So Long to Godzone

Last night in Auckland tonight, and decided to do a bloggy night instead of getting plastered. Figured should save some energy for Melbourne, where Tadhog and I are headed next. A review of the past couple days:

6/9: Went up to Kahoe Farms hostel further north from the Bay of Islands. As soon as we got out of Paihia, the sun appeared and we finally got the warmer weather I'd been hoping for. The hostel was a brilliant place, owned by an Italian guy who made us the only good pizza I've had since arriving in NZ, and let us play on his X-box for much of the night. It was sweet as.

6/10: Drove up to Cape Reinga, one of the northernmost points of the North Island, and saw a few beaches along the way, including Ninety Mile beach, which is not actually 90 miles long (more like 90 km), but is still pretty awesome. It's got giant sand dunes that you can toboggan down, and Tadhog and I did just that. Only once though, since we were borrowing the toboggan and didn't feel like hiking up the sand dune more than once (it was really kinda steep).

6/11: Drove back down to Auckland. Armed with the knowledge that I gained from my last visit (that Auckland's CBD is a little on the bland side), we opted to stay in Ponsonby, a nearby suburb which is about a 25 min walk from the city centre, and is a lot cooler than the CBD. The hostel's much nicer than the YHA I was in before, too.

6/12: I take my car to the backpacker's car market for attempt 1 at selling it. Since I put a fair amount into maintenance while I owned it, I decide to offer it for the same price I bought it at. However, since there are very, very few backpackers opting to arrive in NZ this time of year, a grand total of 4 people show up all day. This was a very boring and disheartening day for me, so I shan't write about it further.

6/13: I try taking the old girl to a local car fair. The locals scoff at the price I'm selling my car for, but one expresses interest at a severely discounted price. After a couple of hours, I agree to it since it's better than a) nothing and b) waiting around for another day and a half doing the same thing, and probably not getting a much better price for it. He feels a little bad for me I think since he takes me back to his house for tea and biscuits. Or maybe he didn't feel bad and that's just how they end transactions in NZ. In the afternoon, Tadhog and I go visit One Tree Hill (the namesake of the U2 song, which in turn I think is the namesake of that show on the WB). It's got some awesome panoramic views of Auckland, though it no longer has a tree at the top (was cut down in 2000 by a Maori activist for reasons you can partially read about here). At nighttime we go to a bar to see the All Blacks (national rugby team) play France. We're accompanied by a bunch of French people from the hostel, so they're in quite a better mood than most of the bar when the French eke out a narrow victory. Do a small bit of drinking around the town, then go home.

6/14: Yeah, I haven't actually done that much today besides a bit of shopping and seeing The Hangover with Tadhog. Kind of lame for my last day in NZ, I know, but I needed a break.

So tomorrow, I leave New Zealand. I'm going to miss this place a lot, and will be back some day. But, looking forward to my time in Australia, and the fun adventures and challenges that will await me back home.

Coming to the End of Things...

So I came to a realization recently the past week and a half, when I visited Mt. Doom, was amidst the volcano farts and thermal awesomeness of Rotorua, enjoyed the "eau de South Island" of Coromandel, and in the raininess that is currently the Bay of Islands (I'm sure there are some islands out there somewhere, I just can't see them...) - I'm almost done with this trip. I have 6 more days in NZ, the country that I've come to know as something like home for the past three months. After that, two weeks in Australia, which in a previous era of my life would have seemed like a huge amount, but now I'm reckoning will be barely enough to scratch the surface of the tip of the iceberg of Aussie culture. (Yes, I've gotten supremely spoiled having such a long period of time off.)

I've enjoyed my life in New Zealand, and there is a long, long list of things that I didn't manage to do while here that gives me a huge incentive to come back (in warmer weather!). There's a part of me that could even see myself returning at some point to Wellington, Dunedin, or Nelson in some sort of full-time employed position. But not at this point in my life.

When I first moved to NYC in late 2004 and very, very unsure about what I was getting myself into, I was given a sage piece of advice by a guy whose name I can't remember now, but he was one of Daisy's former roommates in Williamsburg, anyway - "The key to loving New York is leaving New York." I've been away from the city long enough to have a better grasp on why I would choose to live in such an expensive, dirty, crowded, prone-to-shitty-weather place to live.

1. A great group of friends and potential friends that are always around at any point that I choose to seek them out. By potential friends, I mean that person sitting on the subway across from you that's reading Sandman right after you got done reading it. Something I never realized before I moved to the city is that there is a HUGE amount of people out there with the same interests as me, and that often that Venn Diagram of interests intersects in many, many places. Seeing this, I became much, much more confident in myself and allowed my interests to flower in ways I never would have living in a rural area.
2. Living in NYC is the static equivalent of travelling. Travelling allows you to discover many new things about the world and about yourself, and meet lots of new people. NYC allows you to do lots of that as well to an impressively high extent. It's important to get out once in awhile, but you can almost always find something in NYC that you've never seen before, or meet someone who completely changes your perspective on life, if you're looking for it. So while travelling is maybe the best thing in life for figuring out things, NYC is the next best thing (that I've discovered) if you need to stay put and make money.

So, that's why I'm putting an end to my time in NZ for now. That, and winter has arrived, even in the "Winterless North" where I'm typing this blog post right now (it's warmer than the rest of NZ, but rainy as, as they would say). I need some warmer weather.

The plan from here, to finish up, is to head up to Cape Reinga, one of the northermost points in NZ, then to head to Auckland day after tomorrow to see some things, sell my car, then fly out to Melbourne. From there we'll head to Sydney via either the outback or the coast, depending on how much Tadhog wants to drive. On the 29th of June, I'll fly to LA, see two of my favorite redheads in the world for a few days, then be back in NYC in time for the 4th of July. I sure hope someone's having a party then...

Kia ora, mates...

12,000 feet

That's how high the plane was when I jumped today. Or, more accurately, how high my skydiving instructor Greg jumped while I was attached to him. Wow, that was an experience unlike anything I've encountered before. Not something that can really be put into words, but I'll give it a go - 8 of us (4 instructors, 4 newbies) plus the pilot go up in a small airplane that's really not much bigger than a suburban, get up to the desired altitude, strap ourselves to the instructor's front, then basically dangle ourselves out the hatch and wait for the instructor to jump. I experienced what seemed like about 5 seconds of sheer terror as my face hit a wall of air and the ground approached sickeningly fast, before my mind took over from my animal instincts and realized that, wait, this was all part of the plan. I laughed for a bit and enjoyed the descent. Supposedly it was about 45 seconds of freefall before the chute opened, but it really felt to me like maybe about 15 seconds. The parachute part to me was even cooler, as I could look around Lake Taupo, and all the volcanoes southward and westward. Of course, that's when I started experiencing a bit of motion sickness, as Greg started teaching me how to steer the parachute - spinny spinny spinny. I avoided making pavement pizza from 1000 feet up, however. A few minutes later, we landed, which was really much smoother than I thought it would be, a nice standing up landing (before I collapsed a second later due to dizziness). Not something I will probably be doing again anytime soon, but really glad I had that experience.

Oh, right, what came before:
Had a couple of sweet-as days in Wellington once Tadhog arrived. Was quite ready to end the solo portion of my trip, though it rocked the house while it lasted. We enjoyed the Wellington nightlife, exploring some bands, some hiking trails through various parks, and the Te Papa museum, the finest one I've seen in NZ yet.

From there, we made our way north to Napier, stopping in Martinborough to do some wine tasting (I spat most of mine since I was driving), having a nice little luncheon there. Napier was a good point of interest - in 1931 there was a devastating earthquake which basically flattened the town and caused about 40 square kilometers that was previously below sea level to rise above sea level. That latter effect actually wound up being a gain for Napier, as it gave the town much more room to expland. New buildings that went up to replace the old for the next 15-20 years or so were all built in the Art Deco style, making it one of the largest collections of Art Deco buildings on the planet (I think there's somewhere in Florida that might be a little larger). Cool place to walk around and relax. Tadhog and I also went on another wine tour (Napier's in yet another big wine region) aboard bikes (or push-bikes, in the local vernacular). While we didn't finish in record time (you know, you get distracted by good wine and beer and conversation), it was a grand old time.

Yesterday, arrived in Taupo, which is nestled by the lake of the same name, which is NZ's biggest lake. It's actually the caldera of a huge volcano, which last erupted in 186 AD. It blew out so much ash that Chinese and Romans at the time noticed the sky going red. So yeah, if it happens to go while we're in NZ, we're pretty screwed. But it's a nice town.

Tomorrow, going to investigate a local hot spring and waterfall, as well as have lunch with Sally, one of the ladies I hiked the Queen Charlotte Track with. After that, will head down to Tongariro National Park. Unfortunately, it's gotten way too cold and icy to do the Alpine Crossing without a pickaxe/crampons and a guide (which costs too much for my liking), which I was really looking forward to doing. But there's some lower-elevation hikes we can do, and we'll get to see Ruapehu and Ngaruhoe (Mt. Doom) up pretty close. After that, we're going to book it up north where it hopefully will get warmer. It's getting pretty cold in NZ - so much for my notions that it would be like San Francisco in the winter!

Welly

I left good weather behind on the south island apparently. The ferry ride from Picton was about as rough as a boat ride could probably be without actual damage or injuries, I think. I was doing OK, since I'd taken some Sealegs pills, but a good portion of the ship...well, it was sort of like that story from Stand By Me where everyone's throwing up. Even with modern medicine on my side though, I had to sort of lay down on the couch in the ship's bar and zone out.

But that aside, arrived in Wellington just fine. The weather has been positively Greymouthian with a side of near gale-force winds - I haven't seen the sun in about 5 days, and nearly had my glasses blown from my face a few times (I've gotten in the habit of just pocketing my glasses when I go outside - even if it's not windy, they'll get all rainified). Winter has definitely arrived in NZ.

That aside, I have gotten to do a few fun things, mainly of a museum nature. Did the Parliament tour yesterday, did a floor of Te Papa, the national museum (saving the rest so I can see with Green Raja after he arrives tomorrow evening), and occupied the NZ film archive for most of today (seeing Eagle vs. Shark and Black Sheep). Also walked up Mt. Victoria this morning, and while the views were a bit cloudy, it was highly invigorating walking up the top and getting blown about a bit by the wind! Tomorrow, other than picking up an Irishman at the airport, I'll check out the WETA museum (Peter Jackson's company's tourist trap - I can't resist, and it's free unless I buy lots of stuff), and if the weather's remotely nice, I'll go ride the cable car and see the Karori Sanctuary, where they're trying to restore a NZ-as-it-was-before-humans-screwed-it-up environment, with native flora and birds, and no predators like stoats or feral cats. (Yes, feral cats are actually a decently-sized problem here.)

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have more awesome adventures to report next post.

Top of the South, Part II

So conclusion after the past 10 days travelling through Golden Bay, the Abel Tasman region, and the Marlborough Sounds - I am definitely, 100% returning to NZ one day. This was pretty certain as it was, but I've had such an excellent week and a half that I find it hard to believe I wouldn't seek out this same experience one day. I'll find some time to post the backlog of pictures that I've accumulated once I get to Wellington (where there ought to be a decent internet cafe).

So, since I left Nelson:
May 11th: Drove up to Collingwood, the northernmost town in the South Island. On the way, stop at Te Waikoropupu springs (also known as Pupu Springs, a little ironic given how clear the water is), the largest freshwater springs in NZ and among the 100 largest in the world. Neat place. Also stopped at the Abel Tasman memorial. Neat place, rather boring monument. Collingwood is a town of 250 people, and I agreed with the Lonely Planet description that it felt sort of like the "edge of the world".

May 12th: Head up to Farewell Spit, which is pretty much a giant sandbar that juts about 30 km into Golden Bay at the very top of the island. Whales get confused a lot here and beach themselves. Also checked out Pillar Point, a lighthouse close to the northernmost point of the south island, and Wharakiri Beach, maybe the most beautiful beach I've seen in my life. Hang out with some seals and some cows that have strayed onto the beach from the nearby farm and watch the sunset.

May 13th: Planned to do nothing today, ended up walking the northern third of the Abel Tasman Coastal track instead, from Wainui to Mutton Cove and back. Ends up being about a 25 km walk. Had a nice brief chat with some kayaking Kiwis that were camping out, but mostly is a day of solitude.

May 14th: Drive down to Marahau (on the southern edge of Abel Tasman park) very early in the morning to catch the 9:00 water taxi, which takes me to Bark Bay in the park, and I walk the southern third of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track. (I had plans to do the middle part of the track as well, but certain areas are only passable at two hours before and after low tide, which was at 6 am and 6 pm these days of early winter.) Very lovely beach views, like the day before, but this hike is also about 25 km, and I'm quite exhausted by day's end. Drive down to Motueka, about 15 km down the road and the biggest town in the area.

May 15th: This is my "do nothing" day, and I'm pretty successful - get my car tuned up for the first time since I bought it, which winds up not being too expensive. Also happens that a roving band of singer songwriters from Dunedin is in town playing that night, so check that out, and it's bloody brilliant. I love music.

May 16th: Drive to Picton, in northeastern corner of the south island at the head of the Marlborough Sounds. It's where I'll catch the ferry to Wellington and the north island on the 22nd. I'll be doing the Queen Charlotte Track, which is right the following four days. Stay at a totally awesome backpackers called Tombstone Backpackers (it's across the street from a cemetery) and meet a Canadian who's biking around NZ and making a documentary about it and a German that's travelling with him. Help is needed to film him tomorrow, and I am up to the challenge as long as it's early in the morning - I don't have to catch the boat to the track until 9 am.

May 17th: My stint in filming goes well, I think, despite the rainy morning. Catch the boat out to Ship's Cove at the beginning of the track, manage to avoid getting seasick despite the rough waters (though it was pretty close). Hang out at Ship Cove for a bit - this place is where Captain Cook landed quite a few times during his voyages, meeting Maori and trying to cure his crew of the scurvy. On my way out of Ship Cove, I come across two Kiwi ladies, Sally and Pep, whom I soon find out are staying at the same places I am for the next three nights. Side note: The Queen Charlotte Track is one of two multi-day tracks where there are private accommodations along the way, meaning you can get a shower and a nice meal at hotel accommodations (I opted for the cheapo backpacker rooms). I walk with them for a bit and we're pretty much insta-buddies. Along the way we see a mom and dad weka feeding their baby. You can kind of understand why weka are semi-endangered, as if we'd been individuals with malicious intent, we could have easily snatched the baby from the parents as they dug for grubs. We stay at Furneaux Lodge on the eastern side of Endeavour Inlet. Since it's very much the tourist off-season in NZ, it's pretty much the three of us and the staff (who were super-friendly to us, though possibly partially out of boredom, but hey, they were cool anyway), so it's a fun time in the bar that night. As we wander out of the bar around 9:30 to call it an early night (as one does generally when one hikes all day), I hear pretty much the most unnerving sound one can hear when it's pitch black out: the sound of a wild pig screaming followed by a splash. Of course, I didn't realize that it was a pig fleeing from me for a second or two - for all I knew Nessie had relocated to NZ. Laughing it off and changing my underwear, I retired.

May 18th: This would be the shortest day, but also the most precipitatious - five minutes in, there is honest-to-god hail. This lasts for only about a minute, but the rain lasts pretty much the whole hike. Fortunately, it's pretty flat this day. Punga Cove Resort has probably the best views of the three hotels on this hike, but probably is my least favorite - spa wasn't hot at all (disappointing after a cold rainy hike), and food and drink at the restaurant were a bit overpriced.

May 19th: Longest hike today, but also some of the best views. Finally make it all the way around Endeavour Inlet, and clear views for most of the hike of both Queen Charlotte Sound, Kenepuru Sound, and Picton. Get to see the Wellington ferry leaving Picton, too, which is pretty nifty. Around 25 km later, we arrive in Portage, which is where Maori and Pakeha (Europeans) used to carry their canoes overland from sound to sound. The Portage Resort has a working spa, so the three of us get a bottle of wine and proceed to drink it in the spa, which makes us a little silly. When we eat dinner, we get a little sillier, and possibly causes the waiter to not offer us dessert (that was our theory, anyway). Good times.

May 20th: Pep and Sally need to catch an earlier boat than me, so I opt to sleep in a bit and catch them in Picton that evening instead of hiking with them. The beginning is the steepest climb yet, and results in the best views of the hike, in my opinion. After that climb though, I'm pretty much just running the rest of the hike, making few stops, and end up at the wharf where I meet the return boat to Picton about two hours early. I hang out and manage to actually get an earlier boat. Meet Pep and Sally for dinner and drinks, and after exhausting Picton's Wednesday night options, we say goodbye and are back to our respective accommodations. Since they live in Taupo and that was on the list of places I'm visiting on the north island, will probably revisit them in two weeks or so.

Today's the 21st, and I'm doing pretty much nothing today besides writing this blog post. Tomorrow I catch the ferry to Wellington, a three hour trip across the Cook Strait. I'll be there until the 28th or so. The 26th, Tadhog arrives, and so my solo journeys will come to an end. It's been fun travelling alone, but it will be good to have a dedicated partner in crime.

...And, a little promo...

Since my good pal Tadhog is meeting up with me in Wellington starting the 26th of May to do a whirlwind of the North Island (and then some of Australia), and we used to be in a band together, we thought we'd do a Flight of the Conchords type promotion. Here's a lovely t-shirt image we put together:

Top of the South!

When I last wrote, I was in Greymouth on the West Coast. Pretty much nothing happened the week that I was in Greymouth. It's the largest town in what was formerly NZ's Coal Belt, and now that the coal is more or less tapped out from the hills, the area's in some decline. Tourism's not super huge here - compared to places that are a day's drive away, Greymouth is, well, kind of ugly (at least, compared to the rest of NZ - by many other countries' standards it would be quite nice). And it rains quite a lot - the west coast is one of the rainiest areas in the world, and it rained 3/4 of the days I was there. It is the largest city in the area at 13,000 souls though, and it's the terminus of the Tranz-Alpine railway that crosses the southern Alps and ends at Christchurch, so visitors tend to spend a night in town and then move on to the glaciers southward, or head up north to Nelson and the Marlborough wine country.

So, after helping out at the hostel and watching a crapload of movies and Grey's Anatomy in my flat, I moved northward to Nelson Lakes to get another taste of the mountains. St. Arnaud is a cute little town, and had a good deal of hiking. I did a three hour hike up Mt. Robert, which was one of the most rewarding short hikes I've ever done in terms of amount of effort (not much) per ounce of awesomeness (lots). There was a decent amount of snow at the top, so Todd (a fine young American who I picked up in Greymouth) and I built a little snowman there. Perhaps he is still there even now. The snowman, not Todd. I dropped Todd off in Picton the next day and totally did not commit murder on a mountain top. I can't stress that enough.

After Nelson Lakes and the drop off in Picton (from where I will take a ferry into Wellington and the North Island in a week and a half), I spent the night in Blenheim and went on a tour of four wineries. Blenheim and the Marlborough wine district is world-renowned for their sauvignon blanc, something to do with how the soil is makes it super smooth and tasty. Their other wines are pretty good, too. So that tour was pretty nice, and I was pretty happy after that :D

Blenheim didn't have much beyond wine, so I moved onto Nelson (City), one of NZ's oldest cities. Old isn't exactly a good adjective for it, though - the oldest intact street is here, and it's from 1863. New Zealand's really a baby. Kind of makes me want to find the nearest Kiwi and pinch his/her cheek. I recommend you reading at home try and find a Kiwi to do this to as well. Anyway, I digress. Nelson's a very nice town, all sorts of cafes and bars and sunshine and all those things that would make a yuppie like me happy to live here if I were staying in NZ permanently...except for one thing. We've hit what's called the shoulder season, when all the tourists have effectively cleared out, and tourists make up a significant portion of the population you would see on the streets at day and night. A Canadian girl I met in Greymouth told me previously that Nelson was pretty awesome in the summer, but as of mid-April pretty much empties out until October. Much of NZ is like this, unfortunately (though the mountainy areas, like Queenstown, get heaps of ski traffic starting in June). Oh well - if I do come back, I'll revisit Nelson, and it'll be in the summer.

So, from here, I have a couple of stops I'll be making before I head up to Wellington. Golden Bay, the land of naked hippies and sunshine (so the guidebooks assure me). Abel Tasman, land of kayaks and sweet coastline hiking. And the Queen Charlotte Track, land of even more sweet coastline hiking.

So long!

Welcome to Jurassic Park!

...err, Fiordland, NZ.

Had an excellent week in New Zealand's fiords, and because I haven't been doing a good job laying out exactly what it is I've been DOING in this space, I'm just going to lay out my itinerary since Friday, April 17th.

Fri 4/17: Arrive in Te Anau, check out the town, the Lakeside walk, the Bird park (containing rare birds like the kea, kaka, and takahe - but no kiwi, sadly), and Ivon Wilson park. Realize that birds have the potential to be cooler than I previously thought, and that takahe, with their rusty door-like tweet, are actually kind of adorable. Watch silent movie in Fiordland cinema, which is a nice little collection of footage of Fiordland.

Sat. 4/18-Sun 4/19: Go on overnight cruise of Doubtful Sound. This entails a ferry ride through Lake Manapouri, which is totally sweet looking with its bit of mist, a bus ride from the Manapouri Hydro Power Station (which provides a large chunk of the South Island's power - take that oil dependence!), and the cruise itself through one of New Zealand's largest fiords, Doubtful Sound. Doubtful Sound - named such because Captain Cook was a little doubtful that the winds would carry his ship back out if he tried to sail in - is prehistorically delicious. All evidence of humanity's existence on earth (if you discount the boat I was on) is completely absent. In fact, if it weren't for the stoats and other mammals that people brought back in the late 1800s, mammals would be basically nonexistent here. Anyhoo, the cruise was nice, though very misty (and rainy on the second day), with good food, good kayaking, and good sights of Dusky dolphins, sea lions, and Fiordland crested penguins. And since it was the offseason, I saved NZ$100! Triple Word Score!

Mon. 4/20 - A decidedly un-chill day, as I decide to walk part of the Kepler Track two days before I hike the Milford Track. I walk from town to one of the huts, and back. This ends up being well over 30 km (20 miles). Views are pretty good, though a little cloudy up at the top. I end up feeling silly when I realize I could have saved two hours of walking by parking in a different spot. Go to sleep in soreness and pain.

Tues. 4/21 - Do absolutely nothing, and it's everything I ever hoped it could be.

Wed. 4/22 - First day of the Milford Track! Nice clear weather. Catch the bus at 1:00 PM, cruise up Lake Te Anau, and start the track around 3:30. Nice little walk through the bush along the riverside, end up arriving at hut about an hour later. Hut ranger gives a long winded but entertaining talk about blue ducks, the track that lies ahead for the 40 of us, and blue ducks. And also, blue ducks. He has some stuffed stoats for us to play with, too. Ah, New Zealand. Then we go out and observe a stump with some glowworms (like fireflies, but stationary).

Thurs. 4/23 - Second day of the Milford Track - cold night in the hut, but still totally clear out. In fact, did not rain at all while I was hiking, which is very unusual. Occasionally, people have done the hike while waist deep in water due to flooding on the track - you can request a helicopter rescue in some cases, but not always. We walk through the river valley with dramatic hills on either side, and end the day starting to climb up the hill to Mackinnon Pass. End up at Mintaro Hut. Start to notice smelliness about. Try to look for kiwi in the dark, but unsuccessful.

Fri. 4/24 - Third day of the Milford Track - Best. Single Day Walk. Ever. Encounter multiple keas monkeying about as I wake up to go to the bathroom, and as I start my hike. Climb up to Mackinnon Pass for about 1.5 hours, see a river valley on either side at the top. It's only about 3000 ft up here, but it feels like much, much higher. Climb down a very rocky and windy path through an avalanche-prone ravine, then walk down a staircase alongside a beautiful raging stream adorned with moss and crazy trees. Reach the bottom of the hill, have lunch as the sandflies begin their assault, and take a short 1.5 hour return walk to Sutherland Falls, NZ's tallest waterfall. On return, make it to Dumpling Hut (unfortunately, no dumplings were to be served there).

Sat. 4/25 - Final day of the Milford Track - pretty much a flat hike to Sandfly Point on Milford Sound, some fun things like a weka who seemed to be begging for my lunch. Wekas are pretty cute, and the closest thing to a kiwi I'll probably see in the wild. End up missing the early boat at Sandfly Point by about 2 minutes, meaning I miss out on saying goodbye to most of the people I met on the track, but next boat comes 20 minutes later so I don't have to get eaten by sandflies for long. Milford Sound itself is pretty sweet, but after the past week I don't think I have as much appreciation for it as I might if I hadn't been inundated with continually gorgeous scenery. Return to Rosie's backpacker homestay (the best, most welcoming hostel I've EVER stayed at - seriously, if you're ever in Te Anau, book ahead at this place. Rosie and Allister kick ass) and am rewarded with a beer for my efforts. Sleep the sleep of the just.

Sun. 4/26 - Leave Te Anau, head up the West Coast into a wall of rain. Sleep in Haast, the first populated area on the coast I reach.

Mon. 4/27. More rain. Drive up the coast to Hotitika, pay $14 to see live kiwi (since I'm tired of missing out). Drive up further to Greymouth, then to Blackball, the birthplace of the NZ labor movement. Stay at a place called Formerly the Blackball Hilton (they used to be the Blackball Hilton, then someone got pissy, hence the hilarious name change). Hang out with genuine west coasters for a bit, then go to bed. Crazy hotel.

Today - return to Greymouth. Still raining. See why they call it the Grey Valley. Working at a hostel in town for a week. Hopefully it won't be raining forever :)

That's all for now!

Glenorchy

(slain orcs off-screen)

Not much to report here - had a few quiet days in Glenorchy and Kinloch, which was a good antidote to the adrenaline/alcohol fueled week which was my week in Queenstown. The horse trek was nice - saw the place where the Uruk-Hai chased around Boromir right before he died, one of the scenes from Lothlorien (apparently someone pasted a bunch of golden leaves to the trees there, so it wasn't really a golden forest), and the place where Isengard/Orthanc was set (sadly, the CGI tower was not present for my trek - if only they could have had a giant projector set up...)

This will probably be my last post before I hike the Milford Track five days from now, unless something super exciting comes up. See you on the flip side!

The Marvels, Oil and Spoon

To balance out my bitchiness about Queenstown, I thought I'd share this little parable from Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist (the most relevant book I've read on my trip since The Grapes of Wrath while working on my first farm at the beginning of March):

"A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert for forty days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.

"Rather than finding a saintly man, though, our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were conversing in the corners, a small orchestra was playing soft music, and there was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world. The wise man conversed with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn to be given the man's attention.

"The wise man listened attentively to the boy's explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn't have time just then to explain the secret of happiness. He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.

"'Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something," said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. 'As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill.'

"The boy begain climbing and descending the many stairways of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was.

"'Well,' asked the wise man, 'did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that it took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?'

"The boy was embarrassed, and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

"'Then go back and observer the marvels of my world,' said the wise man. 'You cannot trust a man if you don't know his house.'

"Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all of the works of art on the ceilings and the walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around him, the beauty of the flowers, and the taste with which everything had been selected. Upon returning to the wise man, he related in detail everything he had seen.

"'But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?' asked the wise man.

"Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

"'Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you,' said the wisest of wise men. 'The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.'"

Queenstown Days and Nights

Ah, Queenstown. Today's Day 6 of my stay in this city, and boy oh boy. I will say it's set in probably the most visually stunning scenery I've ever been amongst, and the daytime activities I have partaken in - canyon swinging, rafting, scaling snowy peaks - have been excellent and worth the visit. I would definitely recommend swinging by if you are ever in New Zealand, even if you don't partake in the high-adrenaline, high-priced, high-altitude activities - it's just a gorgeous place, and the town is a compactly laid out place with loads of excellent places to eat and cheap things to do (if you look hard enough). Lots of Lord of the Rings scenes to be found in the area too, if you're into that (and I am, by Gandalf's beard!) But, enough about Queenstown in the daytime!

Queenstown at night is everything I hate about alcohol and what it does to people. I've detested Jagermeister since two shots of it destroyed me for an entire weekend junior year of college, and the drink of choice in Queenstown seems to be the Jagerbomb. The bars are meat markets filled with drunk dudes who will bump into you, spilling your drink unapologetically, drunk girls making scenes with poles involved. Every bar seems to be like this. Now, I'm OK with going to a bar like this once in awhile, but it sorta gets old after 20 minutes, and isn't enjoyable to me when sober. As my wise friend J. Pollack once eloquently described Doc Hollidays' in the East Village, "It's a place you end up, not a place you go to." I'd say the same for pretty much every bar I've encountered here. The annoying thing is that even when you resolve to personally boycott the bar scene and just read or watch TV in the hostel, some representatives from a bar or pub crawl organization having special deals that night will come into the hostel lounge and give you the hard sell. Nuts to all of that!

So yeah, I've had some good times here, and some good reminders that I'm not 18 years old anymore and may not enjoy hanging out with 18 year olds, but I'll be ready to get out in approximately 36 hours. I'll consider it a cautionary tale against booking a stay somewhere on the rest of my trip for more than a few days...

My next two stops - Glenorchy, about 45 minutes west of Queenstown, where I'll be doing a couple of day hikes and a LOTR-themed horse trek (overcoming my irrational fear of horses in the process), and Te Anau, from where I'll be doing a fjord cruise and my 4-day hike to Milford Sound (yet another fjord). After that, on April 26th, I'll be heading up the West Coast of the south island, and bouncing around the south island and north island a bit until I meet Tadhog in Wellington exactly one month later on May 26th.

Wanaka

Spent the last week or so in Wanaka, in the midst of the southern alps. For those of you familiar with northern NH, it's sort of like the Bartlett to Queenstown's Conway. Very pretty surroundings, not too built up yet, though it seems to be starting down that direction.

Here's my week in review (today's Monday the 6th): last Sunday, arrived in Dunedin for the Fringe Festival and hanging out with various peeps. The festival was a bit of a disappointment except for an event or two, but I had fun anyways. Tuesday I drove up to Wanaka via the Otago heartland, where much of NZ's fruit is grown. Arrived in Wanaka around 5 in the evening, saw most of what the downtown had to offer in an hour or so, and hung out at the hostel.
The next morning, drove about 15 minutes to my next WWOOFing location. As I pulled into the driveway, this woman in her late 50s looked rather bewildered to be seeing a car pulling in. Got out of the car, held out my hand:

"Hi, I'm Tim!"
"...Am I supposed to know you?"
(this after I'd emailed her (Ruth) several times and called her two nights previously - found out later something similar had happened to the other WWOOFing guests)

After we'd worked it out that I had indeed called and that she had a spare bed, she showed me to the first task, where Anselm, an 18 year old French guy was working pretty diligently. She was micromanaging him something fierce and muttering at me about him, knowing that his English wasn't all that good. I ended up staying despite my instincts telling me to run.

In addition to Anselm, I met Mick and Sharon, an English couple from Birmingham. Ended up going on a few hikes and having a few beers with them, not to mention going along with them to the movie theater/cafe (something which really needs to exist in NYC) to see Benjamin Button. Enjoyed hanging out with all of them, and made the WWOOFing experience much better than it would have otherwise been - for on top of the various complaints I had about Ruth, she ended up "needing my bed" a few days earlier than I'd planned on leaving. Good thing my trip plans are flexible :)

This week has kind of put a lot of thoughts in my head as to what I want out of life, where my priorities should be, and all that - which is exactly what I'd hoped for when I started out on this journey. What kind of importance do I want to place on my career? Do I have any desire to settle down somewhere, whether in NYC or elsewhere, or do I want to travel around as much, working in various places when money gets low? Not sure, but I've had a quote from Esther Dyson bouncing around in my head in the past week: "Always make new mistakes." - which is exactly what I'm hoping I'm going to be doing in the next few days, months, and years (and I hope the same for all of you, dear readers!)

The Catlins - Meowww

(because you know I can never pass up the opportunity for a pun, even if the pun makes no sense whatsoever)

Spent the last week in the Catlins, and I'll upload some photos when I get the chance. This is the very southern edge of New Zealand's south island. I could go even further south to Stewart Island (or if I wanted to be krazy, could go to the Campbell Islands or the Auckland Islands, which have little besides endangered birds and rocks), but it's time to get back to the beaten track for now. The Catlins are lovely and often overlooked by non-locals - it's sort of like England's Lake District or Vermont's Northeast Kingdom in that respect, meaning you could drive for an hour or so amongst dramatic ocean views and vast expanses of native bush and farmland, and see maybe two or three cars. Which I did, several times. I also did an overnight hike and slept in a trolley bus from pre-1960s Dunedin, which had been converted to have bunk beds and a gas stove and all that. Kinda cool. Saw a total of one person for 36 hours on that hike. So I guess you get my point - very sparse in terms of people (though really not that far from a few semi-major population areas). Way more sheep then people. Even the endangered Hooker's sea lion species that inhabits many of the beaches probably rivals the human population here.

But, glad to be back in a city for now. I'm in Invercargill this morning, which is cool in places but is kinda bland for my tastes. I'm heading back to Dunedin this afternoon to check out the Fringe Festival there for a few days, then heading up through Central Otago (wine and gold country) for a few days, then wwoofing some more in Wanaka in the mountains, where I'll be doing chicken work, planting some native plants, and building stone walls (something I sort of know how to do!)

So, next step will be putting up some pics, which I'll do when I get to Dunedin (will try, anyway...)

Dunedin

Been in Dunedin the past two days, and will be here for another two days. Yesterday, I ran up this hill - the steepest street in the world - in a race called "The Gutbuster":

I ran the children's race, since I got there as it was starting (this is the adult's timed race pictured).

A Week in Canterbury, Part II (Thoughts on Organic Farming)

(Part II on my time in Yaldhurst, New Zealand.)

So before I left for New Zealand, I began reading Michael Pollan's excellent The Omnivore's Dilemma (and actually, I'd started reading it before I even made any of these crazy plans). In it, I read about the concepts of grass farming and permaculture as practiced by an organic farmer in Virginia. The object of these things - to create a natural sustainable environment that produces large amounts of food, by ensuring a healthy grass environment, using activities animals do anyway as part of the farm work. Cows, goats, and/or sheep eat the grass, keeping it well maintained, and poop in it, fertilizing the soil. Pigs and/or chickens then seek out insects which are living in the soil (and eating the poop), rotating the soil. If this is done in a controlled manner (ensuring goats don't overgraze, or pigs don't dig up the soil too much, using pens), this can be very effective.

The beautiful thing about it is how common sense it all seemed when I read about it, and experienced it. There is not a lot of energy needed to maintain this - I helped Carla on her week off, and things went fine with my five hours per day, and the two times a day Carla went out to milk Minnie the new mommy goat, and feed the pigs. And the animals are doing things they should be doing. These were some happy looking creatures (Ivanhoe II, above, kind of seems like he's smiling, doesn't he?). Was definitely in stark contrast to animals you'll occasionally see on TV, crowded in barns and such, and written reports of how chickens in cages are treated (and how small those cages can be). I've often had some guilt about eating meat; I generally try and limit how much meat I consume, and tried vegetarianism very briefly back in '07 before realizing it wasn't going to work for me...but after seeing these happy animals, much of that guilt was gone. I had a lot of bacon at Carla's place, and knowing that it came from a pig that was as happy as the ones I fed during my stay there, it felt better, and even tasted a little better, too.

But, as for the work - I spent most of my time moving hay and soil around (another product of the grass farm - hay to sell to horse farmers and such). Exciting? Not especially so. But important-feeling? Maybe even a little bit noble? Yes. I was charged with evening out little patches of earth (maybe 15 feet by 100 feet) that pigs had dug up. I had plenty of time to think while I was doing this, and of course, when I get to thinking, I go to nerd-dome. I imagined I was terraforming a new planet, making it suitable for life to grow, and of course, part of that was true (not the new planet part.) What I experienced was a very small sliver of chores that could potentially be done on organic farms, but it was an interesting task - and I may go back to it fairly soon now that I've had a break from it (beats a desk job for now, anyway).

Misty Mountain Hop

So, I made it to Mount Cook Village, and will be hiking up to get a closer look at Mount Cook (also known by its Maori name, Aoraki) and the glacier that's got it in its clutches, Hooker Glacier in the morning. It's been a busy couple o' days since I last posted (and I know I owe a report on the farming itself, will get to that at a later date).

So, yeah, purchased a nice cheap car in Christchurch. I was in elementary school when this car was made. Oh yes, I am now the owner of a 1989 Honda Accord LX. It actually runs pretty decently (the mechanic was quite surprised) and there's just over 200,000 km on it (120,000 mi), so it'll work for me. I paid $1500 NZ for it ($750 US), so if I treat Maggie May (that's her name now) real nice, I can maybe sell her for just about the same price when I'm done. So yay, I can get around easily now! Have even figured out the side of the road thing pretty nicely, haven't slipped up yet. However, from today's road trip experience, I can report that NZ drivers are rather nutso, doing things like passing on two lane roads around curves and getting pissed when you're doing the speed limit (sorry man, I didn't feel comfortable doing over 100 kph around these mountain passes).

Had a nice last night in Christchurch though, met a bunch of folk in my room and had a nice social time around the hostel picnic tables and learned drinking games from around the world (hence my late start this morning). Was really the first night I've had socializing with people since I've been here, which was really quite nice. Apparently there's a sizable portion of people that reside in hostel rooms long term. The ringleader of last night's gathering has lived in the hostel I stayed at for months (he's a tennis instructor in town). Interesting life to lead - may end up being what I do at some point if I settle down in a town - but could definitely imagine missing privacy a great deal.

Today's road trip was interesting. I saw the following things:

• The world's largest jersey
• A replica of the Bayeux Tapestry constructed of metal bits, including an interpretation of what the last missing bit would have looked like
• A cafe on top of a mountain
• Mt. Cook from afar, which looks almost exactly like the Paramount logo from Lake Pukaki (will upload all photos I have when I get to Dunedin in a few days...)
• lots and lots of sheep

That's all I have to report for now - will report more later, but I'm pretty tired...may be an early night for me.

A Week in Canterbury, Part I

(This will be part 1 of 2, this one will focus on my week in general, the next on my thoughts on organic farming as I've experienced it in the past week will follow in the next day or so.)

Reporting from Yaldhurst, Canterbury, New Zealand:
For about 6 days now, I've been out here at the beginnings of the New Zealand countryside (the beginnings of suburbia and it's little planned subdivisions peek up just down the road), about 2 miles from public transit and without a car. It's here that I've realized my first mistake of my trip - not working out the car situation 100% before I started planning stuff. Like most of America, it's quite difficult to get around without some sort of transportation, so I've more or less been almost entirely on the farm, with the exception of helping my host Carla's daughter move, and me getting out on foot to see stuff like the farmer's market about 4 miles down the road and going to the local hotel pub, about a 20 minute walk from here.

So yeah, definitely going to get that car situation worked out on Friday. I've bid online for one, and if that falls through I'll check out what Christchurch has to offer me. After that happens (and ONLY after that happens) I'll move onto Mount Cook - may skip out on Banks Peninsula for now, since I can get hiking and hilly-ness at Mt. Cook and dolphins further up the coast at Kaikoura when I go on a whale cruise (which Carla recommended)...also the weather's supposed to be decent in the western mountains and want to take full advantage of that.

But, back to this week - as I've said I've been more or less confined to the farm with a few exceptions when Carla was going out on an errand.
The positives:

• I haven't been spending any money at all, other than a few bucks at the farmer's market and at the pub just now (where I met some nice local farmers and we chatted a bit, one of them explained some more technicalities of cricket to me, so that'll help next time)
• I have had time to really sit back and think about the trip ahead - some more planning will probably help me out on this trip. Other than the four days I'll be doing the Milford Track and various days to explore the wilderness, I have a feeling I'll be spending much of the next month and a half fluttering between Dunedin and Queenstown - Dunedin supposedly being the hip, chill, Williamsburg-y type town, and Queenstown being the bungy jumping/high adventure/melt off your face with awesomeness type town (CAR PEELS OUT!!1). I guess I won't know till I get there what I want to do.
• I have gotten a better idea of how much farming I want to do compared to how much tourism - I want to do more tourism, to the extent that I can afford to do so. I will probably have the opportunity to pick up the occasional odd job to supplement my cashflow, as I did today when Carla asked me to make a simple website for the business she's starting, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for those. Basically, I've realized that WWOOFing should be used as a tool to prolong my stay in an area I've grown partial to. That thought continued in part 2...
• I think I might be getting buff, or at least less of a fatty than I was when I left NYC.
• I have really caught up in my sleep, seriously. I was over my jet lag by late last week - but I've been sleeping like 10-12 hours every night. I haven't slept like this since high school. I don't know if it's the air, the physical work, the lack of stress, but my sleep has been of high quantity and quality (I've also started having dreams and remembering them like every night, which hasn't happened in a damn long time.)
• I have witnessed emus in person, and they are some badass creatures. Stay away from their legs though, they have a mighty kick (from the bruise I saw on Carla's leg my first day). Goats and pigs are pretty cute too, even if they are dirty, dirty creatures (especially goats - seriously, who poops where they sleep? Even dogs don't do that.)

The negatives:

• I haven't been able to explore at all, in terms of people or scenery. The trip started out pretty nice, was meeting some people briefly at the hostels, but then came out here and was essentially confined to the farm. Even with a car, would have been difficult, because 5 hours a day is more than it sounds.
• Farming isn't all that easy.
• So is separation from the interwebs.

So yeah, positives outweigh the negatives, definitely. But that first negative, the not being able to explore thing is a big one (that's sort of the main reason I'm here). So, yeah, may alter course slightly. Though again, all depends on me getting a damn car.

That's all for now!

Punting!

I punted yesterday after going on a punting trip through the park. The dude let me drive for a bit. It's pretty easy in theory - you just push against the bottom of the river. Though I couldn't keep the boat straight, and I gave the pole back to its rightful owner after a few minutes.

Here I am!

Off to go farming in a few hours about half an hour outside of Christchurch, not sure what sort of internet she has there, and was not able to get a car just yet (may not get one for a month or so), so may not report back for the next week. We'll see.

Canterbury Tales

(cause see, I'm in the province of Canterbury - get it!)

Arrived in Christchurch yesterday after a quick plane hop. Had a window seat so I got to see a lot of New Zealand from up above, and I really got the idea of how rugged much of the countryside is. Auckland was pretty hilly, but nothing compared to the mountains I was flying over. made me realize I'm going to have to visit Aoraka/Mt. Cook (the highest peak in NZ, clocking in at over 3700 m) at some point in this journey.

I arrived in Christchurch around 4 in the afternoon, and - wow. This city has completely charmed me. The place was laid out by Oxford scholars, and, you know, they were smart dudes. The place is beautiful - gothic church buildings everywhere, many no longer functioning as churches, but instead government buildings (no separation of church and state here! ;) ) and cafes and such. The river Avon snakes through the city, and people are kayaking through it and punting. There's a tram that goes in a square around the city, past my hostel, which is pretty nice.

And then there's the Botanic Garden. The Botanic Garden completely kicks ass, and in my own opinion puts every urban park I've ever seen to shame (including Prospect Park, Golden Gate Park, etc.) in terms of pure natural beauty. Christchurch calls itself the City of Flowers, and for good reason. I've spent maybe 5 or 6 hours of the 24 hours I've been here wandering through it, getting lost in it. It seems to contain almost every type of plant on earth.* Western trees coexist with NZ native plantlife, and could be a nice metaphor for NZ itself. Yeah, why not. It's a metaphor. Anyway, I've never really given much of a flying fig about botany, but after seeing this place, I want to buy a pack of fig newtons and start pelting people with them. I've taken a bunch of pictures and will put them on Facebook or Flickr maybe tonight.

Debating what to do now...I was going to buy a used car at the backpackers car market but have gotten some cold feet as I realized I've never actually bought a car in my life and also know next to nothing about cars. I will probably have to do it at some point, so may suck it up and just go. Or maybe will go to the Arts Centre or Canterbury Museum across the street. It's my last day here before I go to the farm (out in the suburbs of CC), so could always wait a week and come back. There's a lot here I'm going to not be able to see before tomorrow.

* - may be hyperbole.

Bagels: The Thinking Man's Crumpet

(subject may not necessarily relate to content of blog post - was just a bumper sticker I saw today at the airport and it was funny)

Well, I arrived in Auckland today after the marathon flight which involved Mac and Sweet Dee from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, a Fijian who was a leg spreader who couldn't stop fidgeting (but who actually turned out to be nice), and quesadillas that I really should not have eaten before it was bed time. Upon arrival, didn't get any trouble about the visa and no return ticket, but did get in trouble for not declaring my boots (fortunately the customs lady, after having me unpack the entire bag, saw that they hadn't been worn more than once and let me go - guess it's a good thing I didn't tell her that I wore them in NYC and hence were potentially carrying every biohazard known to man...bwahaha)

After checking into the hostel, I decided to spend a few hours this afternoon seeing some of the Central Business District. Since I'm a little sleepy still I basically did what the Lonely Planet guide told me to. My first impression though - Auckland is what would happen if San Francisco and Los Angeles had a baby and hired a British nanny to watch it. And some Chinese and Maori baby friends. I dunno. It's interesting and somehow familiar. I walked through Albert Park, saw some of Auckland University, wandered down a pedestrian enclave, and down to the waterfront. I walked past the Sky Tower (the tallest building in NZ, sorta looks like the Space Needle in Seattle) - thought about going to the top but then reconsidered after checking out the price - not to steep, but I'll be back here at some point in my journey. Plus, it's totally not related at all to World 5 in Super Mario 3, so I couldn't be bothered today. Before coming back to the hostel I found an old Irish pub in the older part of town and tried to watch a cricket match between India and the NZ national team (the "Black Caps"). I found myself understanding it even less after having watched it. Oh well, I'll learn at some point!

So, yeah, first day in NZ going well. Weather's definitely an improvement on what I left behind, and Auckland seems pretty, though I really only scratched the surface today.

Tomorrow, I conquer Christchurch, where I begin my great journey (as my visit to Auckland today was mostly an attempt to break up the madness of all that flying).

NZ minus 30 hours

So, I fly out of jfk in 5 hours, and from there we'll see just how
crazy I am to be doing this. The total travel time from here to
Auckland will be 25 hours and 40 minutes, including layovers in LA and
Fiji. I'll get to Auckland 12:45 on a Tuesday, spend the day/night
there, and then take a short flight to Christchurch the next day, when
my touring begins in earnest.

Finding a farm was admittedly a bit of a struggle as I was having
trouble getting replies to my emails to the farmers, but finally got
one yesterday. Working out the timing but looks like I'll be helping
out with tidying up a small farm (a few goats and pigs), fixing
fencing and whatnot. It's in a suburb of Christchurch and doesn't seem
too far from the coast... So maybe can get some beach time in, who
knows.

Will report back when I'm in NZ! So long for now, USA!

NZ minus 30 hours

So, I fly out of jfk in 5 hours, and from there we'll see just how
crazy I am to be doing this. The total travel time from here to
Auckland will be 25 hours and 40 minutes, including layovers in LA and
Fiji. I'll get to Auckland 12:45 on a Tuesday, spend the day/night
there, and then take a short flight to Christchurch the next day, when
my touring begins in earnest.

Finding a farm was admittedly a bit of a struggle as I was having
trouble getting replies to my emails to the farmers, but finally got
one yesterday. Working out the timing but looks like I'll be helping
out with tidying up a small farm (a few goats and pigs), fixing
fencing and whatnot. It's in a suburb of Christchurch and doesn't seem
too far from the coast... So maybe can get some beach time in, who
knows.

Will report back when I'm in NZ! So long for now, USA!

NZ minus 16 days

Kia ora!

So 1 of 2 major remaining hurdles to leaving has been cleared - my working holiday visa was approved today! (#2 being finding someone to live in my room...) This means I can actually land in NZ without being turned away/forced into a state of limbo like that movie starring Tom Hanks as an immigrant whose papers get mixed up, so he has to sleep and eat in the airport terminal with not a companion in the world but his volleyball Wilson.

Anyway, I digress.

I've got something resembling a plan for my travels through NZ, and since I'm a nerd, I made a Google Map of it. At some point next week, I'll contact a farm in the Christchurch/Canterbury area and let them know I'm ready to start around March 5th. I'm thinking I'll start with a sheep/cattle farm. Though I have to look into how long the wine season lasts, if it goes into early March, I should totally do that first since I can only do that for a limited time, and also because wine is delicious.

Well, I've procrastinated from the beginning of the packing process long enough. More will follow in the next two weeks, probably containing much interesting knowledge of questionable practical value. Laters!

NZ minus 20 days - "The Finest Walk in the World"

Just booked a 4-day hike in late April on the Milford Track:



Good times.

NZ minus 21 days

So, with the loss of gainful employment from Meetup this past week, I got to thinking about two basic questions about where to go from here.
1) What can I do now?
2) What would totally rock to do now?

Out of all the answers I came up with, none intersected quite so well as the idea that I'm carrying out now. I've decided to go to New Zealand and volunteer on various organic farms throughout the country, participating in the farmstay program known as WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms, and it's pronounced "woof", which is totally awesome, dogg). The way that it usually works:
1) I, as a participating WWOOFer, have a directory of participating host farms available (and there are hundreds in New Zealand), with addresses, phone numbers, and what each farm specializes in and what their need is
2) I call a farm that interests me 1-2 weeks in advance and find out if they're in need of someone to help them out
3) If they need someone, I travel to the farm. Then, in exchange for working 5-6 hours a day, I get food and drink, and a bed to sleep in. Usually it's for at least a week since the learning curve on farms may vary.
4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 for as long as desired, intersperse with touristy activities such as viewing penguins along the coastline:













exploring the beaches and coves:





















hanging with this dude:




















The nice thing about this is that it enables one to take a very long trip in beautiful areas while spending very little money. So while I currently know next to nothing about organic farming or any kind of farming, really (I did milk a cow once when I was 11 or so), it's something that I could definitely learn, and is probably a very good thing to learn (who couldn't benefit from having a better idea of where their food comes from? I mean, what the hell is high fructose corn syrup, really? corn juice? wait, maybe that's another blog entry...)

Still working out all the details on this trip. I have 3 weeks to work most of them out, and will probably be figuring out many of them as I go. Yesterday, I booked my flight to Auckland and am leaving the afternoon of March 1st. I'll arrive in Auckland March 3rd (since crossing the international date line enables one to go into the future or the past one day! the awesomeness!), and will fly into Christchurch on the south island the following day after giving myself a day to rest (time travel wears you out). In March, fall will just be beginning there, so I'll be heading as far south as I can at the start, so I can see it before it gets too cold down there. I'll then work my way back northward towards the more temperate climes as winter gets closer. Estimated time of journey is around 3 months, though do not yet have an end date in mind, and may well decide to extend beyond that if I'm having a good enough time and finances permit.

I will update semi-frequently before my departure date, and will attempt to update as often as I can when I'm over there.

Cheers!