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.