Our first house guests

We have had our first house guests. If you recall, we met a couple of guys biking from Holland when we were up around the Kauri forest a couple weeks ago. We told them to stop by when they were going through Auckland. Eric (left) and Martin (right) arrived Monday afternoon and stayed with us for two nights. While here, they sorted out their trip to the South Island and picked up a car. Eric has been traveling the world since Dec, 2007. He biked across the US by himself and traveled across China and Vietnam with Martin (his twin brother). We are storing their bikes in our garage while they visit the South Island so we will see them again in March. They keep a blog if you are interested in having a look - http://ericsl.aroundtheglobe.nl/ It is in Dutch, but if you put it through Google translator you get the gist of things. At least have a look at the great pictures.

John and I have also been very busy with work. I flew to Wellington for the day on Monday to meet with the team I am working with for my project. My entire team is in Wellington so I will probably be making frequent trips that direction. John also left for Wellington this morning and will be back tomorrow. He is meeting with clients and wineing and dining. I have seen the sun come up twice this week due to runs to the airport.

I have also had some interesting happenings on the job front. The company I was contracting through went into bankruptcy last week. This has created a lot of uncertainty for myself and the company I am working for. The arrangement is that I have a contract with Agility (the recruitment company) and Agility then contracts me out to Eagle (the company I am working with). Eagle pays Agility for my wages plus extra for commissions (which is how Agility makes money). Agility is then supposed to turn around and pay me my portion for wages--- which won't happen since they went bankrupt. To make things even more complicated, I have signed a contract with Agility, but Eagle never signed their contract for my services with Agility. At this point, I don't know if I will get paid for my work prior to the receivership. Eagle is trying to work it out to pay me directly and has their legal people involved. At this point it is a wait and see thing and hope someone sends me a paycheck at some point.

Friday is another public holiday here. It is Waitangi Day which is a celebration for the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. In short, this is the agreement between the British and the Maori signed in 1840 that they will stop fighting and share the land. John and I have tickets to attend an outdoor concert at a vineyard for the day. More on that later!