cast of characters

We're a funny little group here at the Lemon Tree Backpackers. Some of us are here on working holidays – Trish from the UK, Sarah from OZ, and I have become really close. Trish and Sarah are leaving soon, and Karen (our host) came up to me today to ask if I'd be okay when they left! Ben's also here on a working holiday from the UK, but keeps to himself most of the time.

Adrian, Andy and Pete worked together in Taranaki on the North Island. Prior to that job, Adrian left an oil-rig job for reasons of conscience, Andy's a kayaking instructor biding his time 'til the season starts, and Pete – well, Pete disappeared to Wellington a few days ago, and didn't say more than a few words while he was here, so I don't really know about him.

We've got a bunch of young North Islanders lured by the promise of easy money, but some of the contractors are sharks, and things didn't work out the way they thought – Karen's set them up with more reputable ones.

Rita's a telemarketer from OZ who wanted to work outdoors for a while. Paul had his own civil engineering company and a family back home, but circumstances have changed. Trevor's a mulleted former Hell's Angel who can't stop thinking about (or showing us cute pictures of!) his four young daughters back home.. Mike's thinking about going back to finish up a viticulture program he started quite a few years back.

I wasn't sure at first how we'd all get along – thought maybe we'd just form our own groups for the most part, but we all get along quite well. Dinner's probably the best time – we've got some real chefs, and everyone's eager to share tastes of their latest creations.