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...
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