An Eggsentric Slice of Heaven

The view looking towards our bach on Flaxmill bay. Ours is the small white spot in the upper left corner.
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WWOOFing keeps getting better and better.  So far we've stayed with three hosts, and although they've all been completely different, we have fallen in love with each one for totally different reasons.

Right now we are wwoofing with these folks who run this amazing cafe/restaurant and art gallery (www.eggsentriccafe.co.nz ) in Flaxmill Bay in the Coromandel.  It's funky, hip and artsy.  It's laid back and the food is amazing.  The people are awesome and it's in the middle of one of the most beautiful places ever being surrounded by both mountains and beaches.  Plus the housing they've given us is a separate bach (Kiwi for a weekend/holiday house) which is up this incredibly steep and long driveway.  We have a porch that looks out onto the water with rocky cliffs and beaches surrounding (see photos, which surely do not do it justice) and if that's not enough it has a functioning outdoor bathtub.  And now that we're more comfortable in the kitchen of the cafe we get to help ourselves to all the cappuccinos and cheesecake and organic salads we can handle.  This place is pretty rad, and we are certainly getting comfortable here.

Cooks Beach in the background, Lonely Bay in the foreground.
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We are located in the center of a few beautiful attractions.  We spent a day at Hot Water Beach, where there are hot springs under the sand so all the tourists go during low tide and dig holes which become little hot tubs.  We've visited scenic Cathedral Cove, which was closed to the public for the first few days due to the filming of the next Narnia film.  We are just a short walk from Lonely Bay, a near-perfect patch of sand and sea that was often secluded enough to feel like our own private backyard.  When we are not visiting new and exotic beaches we are happy enough to sit on our porch, enjoy the view, and have our own little space which feels kind of like home.

Ben digging a hole at Hot Water Beach.
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Plus, and you 9-to-5 folk are probably not gonna believe this, there was the benefit of working.  After six months of traveling, it feels pretty good to get these idle hands doing something.  We started with garden work, but quickly found our way to the kitchen where we moved through the tasks of washing dishes, busing tables, bringing food out to customers, food-prep, and working the cash register.  With every new responsibility we felt proud elation, and I think they appreciated having a couple extra hands around.  And with work also comes workmates- for the first time in months we actually had friends!  Surrounded by people our age we talked, ate, drank, and complained about all the dishes we had to do together... it was a really, really good change of pace.  Am I rambling?  And then we had another friend thrown at us when we managed to meet up with a friend of Ben's Ohio family who had recently arrived in NZ and was passing through the Coromandel on his way to a juggling and circus festival.  We were able to show off our flat, and in return he gave us a private display of his fire dancing skills with poi (again, see pictures).  Next stop is Auckland, a *big* city, but Flaxmill Bay is gonna be hard to top.