Farming, NZ style

I'm currently waiting to go to the airport, my last day in NZ. Somewhat saddened at that thought, since this is quite the cool place to travel, to adventure, to meet interesting people. Yet, the 3 weeks here give me confirmation that I could live here comfortably, so will consider finding work here and coming back to live for awhile.

My last posting was from a farm near Wellington, if I recall. In the week since, I've celebrated Christmas, French style. The second farm, a blueberry farm with cafe and kid's programs, was owned by an American lady and her 10 year old son. She picked me up from the train station and promptly brought me to Christmas eve dinner at her best friend's house - a lady from France who was a great cook. BBQ'd scallops and mussels, potatoes au gratin (does that mean with lots of cheese?), bread with dips appetizers, fresh veggie salads, and tiramisu to top it all off. Nice folks to share the holiday spirit with. My "dirty Santa" (white elephant, in which you could steal another's pick) present was a long NZ pencil. Christmas day was spent with the son's excitement at opening presents, blueberry pancakes I prepared, and a nice dinner with the three other volunteers who were staying there. In the middle of the day, I worked on building a raised garden bed, and finished the day jumping in the river that ran past the property.

After another day finishing the project, I left the farm to start hitching a ride north. I didn't get the full 7 hours to Rotorua, since I left so late in the day. But, when it began to get dark in a country town named Bulls, I stopped expecting a ride and started looking around for a place to put my camping mattress. I got some food at one of the only opened places, and asked a couple if they knew of any other accomodations, since the hostel was locked and the lights were out. That inquiry led to an invitation to crash in their living room for the night. So, it worked out to be another adventure on this trip. They were a friendly middle aged couple with 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 birds. The man was a weapons consultant for the military, she was a former police officer and Christian missionary to places such as China; none-the-less I felt fairly safe in their company...
The next morning, she suggested I include a sign to my next destination, "Taupo," to go along with my thumb. It worked within 5 minutes of being dropped at the highway junction corner. A guy heading there to work on his friend's house drove me the 3 hours straight through. I bought him some coffee and he shared his Christmas shortbread cookies. Leaving Taupo was a lot more grueling, but I finally made it to Rotorua late that day.

Rotorua might be compared to Yellowstone with a city built around it, with geothermal activity throughout the region and a strong sulphuric stench. Went there specifically for river rafting. The Kaituna river has the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world is the claim. One company I contacted invited me to go down the river with them, politely asking only afterwards if I was young enough to qualify for a working visa (since I told them I was interested in their company)... I'm not. But, I'll see if I can figure out another way to work as a raft guide here.
My last night in NZ was spent lounging in the hotspring waters at the spa on the shore of Lake Rotorua, a refreshing way to wrap up the trip and get warm before heading back to winter in Seattle.

Okay, I'll head out to the airport now. Next posting will be from Seattle.
Cheers.

Lots happening since last post... on to New Zedland

Well, for starters, I'm now 7 destinations into New Zealand, and, of the spectacular places I've seen so far here, this may be the most. I spent a couple of days in Auckland, NZ's biggest city, located in the north. Joined a hostel-organized trip to the beach where the locals proved their reputation as outgoing, friendly people... oh, read my previous posting - I just realized I'd started one but hadn't posted it. It's now being posted, without further editing.

Went from Auckland to Christchurch. The center of the city is, actually, a large Catholic cathedral, to which you can contribute 5 backpacker's budget NZD$ for the privelege of climbing up the clock tower... I don't think enough churches in the States have figured out a way to get the tourist's buck yet. No, if you're wondering, I didn't go up it... maybe if they'd had a bungy jump or slingshot swing from the tower, I would have considered it.

Walked along the Avon river (stream?) that runs through the middle of town, along which you can punt... be punted? How very, quaintly British. Went to i-site (travel info booths located in most destinations, which do an impressive job of marketing the area's attractions and helping with bookings) to get info on the traveler's buses... While there, got invited to a homecooked, birthday celebration dinner by a working holiday-visa traveler from Japan. Good food and pecan pie. I contributed a salsa dance lesson for the birthday boy.

Bypassed the bus option, opting for a ride northerly with a guy from England who posted a ride offer. We stopped in Kaikoura, a beach town famous as a place to view whales and dolphins. Apparently the winds were too strong for the whale boat to go out. So, I enjoyed a stroll through the countryside instead... stopping to talk to a lady working in her yard, who talked about her kids for awhile, then suggested I check out the Irish pub/inn "just down another block." This was a country block, mind you, so it took some time to get there, stopping to let the cows cross the road and pet the shepherd dogs who were chilling in the yard (not exactly supervising/directing the herd across the road). Maybe it was after their work hours by that time. Stopped to talk to a guy who'd been out fishing (for green moki), who suggested, without prompting from me, that I apply to work at schools in NZ... Not a bad idea. Caught several km ride back to in-town campground from man with no fewer than 9 dogs in his truck. Finished evening playing "Ringenwormen" - a die rolling game from Germany, with a couple from the Netherlands, who gave me the best explanation for why they're called Dutch (from a German word for... okay, i forget the explanation) and the country often (in some countries, only) refered to as Holland (which comprise only two of the states that make up the country, but were formerly very powerful/rich). Thus, the correct name is Netherlands... but still leaves one wondering to whom are they the nether world?

Continued on to Nelson, in the north west part of the South Island, which contains the geographic center of NZ, as well as being a pleasant hillside/coastal town with lots of outdoor gear stores, coffee shops and eateries, and one of the fanciest BnB caliber backpacker's joints I've seen, Accents on the Park... Stayed there one night before residing another evening in rooms above a loud rock-playing bar. Low and behold, there's no one at the checkout desk at 8AM on a Sunday morning to check me out so I can go attend to transportation options...

But, I digress. (The most convenient transport option was just to catch the bus that was heading where I wanted to go, that another traveler I knew was taking).
From Nelson, I caught a ride to the southern trailhead of the Abel Tasman National Park coastal track. Hiked 3.5 hours (about 12 kms) the first day, to arrive at a campground (with huts, if I'd been willing to shell out the money for that extra comfort, which I wasn't). Swam in the surf, and chatted up a family who hailed from Pt. Townsend (just across the water from Seattle), who I was then able to acquire food supplies from, as they were leaving the next day. So, their contribution provided a couple breakfasts and lunches, that convinced me to extend my hike to 4 days, 3 nights (from an originally planned 2 days, 1 night). Met nice people along the way, the weather was perfect, and the setting was stunning, meandering through lush green forests overlooking blue-green waters in the coves below. One highlight - gathered huge mussels (5-6 inches) from rocks just offshore in Mutton Cove, which also sheltered a family of seals, including footlong baby seals. Cute!

Finished the hike with slightly sand-papered feet and majorly sandfly-bitten calves, refreshed after days in the pristine landscape and sleeping outdoors. Hitchhiking took longer than expected, but only took 3 rides to retrieve a bag I'd stashed in the bushes at the trailhead, and one more to get the rest of the way to Nelson (picked up within minutes by a nice modern-hippy lady (and her 5 year old son) who talked about climbing to Mt. Everest basecamp recently, and plans to build an off-grid house.

Reference to which brings me to my current location, a self-sustainable farm in the hills of Lower Hutt, just north of the capital city of Wellington. Being on a farmer's schedule the next few days means I'd better sign off for now. Up early to feed the "chocks" tomorrow, after eating some of the eggs they've produced. Goodnight.

Rucking in Auckland

New Zealand is indicating it is "sweet as," as they say here (the rest of the simile is implied). Arrived in Auckland on Wednesday, December 9, 2009, found myself at Nomad's hostel, which is the first I've seen with a hot tub! Took advantage of it that first night, as the temperature was noticably cooler than northern Australia! It was on the rooftop deck overlooking the downtown lights, even out to sea. Took an evening walk along the waterfront which, with ferry terminals, certainly reminded me of Seattle's. It will be a challenge to decide what to do, and what I'll have to come back for in the future - there are a lot of activities and "must sees" here!

I spent the first full day in NZ on the beach just minutes from downtown, organized by the hostel (for $2, including lunch and transport = quite the deal). There were lots of locals out, including a group of boys who wanted to challenge us (foreigners staying at the hostel) to a rugby match (hoping to entice us with offers of whiskey shots), after watching us try to simulate the game... I think I scored a couple of "tries" anyway.

Okay, sending this one out to the blog world.

Met a nice

Last couple days in Oz

I'm down to a couple days left in Oz. been bouncing around among the backpacker hostels, to get a feel for the different personalities that congregate around each one. The YHA was friendly, but a bunch of noisy party kids. Another was dead quiet, no interaction going on between guests. Seems the general rule should be that if you stay at a backpackers hostel, you should be a bit outgoing, friendly even, and willing to initiate conversation with folks.
Tried to track down the rafting companies yesterday, but, of course being Sunday, no one was in the office to discuss future employment. However, with backpackers luck, I walked past a van for one of the companies, asked for a ride back to town, and proceeded to finangle a ride up to the river to chat with the guides and check out their operation. Again, nice to get to the hills, nature - the forests, and rainforest, cover this northern tip of Queensland. Intend to do more rafting tomorrow, on the Tully River, considered Australia's best whitewater ride. More on that afterwards.
Cheers.

Natural Wonders of the World 'n Hitchin a Ride

Made it to Cairns, in Queensland, Australia, destination mecca for those looking to explore the Great Barrier Reef. Which I did up close and personal - scuba diving! Left from Port Douglas on a scuba-outfitted two-hulled cruiser, and went about 1 hour off the coast, to Opal Reef on the outer reef. Looking at the map, the depth went from 30 meters to 1300 meters within to rings on the depth lines! The dropoff to the deep Pacific Ocean. The coral we explored was simply mesmerizing, it's hard to do it justice with words and without photos. Most fantastic was the way it was stacked on top of each other, billowing with different types of coral and the plants that live on it, with canyons and crevices created between formations. The colors of the fish were innumerable. Stop and look long enough, and there was movement and life everywhere. We found Nemo, in his habitat (the frilly-tentacled anemone? as in the film) - he's smaller than he appears on the screen. We were told that Disney neglected accuracy when they didn't indicate that the male of the species will change sex and become the mother in the event that the original mother dies. Australians seem keen to mention mating and gender habits of all their animal species - for example, the cassowary (flightless bird) male is resposible for incubating the eggs (not eating for the 2 month process); the stress of mating kills the male of the quoll? species (something related to the tasmanian devil or tree kangaroo or some other Aussie-only animal. That info was learned at a crocodile (and other animals) farm I visited today, where they lament the fact that, since 6 meter+ crocs were killed off in large numbers up to 1974, their genes may be lost forever. However, since it takes 50 years or more to reach that length, there's still hope for crocs to grow giant again.
First successful hitch hiking in Australia yesterday. Only had about 20km to get to a gorge with a swimming hole, wasn't interested in the $20 bus ride (if it was even offered that day), so hit the road with my thumb out. First 20 minutes or more, 50+ cars passed. Then, one pulled over a couple hundred meters ahead (a van with a family, I think), however, another (young guy my age) pulled over closer to me. That got me a couple kilometers to the Cook Highway junction, at which point, I got picked up quickly, and taken to the turnoff for Mossman Gorge. Halfway down the road, I offered to take a photo for two tourists posing (solo) next to their rental car. They said they'd seen me in the morning (but didn't stop), and then offered to bring me the rest of the way, though they'd just come from there. So, that was nice. The river was refreshing, by the "hippie hole" was unoccupied.
Camped out at a backpackers/RV (vans for the most part) park in Pt. Douglas. Only got a few mozzie bites around my ankles (any word you can shorten and, ideally, rhyme with Ozzie is preferred vernacular). Another ride that would have taken me further up the coast fell through, so I went to the croc farm instead. More on that later. Cheers.