and bacon pie and potato salad to share for lunch.
We left Bryan and Peter's about 9 am on Sunday Feb 15th to drive to Turangi. Turangi is located just south of Lake Taupo in the center of the north island. We took the shortest route which followed along the Waikato River. The scenery was very rural and we saw a lot of cows and sheep along the way. New Zealand generates a lot of hydro electrical power and we stopped at one of the dams on the river that was built to generate power. Here's a picture of Peter looking over the edge of the dam.
Painting underway! Here's Dianne, working on the picky "cut in" work. The house was 3 bedrooms, one bathroom, dining area, kitchen and lounge (living room). There were 4 of us doing cut in throughout the house, and 4 others coming along with paint rollers.
Adrian, with John behind him, rolling away!
John, with brush in hand!
Here's Bryan - working away!!
Yay! Lunch break! Everyone had brought lunch stuff, so we had a great lunch spread! We forgot to bring the beer, but that was probably just as well, as we still had about 3 hours of painting ahead of us. At the bottom left is John, behind him is Bryan, then me, then Adrian (sitting down), a very grateful Richard, Peter, and Dianne in the foreground.
Mission complete!! The house looked great when we were finished! Both the rental agency and the new tenant, who moved in on Tuesday, were very pleased! : )
There were two very important requirements after painting - here's the first - a swim in Lake Taupo! Notice the "floating rocks" - we stopped at a beach with lots of pumice stones! As you can see, they float! The water was great and very refreshing!
The second requirement was a BEER! Here we all are at a pub on Lake Taupo. It was a great day - we were very productive and it was so much fun to all work together. There was lots of conversation and discussion about what food to prepare for the upcoming AGP. What a great group of friends and a great way to end another great week! 
3 comments:
We've got floaty rocks at Lost Creek Lake ( down stream from Crater Lake) too! They REALLY SUCK when you hit them water skiing. See? New Zealand and Oregon are Hemispherical Sisters!
We're both equidistant from the equator and both have lots of Douglas Fir trees..only in New Zealand, I'm told, they call those trees "Oregon". I'd like to visit the Southern Sister of Oregon one day. If the Lottery is willing, of course. Welcome back, BTW. Next time your Kiwi friends make it up here, you'll HAVE to bring them up here to see their NORTHERN cousin..
Welcome Back Stateside.
G
We had our own paint party, too, round about the same date. We were covering a hideous fluorescent pink. Looks like you did a great job!
Wow! I didn't know you were PAINTERS as well! I'll have to make sure we have all the paint and supplies before your next trip up : )
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