"value for money"

WHOA! It has been an awesome and hectic few days! I can't even believe it's only been 4 days since I left Auckland on the Stray bus...

Auckland on a thursday:

That morning I got up at 6:30am to pack my shit and catch the Stray bus (see www.straytravel.co.nz) heading south. I could've slept longer because it was a half hour late (but that gave me time for some breakfast seeing as I spent my time staring at the bottom of the top bunk wondering why I so frequently have weird dreams). Once on the bus, we drove around to pick up others at others hostels, the headed to Mt. Eden for our "welcome to Stay" speech. Our bus driver was Nick, and it was his first trip (ha ha...). Next we headed over to the Stray office to get a quick tutorial on how to manage our trip online. Then we got lost.

No really, we were lost and we hadn't even left Auckland.

We obviosuly did figure it out, found the office, did the tutorial, and were on the road to Hahei, via Thames!

Then we got lost again.

Nick missed the turn somewhere and drove for 20 minutes before realizing it. So we made our own route through the country. I thought it was really funny so I felt pretty chilled-out about it aside from being hungry. I felt sorry for the driver though, I'm sure he felt like a bit of a tit. We did make it to Hahei in time to do some sea kayaking in Cathedral Cove, which was really beautiful! We even got hot chocolate and cookies once we got to the cove. It was perfect. That nice we visitied Hot Water beach where geothermal pockets under the beach heat up the water in the sand. When the tide goes out you can dig a hole and the water that fills it is hot! Really, it was so hot in some places that a few of use recieved some minor burns (myself included). That night the tide didn't go out until about 10:30 so it was really cool hanging out on the beach in the dark and running into the ocean when it was too hot. Ah... just thinking about it now makes me smile fondly...

Hahei to Raglan (friday):

Early start that morning, on to Raglan - the surf capital of NZ. I don't think we got lost. I actually don't remember for some reason. No... we didn't. I was originally thinking I'd stay in Raglan for a few extra days and surf more but I changed my mind so that I could get a deal on another activity somewhere else the next day (I'll explain it later). The place we stayed at was a little ways out of town, and absolutley gorgeous. Nestled in the rainforest, 5 min walk to the beach. My surfing lessons started pretty much as soon as I got there. First we did practicing on dry land then headed down to the beach. Raglan is known for having the largest left hand break in the world. That means that when a wave comes in, instead of folding over itself and crashing down, it rolls itself into a nice tube-like shape which is particularly sweet for surfing (or so I'm told). I swallowed a large portion of the Tasman Sea that day, but it was totally worth it. I want to do it again right now. It was an instant kinda love - the kind that makes me think I don't want to come home for school. The kind that makes me think I'll move to Australia's Gold Coast... I do have pictures, but I don't have them with me at the moment to put on the computer now, so you'll have to wait a bit. Anywho... Raglan... love it.... maybe going back soon....

Raglan to Maketu, via Waitomo (saturday):

The reason that I didn't stay in Raglan for longer was that I could get a huge discount on a caving adventure in Waitomo. Since I'm quite short on cash at the moment I opted to continue with Stray. Waitomo is known for its glowworm caves - in fact, I think they may be the only reason the "town" exists. It seemed like another Franz Josef in that sense. Maybe that's why I started considering applying for a job there and staying? (I know, it's like I enjoy being miserable or something...). I signed up for the Haggis Honking Holes (google it) which is a 4 hour trip into the depth of the earth! I don't remember how deep were were but this seriously pushed my sense of security. I was very nervous about the abseiling and squeezing my fat ass through rocks. I was also acutely aware of how difficult it would be to get a body out of the caves... just saying. But it was an amazing experience and I'm soooooooooooooo glad I did it. I don't have any pictures but I will never forget it, and I still am considering applying for a job there (yes, I'm serious. I was even chattng up one of my guides to find out more)(I know, I know...).

We did not stay in Waitomo, so that afternoon we headed off to Maketu for a Moari cultural experience at an overnight stay in a marae.

You'll never believe this - we got lost. Twice.

I'm a very lucky girl because I had the opportunity to go to a real Marae when I was working in Franz Josef. This was the same idea but less formal (also less impressive as the other building in terms of the carvings and stuff). They also had a concert for us, sang some traditional Maori songs, did the Haka (google "All Blacks Haka") then taugh the men how to do the Haka and the ladies how to do Poi (google it, I'm not explaining it). I had a really good sleep that night (oh, that was just last night!).

Maketu to Now (today; aka sunday):

I woke up to the thumping sounds of ABBA blaring in the kitchen next door to the marae. I, for one, woke up smiling. Some of the others did not. As I ate my meager breakfast I was informed that there had been a huge earthquake in Chile. Due to the aftershocks, that meant that there was a Tsunami warning for certain parts of New Zealand including where we were staying. Thus, we all packed up quick and left at a respectable pace.

Then got lost.

Today I did some white water rafting on the Kaituna river with a grade 5, 7 meter waterfall. SWEEET! It was really cool and again, I was very nervous. We had a really great time thanks to this one guy (who I can't stand) who was a total disaster. A walking calamity really. He was a man-child who was ill prepared for taking care of himself in the real world. Yes, that is hostility you're sensing from my tone, but I do mean it when I say that we had a great time thanks to him. It was just so funny when he did the opposite of nearly everything the guide told him to do. We all gave him a hard time in a joking way, but I did feel rather sorry for him just incase he was taking it harder than he showed. I had to laugh sometimes to stop myself from pushing him out of the boat, I won't lie. I hope he figures it out one day, or meets a really awesome chick who can take care of him... So back to that 7m fall - our boat flipped completely upside-down and we were all tossed out! I was half under the boat but found my way easily out. It was great, we all came up with big smiles and got back in, then continued on our merry way. I will have pictures of this at some point but I'm waiting for them to be emailed to me which could take some time.


And that's it. I'm in Rotorua now for a few night or possibly longer. I could go to the East Cape or I could go get a job for a few weeks. Who knows? Wish I did... I guess I'll know soon enough.

Straying Southbound

Ok here it is, the semi-sorta-plan-like direction that I'm going in:

I get in the Stray but tomorrow and head to Hahei (search Cathedral Cove) where I'll hopefully do some kayaking. I'll stay there for one night then move on to Raglan, a sweet little surf town. I think I'll get out there for 3 days to do some surfing lessons. Next will be Waitomo, for some glowworm cave adventures, followed by Whakatane, Rotorua, and the East Cape. My vague, non-commital plan will take me to approximately march 10th then, with much luck, I will find a short-term job doing fruit picking in Taraunga before I head to Hamilton for the Balloons Over Waikato festival where I'll be a volunteer hot air balloon crew person.

I'm sure what actually comes to pass will not resemble this but if not, let's hope it's something even better!

As for the last couple days, I've just been relaxing in Auckland. I did a hike to the summit of Rangitoto island - a now dormant volcano, and the summit of Mt. Eden - a less impressive dormant/extinct volcano. Did I mention before that Auckland is on something like 50 old volcanos? They're all over the place! It's pretty neat. I broke my camera in a cave on the islad when I tripped so I got to buy myself a new camera! Woohoo, out with the old in with the new :D

I will update those pictures and more when I'm less lazy and more organized...

Turn of Events

Oh boy, what a week!

First let me say thank you to all the birthday well-wishers. I turned 26 on the 19th of feb. I had a great birthday - perhaps not the best EVER, but still smile-worthy.

The Naturists:

The place I was wwoofing at was a naturist barnstay, which just means it was a nudist B&B in a barn-style home. However, they recently had a complaint placed against them and were audited and forced to "close". They still live there obviously, but they can't take guests anymore. I'm not sure when the complaint was placed but I reckon it has been a while because the place was not taken care of, inside and out. No guests meant no nudity. I have to admit I was a little disappointed by that because I was keen to step outside my comfort zone and face some body issues I've been having recently. I suppose I could've still walked around naked but it's not the same... Anyways, I thought that I hit it off well with my host "mom" and "dad". They seemed like really nice, open people. But after the first day I felt more like a tolerated servant who had overstayed. I felt very isolated (which I knew would happen but I thought they'd atleast let me use the internet. No, they didn't). I had started thinking about staying for my birthday and finishing out the week there on monday then heading back to Wellington to activate my Stray bus pass that I bought while I was still in Canada (it's a hop-on-hop-off tourist bus for backpackers - I went with them to the Bay of Islands at the start of the trip)...

Rather than typing out a long story about how rudely I was talked to and treated at dinner on thursday night I'll sum it up to say that I don't care for those people, I felt very upset and decided to leave the next morning so that I could avoid having the worst birthday EVER. Friday morning I got a ride back to Wellington, found a room in a backpackers for the night and proceeded to feel superior and make a new plan.

Wellington birthday:

This weekend in Welly the was a music festival called "Home Grown" and it features kiwi bands. It was completely sold out and I didn't really know much about it. Because of the festival though, all the backpackers hostels were completely booked for saturday night and I could only get an expensive single room on friday (but I was willing to take anything on friday). I wasn't too worried, I would figure something out... Anyways, while doing my laundry I met some kiwi guys who were here for the music thing and insisted I meet them for a drink later that evening. After I finally agreed, one of them decided it was a date. I laughed, they were rowdy and having a good time, maybe I would actually go.

I got there a half hour late and realized he really wanted it to be a date (oops!), but he forgave my tardiness when I announced it was my birthday. I had a drink and played some pool with him and his brothers/cousins/random people they decided were friends - and it was really fun! It was just chilled-out and easy. Perfect! They insisted that I needed to get a ticket to Home Grown the next day and even offered to pay for it, or at least half. I left them to their party, and watched a cheesey movie in my private room then got a good nights sleep.

Home Grown:

OH MY GOD!!!! I HAD THE BEST TIME EVER!!!!

I managed to find a ticket for less than the regular price. I met up with those guys again and saw some stellar kiwi bands, my favorites being Salmonella Dub, Kora, and the Black Seeds. I had tons of people complement my dreads (which I needed to hear because right now they're a little all over the place and weird, and I was having some doubts), the weather was beautiful, everyone was so nice. I accidently lost the guys I was hanging around with (and I had put my backpack in their room because I had to check out. They said I could crash with them because I had no where to go too) just in time for my phone to go completely dead! I was totally alone at this concert! I was a little nervous about it but just kept telling myself that I'd find them eventually or just go back to their room and wait. I was alone for my three favorite bands of the night and had a really awesome time. I was so happy when Black Seeds came on that I honestly wanted to cry. Sooooooooooooooooo happy! Kora was last and I was exhausted so I sat down. When I decided to give up on finding the guys and head back to the room to wait, they found me (of course). My "date" had injured himself and they ended up going to the medic tent and spending most of their time there. Let's just say I'm glad I got lost.

Once we reunited we went to a bar (I'm not sure why, they were all so exhausted and misurable... and injured). Gave up on that, got back to the room and found we were two beds short (well, not really - I was a crasher and one of the brothers never paid to begin with). So myself and another brother slept in the car.

Better to sleep in a car than under one. Though, you often wake up feeling the same...

Today and Tomorrow:

I have a room for tonight and I'll be getting on the bus in the morning heading back to Auckland to begin my tour of the north island. As usual, I don't really have a plan, I'm just going to travel until I either a) get tired of it, b) find a place and/or job I really like and stay there for a bit, or c) run too low on money, panic, and take some job I don't like but feel like I have to do so that I can save up to do it all again on the south island. As for wwoofing, I feel a little burned. There are still things I want to learn about like bees and gardens and llamas, so maybe later I try again. But I don't think it's really for me, I find it difficult to relax in other peoples' home and work for them under ambiguous terms.

Good-bye Franz, the glacier, road trip, Wellington & Paraparaumu

This will be the third attempt at blogging in the last two days. The computer kept crashing... fingers crossed!

Well, first off, I'm not sick anymore which means I'm in significantly higher spirits than my previous blog. 

I've now been out of Franz Josef for two weeks! Looking back on life there I'm a lot more aware of both how good the good was and how bad the bad. That was really not a healthy place for me to be living in. I will go back through there in a few months to visit friends that are still there and pick up some stuff I left behind. Part of me does miss it. It was easier, I had an income, I had a community (dysfunctional yes, but still...), I had a place that I could sort of call my own, and I was relatively comfortable.

The weekend before I left some friends took me onto the glacier so I could finally see it. It was SPECTACULAR. I am trying to get some pictures on my flickr, but that may have been why the computer kept crashing so it'll have to wait for now. But really, it was a humbling experience. If you ever have the chance to walk on a glacier - do it. I'm told there are only 3 like this in the world and two of them are on the west coast of NZ (Franz Josef and Fox). When I come back through I hope to go on again. It'll be completely different by then because it changes daily. INCREDIBLE! If I had known better I would've applied to be a glacier guide (and my life in Franz Josef would have been completely different)... but I didn't so it wasn't really meant to be. Better things await me!

The road trip north was refreshing and the weather was gorgeous. I have much I could say about this but I won't. I just don't really feel like it and I don't think you'd have much of an appreciation for it anyways. I did cut it a bit short when I decided to get out in Wellington and stay for the weekend at a friend's house there, rather than going to Hawk's Bay then returning on monday. That was a very good idea too. Stopping in Welly and spending time with people there was soooooooooo wonderful - dare I say healing! It felt really good to stop and just be there. Plus, the weather was gorgeous and I LOVE Wellington - that is a city I could see myself living in.

ps. while I was there I had my hair put into dreads. That has been a journey all on its own. I had no idea how high-maintenance they would be! But I'm confident that I'll be happy in a few weeks when they've started to "mature" a bit. More on that later and pictures to follow soon...

Last monday I came to Paraparaumu for my first wwoofing home (I think I said this in the last blog?). "Wwoofing" is when you work in exchange for accomodation and food; it stands for "Willing workers on organic farms". Not all the places are farms but most of the places are at least 75% organic in whatever it is they do. Here is the website www.wwoof.co.nz. It's a good way to get around the country on the cheap, meet real kiwis, and learn new things. I haven't decided yet if it's for me. We'll see how the next one goes. Today I'm in a hostel at the beach in Paraparaumu. I stayed here the last two nights because I wanted to be around people and feel ironically more comfortable than I had at the yoga place I was wwoofing at. It has been a good, relaxing and uneventful weekend.

At 1pm I'll be picked up by my next wwoofing host who runs a naturist barnstay a short distance from here in Waikanae. Naturist means nudist. I didn't know that. I thought it meant "people who really like nature". I'm just glad someone pointed that out before I got there so I'd not only have some time to adjust to the idea, but wouldn't freak out when I arrive and everyone is naked! HA ha ha ha! I can tell there will be a good story coming out of this...

....

I have soooo much to say and even less time than usual. It costs $3 NZD to use the internet for 30 minutes at the library here and I can only use it for 30 minutes at a time, but there's nowhere else to go.

I am currently in Paraparaumu, a smallish town just an hour north of Wellington. I'm working for room and board at a yoga centre, mostly just puling weeds out of their gravel drive way. I'll stay here until saturday (I'm leaving a day early because I don't like it here) then blah blah blah - read the blog below...

Anywho, I'm sick again. Sore throut. I haven't gone to a doctor yet because I"m waiting to see if it gets worse. I think it's getting better because it's been sore since monday, but today I started coughing. Tomorrow I'll decide for sure

omg this is such a boring blog. Next I should tell you what I ate today...

I'm grumpy. I shouldn't even publish this because I hate grumpy or sad blogs. But I'm also trying to be honest. I'm not that happy right now (and becoming increasingly irritable... what happened to QUIET libraries?!). I want to go "home". That doesn't necessarily mean Canada, it just means that I don't look forward to living on other people's floors, couches, or guest beds for the next undetermined amount of weeks. I know this is just the first host home for me and it'll get better, I also won't be sick forever either.... bllaaagggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I miss my old life where I felt like I had more freedom and control over what I did on a daily basis. I kinda wish I had bought a car when I got here because then I'd have a space that was really mine. I remember how much solice I found in my car when I was living with my parents and feeling like a bum (no offence to you, mom and dad, you're wonderful parents but I need to feel like I have a space that's really mine). I guess I still can buy a car but something in me doesn't want to...

I just purposefully make things hard for me and tell myself that it builds character. When am I finally going to admit that sometimes it just makes me bitchy and sad?