Well we are in the last stretch on our Global Village Habitat Build here in New Zealand. Yesterday and today were both filled with some 'heavy lifting' and some good physical work. We were divided into smaller groups and each team had a variety of different types of work to do. The house that we worked on all last week still has some finishing touches to complete but we did not go back over there until today. Yesterday the group worked at the Habitat yard. There is a house on site that is being remodeled to accomodate a waiting family. Some worked on demolition and building of new walls in preparation for that house to be moved to a site that is yet to be determined. Others worked on building scaffolding for some work that was done today by the 'sparkies' or as we know it electricians. The final painting and stacking of the racking for the beautiful new pole building that is being set up was done yesterday. Some of us worked in the parking lot marking the stalls and preparing for the needed final touches for that pole building.
There is a central open area in the yard that was prepared for a brick patio area. The woman worked carefully to lay the brick and only accomplished a couple of rows but it is going to look pretty good when it is completed.
We ended our day with some of our group having a tough bowling match. One of the teams is clearly spending more time with a bowling ball than the other. Enough said.
Today we all went to Fredarh's house and spent the better part of the afternoon tilling up the yard in preparation for grass to be planted. That was hard laborious work but much of the edging and around the house was all hand digging since the tractor and tilling machine was too big to fit into the tight spaces. There is more work to do there but we will see what the weather brings and see where our last day on the job will take us.
Tonight was a wonderful thank you and send off for our team. Our host families put together a wonderful spread of food for our team and all those that have worked with us over the past 9 days. The party was ant Larrie and John's beautiful home where more than 30 of us gathered for dinner and an evening of socializing. Each of us have had an exceptional experience here in New Zealand, meeting new people, helping the family and her children, learning new skills on the jobs we were taught to do and having some genuine Kiwi hospitality. We need to mention and thank our families:
Larrie and John Stevenson, they hosted Bill, Paula and Char.
Heather and Warren Jack, they hosted Tony and Gino.
Val and Jim Watson, they hosted Jim and Terry.
John and Anthea Delugar, they hosted Mike and Laurie.
Jo and Mal Maria who hosted Mary and Tonya.
After today we will be doing some R&R in New Zealand and then heading back to the cool weather and short days. It will be good to see our friends and families when we get home. If we can blog some more, we will. But we do want to thank you for supporting us and following our trip while we are here.
There is a central open area in the yard that was prepared for a brick patio area. The woman worked carefully to lay the brick and only accomplished a couple of rows but it is going to look pretty good when it is completed.
We ended our day with some of our group having a tough bowling match. One of the teams is clearly spending more time with a bowling ball than the other. Enough said.
Today we all went to Fredarh's house and spent the better part of the afternoon tilling up the yard in preparation for grass to be planted. That was hard laborious work but much of the edging and around the house was all hand digging since the tractor and tilling machine was too big to fit into the tight spaces. There is more work to do there but we will see what the weather brings and see where our last day on the job will take us.
Tonight was a wonderful thank you and send off for our team. Our host families put together a wonderful spread of food for our team and all those that have worked with us over the past 9 days. The party was ant Larrie and John's beautiful home where more than 30 of us gathered for dinner and an evening of socializing. Each of us have had an exceptional experience here in New Zealand, meeting new people, helping the family and her children, learning new skills on the jobs we were taught to do and having some genuine Kiwi hospitality. We need to mention and thank our families:
Larrie and John Stevenson, they hosted Bill, Paula and Char.
Heather and Warren Jack, they hosted Tony and Gino.
Val and Jim Watson, they hosted Jim and Terry.
John and Anthea Delugar, they hosted Mike and Laurie.
Jo and Mal Maria who hosted Mary and Tonya.
After today we will be doing some R&R in New Zealand and then heading back to the cool weather and short days. It will be good to see our friends and families when we get home. If we can blog some more, we will. But we do want to thank you for supporting us and following our trip while we are here.
