KIWI KIKI & HOIHO HUBBY

Impossible to Believe!!

2010-02-03T09:12:00.000+13:00

This is, technically, our last full day in New Zealand. Our plane takes off tomorrow at 11PM. Neither one of us can believe it. We've been talking a lot about all the mixed emotions that going home has been bringing up. We're so excited to know that we get to see Paddington in two days. And because Justin's dad will meet us at LAX during our three hour layover and Justin's mom is coming to Houston for a visit our fist weekend back in Texas (and we'll see my mom and dad while driving through Colorado) we're going to get to see all our parents in the span of one week. Neither one of us can remember that feat since our wedding! Of course it will be nice to be back home and get unpacked and get settled into a bit more of a routine but, we've just so enjoyed our nomadic time in New Zealand. Most of all our time together. Things are going to get a little nuts once we get home. Justin has taken a job on the Motivia project which is in Port Arthur, Texas. That's an our and a half drive from Houston. We're not quite sure yet how we're going to set up shop. We'll be keeping the house and renting an apartment in Beaumont or Port Arthur. Justin might have Fridays or ever other Friday off. We imagine we'll spend long weekends back home. I think I'll be spending a part of the week in Houston on my own with a sewing class I've signed up for, my routine "bootcamp" and yoga classes and getting involved with the local fruit and veg co-op. We'll see how things go and make adjustments as we see fit.
We're sure we're going to miss NZ tremendously. The climate has been great, the scenery amazing and the Kiwis are such fun folks to be around. Then of course there's the real fruit ice cream. I'm not sure what Justin will do without it. A few other items that will be missed:

Really Good Peanut Butter
This name doesn't lie. We picked this up at the Nelson farmer's market where it's made. It really is by far the best peanut butter either of us has ever had. They do have a website reallygood.co.nz so if we're really hurting we could always bite the bullet and pay a hefty shipping fee.
RJ's Natural Licorice
Not sure where along the trip Justin discovered this but it became a staple for him ever since. I'm not sure a huge licorice gal but even I have to admit that it is tasty and very soft.
Bendaberg Ginger Beer
This is actually an Australian product. But it really was the best drink on a hot afternoon. It's a non-alcoholic drink akin to ginger ale, but much more gingery.
Tamarillo Chutney
This stuff is GREAT on a sandi (and a whole host of other things that I tried it on).
Huffman's Hot Sauce
This stuff is AMAZING. My favorite hot sauce I've ever had and it ranks pretty high for Justin aka the hot sauce hombre. He found it in Dunedin and since then we've been rationing it carefully. Alas it didn't last and despite dozens of trips to grocery stores (some not even to buy anything, just visited with the sole purpose of trying to find more Huffman's) we never did find it again. If we had been able to find another source I'm quite sure I would have purchased the whole lot and shared it with everyone at home for Christmas. But alas all I can do is to tell you that if you ever see this at a store or your find yourself in New Zealand get some!! It's spicy without loosing it's yummy sort of vinegary tangy taste.

Bay of Islands

2010-01-31T15:09:00.000+13:00

Sorry that there haven't been any new posts in a while. we've been having way too much fun in the Bay of Islands! One week from today we'll be heading back to the States. Neither one of us can believe it. Going home to Houston is going to feel so strange, odd that home feels seems foreign while New Zealand feels familiar and comfortable. Having these two months of traveling together has been such a wonderful gift. We're really going to miss spending every single waking second with each other. But we are looking forward to seeing our Paddington.

So, the Bay of Islands - We are in Northland, the northernmost section of New Zealand. The Bay of Islands is a large-ish area with lots of bays, inlets, isthmuses, peninsulas and islands. The vegetation is lush and dense and the topography steep. It feels very much like the Caribbean. The area is well known for it's beautiful beaches and excellent sailing. The Bay of Islands also has a very rich history for New Zealand as this is where the first European settlements were and where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed (when the Maoris basically handed over NZ to the British).

Paihia
This is where we've made our base. The town is peaceful and small with great views over the bay and across to Russell as well as the Treaty signing grounds. We've been hiking, walking, lounging on the beach and exploring lots. We went out for the whole day on The Edge, a very large catamaran. We explored a bunch of the beaches and small islands and went swimming, Justin rode the inflatable tube behind the tender and saw a large pod of bottle nosed dolphins with a few very cute babies. There were about 20 of us on the boat and it was great fun. We also spent an afternoon visiting the Treaty of Waitangi treaty grounds. This included a live cultural Maori song and dance performance which was neat to see. They also tried to teach us a few moves. Our favorite was seeing the huge canoe.
Maori Dancing

The gorgeous house of the British commander and site of Waitangi Treaty signing.

Maori Meeting House

Maori Canoe or Waka

The stump of the Kauri tree that was used to make the canoe

On board the Edge catamaran

Kerikeri
One morning we drove about 20 minutes north to Kerikeri to check out the famous local produce (citrus and kiwifruit). They have a big farmer's market on Sundays that we checked out. It was a good turn out of stall selling great produce, bread, cheese, coffee, baked goods, honeys, jams and more interesting goods such as hotcakes and tadpoles.

Russell
There is frequent short ferry from Paihia to Russell which is right across the bay from us. Russell is adorable. It used to be known as "the hell hole of the Pacific" and was notorious for the whaling and sealing boats that would call into port for R&R and the debauchery that went along with those sailors. There's no sign of that now with a quaint little street of shops and restaurants in the shade of Puka trees right along the beach. There is a beautiful old church, Christ Church, that we saw and I later read that it's the oldest church in NZ and one of the founding individuals of the church was Charles Darwin when he was in Russell during his voyage on The Beagle.

Cape Reinga
We decided that we should engage in some good ol' fashioned tourism while we had the time up here so we signed up for the full day Dune Rider bus. It turned out to be a great day. The bus (not really a bus but a semituck cab with a customized stadium seating passenger area and four wheel drive) at 7:15 and headed north. First we stopped at an ancient Kauri forest. This is an area at the turn of the 20th century that people were harvesting gum (what we call amber, or petrified sap). The stumps were buried buy a giant (2km high, 600km/hr) tsunmani and so they were preserved by sand and swamp. The trees' stumps measured 20m in diameter. It was really interesting to learn about the history of this area. Then it was about an hour and a half drive to Tapotupotu Beach where we had a nice picnic, stroll and some people went swimming. A short way up the road we came to the Cape Reinga lighthouse. while it's not techniqually (just by a hair) the northern most point in NZ, it may as well be. In Maori it's called the Place of Departing Souls. They believe that when a Maori person dies their spirit makes it's way to this point and leaves for mystical island of Hawaiki (which is also where the Maori's believe they came from). It was a good walk out to the lighthouse and so neat to see where the Pacific Ocean and Tasmen Sea meet. Instead of driving back on the highway we drove down 90 Mile Beach (it's actually more like 70, but I guess the person naming the beach wasn't great at measuring). We stopped at some beautiful sand dunes and everyone broke out the boogie boards and surfed down the sand. On our way back we stopped in a beach town (famous for the great white sharks that occastionally cruise into the bay) for fish 'n' chips. These were the best fish 'n' chips we've ever had. The batter was so light it wasn't like eating fried fish at all. Sort of similar to tempura. By the time we got home it was nearly 7pm and we were pretty spent. But it was a great way to get out and see more of the area.

Book Reviews
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson read and reviewed by Felicity
I happen to love Bryson's ironic, sarcastic and sometimes dark humor. His observations about everyday life are always so colorful in description. In this book he tackles the physical world around us. It was a wonderful refresher on chemistry, biology and physics and a wealth of new information on topics I knew very little about: geology, astronomy and the history of our own species. It's a book that I would whole heartily recommend. While very detailed and on the longer side it's a very quick and entertaining read.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood read and reviewed by Felicity
This is a book that I read some time ago but I don't think I finished it because I couldn't really remember it. (Note: this is VERY VERY unusual for me. I nearly ALWAYS finish a book that I've started even if I'm not loving it or all that interested in it. I'm sort of compulsive about the finishing.) Well, Atwood is one of my favorite authors and after a recent conversation with a friend about a newish book of hers we got talking about this one and somewhere along the road I thought I should really give it another go. Well, I'm sorry to say that I couldn't finish it this time either. I just have a really hard time reading about appalling things and this book's world is full of way more ugliness that I can stomach. I'm sure I'll continue to read Atwood because she really is great but this one's just not for me and wouldn't be one that I can recommend.

Now reading Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

back to the beach

2010-01-22T19:12:00.000+13:00

Auckland's been fun but we're both pumped to get back to the beach. The weather forecast isn't looking great but we've got our fingers crossed.
We enjoyed Avatar (some more than others), I think seeing it on IMAX in 3D really made the experience exciting.
Justin rocked the double glasses look (triple if you count the sunglasses hooked into the shirt):

He's also mastered the man of leisure lounging at a cafe on a Thursday afternoon look:

Our goal for the next 14 days is to RELAX before we head back state-side. The great news is that the woman I bought the van from is going to buy it back for $650 less than I bought it for. Pretty amazing considering that I doubt you could even rent a camper van for a month for that amount! We feel great about the deal.
We'll post as we can over the next 10 days as we are able to.

16 Days

2010-01-20T20:16:00.002+13:00

We loved our time at the beach on the Coromandel Peninsula. Justin was totally in his element, commenting about every five minutes that he wants to one day live at the beach. After Mt. Mounganui we went to Bowentown where we were supposed to stay at a cute little B&B right on the beach to give ourselves a break from the van/tent but when we arrived we found out that we had been double booked. This was a gigantic bummer since this is the high season and it can be very tricky to find places to stay. We ended up camping two nights at the Bowentown Holiday Park which was a great location - between two amazing beaches - but it wasn't very peaceful. Our neighbors, all Kiwis, were taking full advantage of being on holiday and carried on most of the night laughing and drinking. We were pretty beat without a good night's sleep in far too long so instead of camping on the beach at Opoutere we checked into a little motel in Whangamata for a night. After a long walk on the beach, a good night's sleep, a great morning run and some breakfast we are felt renewed and refreshed and ready to head up the peninsula to Hahei. We stayed two nights at the holiday park which might be our last camping.
While in Auckland we're trying to get the car cleaned up and see if the dealer I bought if from would like to buy it back, we did about 25 pounds of laundry this morning and tomorrow we're seeing a movie Justin's really excited about: Avitar in 3D on IMAX. I'm a little dubious, but game.
Our friends Jon and Sara are currently traveling in Japan. If you'd like to check out their adventures they have a blog (that's super creative and fun to read- we're hooked): http://whitesquarereddot.tumblr.com/

Catch up on Book Reviews:

Mudbound by Hilary Jordan
I read this book while on the West Coast but I guess I never got around to reviewing it. This novel is really a beautiful and heartbreaking piece of fiction. Set in 1940s Mississippi the book navigates the hardships of farm life, the strain of family and of course the failure of so many to act humanely to one another. Somehow Jordan manages to gracefully and rarely over dramatically or graphically navigate her way through the tragedies born of the race relations of this time and place. Not a light and casual read but certainly one that I would recommend.

The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
After Mudbound I guess I needed something quick and somewhat silly to sink my teeth into. While not nearly as fun as Angles and Deamons, The Divinci Code or Deception Point, The Lost Symbol was interesting. It's a typical mystery book based on Mason lore it has all the requisite twists and turns to keep a reader engaged.

Currently reading: A Brief History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson - so far really interesting and remarkably entertaining! Justin's working on Tipping Point and a book about the history of the CIA in Afghanistan.

Pictures as Promised:
Bowentown

Hahei

Cathedral Cove

Justin's hasn't tired of the real fruit ice cream yet:

Auckland

2010-01-19T14:54:00.000+13:00

Sorry for the recent lack of posts. We've been without internet while enjoying the Coromandel Peninsula. We've just arrived in Auckland. The weather is great. We're going to stay here 4 days and try to get a buyer for the van and a few items that we picked up (tent, camping chairs, mattress, cooking stuff, ect). Then we'll head north to the Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga. We'll be posting a good long catch-up post tomorrow.

Vitamin D

2010-01-13T12:23:00.000+13:00

Ohope Beach was a great spot to be for a night. The holiday park was HUGE and PACKED with Kiwi families on vacation but it was a really fun atmosphere. The beached stretched on and on and on. We had a great time body surfing and lounging in the shade of our beach canopy.

Then it was onto Mount Maunganui where we are now. It's a cool, busy beach and surfing town that's busy this time of year. Mt Maunganui itself is a volcano barely attached to the mainland by a small spit of land which is where the town is and has beaches on either side. Very neat! We are considering a surfing lesson for this afternoon depending on the weather.
Last night we enjoyed a spectacular sunset.

We have another night here and then we're moving onto Bowentown on the Coromandel Peninsula.

Soaking it Up

2010-01-11T10:57:00.000+13:00

Taupo and Rotorua have been great: most of our time has been spent in the hot springs! (This place was very well done.) We stopped off at the VERY impressive Huka Falls en route to Rotorua (I'll post pictures in a following post because I don't have my camera connector with me at the moment). Over 50% of the North Island's power comes from harnessing the hydropower of the Waikato river. Just amazing - but not a place I'd want to boat or swim!
Today we are heading out of Rotorua (a day early to hit the beach) and going to Ohope Beach in the Bay of Plenty. We are so excited for some sand and surf. Then we make our way up the Coromandel Peninsula to soak up the sun. We'll be sending our warmest thoughts to all of you stuck in the cold front sweeping the states.
Next post will be coming to you with sand between our toes.

Epic Day

2010-01-09T16:33:00.000+13:00

The drive from Wellington to Tongariro National Park was beautiful. We could make out the three dramatic volcanos and the saddle that we'd be hiking in the morning, Tongariro Alpine Crossing . We woke at five to catch the van that the holiday park supplies to drop people off at the start and pick up at the other end in the afternoon. It was dark and so foggy and misty that I could only make out Justin's headlamp and nothing else from about 50 yards. Maybe that should have tipped us off that the weather wasn't too great but we both figured that if it was bad at the top the van wouldn't go or the holiday park folks would warn us. We got to the trail head and the mist was still very thick and we were told that the wind could be gusty and there could be some showers throughout the morning. The hike takes about 7 hours up the side of a volcano and across some beautiful terrain near lakes and craters. Too bad we didn't see any of it. We trudged for about 2 hours up, up, up (literally up stairs for the last 45 min - that's how steep it is) and we were soaked. From about 20 min into the hike even with "waterproof" jackets we were absolutely soaked to the bone. When we got to just below the highest point along the hike the wind was so strong that it threatened to blow us right off the side of the volcano and the rain was just poring down - in short the hike had gone from a fun adventure to a miserable slog. We decided the best and safest option would be to turn around. Not an easy choice when the vertical climb was accomplished and we had to turn around into the wind but I'm so glad that we did because we were so FREEZING when we got to the trail head that the four hour trek from where we turned around to the pick up location would have been painful. Thankfully there was a Department of Conservation ranger at the trail head who gave us a lift back to the holiday park. It was a bit of an epic day in all.
The real kick in the pants was getting out of the tent this morning and seeing the 100% CLEAR gorgeous day. Boo. We missed the weather by a day. Oh well, we drove to Taupo and went to the farmer's market, had a picnic and did the hot springs. Tomorrow we're on our way to Rotorua for two nights and then Bay of Plenty and the Coromandel Peninsula before the Bay of Islands and Cape Reinga. Didn't take ANY pictures on the hike for fear of ruining the camera but here's some pictures from the road near our holiday park:

Catching Up

2010-01-07T08:34:00.000+13:00

Sorry that it's been so long since I've done a proper post. We've spent the last three nights in Wellington and today we head north.
Since my last post we have covered a lot of ground: the drive from Greymouth to Westport wasn't very scenic due to cloudy, rainy weather. We did get a beautiful day for the lovely drive from Westport to Moetuaka. Justin got to experience the amazing sandwiches at Toad Hall and we both sampled "real fruit ice cream" for the first time: two scoops of vanilla frozen yogurt with a few scoops of your choice of fruit (raspberry and strawberry for me, blackberry for Justin) then it all goes into this neat machine that mixes it all together. It was delicious and such a great concept that you may find Justin's Real Fruit Ice Cream Mobile Trailer in your driveway soon! Then it was up to Able Tasmen National Park. We rented a double sea kayak and caught a water taxi to the northern boundary of the park and then kayaked to Observation Beach where we pitched a tent and rang in the new year in style. There were two other families on the beach - no crowds or fanfare for us. Just brilliant stars and a dip in the ocean. It was great. The following night we spent in Nelson and Saturday morning we hit up the amazing local market. Everything from fruit to felt to massages to magnetic toys it was a little bit of a zoo but everything was locally and mostly handmade. We picked up some hand painted canvas bags, some roasted seeds, a big jar of local peanut butter, some black currant jam and a half kilo of the best freshly picked blueberries ever. Then we made the drive to French Pass which was a little disappointing because there was so much fog. But it was worth it because the town (if you can even call it that) is so out in the middle of nowhere that we really did feel half way around the world. We jumped off the pier and went for a very cold morning swim and then drove to Picton along the scenic Queen Charlotte Drive. After a night in Picton we caught the ferry to Wellington where we've been exploring the city on foot. We've walked between 5-8 hours for the past three days. Window shopping, checking out the great museums and parks, riding the cable car, we watched the movie The North Face (which is a great German film if you find it in your area) and sampling a few local restaurants and cafes (Flying Burrito Brothers was our favorite).
Pictures as promised:
Tranzscenic Train from Greymouth to Christchurch (over Arthur's Pass):

Monteith's Brewery Tour in Greymouth:
tasting the barley and hops-

inspecting the tanks:

sampling the goods:

Abel Tasmen launch:

Observation Beach New Year's Eve Camping Site:

New Year's Eve:

Up next: Tongariro Alpine Crossing
next blog post in about three days

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-01-06T07:24:00.000+13:00

Wow, 2010! Sorry that's it's been so long between posts we've been "freedom camping" in the Abel Tasmen and French Pass. We're now on the north island in Wellington. I'll be posting on our latest adventures this evening or tomorrow. We're having a blast and sending our love to everyone!

Busy Few Days

2009-12-29T18:33:00.000+13:00

I won't be posting pictures tonight because I'm pretty exhausted from a great few days. We drove from Milford to Fox Glacier where we spent the night at a holiday park. It was pretty cloudy so Justin didn't get to see much of the glacier or the beautiful views of Mt. Cook but we had a nice run around the local lake and Justin made us killer black bean, brown rice and GUACAMOLE burritos! Then we drove to Greymouth where we caught the Tranzscenic train to Christchurch. We stayed at an awesome B&B called Hoonhay Valley B&B run by Ernst and Renate who where wonderful. We had a great late dinner at a local restaurant called the Old Viceroy which was super tasty. This morning we got back on the train and returned to Greymouth where we took the 1.5 hour Montieth Brewery tour (30 min of brewery tour, one hour of beer sampling - double the fun for Justin who graciously sampled my portions as well, since I'm the designated driver). Then I drove us up to Westport where we'll be spending the night tonight before heading to Able Tasmin tomorrow.
We'll be spending tomorrow night at a holiday park and then kayaking the coast, camping on Observation Beach for New Year's Eve. We'll post again (with pictures) in 2010!!

Milford Sound

2009-12-26T18:28:00.000+13:00

Christmas Day we drove the Southern Scenic Route to Milford Sound.

The views were pretty spectacular and Milford lived up to the hype. Even on a cloudy and overcast day the fjord was nothing short of majestic. The vertical assent of the mountains from the water is breathtaking and the recent rains had the waterfalls overflowing left and right. We did the Milford Wanderer overnight cruise. Our bunkmates were a very nice young couple from Seattle on their honeymoon. And we were all cracking up about the miniature single bunks - it was like sleep away camp!

Tonight we stay in Arrowtown so Justin can see where I made my base-camp for a few weeks then it's off to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers.

Book Reviews:
Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi
read and reviewed by Felicity
I have to say this book was a bit of a disappointment. I loved the descriptions of the small Greek Island where the story took place and the nuances of small island life but the characters were weakly developed, not very likable and the plot just sort of puttered along.

Rigged by Ben Mezrich
read and reviewed by Jusitn
This book is written by the same author who wrote Bringing Down the House and Breaking Vegas. Great book about the intricacies of the mercantile exchange in New York and the set up of the Dubai merc exchange. Fascinating insight into the business dealings of the Middle East and the amount of wealth and prosperity in Dubai. True story of a young Harvard Business grad and his relationship with the interesting characters of the Merc Mob, Sheiks of Dubai and the key players of the banking world in the setup of a new oil exchange in Dubai. I recommend this as a fun read.

Stewart Island and Christmas Kiwis

2009-12-26T18:08:00.000+13:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We've just returned from two nights at The Bay Motel in Halfmoon Bay on Stewart Island. We had a great time and truly enjoyed the small, scenic island. To reach Stewart Island we took the 1 hour passenger only ferry from the port town of Bluff, just outside of Invercargill. We were met dockside by "Loosie" (otherwise known as Brett) the highly personable and hilarious owner and operator of the motel. Our room was basic but comfortable with a decent view of the bay. Our favorite part of the hotel were the visitors: on the first rainy afternoon we were reading when we heard a sharp knock on the sliding glass door leading to the porch. We opened the curtains to find two Kakas sitting on the lounge knocking on the glass with their beaks. Kakas are very large and very charismatic parrots that live in large numbers on the southern islands. We cracked the door (for fear they would come into the room and help themselves to anything laying around) and offered them raisins which they happily ate from one foot, standing on the other. They were so fat and happy they would skip along the porch and railing.

For lunch we visited the famous Kai Kart for fresh fish 'n chips served in newspaper. We chose both regular and kumara (sweet potato) fries. Not exactly heart-healthy, but when in Rome...

CHristmas Eve day was a full day of birding for us. As it was our first day of real birding, I would venture to say we did quite well. In the morning we met with a guide who took us by water taxi over to Ulva Island, a bird heaven and National Forest. There we walked for three hours and saw the following: Stewart Island Robins: these cute critters are super trusting. They land on branches and on the ground RIGHT next to you and wait for you to kick back the first layer of dirt so they can find worms and bugs which they either gobble up or hold in their beaks to bring to their young. Fantails: Well named as these beauties have long white tail feathers that they splay out in a fan as they nimbly fly from branch to branch. Yellowheads: Shockingly bright yellow small birds that like to keep in pairs. Saddlebacks: Beautiful medium-sized birds that are some of the rarest in New Zealand. So named due to the fact that the male is all black with a tan marking resembling a saddle over his back and across the tops of his wings. One interesting fact is that these birds have the strongest jaw mussels of any bird but they don't use that strength in the typical "closing" action but rather stick their beaks into small holes and cracks and then use the strength to open their beaks thus getting at large bugs hiding in trees. Little Blue Penguins: Saw these at Sydney Bay swimming along the shore as well as their tracks to the nests they keep in the bush. Oyster Catchers: Black beach birds with long bright neon orange legs and bills. They are fierce protectors of their nests and will not hesitate to dive bomb you if you get too close. They are also known to pretend to have a broken wing or leg to lure predators away from their nests. Wekas: These look a bit like mottled brown chickens. They are sort of silly birds to watch as they skirt amongst the brush or beach. They are flightless. Rifleman: the most ancient and smallest bird in New Zealand, this was a special treat: they are not easy to spot as they move similarly to hummingbirds (though, they don't hover) and are nearly as small. Kaka: Large parrots mentioned above. Kakariki: both blue and yellow crested. They are sensationally beautiful: BRIGHT greet large parakeets (but really the size of parrots) with either a bright red or yellow head. Tui: A common, but neat, bird found in New Zealand. Initially appears to be black but caught in the right light reveals it's true blue/green color. It has two white pom-poms under it's beak. Grey Warbler: saw only one but heard many more. They have a very distinct call. Bellbird: we saw two young bellbirds and heard them practicing the song for which they are named. Brown Creeper: small finch-like birds that travel in large flocks singing to each other. After our morning of tramping and learning MUCH about birds and plants we walked down to the bay for pb&j sandwiches and then took a long nap before having a nice Christman Eve dinner at The Church Hill Restaurant. At 8:45pm we met at the wharf for a 35 min ride with a guide to another island not far from Ulva Island for nighttime kiwi spotting.

Stewart Island (and the small islands that are near by are home to about 18,000 brown kiwis - the largest kiwis in New Zealand). While they occasionally come out during the day the best chance of spotting them is to go after dark (which means well after 10:30 this far south in the summer - it's really only truly dark for a few hours these days). We hopped onto a dingy to get us to shore and then hiked about a half hour to a nearby beach where Philip (our guide who's been doing this about 20 years) has had great success spotting the birds. We walked along the beach - where they come out to feed on sand bugs - and after about 40 min saw one (with the guide's flashlight illuminating the brush next to the beach) scurry along some rocks and disappear into the dune grass. It was a kiwi, but it really could have been anything it was so quick. After walking the full length of the beach and doubling back we started thinking that might be it. A little bit disappointing, but at least we saw something! Then the group (about ten of us) suddenly stopped and there in the sand about 15 feet from us was a large kiwi! It didn't seem to notice us and certainly didn't mind having the flashlight on it while it went about it's business using its long beak in the sand to get lots of sand crustaceans. After about ten minutes it moved on and we did the same further down the beach. About five minutes later we found another one. We watched this one for about 10 minutes before leaving it to its dinner. Three kiwi! Up close and in the wild!! This is VERY RARE and super special. The night was clear, the water glassy, the stars bright. Needless to say it was a pretty magical Christmas Eve for us. We got back to the hotel around 1am and were up early to be at the wharf to catch the ferry back to Bluff at 8am. As I write this we are on the road en route to Milford Sound where we'll be doing an overnight cruise. Pretty sweet Christmas Day! We'll be trying to give people a call tomorrow, which will be Christmas Day in the States.

Kiwi Facts: They are much larger than you'd imagine - about 9 pounds, 60 cm in height. The female is larger than the male and her beak curves the full length, while the male's is straight. Kiwis have the largest body size to egg size ratio of any bird: the egg is 20% the size of the female. While male kiwis are in charge of incubating the eggs on the North and South Island, Stewart Island Kiwis share the duty between both male and female as well as bother and sister (as the young stay with mom and dad for two years - on the North and South Island they only stay in the nest 5 weeks before they are kicked out). Kiwis are the only bird that is fully fledged when it hatches. It will never be fed by it's parents, the yolk sack sustains the chicks for up to five days and then they leave the nest to forage for themselves. They are solitary birds outside of the nest, it's incredibly rare to see them feeding together. When they build a new nest they will leave it for about a month before moving in to allow plants to grow and hide the new home. They are the only bird that has marrow in its bones. Very acute sense of smell, can smell 4 inches below the surface. They have whiskers around the base of their beaks and large feet with three toes about the size of a man's thumb with razor sharp claws in each and they are the only bird without tail feathers.

The Catlins - Catch Up Post

2009-12-26T18:07:00.000+13:00

We spent two fantastic days in the Catlins. We camped in the most beautiful spot: Surat Bay Holiday Park.

From the campground we walked about 30 min over the dunes to Surat Bay which took about an hour to walk the full length of the beach (one way). Huge stretch of beach with lots of birds and seaweed. And 100% empty.

We took the drive out to Nugget Point and walked out to the lighthouse. The view was unbelievable. Hundreds of fur seals in crystal clear water. Lots of gulls and shags.

The Catlins are one of the least populated areas of New Zealand and the landscape here is quite different. Sort of rainforst/wetlands. In Papatowai on the side of the road we stopped at an old bus that's been converted to a "curio shop." This was really a cool place. Totally eccentric little bits of handmade moving toys and puzzles. This place was so much fun to wander around and was great for Justin because it was a hands-on, please touch kind of place.

Then we continued down the road to Curio Bay to check out the 170 million year old petrified forest. This was wild and unlike anything we've ever seen. You can make out the grain of the wood and the rings in the trunks. It was really hard to get our minds around how old they were. Really a cool thing to check out if you're ever in the area.

Justin's First Week

2009-12-21T18:02:00.000+13:00

We have been going gangbusters! Justin arrived on schedule Tuesday night and we stayed in Dunedin at Bluestone on George which was a great apartment style hotel with kitchenette and laundry. Wednesday morning we took a hike up the world's steepest street, Baldwin Street , in Dunedin.

Then we drove about an hour north so Justin could see the Moeraki Boulders and eat at Fluer's Place. It didn't dissapoint.

In the afternoon we made our way back to Dunedin for a quick food shop and then headed over to the Otago Peninsula. We stayed at the Portobello Holiday Park . It was a quiet and low key village about midway along the peninsula. Thursday we did a four hour hike out at Sandfly Bay which was beautiful. We saw giant seals and penguin nests.

After a lunch of homemade falafels we drove to the point of the peninsula to the Royal Albatros Center . These are one of the largest flying birds in the world with a wingspan of almost 10 feet. We decided that the $40/person entry fee was a little high so instead of taking the tour to their nests we walked out on the bluffs over the cliffs and saw two of them flying! They put on quite a show swooping right overhead. They were very impressive, especially in contrast to the seagulls that flock to the cliffside.

Friday morning we were up early to catch the Taieri Gorge Train from Dunedin to Middlemarch. The ride took several hours up out of seaside Dunedin to Central Otago. The views were stunning and the environment dramatically different from Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula. We had a slight delay when a woman driving failed to see our train and stop at the road-rail crossing and collided with the train. We didn't feel anything but her car was totaled. Luckily, she was fine but it was a bit harrowing.

In Middlemarch we picked up our rented bikes and saddlebags from Cycle Surgery who had everything ready and waiting for us and then we got started on our 17 mile flat ride to Hyde. Well, as soon as we made the turn out of town we were faced with STRONG headwind. Justin and I looked at each other with a "what have we gotten ourselves into" sort of look but buckled down and started peddling. The long and short of it is that the 17 miles of flat dirt road that really should have taken us a little more than an hour took us nearly four hours to complete. When we got to the Otago Central Hotel and checked into our room we were told by staff that the wind was blowing gusts of 160 km/hour. That's ONE HUNDRED MILE AN HOUR WIND FOLKS! What is it like biking in that, you may wonder? Well, we had our bikes in the absolute easiest gear possible, peddling has hard as we could and we were barely moving and would literally be blow to a stop or to the side. There wasn't a single moment of coasting or rest. We were NACKERED and seriously considered hiring a van to the next town the following day. But we woke to clear and calm skies and saddled up for our second day - a 31 mile ride from Hyde to Wedderburn, the highest point on the ride. This was a great day with beautiful views and no wind. The Otago Rail Trail , is just that an old railroad track that was no longer in use so the New Zealand Department of Conservation pulled up the rails and made it into a bike, hike and horseback track. Our second night was spent at the cottage at the Lodge at Wedderburn . Great views and comfortable and private accommodations. Our third and final day was our most ambitious - a 50 mile ride from Wedderburn to Clyde. When planning the trip I figured that the ride wouldn't be an issue as it's mostly gradual down hill or flat with a few short climbs. Justin and I often ride 50 + miles on our road bikes in Houston and are fairly fit. Well, what I was NOT counting on was the gail-fource headwind that returned our last day. The ride took us 8 hours and 15 minutes. The Otago Rail Trail is something that I would absolutely recommend to anyone traveling in NZ however I would advise you to call about the weather conditions. We were told over and over that while the wind is often that strong in the winter it is very rare in the summer and that strength of the wind was "extreme" (ah, yeah!). That being said we were SO happy to make to to Clyde (and alive). We had booked into the FABULOUS Bed & Breakfast at Clyde which made us forget the ride the moment we stepped into our garden patio room. Just down the street was a great restaurant in the historic Post Office. The town is super cute with lots of great historic restoration. There was also the first true yarn store, Touch Yarns , that I've come across in NZ. We went back this morning for "a look" and I ended up with two bags full of marino, possum blend and some INCREDIBLE yarn from China - one is a mixture of yak and bamboo and the other is a mixture of cashmere and silk. The most luxurious yarns I've ever bought. I'm so excited! We caught a 2 hour 45 min bus back to Dunedin, grabbed some yummy chicken, beetroot chutney sandwiches and hit the road south en route to the Caitlins where we'll be camping for the next two nights before catching the ferry to Stewart Island for Christmas.

Justin Arrived!

2009-12-15T23:13:00.000+13:00

Just wanted to post quickly and let everyone know that Justin arrived safe and sound. We'll try and post again before our bike trip (Friday-Monday). But if you don't hear from us know that all is well and Justin is no longer in the desert!

Moeraki

2009-12-14T10:07:00.000+13:00

Yesterday I took the scenic route from Oamaru around bucolic All Day Bay on my way to Moeraki. Pastures right up to sand dunes and then wide swaths of beach and rolling surf. The air was salty and seaweedy and heavenly.
Visited the incredible and sort of alien Moeraki Boulders . They really are a sight to see!

Then I drove into Moeraki and was utterly charmed. Ate at a sensational restaurant Fleur's Place . The best meal I've had in New Zealand thus far. Fresh caught fish over local, organic greens Whitestone cheese and smoked eel! The eel was incredible. So yummy. Think I'll have to drive the hour for a second visit with Justin. Picked up a house cook/photo book. It's beautifully done and while yours wouldn't be signed by the owner on site (like mine is) it would make a great coffee table book: you can purchase one here. If you are in this area do not leave without a visit!!!

Finished the drive to Dunedin and went to a Bikram yoga class in the afternoon, my first since my shoulder surgery and it went really well! Half Moon pose kicks my butt every class and yesterday was no exception, but at least it's the first posture (after breathing) so I don't have to dread it all class.

Justin is in Dubai and will be catching his flight morning. He flies to Melbourne then Auckland then onto Wellington and finally Dunedin. The trip will take him about 24 hours and a total of four flights.... poor guy!

Oamaru

2009-12-13T10:58:00.000+13:00

Yesterday I cut east across the south island from Gelorchy to Oamaru (about midway between Christchurch and Dunedin).
The lupin gave me a wonderful sendoff:

The drive took about five hours and by the time I got into Oamaru I was ready for some lunch so I promptly made my way to Whitestone Cheese Factory . As a rule I don't eat much cheese any more due to concerns about cholesterol but I couldn't pass this up. Oh, cheese - how I've missed you! The award-wining Windsor Blue was my favorite followed by the Aged Totora Tasty Cheddar. Delicious!

Cholesterol be damned!
After lunch I wondered around the historic section of town. Found some yummy alpaca yarn and a neat shop that builds working penny farthings! They even have an annual race around town on these things. The shop owner claims to take 80km rides on the roads around town. They had one set up (one a stand) so I had to check it out for myself. I don't see this becoming a hobby for me, one shoulder surgery is plenty, thank you!

In the evening I hiked out to Bushy Beach with hopes of catching a glimpse of the endangered Hoiho or Yellow-Eyed Penguin. There is a small colony of about 20 that nest in the cliffs here.

After standing on a lookout platform in FREEZING and strong winds I had seen three tumble out of the surf and waddle up the beach but it was from such a distance that it was a bit disappointing. Then this little fellow plopped onto the beach below the platform (which is rather high up in the bluff/cliff above the beach).

I felt pretty lucky to get to see one more close up and thought to myself, I'll wait another 15 min and then I'll head back before my nose falls off. Well, good things certainly do come to those who wait because just about 15 min later this face popped out of the bushes about 40 feet from the lookout:

Oh my goodness, what charisma!

He gingerly made his way along a path and RIGHT in front of where I was standing, not more than two feet away from me!

He gave a little wave and tucked into the bushes:

They really do have yellow-eyes!

They are considered to be medium-sized, this one was probably about two feet tall. They mate for life, are called hoiho (means noisy in Maori) because they sing loud silly songs, travel enormous distances to work (swim 40 km out to the sea shelf each morning to eat and then back every night) and love to shake their tail feathers.... hmmmmm who does this remind me of?

So, I've decided that come Tuesday the blog will be renamed: Kiwi Kiki and Hoiho Hubby
After the Hoiho watching I went down to the local harbor to the Blue Penguin Colony . Here you buy a ticket for $22NZ and get to sit on some benches near a small rocky beach where the local colony of 200 blue penguins come ashore every evening. I got really lucky- again!- because a small "raft" of penguins came home very early (probably to miss rush hour) so I got to see them while there was still light. They really are blue and they seem pretty silly with all their waddling and pruning and calling out to each other. They hope up from the beach an across and wide dirt patch up to a bunch of man made wooden box nests. They come to shore in groups of about 20-30. I was rather surprised that they float when they get near shore looking sort of like ducks. I guess I only think about penguins rocketing deftly underwater or milling about on two feet on the shore. They were incredibly entertaining and numerous. My favorite part was when I was returning to the car to see a couple in the parking lot together and a few along the side of the road (they ask us to check under the car before heading out and to drive very slowly with lights off until you reach the main road). It was a penguin-packed evening (started at Bushy Beach at 5:45 and got back to the holiday park around 10:30) and a fun experience.

Today I am going to head south to Dunedin and stay at a bed & breakfast because after about 25 days sleeping in my van I need a break!!! Going to try and get some laundry done, get a hair cut and squeeze in a few Bikram yoga classes before picking Justin up on Tuesday night. Not sure if I'll post before then.

Glenorchy

2009-12-11T16:04:00.000+13:00

The drive to Glenorchy this morning was sensational. It is so beautiful in this corner of New Zealand. I was a little sad to say goodbye to Arrowtown (especially the blooming lupin) but so excited knowing that Justin must be coming soon if I'm moving on.
I love you, Lupin

Had a nice day here despite it turning rather wet.
Went for a lovely walk, who minds the rain when you're surrounded with these views?!

Tried to justify purchasing a possum fur hat. Came up with ziltch. Very tempting, though. The fur is so soft! Maybe if we ever move to Russia?

Walkin' the doggies NZ-style:

In case you were wondering:

Tomorrow will be a long drive to Oamaru. I'm hoping to see my first wild penguins!

Mustached ManCamp Hubby

2009-12-11T08:52:00.000+13:00

Nope, this isn't for Halloween. This is my construction man. He decided to have a little fun with his charity beard.
Can't wait to see him!

Last Day in Arrowtown

2009-12-10T14:41:00.000+13:00

Tomorrow I'm going to head up to Glenorchy for some hiking and maybe a bit of kayaking on the lake. Saturday I'll make the drive east across the South Island to Omaru. Sunday I'll hit up Kaika and then Monday I head to Dunedin. Tuesday night I'll be picking up Justin at the airport! Still can't believe it!
I've updated the Google map on the left side of my blog's homepage. We'll fill in as we go or things change but it gives you an idea of our planned ambitious itinerary.

Book Review
Just finished Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger and it did not disappoint! Loved the tangled relationships, eccentric characters, vivid descriptions of London and unexpected plot twists. Dark and lovely.

Going to start on Tony Martin's A Nest of Occasionals this evening.

Home Stretch

2009-12-09T14:22:00.000+13:00

I can officially say that Justin will be here in less than a week. For some reason this feels very different than 10 days or even one week. Less than a week! I can't wait. Justin just has three more days of work left (they don't work most Friday's and he's taking Sunday off to pack and get to Dubai before flying out on Monday).
Last night the neighboring camp, Gasco, had a tribal Bedouin party in a big tent and he ate CAMEL! I guess he's packing in all the Middle Eastern experiences while he can.
Today is the second rainy day in a row. This morning I went to the COOLEST local movie theater in Arrowtown (www.dorothybrowns.com ) and saw Food Inc. which was really well done. It was the perfect blend of alarming and inspiring. I'm so on-board with the local, organic, non-GMO food movement. When I get back to the States I think I might see how I can become more active than simply using my purchasing power. Ultimately we'd like to live someplace that we can grow and produce our family's food and this film really cemented that desire.
Dorothy Brown's theater was so much fun. I was the only one at the screening which was kind of cool. But the building is great and the two screening rooms don't have regular seats but a mixture of sofas and comfy chairs and bean bags. They have a great mix of Hollywood and major foreign movies as well as documentaries, short films and art-house movies. There is a full coffee and liquor bar and ice-cream and hour d'oeuvres. They also have a great selection of books (I picked up Mudbound by Hillary Jordan, The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi and A Nest of Occasionals by Tony Martin). Was temped by The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, Jhumpa Lahiri's new selection of short stories Unaccustomed Earth as well as Barbara Kingslover's The Lacuna - - but I had to draw the line at three, they will have to wait until another day.

Product Review

2009-12-08T14:49:00.005+13:00

When I did this sort of post while traveling in Thailand it was a huge hit. So, I thought I'd do it again.

1999 Honda Odyssey

My van has worked out really well so far. Upon purchasing I removed the back seats and had the local Backpacker's CarMart build a wooden bed platform so I can store my stuff under my bed. My only regret is failing to notice that the car has somehow been lowered (lowered suspension or something?) so my clearance is nill. But it's easy and comfortable to drive and economical on petrol.

automobiles.honda.com/odyssey/

MacBook Air

I'm pretty sure I would have to say that this trip wouldn't be possible without my computer. I LOVE this computer. I use it every day and it is my lifeline to Justin and friends and family. The MacBook Air is super slim, lightweight with fabulous display and ease of use. I picked mine up "refurbished" and saved a bundle. The built in camera and microphone makes Skyping with Justin a breeze. It fits in all my bags and backpacks and doesn't take long to charge.
www.apple.com/macbookair/

Built Computer Sleeve
Picked up this colorful neopreen sleeve at REI and it's been great. I feel like it does well to protect my computer from light moisture and gives it some extra cush floating around in my tote.
www.builtny.com/laptops-sleeves-cat.html

Apple Shuffle
I have an older model that Justin's EG LNG team was awarded after a million man hours without time-lost injury. It's orange so it's easy to find, tiny and lightweight and clips onto my workout clothing and stays put while running. LOVE this thing. Plus the battery is killer, it stays charged for weeks!
www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/

Tape Deck Connector
Picked up the adaptor so I can listen to my iPod Shuffle while driving. Got to have my tunes!

Casio Camera

This was a birthday/Christmas/anniversary/travel gift from my dad and this thing ROCKS! The photo quality is superb. It's uber-fast and can even be set to take 30, 20, 10, 5 or 3 shots per second which is great for getting pictures of moving objects or unruly animals. Also takes video in regular and HD. Has tons of settings, super easy to use. Tiny, lightweight.... LOVE this camera. Also, very happy with the Lowe cover that I got that stays attached to the camera on the bottom and just wraps around the outside and secures with velcro. Only drag is that when I'm using the timer (which I use A LOT while traveling alone) I have to unscrew the cover from the bottom so I can balance the camera. Also wish that the camera was remote control compatible, but alas this one is not.
exilim.casio.com/products_exfc100.html

Gumboots

I picked these up at the farm supply store in Nelson and didn't take them off for about a month straight. Comfortable and rugged for hiking in the paddock, makes stock work so much cleaner, great for riding, all around a MUST if you live in New Zealand!

Blundstones Boots

These boots have also been great. But they are not fab when the weather turns wet as they are leather. But they are soft and supple and were comfortable to walk and work in all day. Took many hikes in them as well. Love that you just pull them on and off. Nobody likes lacing up farm boots: too much poop! : )

www.blundstone.com

Keen Slip-On Sandals

Okay, this will be my last footwear review. I'm big on comfortable shoes - clearly. I love these sandals. they slip on and don't have backs. The soles are as sturdy as anything and they give pretty good support. I love the covered toe feature, and the braided leather uppers reminds me of Mexican huaraches. Checked the website and it doesn't look like they are for sale any more but Keen is a great source for all manner of shoes.

www.keenfootwear.com

Carhartt Clothing

I've been SO happy with the Carhartt duck canvas pants, vest and jacket I picked up before heading south. The pants have an extra canvas panel down the front which is wonderful when working in a drizzle or loading hay or cleaning hooves... just about anything you do on a farm really. The vest is fleece lined and just a touch longer in the back and the perfect weight. The jacket is warm and breathable and the arms are super generous for ease of movement. They wear and wash well.
www.carhartt.com

Belkin Cigarette Charger
This was a recent purchase and I really wish that I had picked it up sooner. This thing plugs into the cigarette lighter of my car, converts the DC to 240 AC so I can charge my cell phone or -even better- my computer in the car. I don't have to have the car running so I can stay up as late as I like Skyping with hubby!
Available HERE

L.L. Bean Leater Tote

This tote has been all over the world with me over the last 5 years or so. It looks about the same as it did the day I bought it, on sale from L. L. Bean for about $40. The leather is beautiful and soft and I've gotten compliments on this bag all over the place. Strangers ask me about it all the time. It's a bit bizarre because it's the simplest and most basic design. But I know as well as anyone that finding great basics is near impossible. Most people think it's Coach and I do believe they have a similar bag (for several hundred dollars). It's open on top and has one small zip pouch inside. My computer fits perfectly inside it and the straps are just the right length. Unfortunately, the bag is no longer available from L. L. Bean but they do have a wonderful selection of canvas totes in the same style.
www.llbean.com

Garmin GPS

Picked this up in the states and Justin and I were ultra-pleased with its performance during our Pacific North West adventure. It made driving in unknown cities SO much more enjoyable and took SO much stress off of both the driver (WHERE am I going?) and the passenger (Um, turn right HERE... I think). I then bought a small memory card that pops right into the device for New Zealand. It's been good in Auckland and Wellington but otherwise I haven't needed it. Getting lost in New Zealand is pretty tough. There aren't that many roads and the signage is great!

www.garmin.com

Patagonia Backpack
This is a great little backpack. My laptop even fits inside. It has all kinds of little pockets and pouches and it very lightweight and water resistant. Love it!
www.patagonia.com

Deerskin Gloves
Picked these up in Houston. They are great for gardening, riding, stock work, in cold weather. Soft and supple allowing me to still use my fingers. They are great but not so hot in wet weather.
most local hardware or hunting stores

Buff Bandana

I grabbed this thing at REI in Boulder sort of as an impulse buy and I LOVE it. This is like a turtleneck meats bandana. It's stretchy material sewn in a cuff and can be worn on the head (great for keeping hair out of your eyes) or around the neck and also over the face - bankrobber style - which is lovely when the sandflies are bitting!

www.planetbuff.com

Pocket Knife
This was a Justin-requested item and it was great. I actually used it all the time. I did NOT however use it the way some NZ sheep farmers do: morning: cut hay bale twine, afternoon: trim sheep's hooves, evening: cut hunks of bread and cheese for tea.... ICK!!!!!!!
Sadly, this was lost in the Mahitahi on my last farm stay.
McGuckin's Hardware Boulder

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

The sun in New Zealand is STRONG and while I've never been a consistent sunglass wearer in the past (much to the chagrin of certain husbands and fathers) I find that I take these (and actually wear them) with me everywhere.

Lonely Planet New Zealand Guide Book
Great book full of wonderful activities and restaurants and budget accommodations.
Available HERE

Fodor's New Zealand Guide Book
I find this to be a good compliment to Lonely Planet for a bit more upscale lodging, food and sights when I get sick of living the backpacker lifestyle.
Available HERE

Earrings

These were a great find at the Hokitika Art Co-op. They are by a NZ designer named Susan Brown and were inspired by vintage fabric buttons. I LOVE them and have been wearing them every day since I picked them up. An inexpensive and easy way to feel just a touch glamorous while living in my van and wearing the same outfit everyday. The earrings are not available online but she does have a broach on her website that is very similar, it just has the addition of a gem.

Available HERE

Book Reviews

2009-12-06T18:04:00.000+13:00

Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
Loved this book. Such a wonderful and different sort of love story. The characters were human - full of imperfections and hopes and just trying to find their way in the world. Having enjoyed this book so much I went to the movie adaptation this afternoon and was completely disappointed. Ugh, just terrible.

The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
This book is a perfect example of why I majored in sociology - BECAUSE IT'S SO MUCH FUN!! Gladwell is so easy to read and while some "examples" he gives can be a little off target he's still engaging and humorous and hopeful and eye-opening. A great socking stuffer!

Best Friends Forever, Jennifer Weiner
Boarder line trashy, chick-lit, beach read. Predictable plot. Skip.

Arrowtown: pictures

2009-12-05T11:19:00.001+13:00

Here are just a few pictures from Arrowtown.
The holiday park where I'm staying:

Downtwon Arrowtown: looks like a Wild West movie set.

Things here feel like they are in miniature. Most of the houses are these sweet little cottages and even the church is adorable!

There are tons of great hikes right from or very close to town. Here's a shot from my hike around Lake Hayes:

Queenstown isn't far. Here are a few pictures from my recent trip up the gondola. The mountain range behind Queenstown is aptly names The Remarkables:

Looking up the valley towards Arrowtown:

I'll try and get some more up soon. In the next few days I'm going to do the hour drive up along the side of the lake to Glenorchy. Then back to Arrowtown. Justin arrives a week from Tuesday. Getting close!

Ten Years

2009-12-04T07:45:00.000+13:00

love you to the moon and back

'Tis the Season!

2009-11-27T09:09:00.001+13:00

What a Christmas post already?!? NOPE! It's after Thanksgiving which means it's officially SKI SEASON! Well, not for me since the days are long and full of sunshine in the southern hemisphere. But, for all you ski bunnies I thought I'd pass along two great links for folks that are thinking about getting out of town and hitting the slopes this season.
The first is in Daybreak, Utah (a suburb of SLC). My sister and her husband recently finished their garage apartment (with kitchenette). It's just a 23 mile drive to Alta , Snowbird and Brighton !
HERE is the link for rental through Vacation Rentals by Owner. And here are some photos:

The second is my mom's place in Steamboat Springs, Colorado . This is a much larger space great for families complete with full kitchen, hot tub, several bedrooms and it's all walking distance to the gondola.
HERE is the link for rental through Vacation Rentals by Owner. And here are some photos:
Right now there is even a 20% off special!

So get out there and get your ski on!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T09:56:00.000+13:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been relaxing and enjoying some time to myself in Arrowtown. My days are filled with hiking, yoga, pilates, running, swimming, window shopping and reading. I haven't downloaded pictures from my camera in a while but I'll try and get on that this weekend so I can share some of the sights with everyone. 19 days to go until this bearded man from the desert shows up!!

this was taken on day 49 of the beard challenge

Book Review:
Riding Lessons, Sara Gruen
I can't believe this book was writen by the same person who wrote Water for Elephants, a book that I really enjoyed. Don't even bother with this book.

The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga
This book was wonderful. I'm super interested in Indian culture and this book was fascinating. The descriptions of India's countryside, cities, the relationships between upper and servant class. It was heartbreaking and beautiful.

Arrowtown

2009-11-22T20:32:00.000+13:00

I got to Arrowtown, a small town about 30km from Queenstown, and I'm LOVING it. The best way to describe it is Boulder meets Mendocino -- but smaller. It's an old mining town and they've keep all the old buildings along main street but updated them. It looks like a old western movie set. The houses are mostly all cottages and beyond charming. There is a river that runs along the edge of town and there are gorgeous mountain views everywhere you look. Tons of hiking/walking/running trails and lots of people with happy dogs utilizing them. I love it. I was meant to go South to Gore for one last Help-X stay with a woman who does spinning but she's had a "family tragedy" and won't be taking me. At first I was disappointed but now I feel like I've been given a huge gift. I'm going to stay here in Arrowtown for the next three weeks until Justin arrives in Dunedin (in 22 days!!!). The holiday park is small and quiet and well set up. The town has everything I need (expect an organic market) and I've joined the fitness center of Millbrook Resort (5 min drive). This is a gorgeous hotel/country club/spa and I'm so excited about the deal I got. I paid $130 (US) for a month's membership. I get to use the pools, jacuzzis, sauna, gym, take all classes for free (usually have a drop in fee of $15 or a day pass of $30). The bathroom/locker room is way nicer than the holiday park (and I don't have to pay a dollar for a five min hot shower) and they have lots of fresh clean towels to use. LOVE IT! Yesterday I did an Aqua Aerobic class and today I did a yoga class. I'm so excited to get back into a rhythm with working out and setting my own schedule.
I'll post some pictures of cute Arrowtown in the next few days.
Book Reviews:

Peace Like a River, Lief Enger
I really enjoyed this novel. I love the soothing prose and scattered vintage cowboy poetry of one of the books young characters - a nine year old girl a bit obsessed with the Wild West. It was especially apt considering the fact that I read the book at a cattle ranch. I found the characters rich and soulful and loved the winding path of the narrative.

Peony in Love, Lisa See This book reminds me to be so grateful for being born a woman, in the US, in modern day. Sure, things still have a ways to go but this book is set in 1600s in China and even though the main character is from a privileged background her life and the lives of the women around her were full of so much suffering it's hard to imagine it humanly possible to endure. If you enjoyed reading Memoirs of a Geisha, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan or any of Amy Tan's book you would most likely enjoy this one as well.

Cattle Station

2009-11-19T19:57:00.000+13:00

Raining and cold we get up early, there's coffee and eggs and stories and smokes (for the smokers). Wishful thinking aside the rain doesn't let up so gumboots are pulled on and we catch horses that don't want to be caught. We load them in the trailer, chain a few dogs to the pickup and head out splashing and spitting mud as we make our way down a road through thick rainforest while my eyes keep stealing glances at the snow that's arrived over night and is settled low in the hills towards which we are moving.
After making quick work of unloading and tacking the horses we gingerly make our way up though pasture, river valley, rain forest bush, swimming the horses and dogs across the river as we meet it. The water is clear with pools of bright blue glacier water and I have to take precaution that the dogs forge the river down-stream so as not to get swept under my horse's legs. The ride, looking for yearling heifers takes several (maybe three and a half) hours when we come upon the Condon's hunting hut. We stop for coffee and sandwiches packed in a saddle bag. We've seen several hundred head of Hereford cattle and only about 4 of the 20 heifer's we're looking for. On our way out of the valley we cut the heifers as we find them and drive them back down the valley. By late afternoon we've only found 14 of the 20 we're looking for but the lateness of the day requires that we keep moving. Two of the heifers have calves and they need a lot of encouragement to keep them moving. Sally, my palomino, gently noses the smaller of the two calves onward. I didn't take many photos this first day due to the pouring rain, cold hands and trying to actually help with the stock work rather than act like a tourist along for a trail ride. By the time we get home and the horses unloaded it's well after dark and it's been about a 12 hour day. When my alarm goes off just before 6 am the second day I hesitate to get out of bed for about a half a minute. The thought of rising and lifting myself into the saddle again makes me greedy for a bit more sleep but I see that the rain has cleared and that gives me just enough impetus to rouse myself from my warm sheets. This day is very similar to the first sans wet everything. It makes the going faster and we find the missing heifers at the very top of the river valley in a little under four hours from the start of the ride. We begin to bring the whole mob of cattle down the valley to a flat section of land where it will be easier to cut the heifers from the rest of the herd. The ride has required a lot of technical riding up and down steep, rocky land and I'm happy to have my horse's trust and her steady feet carrying me over the terrain. There is a mother cow and her baby that we won't be bringing down the valley today who is quickly dubbed --- language warning --- Crazy Bitch after charging Thomas and his horse, each of the dogs in turn and finally going straight for me when I was off my horse undoing a taranaki gate. I didn't think twice about reining dear Sally between the beast and myself and this spooked the mean-spirited cow enough to turn away. Rodeo clowning is not something I see in my near future. A bit later in the day this same cow and her baby split from the heard on the bank of the river and I would again have to deal with her fearsome charges, but this time on horseback. There are a few photos of this exchange in the slideshow. These cattle are raised for meat and I'm not ashamed to say that I told Thomas that she had my consent to be sent to the "works" ASAP. The dogs were very impressive in their stamina and athleticism. Thomas knows his stock by sight and seems to keep close tabs on their condition, location, etc. The views were simply stunning. I had such a blast. Even the first day in the cold and wet I hardly noticed, I love being back on a horse and getting to muster stock is just the cherry on top.
Yesterday during my daily feed and turn out of the chicken I opened the door to the coop to find a hen standing with her tail feathers toward me and literally watched her lay an egg right there in front of me. Then later in the afternoon a heifer in the yards gave birth to a perfect baby girl calf. She was up standing and nursing within an hour. Amazing.
Lots of gardening: carrots, parsnips and potatoes. This week I also finished a big project that I've been working on in the hot-house: clearing, weeding, soil-work, hanging climbing string and finally planting tomatoes.
Tomorrow I head to Queenstown.
Enjoy the slideshow of pictures from the last two weeks below.

Unexpected News

2009-11-17T15:44:00.002+13:00

We've gotten word that when Justin leaves Abu Dhabi in December he will not be returning. We are a little shocked in the change of plans (especially with only 29 days to go before he arrives) but thrilled that we'll have nearly two whole months together before he will be returning to work (where and on what project is not yet known). Of course it would have been helpful to have known this information a few weeks ago before we planned and booked our New Zealand tour but this kind of last minute shuffle has become the norm for us over the last few years. I can't wait for him to hurry up and get here already! The fact that I won't have to say goodbye again only makes me that much more anxious for him to be done. Here is the itinerary that we've planned for our trip. Initially we thought we'd sort of wing it but over the past few months the more people I've talked to the more I've come to appreciate the need for reservations during the most busy time of year, Christmas. Dec. 15th: Justin arrives in Dunedin Dec. 16-18: Explore Otago Peninsula Dec. 18-21: Bike Otago Rail Trail (an old mining rail road that has been converted to a mountain bike trail) Dec. 21-22: The Catlins and Southland Dec. 23-25: Stewart Island Dec. 25-26: Cruise in Milford Sound, Fjordland Dec. 27-28: Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers Dec. 29-30: Train from Greymouth to Christchurch over Arthur's Pass Dec. 30-Jan 1st: Kayak Abel Tasmen coast, camping on beaches Jan. 2: French Pass Jan. 3-5: Wellington Jan. 6th: Lost highway Jan. 7-8th: Hike Tongariro Alpine Crossing Jan. 10: Auckland Jan. 11-14: Bay of Islands Justin was meant to fly back to the U.A.E. at this point and we can't return to the states until Feb. 2nd (for tax reasons) so we're in the process of working out where we will be and what we'll be up to for the final two weeks. The first month will be a whirlwind, we are really packing in a TON of sights and activities. We would have spread it out a lot more if we knew we were going to have these extra few weeks but maybe it's a blessing to force us to take a few weeks of full on rest and relaxation on a beach somewhere.
All day yesterday and today I've been in the bush on horseback mustering cattle. I'll post about it (with pictures) tomorrow. For now I'm BEAT.

Enjoy!

2009-11-14T09:00:00.001+13:00

Farm Fun

2009-11-12T13:04:00.000+13:00

I continue to enjoy myself on the Condon's cattle station. Thomas Condon is forth generation rancher on this land. Rina, his girlfriend, is super friendly but not around much as she works at an eco-hotel about 30min away. Tom, Thomas' son, is about my age and is a very patient teacher. It's a pleasure to be here because they are very laid back. They give me enough guidance to get going on things but then leave me to figure out the rest. I'm sure I'm making plenty of mistakes but they seem to feel that there are dozens of ways to skin a cat (or ram, as the case has been) and perfection isn't ever expected.
While I didn't come here expecting to learning anything about fiber I find I'm learning a great deal in the art of yarns. As in, telling yarns. Stories. Thomas is an expert story teller and I've been hearing all about the colorful characters that live in this wild corner of the country.
The last couple of days have been full of gardening, moa wood harvesting (28 tons loaded on a truck the other day - Tom has a digger company), baking, lamb roasting, milking cows (yup, my hands strong from knitting and felting have been learning how to milk!) and mowing lawns (I don't think I've ever mowed with a gas mower before and yesterday I tackled a huge piece of yard with THICK grass). For those that worry (you know who you are), I have ear plugs that I tote around with me in my pocket and wear them whenever mowers, tractors or guns are involved. . .
I feel like I'm getting a truly authentic New Zealand ranching experience. I love it.
Here's a picture from this morning - notice the tied tail and back leg (technology at it's finest) -

2009-11-09T20:30:00.000+13:00

I've had a busy couple of days. Firstly, I'm excited to announce that not only do I have internet access, I can use my own computer which means PICTURES!

Here's a brief run down:

My first day: 5:30am- rise, dress, cup of coffee 5:45am- head out in gumboots to the paddocks stalking deer 7:15am- return home (empty handed), coffee, homemade cinnamon-raisin bread, cereal, talking and stories Put four calves on the dairy cow for a bit and then milk her (Thomas did it, not me). Strain milk. Spoon cream from fresh milk. Make homemade rum-chocolate chip ice cream (find recipe below). Jeff, Thomas' friend came over for talking. Raining. Feed chickens, gather eggs, put them out in their yard. Feed the four cats. Lunch of leftover venison and pasta. Take the tractor out to far paddock to feed hay and check on pregnant heifers. Take the truck up the river to the well, saw wild falcons that dive bombed us. Thomas shot at a target to calibrate the scope on his new .22 rifle. Return to farm. Milk calves on dairy cow. Put up the chickens and gather eggs. For "tea" (dinner) I made a silver-beet, onion, red pepper, carrot, cheese frittata. Then had a small helping of the rich, smooth, light, delicious ice-cream. The valley is beautiful. The paddocks are very muddy and boggy in some areas (to the top of my gumboots) and does its very best to keep you stuck in the mud. The clouds have begun to lift and I'm getting my first glimpses of the mountains. A helicopter just passed over head dangling a few deer they shot up the valley. There are about 400 head of cattle (Hereford), 6 dogs, 4 cats, 5 chicken.

Second Day 7am rise, made french toast for everyone fed the cat and fed and turned out the chooks hug laundry on the line weeded and turned over part of the veggie garden 11am coffee break and peanut butter toast more weeded. chooks broke out of pen and one was eating worms from my hand and scratching and eating up bugs and worms from right under my work weeding. rode out to a far paddock and brought in some 1 and 2 year old bulls with the dogs, drenched and ear tagges them, rode them back out to pasture coffee break rode out across the rive and through paddocks and scrub and collected and herded a flock of sheep. put them up in the yards. turned the horses out. brought the mom cow in to milk with the 4 calves. turned mom and calves back out. slaughtered a 1 year old ram. skinned, gutted, and hung him up for the night. 9pm long shower, washed my hair. still haven't had dinner and it's 10:30pm. take the laundry off the line, put the chooks up and then help make dinner.

Here are photos from the sheep muster:

Photo of me hanging out with the calves as they nurse:

Thomas and one of his prized bulls:

Pictures of the area - yes, this really is heaven on earth:

I know this really didn't go into much detail but even though it's nearly 9pm there's still so much of the day left. I'm in absolute heaven. Cowgirling up the sheep was by far the highlight. It was a several hour ride with the dogs, galloping after sheep up a mountain river valley, fording rivers and the rest... it was AMAZING. I could do it all day.

Recipe for the ice cream (note: don't eat and drive!)

Ice Cream Recipe
2 eggs separated
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp warm water
300 mL cream (we went and milked the cow and then literally SPOONED THE CREAM OFF THE TOP, but I imagine bottled cream would work if you don't live in New Zealand and have access to a heifer...)
1/2 tsp vanilla
- flavor additions
Beat egg whites in a large bowl until peaks turn over. Add half the sugar and beat again. Beat yolks and water in a small bowl until frothy. Add remaining sugar and beat until thick and light. Whip the cream in the container you will freeze the ice-cream in. Add vanilla, then fold the three mixtures together and your flavor additions. Cover and freeze.
Rum-Chocolate-Chip Fold in two handfuls of chocolate pieces, 2 or 3 shots of rum Other combinations: orange liquor and chocolate pieces, or whatever you'd like!

I'll try and give more detail and description in subsequent posts, just wanted to give a quick update as to what's going on here. Today I did weeding and went to town to drop off a loaner car and pick up a car that was being fixed up. Then I made pasta sauce with venison sausage. It's late but I JUST got word we're going to slaughter another sheep and dock some lambs. Off to the stockyard.

Adventures in Westland

2009-11-07T02:10:00.003+13:00

Felicity got to her farm stay this afternoon and she is doing well. The farm in nestled in a gorgeous valley and is near the ocean in an area called Westland (it rains so much in this part of NZ that the locals refer to it as Wetland). The couple is very nice that she is staying with and she already has an adventure planned for tomorrow morning. Thomas (the husband) told Felicity that they are getting low on meat, so they will need to go deer hunting tomorrow. Felicity is getting up at 5am and will be going on her first deer hunt. I just picture her with full camo on and a red Rambo headband sneaking through the forest with a giant gun. I imagine some good stories will come from this.
Most likely she will not have access to a computer for the next couple of weeks, so I will post updates

37 Days to GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pictures

2009-11-06T13:14:00.000+13:00

had a great morning/early afternoon of hiking. fox glacier is amazing.
this is about as good as franz josef got for me:

but this is what i got to experience today:

spectacular!!
i'm off to do another walk near a local lake and then i'm off to get my cowgirl on!

Cattle Station Bound

2009-11-06T09:13:00.000+13:00

Last night I spent the night (still pouring rain) at the Fox Glacier Holiday Park. When I woke up I FINALLY got to see the mountains. They really are real! Just beautiful. Sorry, no pictures until I post again in a few weeks - I want to get out an enjoy this beautiful day! I'm planning on doing a nice hike and then driving about 50km south to Mahitahi (you can find it on my GoogleMap). I'll be working on a cattle station for two weeks. I should have cell coverage but am doubtful that I'll be able to post on the blog so hopefully Justin will find time to do some posts for everyone.

Rainy Days

2009-11-04T10:57:00.001+13:00

Yesterday I decided that I needed a few nights out of the van, in a hotel where I could spread out a bit and get organized before I head to my next farm. I'm quite glad that I made the decision because the weather has NOT cooperated and it's been raining buckets here in Franz Josef since I arrived. Besides my brief glimpse of a mountain amongst the clouds, I have yet to see anything out my window! I am staying at the Glenfern Villas, which I highly recommend. They are located just north of the town and have kitchens and patios and the folks that run the place are very nice, giving me free wifi, dvd use and a great deal on the room. I've gotten all but a small few of my holiday cards done and a ton of itinerary planning and booking for Justin's month here. I also watched the movie Miss Potter (twice) and loved it. I had seen it on dvd before, maybe when I was recovering from my shoulder surgery. It is a wonderful film about one of my favorite childhood authors Beatrix Potter. She is SUCH an inspiration. She followed her heart and her craft ignoring other's dismissal of her seemingly silly hobby. It's a wonderful example of a person carving out a life based not on society's expectations but rather the ingenuity and imagination of the individual. I highly recommend renting it if you've not seen it. It's a film appropriate for all ages groups.

Hokitika and Franz Josef

2009-11-02T19:23:00.012+13:00

Today I did the drive (again in the rain) from Greymouth to Hokitika where I took in the local Jade carving sights and went to the National Kiwi Museum. Yup, I saw two kiwis! Sorry no camera's allowed in the kiwi room, so no pictures. They were bigger than I thought they'd be and they were very active. They are funny gourd looking birds and they were putting their long bills to good use, shoving them DEEP into loose soil to get at bugs. Very entertaining to watch.

They also had some fish tanks with crazy looking Mexican Walking Fish and giant eels. I feel that it's pretty hard to turn me off to animals but I discovered I'm NOT into giant eels. These are nothing like the eels you see scuba diving in the Caribbean. They are just too big and strange for me. Sort of gave me the creeps. Oh - and when I say "giant," I really do mean giant these things grow up to 2 meters in length (that's 6.5 feet, taller than Justin!).

Mexican Walking Fish:

Eels:

Then I continued south to Franz Josef where I'll be spending a few nights. I'm told there are great mountains in this part of the country... but this is all I saw.

The glacier was still staggering even though nearly half of it was covered in cloud when I hiked to the observation area. I hope the clouds burn off for a good hike tomorrow. I did have about a 10 min window when I saw this....

...oh, what a tease!

If the weather stays socked in, it's nice to know I'll be back with Justin in December.

Traveling Adventures

2009-11-01T14:32:00.003+13:00

Woke up this morning and found this:

I guess the brutal 16 km dirt track to Oparara Caves was a little too much for my van. I have AA (the NZ AAA) and was able to get the tire patched pretty easily. It was a bit complicated due to the fact that my spare is inaccessible under the wooden mattress platform that's screwed into the back of my car (oops). The AA fellow just pumped the tire full of air and then I followed him 10 min down the road to the tire repair place. I'll be picking up a space saver spare in the next larger town in case I run into any problems down the road.

Then I did the scenic drive south to Greymouth. This is supposed to be one of the most beautiful stretches in the whole world and it was nice but this is what it looked like most of the time:
Yup, lots and lots of rain and mist.

But I did see some neat things.

Unusual signs:

The Pancake Rocks of Punakaiki. These are columns of limestone rocks that look like a stack of pancakes.

Turner's Track, hike to penguin nesting rocks (didn't see any):

Tonight I'm staying in Greymouth and tomorrow I'll head south to Franz Joseph Glacier.

Westport

2009-10-31T18:12:00.007+13:00

Yesterday I drove from Takaka in Golden bay over Takaka Hill through the Motueka River Valley, over a pass to Murchison and down through Buller Gorge to Westport. The drive was beautiful and the weather was great. The Motueka River Valley is a place I could imagine myself living. The location is great - not too far from Nelson a larger city (with an aiport), an hour's drive to the sands of Golden Bay, lots of Waldorf and Montessori schools, artists, farms, vineyards, a stone's through from skiing at St. Arnaud and river sports and fishing in Buller's Gorge. Heavenly. Once in Westport I did two short hikes, one to the Foulwind Lighthouse and another to a fur seal colony. The coast line was really spectacular. The waves were pretty big. I can't imagine how big they could get during swells. For dinner I treated myself to a proper meal at a great restaurant called the Bay House. I would absolutley recommend it if you're in this part of the world. Great food, good wine, beautiful setting and completely unpretentious. The Seal Colony Top 10 Holiday Park was comfortable with the best shower arrangement I've come across yet. They have real bathroom stalls with locking doors with toilet, sink and shower all right there. HOT water and good pressure. Internet connectivity was strong and I was able to get a lot of booking done for when Justin gets here. Apparently, things book up really quick in Dec and Jan so I figured I should get cracking. I'll post our itinerary once it's done.

Today I drove 2 hours north to Karmea. I went for a three hour hike to Moria Cave and Oparara Cave. It was pretty amazing to see how the river (brown from the tannin in decaying leaves) has carved theses caves/tunnels through the limestone rock. It was a long day driving up and back to Westport but worth it. Tomorrow I head south to Greymouth. This stretch of highway is supposed to be some of the most beautiful in the whole world. Can't wait! Here are some photos from the hike:

Map Update

2009-10-29T17:29:00.001+13:00

I've updated (and will continue to do so) the google map that you'll find at the left hand side of my blog. Click and drag to move the map around and click on the blue bubbles to see where I am or where I've been. I'll update along the way.

Catching Up - Long Post

2009-10-29T15:31:00.010+13:00

I got to my new holiday camp and was pleasantly surprised to find that they have recently added wireless! I'm going to use this post to get myself all caught up.

First thing first, Fleecewood Photos - Set Two

Anne is an incredible gardener. Here is a shot of just one of her delicious veggie beds. Lots of silverbeet (chard), lettuce, strawberries, radishes, broccoli, etc. Gardener:
Fleecewood Farm:
House:
Digging a trench along the driveway for rainwater:

Area outside front door:Christmas cake: 16 duck eggs, 17 LBS of cake. Yup SEVENTEEN POUNDS! This isn't even all of it. She makes it once a year and it lasts the rest of the year. Doesn't even need (supposedly) to be frozen or refrigerated.
Thoughts on Fleecewood.

This was a great two weeks. I really learned so much from Anne. Including wet felting, needle felting, latch-hook rug making, handmade tortillas, Christmas cake, intro to Spinning, knitting magic squares, how to drench and vaccinate sheep and lambs, washing fleece, dying fleece, gardening, starting seedlings in a greenhouse.... the list goes on and on.

The biggest lesson for me coming away from Fleecewood, however, wasn't one of these practical skills but rather an understanding that with a little imagination and lots of elbow grease one can really create a heaven from the land. For some reason in my mind I sort of figured that you find a nice bit of land with trees and pasture and you build a house and get down to business propagating a garden and raising up some animals. This might be how some folks do it but it's certainly not how Fleecewood came to be. Twenty years ago Anne bought the property and over the corse of the past two decades has created what it is today. She showed me the pictures before they built the house and it was just land. Mostly covered in gorse, which is a large bush with a bright yellow flower that takes over huge stretches of land. She had to work very hard spraying, digging up and burning the gorse back. Her property was also almost completely devoid of trees. It's hard to imagine but I saw the pictures. There were maybe two existing trees. The rest she planted and nurtured up. She built the sheds and rock retaining walls and a patio and the stockades. It all came slowly, over time, with a great deal of effort. It's really inspiring to see and be reminded that a life lived well takes intention.

Seeing her gardens really got me amped about someday having a large garden for growing fruit and vegetables to consume. I've also recently started Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. I'm only about a third of the way through and I'm already OBSESSED. I used this word theatrically often but I really do mean that I am consumed by this book. I think about it all the time. If you've not read this book DO SO IMMEDIATELY. If you are in search of a great holiday present THIS IS IT! ! ! This book is phenomenal, inspiring, eye-opening, mouth-waveringly delicious. My wonderful, multi-talented, gorgeous friend Sara Thacher told me about this book and I want you do know Sara I am deeply grateful for the match-making. I have a feeling this book will become a touchstone for me that I return back to again and again. Once, I finish the book I'll give a full description and review. But know that I'm deeply, madly, blissfully in book heaven.

Speaking of books I have a new review:

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

This is a book that I've been hearing a lot about since it came out. I guess I wasn't overly eager to read a fictional account of boarding school having lived it and loved it. As I predicted the novel mostly painted boarding school as an elitist and entitled. But it also gave a good attempt at trying to capture the incredibly powerful sense of insular community that comes with life at school. Mostly, I found the book a bit sad. Sittenfeld certainly understands teenage angst and all the confusion that comes with growing up but I found it lacking in the udder joy and goofiness that also comes with it. It conjured a lot of Thacher memories that I hadn't thought of in a long while which was nice but on the whole I guess I found the book a little bit flat. I certainly understand the appeal of the book as it does offer a peak into a world that's incredibly hard to describe to someone that hasn't lived it. But I would hate for this to be the only exposure someone had to boarding school!

I'm now traveling in Golden Bay which is the northern tip of the south island. It's GORGEOUS here. I loved the drive from Nelson which ran through great, funky little towns up and over Takaka Hill and into beautiful valleys along the sea. I stopped at a great place (which Justin mentioned in his last post) in a town called Mapua. It was called Toad Hall and I stopped because they had a sign that read "Fresh Local Fruit and Vegge" I thought, oh yes! Well, it turns out you can buy all kinds of local produce, cheese, spreads, handmade wooden toys and tables and chairs for children AND they had a cafe plus a gorgeous outside seating area. I had THE BEST SANDWICH I've had in recent memory. I think the key was that fantastic, fresh foccia bread and the handmade tamarillo chutney. Add fresh avocado, tomato, orange bell pepper, local organic free-range chicken, heaps of fresh lettuce and the lightest drizzle of dressing.... It was amazing. AHHHHH-mazing (and huge).

Today I went for a three hour horse ride up and over Old Man Range. From here I had incredible views of Farewell Spit. This is protected parkland with one of the largest Gannet colonies in the world. It is also the northern most point of the south island. It was a great ride!

Here I am on Joey:

The spit:

Then I went for a great hike over pasture and dunes to get to Wharariki Beach ("wh" is pronouced "f"). The arches were pretty spectacular!

View driving over Takaka Hill into Golden Bay:

View of Golden Bay from near the Farewell Spit:
Tonight I'm at a different Holiday Park near Takaka. Tomorrow morning I'm taking my van in to have the oil changed and then I'm headed south to Murchison. This will mark new territory for me: the Westlands of New Zealand. Very exciting.

Not sure what the internet situation will be like but I'll post as I'm able.

P.S. Anne's Fleecewood Farm website: http://www.woolcraft.co.nz/

She does not have an etsy account. As much as I would have loved to purchase her felted kangaroo it was going for $600 as it's really a piece of sculptural art. But perhaps one day I'll be able to make my own.

Felicity Travel Update

2009-10-28T19:43:00.004+13:00

Spoke with Felicity this morning and she is doing great. She drove to her new campsite and said that she had the best sandwich ever at a little hole in the wall cafe on the road. She does not have internet so will not be able to post on the blog for a couple of days. The campsite is beautiful and tomorrow she is going on a horseback ride. I can't wait to see the pictures. - Justin

Welcome to the Neighborhood

2009-10-28T03:32:00.007+13:00

Our camp houses ~5000 men and is pretty much a mini-town (or prison depending on your view) in the desert. There is a gym, basketball courts, tennis courts, in-convenience store (think 711’s ugly step sister), barber shop, rec room (pool tables, table tennis and computer room), dining hall, laundry facilities and of course the luxury “villas” where we stay. Our camp is surrounded by a barbed wire chain link fence with a green cloth to keep out the sand during the sandstorms. Below are some pictures of my neighborhood. I live in the room on the right. Each non-manual has there own room and bathroom.

The best part of the cabins is that there is a small overhang where migrating birds have nested. The birds chirp all day and fly around our camp looking for bugs and waiting people to bring scraps of bread. They are very resourceful and drink water from the dripping AC units. Other neighbors include scorpions, sand boas, lots of bugs and my least favorite...the camel spider. I have only seen one and I still have nightmares about it. Just search for camel spiders on Google images and you'll see what I mean.
One of my favorite things about the camp is that there is always a sporting event going on. We are currently in the middle of basketball season and it has been a lot of fun. Each subcontractor has a team and is mostly made up of Filipinos. Before each game they explain the rules in Tagalog and then my teammates pretend to translate what was said. We have a lot of fun and are currently fighting for a playoff spot.

Just in case anyone finds themselves playing a game of basketball with some Filipinos soon…here are some words I have learned that may help:
Out – labas
Shoot – tira
Ball – bola
Pass – pasa
Move up – angat
Fast break – takbo
Slow down – dahan
Call the doctor - tawagan ang doktor

Fleecewood Farm Photos - Set One

2009-10-27T18:32:00.008+13:00

Working the lambs in the stockade:
Dying fleecelocks:

Working on my latch-hook rug:
Spinning!
Stand at the monthly farmer's market:

A felted kangaroo Anne made:
Stall at the woolcraft fair:

My wet felted ball with needle felting embellishment (can you read it?):

I'll post more tomorrow (assuming my campsite in Golden Bay has internet!) of the farm property and more fiber craft goodies. Later in the week I'll write more about my experience and all the fun things I learned how to do. Plus a new book review.

Beards of Asab

2009-10-23T03:18:00.003+13:00

Over the last two weeks a group of us have been raising funds for the recent typhoons that have hit the Philippines. The theme of our fundraiser is “beards of Asab” (Asab is the name of the oil field where we are working). The object of the fundraiser is to force the participant to grow a beard for as many days as possible. For every 10AED ($3) collected the individual receives 1 day of beard growth. There are seven of us that have signed up to participate and we recently beat our goal of collecting 11,000AED with a final tally of 11,500AED ($3,133). Fortunately, we instituted a rule that after 8 weeks the participant can shave their beard by paying a fine…this was a great rule due to the fact that many of us had over 125 days with one guy at 350 days.

Here is a picture of the first day:

With the help of some sophisticated software I was able to accurately depict the beards at 8 weeks.

I will keep you posted as the beard grows!

Farm Days

2009-10-21T15:15:00.002+13:00

The past few days have been great. I've been crafting a ton: knitting, felting, washing fleece, dying fleece locks, slowly learning to spin and working on a latch hook rug. Today was the first day that I've worked the stock with Anne and it felt great to get outside and work with the animals. We put a bunch of ewes and their lambs in the stockade and then Anne crutched the ewes with poopy bottoms (they get the runs when they get worms) and then I "drenched" them. This is deworming them with an application gun that's connected to the deworming liquid by a hose. You can set it so it administers the right amount each time you pull the trigger. The "gun" part has a longish metal tube that you stick in the back of their throat and then pull the trigger (it's sort of like a caulking gun). Sheep have mouths very similar to horses in that they have front teeth and molars with a gap in the middle that you can stick your fingers into to pry open their mouths. It's pretty good exercise as you have to kind of wrangle the sheep. Then it was the lambs turn. We did the same system of Anne crutching (shaving the bottoms with shears) and me drenching. Then we ran them through the stockade again and she castrated the males (with rubber bands) and I vaccinated both the boys and girls with a syringe that's set up sort of like the drench. The needle is pretty small (about a half inch) and it's connected to what looks like an IV bag so it reloads after each injection (on the neck, just under the skin). Then we moved the mob up to a hill paddock and shifted another flock to a greener pasture. It was a full day but enjoyable work.
The weather has been cool and wet but I've been getting in great runs pretty much every day up the road. I had to buy some "gumboots" (tall rain boots) and I'm so glad that I did. Mucking around in the mud and wet grass is so much more enjoyable when you have dry feet!
Anne is good company as she's very talkative and has lead a very interesting life (living and working in the US, New Guinea, Australia and Antarctica!). She's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to fiber craft and I've been soaking up as much as I can. I'll be here another week and then slowly move down the west coast. I'll post again in the next few days and I'll have pictures to share next week.

Pictures from The Island - Abu Dhabi

2009-10-19T17:02:00.005+13:00

Beach Party Pic - kinda like Where's Waldo...except it is the UAE addition called Where's Baldy. We had the entire island to ourself until about 11am. It was a great Friday off!

Enjoying the water at the island...and trying not to get sunburned.

Best seat at the beach. Again trying not to get sunburned

Yes, that is me with a large Starbucks coffee on the boat. It is very popular to use instant coffee here and that is what they serve in our office. Due to my strong dislike of instant coffee...I have invested in a french press and get fresh ground coffee each week to brew in the mornings. For breakfast for our boat ride we went to the Syrian bakery and got Saj (flat bread) with fresh spices and cheese. There is basically a giant stone pizza oven where they bake the bread to order for 4AED ($1.10). The Syrian baker had to be in his 70's and had this huge beard and giant belly. And no breakfast is complete without a fresh cup of coffee (gotta love Starbucks right across the street from the hole in the wall bakery). This cup of coffee tasted like heaven on the boat.

Abu Dhabi Skyline - pic from boat

Skyline of Abu Dhabi - there is a public beach where you can pay 10AED ($3) to go and swim. The beaches are split up...a family beach where families and women swim and then there is the man beach. The picture above shows the corniche - which is a raised sea wall that runs along the bay. Typically this is where I go running (early in the morning before it gets too hot) when I am in the city. My ritual is to go running (maybe jogging would be a better description) and then stop at one of the fresh juice stalls to get fresh squeezed orange and pomegranate juice. So good!

New Zealand to Abu Dhabi

2009-10-19T05:13:00.002+13:00

Felicity’s blog has been amazing and it is the highlight of my day to sit and read about all of her adventures in New Zealand. I can’t get over how beautiful the scenery is and I am in constant countdown mode waiting to get to NZ with her soon (56 Days to-go). We both agree that we are officially done with camp assignments.

My adventures have been a bit more subdued compared to Felicity’s, but overall I have been having a fairly good time in the desert. Our camp is two hours outside of Abu Dhabi and we are surrounded by sand sand and more sand. The summer was pretty rough and I am happy that the weather is getting nicer. This past weekend a bunch of us rented a boat and went to an island off the coast of Abu Dhabi. We brought along some sandwiches, watermelon, chips and some drinks. I got to pretend I was on vacation for a bit (even have the sunburn to prove it). I will post pictures in the morning (our camp WiFi keeps dropping off). Hope everyone is doing well. I will post more tomorrow.

Quick Update

2009-10-16T08:13:00.002+13:00

I don't have a lot of time and I will only be able to get on the computer every couple of days but I wanted to give everyone a quick update about my recent activities.
Fleecewood Farm Description:
I'm in Golden Downs which is a beautiful area with rolling hills, scattered farms and forest. The farm is fairly large in size (land-wise) and Anne has about 200 sheep at the moment. She'll most likely cull that down to about 120 in Febuary or March of next year, keeping the sheep with the best fleece and selling the rest. She has mostly mixed breed sheep that she keep exclusively for thier wool. She also has two cats and a greenhouse and a few big gardens. Anne is a very interesting woman who has her PhD in Geology (from a university in New Mexico, but she's a Kiwi) and has a history of caving and scientific research in Antartica. She has two grown daughters about my age. She's a master with the woolcrafts: knitting, spinning, felting, weaving, hooking, dying, sculpture, etc, etc. The woman can do it all!
Yesterday we went to a Fibercraft fair and it was a very busy and very long day but she sold a lot of wool and crafting tools so it was a successful day for her. My job at the fair was to help people but also teach people how to do wet felting and needle felting emblesishment (which I myself only just learned to do the day before) but it went well and was fun.
So far I've picked up wet and needle felting, diagonal weaving and knitting magic squares. I'm hoping to get an into to spinning while I'm here and I'm planning on purchasing the materials and get a little tutorial in latch hook fleece rug making. These rugs come out looking like sheepskin rugs that have been cut in whatever shap you want and you also can put any design in them you'd like, but they are done on a rug base that's sort of like a giant needlepoint fabric. The beauty is you don't have to kill the sheep for it's skin/fleece and you can make it the size and color pattern you'd like. I'm planning on doing a fairly large rug and I'm sure that it's going to take me years to finish but they are just so soft and cozy and wool is so much cheaper here than in the states.
Tomorrow we're going to another local fair and then that will be it for the fairs while I'm here. There isn't a lot of stock work at this farm. She likes the sheep but she's not really into animals. Her thing is the crafts and plants. Her sheep graze all year and in the winter they get hay. She checks on them and the fences every couple of days and when lambs are born she rings thier tails and testicles (with rubber bands) and gives them a shot and an ear tag, but other than that they sort of take care of themselves it seems like.
I'm loving all the exposure to different fiber crafts. The living space is quite comfortable with my own bathroom and downstairs back section of the house.
I'll post again next week, I've been online far too long!

Fleecewood

2009-10-13T20:37:00.002+13:00

I have a few pieces of exciting news:
-I have arrived at my next farmstay and the host, Anne, seems friendly, interesting and happily not an ax-murderer. The house is comfortable, the location beautiful and I think I'll be happy here for the next two weeks.
- I will have limited access to dial-up internet, so I will be able to occationally post (without photos)
-Justin is going to be posting periodically (WITH PHOTOS) starting in the next few days!!
-Paddington did not get eaten by a bear. Maybe this one needs some more information. My dad and Paddington were out for a walk recently and saw TWO BEARS. According to my dad, "He was very responsible and showed good judgement in taking only a few inquisitive steps toward the interesting sounds and smells before responding to my loud request he come and accompany me on the far side of the street." Heehee, that would be my mountain dog!

2009-10-12T18:50:00.008+13:00

Queen Charlotte Drive:

This was a beautiful drive from Picton to Havelock. The road is often step and always winding around the many inlets and bays that make up the

Marlborough Sounds. Havelock is considered (by whom is not quite clear) the green mussel capital of the world. The photos below have not been photoshopped or color edited.

French Pass Road:

This is easily, definitively, hands down the most extraordinary road I've been on and the most picturesque drive I've ever taken. While it's not a drive that I'd ever attempt at night or in poor weather, it's something that I would encourage all NZ visitors to do if you have the time. It takes two hours from Rai Valley to French Pass (which is nothing but a park, a few houses and a pier). The road is paved for the first hour, gravel the second and treacherous in many spots so it's best to go slowly. But the views are breathtaking and literally awe-inspiring. I pulled over as often as the road allowed to snap photos.

D'Urville Island:

The island, which is not small, has a grand total of 35 residents. The "resort" two cabins on the beach divided into four rooms. The food last night was surprisingly amazing. Freshly caught Blue Cod with herbs and potatoes. I found out afterwards that Aaron the fellow that runs the place and cooks has won some foodie awards. On the boat ride over from French Pass we went very close to the French Pass Straight which is the most dangerous looking water I have ever seen. Aaron slowed the boat to a crawl and I didn't immediately understand why until I looked out at the water and asked, "is the water moving in two opposite directions through this channel?" Aaron told me no and to look closer and then I saw what I never knew existed. Literally a whirlpool in the ocean. It's a narrow straight and I am told that A LOT of water moves through it creating this sink hole. A notoriously dangerous spot for ships. A white dolphin by the name of Pelorus Jack garnered international fame and national protection for guiding ships through the straight from 1888 to 1912. I love stories like that. While looking at the land you'd think there would be plenty of room and water to get though, there are now two low light houses not much more than maybe 50 yards apart and that is the only place that you can get through because of the crazy rip and currents. Amazing! You can tell that a good chef set this place up. It's got fantastic ingredients of solitude and stunning views and as little has been done to the place as possible. The stars were incredible last night. I don't recognize any of the constellations, except the Southern Cross which is a strange feeling. This morning I took a kayak out into the bay and around the point (made sure to ask Aaron that the waters were safe and there weren't any more sink holes looming out there waiting to swallow me up). The area farms abalone extensively so I passed several stretched of water with linear lines of large buoys. I had the water all to myself. No other boats, no noise from people or plane or anything. It was so peaceful. For lunch I was able to sample fresh D'Urville green mussels. They were pretty good and I think that's about as rave a review as you'll get from me on mussels since I would have to confess they really aren't my thing.

French Pass Straight (not looking very scary, but trust me!)

Hotel:

Kayaking:

Lunch of green mussels:

Book Review:

The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg

This was a quick read, enjoyable but sort of forgettable. It's a sort novel that takes place in the year following a the death of the narrator's husband. While I would never compare my situation to that of a widow I did identify with many of the daily absences the author describes. Getting on with life on my own has been an interesting journey. While there is nearly always an undercurrent of missing Justin and being aware that he isn't around it isn't as intense or visceral as one might suspect. Some days I have a nagging feeling that I've forgotten something. Other days I find myself missing Justin for silly or selfish reasons, "oh, how I wish Justin were with me so HE could drive and I could enjoy the scenery." Sometimes I get mad, some days I'm sad or lonely, other days I'm sacred that we're wasting the precious little time that life gives us to be together. This book reminded me of that often.

Book Review:

Midwives by Chirs Bohjalian.

It was an interesting read for me set in rural 1981 Vermont. It brought back a lot of memories growing up in the Green Mountains. The book's plot is centered around a homebirth fatality and raised many questions about birth in America. Not many of these questions have easy answers but one thing that's clear to me: I wish that there were more OPTIONS. Even living in the fourth largest city in America there is only one birthing center within an hour's drive. I'm not sure what women's options are in terms of homebirth in Texas but it seems pretty clear that if you're not giving birth with an OB in a hospital you are in the minority. Back to the book, for me it had just the right combination of plot intrigue, interesting characters and setting description. It's one I would recommend (providing the reader is NOT pregnant).

South Island!

2009-10-10T18:31:00.002+13:00

Quick review of Harcourt Holiday Park:

The showers had really hot water which was heavenly after the incredibly cold night I spent camping. Didn't get much rest with the wind and rain. Camping isn't as much fun when it's cold and wet but the place was in a nice quiet location. There was a big park adjacent with a frisbee golf course.

Decided (with a little persuasion from Justin) that the air mattress wasn't cutting it, so this morning I found a single mattress and I have to say I think it's going to make a world of difference in comfort.

Took the ferry over to Picton which was an adventure. Cook Straight is already a notorious stretch of water and the strong wind and rain storm that's been hammering us for the past few days didn't help the situation. 5 meter swells! The ferry was huge and would literally rock up and down so much it was like we were taking off in a plane. The side-to-side sways were so deep that you'd sight of the horizon in the windows and just see the ocean. Lucky for me I do not suffer from sea sickness or fear on the water (one consolation, as I HATE flying and the smallest turbulence can send me into an irrational panic). After about an hour and 20 min the waters smoothed out and the outside decks were opened up. The views were really nice coming into the sound just north of Picton.

Tonight I'm camping at Picton Top 10 Holiday Park. I'm excited about tomorrow. I'll be doing the 4 hour drive from Picton along Queen Charlotte Scenic Route then up and over French Pass, one water taxi ride to d'Urville Island. I'll be at d'Urville Island Wilderness Resort where I'm HOPING I'll have nice weather to sea kayak! Then I'm headed to Nelson for a night camping before I start at my next farmstay. I should be able to post from Nelson on Monday but after that there could be a long wait to my next post as I'm not sure if I'll have internet in Hiwipango (where my next farm-stay is).

NZ Terms:

Chunder- vomit (there was A LOT of this going on today on the ferry)

Wop wops- boondocks, ie Hiwipango (where I'm headed to my next farm)

Home Away from Home

2009-10-09T18:08:00.003+13:00

Here I am in my "living room" ie the driver's seat car camping in Upper Hutt. It's chilly and cloudy and still raining. Camping in Taupo- The blooming cherry trees were beautiful!

Wet Weather

2009-10-09T09:40:00.006+13:00

Yesterday's weather was patchy. But I was able to take a nice train run from the B&B up to the lookout at the top of Mt. Victoria. It was a STEEP run but the trails are well maintained and felt really safe. There were a few other runners and quite a few mountain bikers. So fun to be in a place where people get out and enjoy the surroundings actively.

Finished the hat I was working on. I'm not happy with the weight so I made it a size smaller and think I'll send it to Santa to end up in a stocking. Today I'll get started on a heavier version for me with the alpaca yarn and skip the scarf.

This morning has brought more rain. This afternoon I'm headed up the Akatarawa Valley about 45 min drive from Wellington. I was hoping to get in a hike but if the rain continues it might be a movie day. I'll be car-camping (providing it isn't snowing) at Harcourt Holiday Park. Tomorrow I take the ferry from Wellington to Picton and I'm planning on staying in Picton as I won't arrive until 6pm. Hopefully the roads will be open and I'll be able to head out on the scenic Queen Charlotte pass.

Hotel Review:

Booklover's B&B

I've been really happy staying here. The rooms are comfortable, well appointed, the wireless is free and unlimited (a lot of places only let you use a limited MB amount). The fruit, yogurt, muesli and coffee was great in the mornings. I'm a bit biased since I like everything "burned" but every morning my "well-done" eggs were nearly too runny to eat. Also, I asked for egg whites but each time she put in a yoke or two because she "just couldn't bring" herself to serve something so bland. I appreciate that she'd like me to be well taken care of and fed but I think I'm old enough to be certain as to how I like my eggs.

The location was great for me. About a 15 min walk to Te Papa, shops and restaurant. RIGHT next to the Town Belt, which is the big green space with Mt. Victoria and lots of nice trails. However there was quite a bit of road noise as the bus runs past and I think the windows are a bit thin. There are books and magazines and DVDs and newspapers all over the place and lots of cosy little corners to curl up in. My favorite place I've stayed thus far.

Wellington

2009-10-08T08:37:00.007+13:00

So far so good! When I arrived on Tuesday the weather was as it had been in Ponrangahau, wet, windy and cold. But when I woke up yesterday it was blue skies! It was still a bit chilly outside, particularly when the breeze came up but it was a perfect day for exploring. First stop on my self-guided Wellington walking tour was Te Papa Museum. This is a WONDERFUL, free, child-friendly museum (lots of "discovery zones" everywhere to play, learn, jump around, etc). Lots of information on New Zealand including exhibits on the formation of the land, Maori culture, immigration, introduction of flora and fauna, indigenous animals, Forumla One Cars, NZ art, etc. I could have been there all day. I focused on the Maori culture and history of NZ exhibits. But my favorite was the Colossal Squid display- the only one in the world! The exhibition opened Dec 13, 2008 and will run through 2011. HERE is the link to the virtual tour. A fishing boat off the coast of Antarctica pulled up a very heavy fish and found the squid eating it. They brought in on board, killed it, and donated it to the museum. Very interesting and well named: it truly is colossal!

Then I walked through the heart of the city to the Wellington Cable Car which has been opperating (with a few updates, thank you) since 1898. This was really fun. It take up you to the top of a hill behind the city to the Botanical Gardens. Then it's about a 40 min walk down the hill, through ever changing gardens to the Parliament buildings.

After this jaunt I trekked to the far edge of town in search of yarn. The shop was Nancy's Embroidery. It didn't have much of a selection of knitting yarns but I managed to find a few good looking skeins.

Then I took the bus to an area called Courtney Place for a late lunch at Sweet Mother's Kitchen. I had fantastic mushroom/zucchini enchiladas with a side salad. Recommended to any

Wellington traveler. Plus the place is a fun atmosphere with good Creole blues playing.

I stayed in all evening reading and KNITTING! It's been about a month since I've done anything and it feel SO great to be working on something again, my hands have missed it. I'm not too sure about the yarn. It's a lighter weight than I would have ideally wanted and to get it to the proper gauge I had to go up a needle size. This plus the fact that I'm working in a loose leaf lace pattern means that I think the hat is going to be too light weight for me. Also, while the colors

looked fun and funky in the skein they are starting to stripe in a way that's a little too rainbow for me. But I got some lovely maroon chunky alpaca that was going to be a scarf that I could use if I don't like how this other yarn comes out.

View of the city from Te Papa Museum:

Riding the Cable Car:View of the city from Botanical Garden at the top of Cable Car:Scenes from botanical garden:
New project:

Today I'm planning on laying low this morning knitting. Then I'm going to go for a run in the green belt park behind the hotel. Then I think if the weather's good I might wander down the hill to window shop.

NZ terms:

Flat white: cafe au lait

Trim milk: skim milk

-- so my favorite is a "trim flat white" with one sugar, delicious!

As [fill in blank] as- they seem to say this about everything and every time I wait to hear what something is as hot/cold/fat/happy/dark as but that's the whole saying. ie: It's cold as, he was hungry as, etc.

Catch Up Photos

2009-10-07T19:00:00.005+13:00

Here are a few more pictures from my time in Porangahau. These are from the day that I went to the exotic sheep farm.

Cutest little lamb:
First they would get shorn:Sheerers wear these felted wool shoes. They say they are very comfortable and they don't slip on the lanolin greased wooden planks. Then the fleece is "thrown" onto a table for inspection. (note: this is not a sheepskin fleece, it's loose and will come apart it's just all together because of the skill of the sheerer and the skill of the woman that throws it.)Then these little ladies combed it and started spinning! (the yellow throw on the chair next to her is a blanket she wove on her loom from yarn she made!)On our way back to the farm we passed the world's longest name place: the name is on the sign (yes, that's ONE word) and the place is the hilltop behind it. I'm glad that I never had this on a spelling test.

Another sign we passed.

Palmerston North

2009-10-05T18:49:00.005+13:00

I wouldn't have come this way if the roads were open (still having spring snow in the mountains and freezing temperatures) and I wouldn't really recommend Palmerston North (Palmy to Kiwis), to other traveling in NZ. Not a bad place, just not all that scenic or interesting. My guide book says that after coming through John Cleese said, "if you wish to kill yourself but lack the courage to, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick." The city had it's revenge by later naming the town landfill Mt. Cleese. Hee hee. I don't think it's that bad, just not the usual amazing NZ I'm now used to. I would be car camping but decided against it with the freezing temperatures. I'm staying at the Travelodge, which feels safe and clean and basic. My room is pretty big and the internet is fast so I can't complain. The best part is that it's a block away from a great little cafe, Cafe Cuba, on the corner of Cuba and George streets. Well worth a visit for all day great breakfast and good coffee!

I'm now in Wellington for three nights. I'm staying at Booklover's B&B which is owned and run by a local author. The place is super cute and comforatble. Seems like it will be a good location. I've decided I need a warm hat for the South Island so I plan on visiting a Wellington knitting shop and get some yarn on my needles (yes, of course I brought my knitting needles to New Zealand!!).

NZ terms:

She'll be right - it will be fine or we can fix it

Crook - sick

Chilly bin - cooler

Pictures as promised!

2009-10-05T12:36:00.008+13:00

Farmhouse:

Cushla:
Pandora:

This is on the hill behind the farm. Most of the pasture on the near side of the row of dark trees is the farm. Before:

During:

After:

With a Suffolk lamb:

With Pandora the lamb that thinks she's a sheep dog, not a sheep!
She's ready to heard the flock!
Moooo!
Ruffles:
Super windy:
View from top of peak at Porangahau Beach:
Farm Girl:
Sheryl and her chook:

I am currently in Palmerston North. This was not a part of my planned itinerary but you can't change the weather so I had to change my plans. The weather has been super cold lately so the mountain pass that I was going to go over into Wellington is closed. I was planning on driving south through Masterton, going out to Castlepoint and south through Martinborough, Cape Palliser and Lake Ferry but I can still do all of it when I drive back north with Justin!!

Tomorrow I'll head to Wellington for a few days and then on to the South Island. I hope the weather starts to warm up a bit!

Quick Post

2009-10-03T11:25:00.002+13:00

The last few days have been filled with farmwork and fun.
Thursday Andrew and Sheryl took me about 3o minutes down the road to a fellow who breeds exotic sheep for their wool. He invited a spinning club from outside of Wellington and some locals to come and watch the spinning and check out his fleece. It was a really interesting day. Got to talk to some neat ladies who were spinning the raw fleece right there! So fun to see it in action. From sheep to yarn and onto the needles! If you don't process the wool first it keeps all the greasy lanolin which will make whatever you knit viturally waterproff. I never knew that!
Yesterday was filled with chores around the farm and in the late evening the wind picked up and blew ALL NIGHT. And when I saw it blew I mean I thought the house was going to come down. You can hardly walk in it!!
This morning Andrew has been "crutching" the sheep. This is when you shear a cresent shape on the sheep's bottom to keep them clean.
A new calf was born last night. It's a big wooly boy.
Tomorrow will be my last day at Sharika. On Monday I'll head south for Masterton. On the way I plan to check out a bird sanctuary and Shear Discovery, the place where Golden Shears Competition is held every March. I'll car camp the night in Masterton and then head for Castlepoint on the cost the next day for a hike and then down to Cape Pallisteir (not sure on the spelling of that) and car camp around Lake Ferry. After that I'll be onto Wellington for two nights (staying at Booklover's B&B). Hopefully, I'll get some pictures up soon!

Tsunami Warning

2009-09-30T16:16:00.002+13:00

I'm safe.
Today has had a bit of excitement. After morning feedings and the loading of around 30 ewes onto a truck to be taken to market (around 9:30) Sheryl got a call alerting us that there had been an earthquake in American Samoa triggering a tsunami that was due to make landfall in NZ around 10:30 with a possible wave of 15 meters. We are walking distance to the beach and most of the pasture here is low lying as well as the house. This is no joke. Within 45 minutes we had cleared the stock up to the hill paddocks and climbed up Spring Hill behind the paddock. Luckily, it was a gorgeous day for a hike. Sheryl and Andrew looked like the New Zealand Von Trapp family climbing up the hill behind me with their three dogs, pet lamb and Cushla the little girl milking calf (about 2.5 weeks old) that we're hand raising (on a lead). I told her she should be sining "Climb Every Mountain" from the top of her lungs. It was pretty funny. We waited about an hour and a half up there enjoying the views and sun. We didn't see any big waves or flooding. I guess there was a small set that came in with 1 meter waves, but it didn't cause any problems here. Sadly, 100s are dead in American Samoa and Samoa.
Later Andrew sheared two very large Suffolk rams (about 3 min a piece) and then there was a violent thunderstorm that swept through the valley.
Tomorrow I'm going down the road to a fellow who breeds and raises exotic sheep and goats for wool to watch the shearing. It should be very interesting. I'm excited to go! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures (for everyone to see next week). I'm not able to use my computer here and I can't connect my camera to their computer.

Catching Up

2009-09-29T15:04:00.002+13:00

It's been a very busy couple of days on the farm.
Sunday - The weather turned warm just in time for the fair which was a lot of fun. Live music, farm animals, food stalls, lots of people selling thier wares and wine and flowers and tools, etc. I went for a few hours and had lunch and walked around. Mostly it was just fun to people watch. The folks I've met so far from this area have all been quite a bit older but lots of young families turned up for the fair.
Afterwards I wanted to take advantage of the day and took a nice long walk on the beach before doing the evening feedings. Then Andrew, Sheryl and I went back to the B&B where the fair was and had wine with the owners and some of their frieds, that turned into dinner and a late night. But lots of interesting people. Kiwis, Aussies and English (Poms).
Monday- Poor weather again. Sheryl was off the farm for the day teaching a watercolor class so I did all the morning, afternoon and evening feedings on my own. The five boy calves have gotten so much bigger just in the week since I've been here and they are STRONG and roudy. They "bunt" you with their heads when you come in with their bottles.
I spent a little time looking at maps and guide books and planning a little bit for when I head out of here next week. Andrew showed me a farm on the west coast of the south island that he's heard about from people like me coming through with Help Exchange. It sounds like a really neat cattle station in a gorgeous, ruggid, remote location. They do most of the stock work on horseback. I guess they are really good people, laid back and like to have people who want to learn. We'll see. I think I'll try and go in November, if they'll have me.
In the afternoon I went for a very wet and cold run on the beach. The beach is really spectaular with cliffs in the distance and farmland over the dunes. Just beautiful even in heavy mist, rain and fog. The surf is always pretty high and I've seen several surfers, though it looks really rough to me.
Before dinner Andrew took me down to the fire station which is where all the locals go on Monday nights because they open the fire house as a pup that night. It's helarious. It's literally at the fire station with the helmets and boots and all that lining the wall. And the fireman serves you (and drinks right along with you, so I guess you hope there aren't any emergencies on Mondays). There's a small sign over the bar that reads, "old fishermen never die, they always smell like that." It was really a funny place. Everyone (all 8 people there) were very nice and keen to give me lots of suggestions as to where to go on the South Island. I'm really looking forward to my time there because EVERYONE says that it's a million times more beautiful than here and I think this is pretty fantastic!
Today- The weather has been BEAUTIFUL today. I'm wearing shorts for the first time! Still have a long sleeve long john's top on but it's sunny and warm and I've taken advantage of the day. Did the morning feeds, mucked out a few sheds and then did a bunch of gardening. The bed that I weeded and worked the soil last week was looking great so I made two rows and planted beans in one and carrots in the other and snow peas along the fence line and chives in a planter. It has been ages since I've gardened and I can't help but be a little impressed with nature when you see the size of the seeds and know that it's going to grow into a proper vegetable! Amazing. Loved getting my hands muddy. Also, had to move some animals from one paddock to another. After lunch Sheryl brought down a bunch of sheep (working the dogs) and we docked about 10 lambs. Sheep are born with long tails that have to be removed for sanitary reasons. This is done when they are about 2-4 weeks old. They were the cutest little Suffolk sheep. All black because their fleece hasn't grown in yet. They get thier ear tagged, the boys get a rubber band around their scrotum and then --- warning: skip if you're squeemish ----- Andrew used a tool that looks like a curling iron that is really hot and clamps it quickly over the tail which immidiatly falls off. The wound is cauteritzed and then sprayed so flies don't blow their eggs at the wound site and the lambs go back to their mothers and really don't seem to mind too much. It's not the most pleasent thing to do to a sweet little lamb but this is all a part of farm work. And really it wasn't too bad.
Then I helped Sheryl return some tables and chairs that were used at the fair to the golf course. This afternoon I think Andrew is going to take me up farm for a hike. He mentioned that he's going to bring his rifle so he might get a rabbit, hare, wild goat or deer. We'll see what kind of experience that will be. I'm just along for the exercise and views along the ridge but I think it might qualify as my first hunting experience.
As you can see there's always something to be done around the place and I'm really leaning tons and having a nice time. I'll leave next Monday Oct 5th and take a few days to get to Nelson for my next farmstay at a woolcraft farm called Fleecewood. It will be a very different experience as she keeps only 60 or so sheep for their wool and does lots and lots of fibercraft. Can't wait!
Finished Middlesex and even though I KNOW it was assigned for one of my college classes and I could have SWORN I'd read it I really don't think I ever had. It was like reading it for the first time, anyways. Very well written (it did win a Pulitzer) and has a wonderful narritave. The subject matter varies from Greek immigrant life, the industrialization of the midwest and lots of great gender identity issues (the narrator is a hermaphrodite). Not sure what I'll read next but I'll be sure and post about it too.
The weather isn't supposed to hold, more rain in the forecast. But hopefully the sun will be back out again soon!
Interesting terms
Chook(s)- Chicken
Cattle Beast - Cow

Bluebird Day

2009-09-27T09:32:00.002+13:00

The weather has finally broken and it is just spectacular. This morning the clocks moved forward an hour (their daylight savings happens on different days than our I guess). The spring equinox was on Wednesday Sep 23rd (so I guess that'd sortta be my southern hemisphere birthday). Yesderday was freezing with the winds out of the south. Andrew had to put the ewe down and bury her in the hill. But all that saddness and cold vanished overnight and today everything feels new and cheerful. The birds are singing and all the lambs and calves are frisky and playful after being shut up during the rain. The fields are deep green and the horses got their covers off and are cantering through the paddocks.
It's a perfect day for the fair that takes place this afternoon. I'll go down in a few hours and check everything out. It should be a really fun time.

Bit of Sun

2009-09-26T09:07:00.002+12:00

It stopped raining here this morning. It was nice to feed the animals and muck out thier pen without being soaked through. It's still muddy in patches but fresh out after all the rain. This morning we got the wash up on the line to dry and got lots of mucking done. Not sure yet if the weather will stay dry through the afternoon.
Yesterday, Sheryl and I went for a nice hike up the mountain behind the farm through the pine trees. We were soaked but it was so beautiful literally right up in the clouds. We saw lots and lots of wild goats and thier kids. As we were walking through one of Sheryl and Andrew's paddocks we came arcoss a ewe on her back with her feet up in the air. We tried as hard as we could to get her on her feet but she was SO heavy and her legs just had no strength in them. I went down the hill and got Andrew and he couldn't get her sorted out either. All we could do was to tuck her feet under her and leave her with her head propped up so her lungs don't fill with water. We'll go up and have a look this afternoon to see if she made it. She's five or six which is getting on in years for a sheep. She's a Suffock (a variety with black faces and while wool, like Hampshire sheep) and Andrew says they're "soft" and do better on the flat than the hills.
Tomorrow there is fair in the village. Sheryl is a painter and will be selling some of her work. It will be interesting to walk around and check out all the goods and meet some of the other people from the area.
Rika - I sleep in the house, not my van. In exchange for the work I do on the farms they feed me and put me up. I'll be sleeping in the van between farms and while Justin is here. It's pretty comfortable but he's going to be packed in there pretty tight, it's not that big. Just a mini van with an air matress in the back.

Rain

2009-09-25T08:30:00.002+12:00

It started raining yesterday as we were finishing with morning feeding and it has not stopped since. I seriously mean it has been raining for over 24 hours and the forcast says it might rain straight through until Monday. Andrew and Sheryl say they haven't seen it like this in three years. But they were on the verge of a drought (though you'd never know it by looking at all the green hillsides) so it's great that they're getting the moisture. Yesterday was filled with some cooking a trip to town. There is a villiage near the house but to buy groceries and farm supply you have to drive 40 min to the town. It was one main drag with lots of hardware stores, farm supply stores, saddlery shops and food markets. I was able to buy a phone card to give Justin a call on our anniversary (thanks for all the anniversary emails and such) as my cell phone doesn't work out here and we can't do Skype since it's slow dial-up service.
We got back around 3, had some lunch and then it was out in the rain to cover the horses, move the boy calves under the shed, put the lamb and sickly girl calve up in the hay shed, get the goat into her covered paddock, etc. Wet and muddy but I really like being around all the animals. Today has not been quite as much fun. I'm on housecleaning duties. I love having a clean house when I'm home and don't much mind turning on music and getting the chores done. However, I find cleaning someone else's house to be something quite different. But I've got to earn my keep and it's not for forever.
I'm finally getting the time to start reading. I'm currently midway through Middlesex and enjoying the descriptions of Greek emmigrant life in Detroit during the 30s through 60s.
Justin has the day off today and it's his first Friday off since Ramadan has ended (it lasts about a month). It will be nice for him to be able to go to the shops and restarurants and get a bit of a break.
The weather has been cold and the house is heated by woodburning stove. One thing they do here that I've never seen before is burn pinecones. I guess the resin acts as a good fuel to get the fire started.
This afternoon Sheryl and I may take a wet hike up to the pine forest up the hill. She thinks it won't be too wet under the cover of trees. I'm sure we'll still get soaked but it should be nice to get out and streach my legs a bit.
Sorry about the terrible spelling with the dial-up service I don't have spell check, it's such a crutch!

Farm Day Two

2009-09-23T14:14:00.002+12:00

Yesterday afternoon was windy, SO windy. I'm not kidding it really must have been about 75 mph. I have photos of me leaning into it and it would literally support my whole body weight. I've never been in wind like that. In the evening my face felt sunburned but it was windburned. Crazy. Saw seals on the rocks at the beach and then bushwacked to the top of the cliffs/mountain and then cut through pasture to get back to the car. It was a really fun adventure. This morning was the regular animal feeding and then we had to move some sheep and cattle and calves from one pature to another. This was the highlight of my trip so far. I rode on the back of the 4x4 and Tasha the sheep dog (they have three dogs two SUPER cute bearded shaggy sheep dogs called "Huntaways" Tasha and Ruffles- who I've decided I'm taking home with me- and Mase a black and tan smooth coat big puppy) ran along side and Sheryl shout commands. Then I hoped of the 4x4 and helped Tasha work the cattle from behind and the sides with a big stick in my hand. It was amazing to watch her work. Then she had to herd the sheep and this really showed off her skill and athleticism. She was beautiful. Some of the commands, "Walk Up" is when she has the sheep or cattle grouped together (like at the mouth of the gate) and she just needs to slowly walk up to them to encourage the animals to walk. "That'll do" means that's enough. "Away" is called if a few animals (there were two stubborn rams that kept breaking free) get separated from the group so Tasha will run around them and get them back to the group. "Walk Around" means go right behind the animals and bring them to her. "Speak Up" means bark. It was great!
After that we had to shuffle some of the calves around and then gather pinecones. A goat named Pasha lives under the pine trees and you have to carry a stick because she thinks it's great fun to bunt you. She's really naughty.
Then we took three or four trips with the truck down to the hay barn and loaded it up and then stacked all the bales in the feeding shed. This is hard work but fun.
I also got to gather eggs (got three and had one for lunch - delicious). The birds are just beautiful. Reds and speckeled and two white ducks.
Before lunch I spent a few hours digging up thistles. This isn't the most fun because you have to bend over most of the time. I think my back will be a little stiff tonight!
Then lunch and this afternoon I'm going to go for a bit of a hike with Sheryl the owner. It might rain on us a bit and today has been much cooler than yesterday. At night we turn on heated blankets under the fitted sheet on our beds around 6pm so when you get in bed around 9pm it's toasty and warm . Mmm, lovely.
Question and anwser:
Sharika (the name of the farm) doesn't mean anything. It's the name of thier breeding sheep stud.
Only the animals that are "pets" are given names, so the cats, dogs, two horses, pet sheep, dairy cow, goat, dairy calves and such have names.
No slaughtering is done commercially on the farm. They just kill what they are going to eat. They sell about 30-40 cows a year to be slaughtered and around 500 head of sheep to be slaughtered. They do sell the wool but apparently you get next to nothing for it.
Andrew, the owner is a shearer and usually travels 3 months out of the year to shear. Durring this time he'll make more money than all year of the farming. He's gone to Spain, Italy, UK, Australia, etc for the work. He can shear a sheep in about 2 min and will often shear over 600 sheep in ONE DAY!! Amazing. I hope to see it while I'm here.
Sorry I can't post photos while I'm here.
Tomorrow is my four year wedding anniversary!

Farm Day One

2009-09-22T14:06:00.002+12:00

5:30- wake up, watch the sun rise
6:00- get back into bed with the heated blanket on and read
6:30- get up and have breakfast of coffee and cereal
7:00- feed 5 male calves from bottle, bring dairy cow in from paddock to stable to nurse two girl calves, perpare two bottles and feed sick girl calve and Pandora (the sheep that thinks she's a dog). Ride on the back of the four wheeler with Pandora and pick up some hay to feed cows and horses, let the dogs out the kennels, feed the chickens, come inside for a cup of tea. Pull carrots from the garden, wash, peel and chop, start dinner in the stockpot. Sheryl decided it would be a good day for scones and made them from stratch without a recipe. She was shocked that I was impressed: here's the basic idea:
about 3.5 cups of flour, about a teaspon of backing powder per cup of flour, pinch of salt, little less than a quarter cup of sugar, then add some butter and use your hands to mix it all together until it's sort of grainy feeling. If you want to add currants or dates or fruit or savory things like cheese or meat or whatever now would be the time to do it making sure that whatever you're adding is coated with flour. Then pour in some milk (ours was freash from the teat) until you have a somewhat dry consistancy but it's wet enough to mix. Flour a flat surface and turn out the dough. The less you do to the dough the fluffy you're scones will be. So really just turn in two or three times. Now it should be a rectangle about two inches think. Use a floured knife and cut rough squares and place on a floured cookie sheet. Cook for 10-15 min in a 200 C oven. We had them with homemade plum jam and honey and apricot marmalade. DELICIOUS!
Okay, after making the scones. I pulled straw out of two flower beds and then pulled weeds and then turned the soil. Then I mucked the calve pen and came inside for a cup of tea and the still warm scones. Then it was out to the paddock to digg up thistle (sheep don't eat it and it spreads if you leave it) for a few hours. The wind came up while I was in the pasture and it really whips up!
1:30- Lunch of sandwiches and fruit.
Conversation and newspaper and now it's 2:20 and I think I'll brave the wind and go for a run. Sorry that this isn't spell checked. I'm doing my best. I love being on the farm and being around all the animals. It's heaven.

Sharika Farm

2009-09-21T18:07:00.002+12:00

I made it to gorgeous Porangahau (not sure that's spelled correctly). The farm is just beautiful and Andrew and Sheryl, the owers seem super nice (and not at all strange or scary). They have a couple hundred acres with cattle, sheep, some chickens and ducks, dogs, cats and a goat. I got here in the late afternoon and had a nice conversation then I helped Sheryl feed the dogs, calves, chickens and ducks. She has a pet 6 month old lamb named Pandora who thinks she's a dog since her ewe-mama rejected her and she's been hand raised. She comes when she's called, loves to cuddle and jumps up on the four wheeler to go for a ride with the dogs. She'll even sleep in a kennel sometimes!
So far I'm in farm heaven!
The only down side is that the internet is dial up and slow. I mean R E A L L Y slow. I won't be able to do much blogging and no pictures until I'm onto the next spot (probably the first week in october). Sorry! Also, my cell phone does not work here. I'll do my best to keep in touch but know that I'm safe and happy and have a comfy place to rest my head. Speaking of which my first night in the van was great. I was really comfortable but FREEZING. I'm so glad I had my sleeping bag!! Justin is going to have a tough time fitting, I think but he'll manage! I'll try and post again in a few days.

Taupo!

2009-09-21T08:43:00.001+12:00

I wrote this last night but was unable to get online, sorry no photos. I'll post some when I get online next.

'm now in Taupo staying at the Debretts Motor Park which is really very nice. All the cherry trees are in bloom and they have laundry, kitchen, bathroom, hot springs, wifi, really anything a traveler could need. It feels so great to be OUT of the city. I have my van all set up with the air mattress in the back and most of my stuff stored under the bed platform. I decided to keep my main suitcase on the passenger seat for easy access. I'm sorry to say that I was so excited to get out of the city and on the road and to Taupo that I did a miserable job of taking photos along the way and now I'm regretting it. I promise I'll do a better job of pulling over and getting shots of the UNBELIEVABLE and IMPOSSIBLY green scenery. I took Highway 1 south out of Auckland and then skirted east along Highway 2 and south down Highway 27 to Tirau and onto Highway 1 into Taupo. The area on Highway 2 and 27 from about Maramarua to Ngaura was ridiculous. Forget driving on the left my problem was keeping my eyes on the road! Rolling hills with dramatic mountains in the backgound, hedges instead of fences, SHEEP! SHEEP! SHEEP! lots and lots of baby cows and some gigantic piggies. Oh, it was beautiful. I'll be sure to come back to Auckland along this route with Justin so I'll grab some photos then. Taupo is a big town on New Zealand's largest lake with snow capped volcanos in the background. Majestic. I'd love to get back here in the summer (it's still spring) and do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing which is an 8 hour hike that traverses active volcanic crater and lakes. I could do it now but it would require crampons and winter gear that I don't have. Plus, it's something I think Justin would really enjoy as well. Of course, he'd enjoy ALL of this and I wish he were here already. Tomorrow I head to Cape Kidnappers, Napier and then on to my first farmstay at Sharika Farm. I'll post again tomorrow morning with pictures and then again when I have a chance.

On to the next!

2009-09-20T08:35:00.006+12:00

It's Sunday morning here and I'm so excited because I'll be heading out of Auckland and on to Taupo this afternoon! Yesterday was exhausting but worthwhile because I was able to pick up the van, finalize all purchase procedures, get some supply shopping done and drop off the van to have it kitted out with a sleeping platform. Phew. I was more spent last night than I've been in ages. It doesn't sound like much but the day involved about 3 hours of walking around hilly Auckland and lots of stress. This morning I plan on picking up the van, heading down to some shops to pick up pillows and a duvet coming back to my hotel to check out and load up the van and then hit the road! The drive should take about 4 hours and I can't wait to experience the scenery. So far driving on the left has been okay, even in the busy city center. My biggest issue has been hitting the wipers when I mean to use my turning indicators.

Friday I went to Kelly Tarlton Underwater World and Antarctic Experience to try and cheer myself up a bit after the disappointment of being waylaid in the city. It was a really fun place. It's all built underground and you walk through tubes in the aquarium. There is also a "snowcat" ride through the penguin habit that was sensational .

View of Auckland from the aquarium:

These rays were GIANT and gorgeous:

This isn't real but it come up out of the water at the end of the snowcat ride and scares the pants off you!

Sorrow

2009-09-19T08:39:00.002+12:00

Kendal, the endlessly forgiving black labrador has passed away. He was a wonderful teacher, friend and was greatly responsible for bringing me and Justin together. His loss is deeply felt.

Holding Pattern

2009-09-18T10:44:00.002+12:00

I'm feeling a bit like I'm in the air, circling an airport waiting to land. The day before yesterday I found a great 2000 Honda Odessey (a little bit smaller than the US version and without sliding van doors) and began the process of purchase. There are reports, inspections, insurance hoops to jump though and things were going smoothly. I made arrangements for a wire transfer to pay for the vehicle and now I'm playing the waiting game and slowly loosing patience. Apparently all banking in New Zealand (movement of funds) happens at night and with the time difference between the states and NZ this creates a huge time delay. After expecting to be able to pick up the car yesterday morning I was informed with the unhappy news this morning that the wire still hasn't gone through. Now I have to hold my breath and HOPE that everything is cleared tonight or else I'll be here until at least Tuesday (no banking on Sat or Sun night). Darn. On top of having to wait for the purchase to be complete I plan to take the van over to a neat little place called the Backpacker's Car Market to have them fashion a small platform in the back for an air mattress with room underneath for luggage and gear. This happens after-hours so that tacks on an extra day to things as well.

Luckily there is plenty to do and see in Auckland to keep me busy. I've been sightseeing, navigating the local bus system and taking long walks. If the weather holds I'm thinking about taking a little boat cruise around the harbor this afternoon. If it threatens rain I'm going to check out the big history and war museum in a large park called The Domain. Yesterday I explored a fun part of town called Parnell. Great views, eclectic mix of architecture and great cafes.

I'm anxious to get into the country (first stop Taupo en route to my farmstay near Hawke's Bay) and begin my first farm stay. But I know that there is nothing I can do to speed along the process. Just more opportunities for me to practice patience.

Hotel Review: I've moved to a hotel right next door to the Hyatt to take advantage of much better weekend rates and I'm very glad I made the switch. The hotel is called The Quadrant and they have small "apartment style" rooms. Mine has a little kitchenette and balcony. It's teeny tiny but so well set up that you hardly notice how small it is. While the lobby, bar and elevators are really cheesy with an ultra-modern/ultra-swanky/trendy vibe the rooms are comfortable with great views of the shipping port, quiet and comfortable.

Day One

2009-09-15T18:04:00.006+12:00

You know those days when you say to yourself, "there just aren't enough hours in the day"? Today was not one of them. I'm sitting in my hotel room and it's only 6:10pm. I feel like this day is just never going to end. But it's been a great day. I woke up around 3am NZ time one the plane when they handed out hot towels and orange juice and stretched and got myself organized. When we landed it took a while with customs due to the presence of a Thailand visa in my passport. I have to say it was the first time I've ever been worried that I was going to get turned away at a border, but it all worked out and by the time I made it to the luggage carousel my bags were waiting. Then it was off to the customs x-ray where I had to unpack my entire backing-packing backpack to get at the tent stowed in the middle. It was taken off to Biohazard for inspection. While I waited I got myself a NZ cell phone. My number is +64 210 228 0112. Then I secured myself on a shuttle to the city. The drive was pretty with the sun having just risen. My driver said that the weather has just turned nice which is fabulous timing for me. All of the trees are in bloom and just gorgeous. Checking into the hotel early was breeze since I had a reservation for the night before. After a nice long hot shower, a quick half hour cat nap and both some thrilling and disappointing US Open tennis I headed out on the street. First stop was AA. No, not that AA. In NZ the equivelent to our AAA is AA and since I'm a AAA member in the states I get a free 6 month AA membership here in NZ. Then I spoke with them about insurance, purchasing a car, inspection, registration, etc. After a chai and slice of zucchini bread it was time to walk around the city center. The day was beautiful and there were tons of high school and college aged kids milling about. I'm wondering if there's a university near by. I couldn't quite figure out my bearings so I decided to take a trip to the top of the Sky Tower. 340 meters high or so.

The views were worth the ticket price and I'm fortunate it was such a clear day.

After snapping a few photos I grabbed a sandwich and headed to Albert Park. The trees here are huge and ancient. The park was just PACKED with people reading, eating, socializing, sunbathing, smooching and generally enjoying a deliciously sunny yet cool day. The birds were singing and I couldn't help but feel like Kiwis enjoy themselves a lot more than us busy urban Americans.

After lunch I came back to the hotel room to research cars for sale on the web. Unfortunately, they're doing some construction work on the floor below my room and it was literally comical how much of a racket they were making. First the drill, then the saw, then the hammer, then the electric guitar with requisite amp turned to max. Okay, there might not have been a guitar but I had to move rooms because I couldn't take it. I'm not sorry I did because I'm now on the 11th floor with a much more rewarding view.

This afternoon I took a cab to a used car dealer and met the nicest cabby in the world. Naween, from Delhi waited without charging me while I looked at used minivans. On the ride back to the city he gave me great car advice, the name of an honest and cheap mechanic and told me the story of his three girls. His first, named for speaking humbly, came and he and his wife decided that being blessed with one healthy, delightful daughter was enough for them. However, when she was three they got a surprise when his wife found she was again with child. And my wasn't it a healthy baby, just look at the size of her belly! Imagine their surprise when she delivered not one but two identical girls! Such a great story. They honestly had NO idea there were two of them in there! Fantastic.

Then I went for another walk and I'm not back at the hotel room wondering how it's possible that it's already Tuesday and that it's still Tuesday! Hopefully, I'll get a good night's sleep and wake up on NZ time. I feel a bit like a stick figure drawn standing upside down on the other side of the world. A little off balance but grateful to be here and excited that my adventure has begun.

In a nut shell my first impressions: gorgeous harbor, great parks, laid back and SUPER friendly folks.

Side notes: I'm staying at the Hyatt Regency which has a down town city center location. It's comfortable and basic. Much more than I would have expected for the $70/night deal I got on 1800hotels.com. I might not give it a glowing recommendation but can't find fault with it either.

Might be a few days before my next post. Lots to do. I'm itching to get out of the city and on my way to my first farmstay.

Auckland!

2009-09-15T07:29:00.002+12:00

I made it. My flight went smoothly. My luggage was waiting for me and I easily found a van to take me to my hotel.

Here is my new NZ cell phone number: 64 21 0 228 0112

(64 is NZ country code)

It's gorgeous spring here - all the trees are blooming and there is a pretty mist low over the harbor.

More when I'm fresh and settled.

Hitch in my Giddy-Up

2009-09-13T15:29:00.002+12:00

Well, things are off to a rocky start. Got to Denver International Airport nice and early for my 6:30pm flight to LAX, got checked in and breezed through security only to make it to the gate and find DELAYED displayed on the monitor. "Geez, that's not good," I thought to myself. My two hour 15 min layover in Los Angles had evaporated. I spoke with a customer service rep that got me a seat on a Qantas flight leaving at 11:45pm and I thought I had skirted an epic travel snafu. Not so. We were alerted at the gate that we did not have a plane to LAX. This goes on and on as one might imagine and long story short I'm now going to be waylaid in LA for a day. I should land tonight around midnight and then I'm booked on a flight at 10:30 tomorrow night.

I'm hoping that I'm getting any travel kinks out early and this is a sign that I'll have smooth sailing from here on out.

On a positive note the Denver airport has free Wifi and a Ben & Jerry's. Nice!

I'll try and post again from LA tomorrow.

Boulder

2009-09-12T15:32:00.005+12:00

I've had a great visit with my dad and Ginna in Boulder. It doesn't seem real that I'm leaving tomorrow. I guess it won't sink in until I actually land in Auckland.

Paddington has settled right into his Boulder routine. I love seeing how happy he is here and how much fun he has with the other dogs and my dad.

Tonight we had a little bit of a send off meal at the Sunflower. My bamboo steamer with tofu and udon noodles was delicious!

I'll miss this sight:

Next post will be from Auckland!

River House

2009-09-08T15:13:00.006+12:00

I leave for NZ in less than a week! On Thursday I left Houston and drove all the way to Amarillo with Paddington as my copilot. Friday afternoon we arrived at my mom and Chip's "ranch" in Salida, Colorado. It's unbelievably beautiful and I have to admit that I said to myself, "golly, I really don't need to get on a plane and fly 14 hours to the southern hemisphere to get great views and farming!" It was a great visit. Here we are after having morning coffee next to the pond:

View of some of the land, the house and cabin from the road:
View of teepee and Mount Shavano from the living room:

River House and Cabin at sunrise with moon still visible:

Property:
What Paddington did for three days straight!
I also saw some cute baby donkeys down the road:

Now I'm in Boulder visiting with my dad and Gina as well as Kendog and Shewa (the black labs, sorry I don't know how to spell Shewa's name). I'll try and get another post in before I head out this weekend!

P.S. If you think my mom and Chip's place looks like heaven: you're absolutely right and should check out THIS link for info about renting the Cabin!

Reading List

2009-09-03T06:28:00.003+12:00

One thing I will miss while in New Zealand is our local Half Priced Books. It's a giant store, with minimal organization so it takes some muscle to find what you're looking for but it's so worth it: everything is 50% off or less! Here's the booty I came away with today for my trip (all this for the bargain price of $68!!).

Books:

The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Siffengger

Peony in Love by Lisa See

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (rereading)

Peace like a River by Lee Enger

Books on CD for my road trip to Colorado:

The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin

Blessed are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch

Orcas Island

2009-09-02T17:46:00.004+12:00

Justin just came home for a great two week R&R. We spent time in on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands, Washington. We had such an amazing visit we really didn't want to leave.

We had a blast relaxing, checking out the local farms, kayaking, hiking, reading, eating great seafood and soaking in the INCREDIBLE sights and weather that the island had to offer.

I know that here in Houston we like to say, "everything's bigger in Texas" --well I can attest that Washington State is giving good ol' Tejas a run for it's money in the blueberry department!

Yup, that's a QUARTER folks!!

Farmstay Information

2009-08-19T06:32:00.002+12:00

While I'm in New Zealand I will be trading farm work for room and board. My goals are to learn as much as I can about raising sheep, processing wool, producing yarn and just generally living on a farm. Of course I'll also be doing a lot of travel and exploring this amazing country! I'm utilizing a website called Help Exchange to find people who own farms that are willing to host volunteer workers like me. It's a win win situation when everything works out because they get labor in trade for a room and food and I get an incredible learning experience, free accommodation, food and use of internet (in most places). While the concept of opening our homes might feel a little strange to us Americans, I understand this is fairly common practice in New Zealand. The Help Exchange website is little more than a posting board where hosts and volunteers and search for one and other. I've contacted several Hosts to let them know who I am and what I'm looking for with a general time line. So far they've all seemed eager and helpful. Some of the hosts I plan to stay with have websites which I've listed below (click on the name of the farm to be linked to their website).

Sharika Farm

Fleecewood Farm

Redburn Farm

I will be traveling in New Zealand on a Working Holiday Visa which is available to US citizens between the ages of 18-30. This is a Visa that will allow me to remain in the country for up to one year. I applied for the Visa online and was approved within 3 days!

Flexible Itinerary

2009-08-19T04:49:00.002+12:00

Sep. 12th - Depart from Denver

Sep. 14th- Arrive in Auckland

Sep. 15, 16, 17, 18- Search for and purchase van/car/truck

Sep. 18- Drive to Taupo

Sep. 19th- Arrive at Sharika Farm

Oct. 11th- Start making my way to South Island

Oct. 20th- Arrive at Fleecewood in Nelson

Nov. 4th- Head South

Nov. 10th- Arrive at Farm outside of Christchurch

Nov. 24th- Head south

Nov. 30th- Arrive at Red Burn Farm, Gore

Dec. 18th- Pick Justin up in Invercargill

Planned travel for our 4 to 6 week vacation

Stewart Island

Fjord Park

East across pass

Dunedin/Christchurch

Train ride

Dolphin and whale watching

Ferry to Wellington

Resort Farm east of Wellington and in Hawkes Bay

Rotorua

Auckland

Island Mudbrick Hotel

Bay of Islands

Auckland

Shearing Season

Feb 1st- Back to USA