Final week

Here we are, now at the last week of my New Zealand adventure. I believe I did a pretty good job of explaining my feelings about that in my last post, so in this one I'm just going to look ahead for what's gunna be happening this week.

Yesterday, as I was on my way to the IEP office after a stop at an old-style cafe where I sipped on a moccacino and read the NZ times, I looked across the street and saw a familiar face-Andre! He's the one who had nearly sliced off his hand. It was extremely amusing to me since during our goodbye in Kerikeri he told me that he just assumed that we'd see eachother again, probably in Auckland since that's just how things seemed to work around here. I laughed, but was pretty sure our paths would not cross again. But look at that! He was right... oh what a crazy world. We had a short chat before he hopped on the bus to go to the airport, and this time it was another forever goodbye.

The forever goodbye is awful. While you're going through it you keep telling yourself that you aren't going to see them again, but you never actually beliveve yourself until their gone. And then it hits you that this person with which you spent many months with and created a deep connection with is going to be out of your life forever. But I always end by saying that our paths may cross in future travels, and that is entirely true. The world is a big small place, with surprises around every corner.

Today I will say bye to George and that will be my final painful goodbye. But then tomorrow I am off to waiheke island to wwoof for a small family until the 6th of July! My least favorite part of traveling in this way is over!! I hated not knowing where I was going to sleep the next night, and often having to plan the day as the day comes. A bit of that is good, but not when it is a constant and involves where you're going to live. I'm now totally set until my departure for home. SWEET AS!

Unfortunately, the home I'll be staying with isn't absolutely supreme, in that they basically just want me to help the husband with the kids and the housework while the wife is away for her work. I'll be alone throughout most of the day since the kids will be at daycare and the father will be at work. So I may end up having a very self-reflective birthday. But hey, I can go down to the beach and reflect there! Or to the top of the hill which overlooks all of the islands in the Auckland region. It'll be me and nature for the start of my 19th year, I'd say, that ain't too shabby. ;) And I may still attempt to get a pavlova in celebration. The wife, Rachel, returns home on the 4th so I'll have a couple days of good full family time before I return to Auckland city to do some shopping and tie up a few final threads, such as closing my NZ bank account which, I'm pretty sure, will be nearly empty. :p God, NZ, you are so expensive!

And that will be that. boom. done.

I'm off to go book my ferry ticket to the island then spend a day with my friends that are still in the city. And then, of course, tonight is flight of the conchords! bitchin.

That's right, Joe and Parker, I'm going to see your idols. ;-p be jealous. hahah

my love is sent as always!

Back to the Begining

I've come full circle. This morning I arrived back in the Auckland airport after a very short (1 hr) flight that, unfortunately, included a 16 hour wait in the airport. S'all good though. I ended up having a pretty good time as I ran into an old friend from the packhouse who I hadn't seen since Kerikeri. She told me all about how she met Peter Jackson while we sat eating chocolate, and when I fell asleep she tucked me in with her jacket! I miss that type of generosity, you don't see it that often while backpacking, I'm sorry to say.

Anyway, when I arrived in Auckland I had so many flashbacks to March 11 when I first arrived in New Zealand. I was ecstatic at how different it was! My first arrival was horrid, exciting, yes, but overwhelmingly scary. It wasn't until I stepped off the plane that I realized how bizarre coming to NZ without a plan was; wasn't until I passed through customs that I understood why my parents had been so afraid; not until I realized how alone I was that I became inexplainably homesick. I remember you all telling me how brave I was, just taking this trip. But for some reason I didn't comprehend exactly what I was doing. I guess it was just one of my many bizarre imaginitive thoughts that I just happened to put into reality and it wasn't until it became reality that I realized how...mm.. not normal it was. (Not that backpacking isn't normal, but, just arriving somewhere new, totally alone with almost nothing... it's hard to explain.)

As the plane landed this morning, I felt absolutely no fear. In fact, I felt at home! Ready to tackle the shuttlebus to the city, and then the entire city itself. It helped that I had a brunch date with Casper, who is leaving NZ today for Fiji. I can't entirely explain the extreme difference between Mar. 11 and now, it's one of those "you just had to be there" things.

However, now that I'm in the city, I'm eager to return to the airport and head home. Don't get me wrong, I'd absolutely love to spend more time in NZ, but my arrival in Auckland in and of itself acted a sort of end to my trip in a way. It made it more absolute that all the things I would like to do in NZ if I had more time most definitely cannot be done. This isn't an entirely bad feeling. It isn't the same as homesickness as I am still enjoying my time here; it is just a readjustment and a knowledge that I will be absolutely ecstatic on the 6th. I keep picturing my arrival in Nashville and it just fills me with joy. I've missed everyone terribly. And I don't mean to sombre this note, but, in all honesty, I think I much more ready to come home because of my mum's current situation. I didn't know how much the goings-on back home would affect my travel, but I think it touched in a very deep way-it changed my emotional journey as I never really let myself let go of my life in the USA and I do believe that in order to fully immerse yourself in the new experiences of travelling, you must be relatively untied. And trust me, folks, I was tied with double knots for very obvious reasons. This, though, I must assume, has taught me some other very profound lessons about life and myself that I will begin figuring out once I get home.

On the 6th. In 8.5 days.


:-D

(I also keep recreating the image of me being able to hug Cadence first thing on her birthday. This also fills me with unspeakable, often tear-jerking joy)

So, ya better believe it, loves. I'm comin' home!

AND I filed my tax return. I'M SO GROWD UP!

^.^

Work-less work

Somehow I managed to find this place (my current wwoof) where I need to do 5 hrs of work, however, there just isn't enough to do! They said I could do whatever suited me best, but there wasn't even weeding to be done! I ended up hoovering some and hauling wood, but the majority of my day was spent pretending I was doing something... I.e. walking around outside looking for jobs. I probably only did 3 hrs work today. Spose I can't complain...never thought I WOULD complain about not having to work. Guess I'm growin up! Tomorrow I sleep at the airport. Now to curl up on the couch with a book and some tea and biscuits.

Woes to woahs

After my previous ordeal and many hours spent homeless, I've done a complete 180. By this, I mean I am now living in a home with my own room, a giant bed larger than my parents', my own bathroom, a radio with an NPR-like station which plays classical music, heaps and heaps of delicious, tasty food (including pudding!), sheep, alpaca, chickens, turkeys, cows, ponies, and views that will knock you on your ass. And I get all this for pretty easy work... About 5 hours of raking pine needles today. :-/ I'd rather be weeding or doing something more farm related. That's the only problem, I'm here in the most comfortable place I've ever been in NZ, but I'm bored... In the sense that I'm not really learning anything here. I'm TOO comfortable. It's like being home-I can stay up late sitting on the couch watching movies and eating ice cream. As much as I love doing this, that is not why I'm here. So, strangely, I'm glad that I only have 1-2 more days here. Though I do think if I stayed longer, I may be able to learn something about brewing from mike as he brews his own beer, however, he currently works nights in christchurch, so isn't around much. But, in any case, I'm making the most of this relaxing respite from the dirty life of a backpacker. I walked up the large hill on the property this afternoon and had an incredible view of the Canterbury plains whose outline was marked by large snow-capped mountains. sorry I have no pictures, i officially have no camera as my iPhone is being a bitch. After my walk, I sat down on the outside patio and read in the sun, then went in for dinner which was a 3 course meal, and am now currently watching dancing with wolfs in my heated bed, sipping on tea. My next stop is Auckland once this wwoof is over, and then it is home for me. I'm eager, yet not ready at the same time. It'll be quite a shock coming home, I think. It's even weird for me to be here living in the home when I'm used to sleeping either on a dirty mattress in a shack, or in various methods of transport, or in hostels where you can wake up to the man sleeping above you wankin' away. that's it for now. P.S. pudding means dessert here, so by pudding I meant sweet rice and ice cream. :-)

Woes of a backpacker

I believe if I've had one-on-one conversations with you, I've probably said this to you already, but now I'm here to let you all know: backpacking is quite often extremely hard, both mentally and physically. Today was one of those days that tested me. After a full heavy night filled with loud Scottish men and too much booze, I woke up at about 8 to say goodbye, for good, to the frenchies. I then went back to bed to try to continue sleeping off the dizziness that had yet to leave my vision. As I lay there I realized this was the first time I'd really been alone in NZ since the first few hours in Auckland (before I met piers), and that I had no idea what I was doing that day. But after an hour I finally started to move, figuring out the steps as I went along. I ended up in a park waiting for Gigi and wani to come find me, that was pleasant as the sun was out and I had a book to read. We then went to the I site so I could book a bus to ashburton... That was where I was going to wwoof for a couple days. The threee of us then hung around until about 1:30 when I went to the bus stop. Now you see, the bus was supposed to leave at 2:05 and you're supposed to get there 15 mins before that-so, being punctual and paranoid, I got there about 20 mins early. By 2:40 I knew something was wrong, so I went back to the I site and the woman at the desk called the bus company, who reported that they'd stopped at 2:06, didn't see anyone, so left. WTF? I was then told to go to the intercity building on the other side of town (where I stayed last night). I arrived there and the woman was very concerned, saying she wanted me to get a free 5:30 bus but her boss wouldn't let her do that. SO she called her boss and had ME talk to her, which ended up doing... Nothing. And that is how I wasted most of my day and a good 25 bucks. Strangely, when I went outside of the intercity place to have a bit of a pity cry a dog came up to me and insisted we play ball. Dogs never fail to cheer me up! So I picked up my sorry self, and tried to figure out what the next step was. As I was homeless again (no hostel), I went back to the park to make some calls and had another wwoofing place to go... But in order to get there I'd have to take a bus to Riccarton (?) then walk to 65 peer st, go into the new world and ask for Hooman, who would then give me a ride to the place I'm staying...! Because this is already a ridiculously long post, I'll save you the time and end it here saying: maneuvering that was really long and complicated, requiring me to walk back across to the other side of the city again, pay another 4 bucks, and sit outside in the coldand dark for over an hour. But now, I'm sitting in new world (btw, that's the supermarket) waiting for Hooman to finish his shift. It's been a tiring day, but i survived, even though after the failed bus I felt like giving up... I missed being able to just call someone for help. But I'm in charge of myself now, totally. I can't rely on friends or family, so the only thing I could do was keep on goin, figuring shit out. And yeah, perhaps this can happen to anyone, even those who are not backpackers, however you must remember that literally all day I was carrying everything I currently own on me. I was a walking house... My shoulders have never been so sore. Bah-but it's all worked out, I made it through! Now I'm off to a warm home with a nice family. But I do miss my own home quite a lot, and I am so ready to stop moving all the time!! Really really ready to not be homeless.

4th of July came early!

Fireworks, giant flames, live music, hot boozy cider, lavender chocolate, fresh donuts, and a fergburger. Queenstown is the only place that makes me spend ridiculous amounts of money. Luckily the first three things on my list were free-all part of the winterfest, the largest winter party in the southern hemisphere-and they did deliver! The stage was set above the majestic lake Wanaka with the remarkables (mountains) as the background. A long and epic fireworks show was framed by shooting flames all along the edges of the lake while the band sang songs about heat and burning. It was pretty much super awesome. Though, the bands were mostly really... Quirky? One group in particular, sadly, reminded me of really bad musical theatre, while another act consisted on an opera singer belting out some supa badass notes while two pole dancers did their thing in skimpy white outfits behind her. And of course, I can't forget the strange man wearing a blue spandex suit who came out pretending to ride a rodey and then singing poorly and rolling around on stage. All the while I grooved and moved in between my two stoic mates who seemed more amused by me than the talent on stage. It was a good night for me, I think I'm growing out of my self conscious stage and I was able to dance in places where no one else was dancing without thinking "oh dear, other people are going to be watching me and thinking im an idiot." I did break to sip on some hot cider, which I was not ided for-woohoo-and to watch a couple couples doing some serious dancing out of the sidelines. It reminded me of my mum's ballroom classes. It was a really fun night, a good way to celebrate winter, I'd say. I do apologize for the lack of pictures though, I didn't bring my phone since it had to charge in the room. But the whole time the fireworks were going I was thinking "damn, I shoulda brought my camera." oh well-guess this is one night I'll just have to rely on memory for. Until next time-cheers!

WWOOF WWOOF!!

After being dropped off in the middle of fuck-all nowhere at a petrol station, we walked with all our stuff to Shaun's place and were greeted by a fellow wwoofer, sanders from holland (who we came to find out was a bit wacky and earnestly believed he could create balls of energy with his hands, wanted to start a commune with his friends, and would interrupt any "normal" conversation by saying that we were hiding our emotions beneath this worthless small talk), and we're shown our living quarters. I swear piers and Stefan wanted to run away immediately. I just smiled in that, well thill be a challenge-type of way. Basically we were living in a loftish thing in a dirty dusty cold shack next to a tunnel house. The ceiling was in observable due to the mass amounts of garlic hangingto dry, there was writing ALL over the walls, and if we were really quiet sometimes we could hear mice clambering about on the roof. After 2 days, I didn't want to leave. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, day in day out just chillin with tea and friends for hours after work finished which was usually around 2. We would chop our own wood for the fire in the "living room," make tea, and wait around just enjoying the warmth until dinner when we'd all go to Shaun's house and cook. Twas brilliant. I did a lot of cool things on that farm, especially since I somehow ended up being Shaun's protegei. Helping with a dead pig, feeding calfs, driving a 4-wheeler, learning awesome tips on growing food (like x-mas lights under the soil to keep it from freezing), and I was even given a Thai massage by my new French friend, Pierre. I met some crazy cool people there. Chelsea who is actually from GA can cook and bake up a storm. She's super knowledgeable about farming, and her presence just always made me feel good. Pierre has been traveling non-stop for 4 years, so he's kind of like my idol... Actually so is Chelsea. Sweet! But yeah, so Pierre is also a nutritionist and says no no no to gluten and had a lot of other really good advice in the way of food. William was a shorter-term wwoofer, but he was an exchange student from hong kong and enjoyed chatting with me about my fascination with the Chinese language. And of course sanders, whose leaving actually lightened the entire farm and made everything less awkward. Leaving the farm was surprisingly hard as well. Although I knew them for a short amount of time I really came to like our little family unit. Hugs all around, from Shaun as well, and many "this isn't really a goodbye, I'll see you later in my travels." Was a rough beginning-minus 6 degrees the 1st night with nothing but a few blankets and a hot water bottle-but I survived and came through to really love the place.

Sad days

Im actually typing this up a week after I wrote it: journal entry from the day we left the frenchies: I'm having a hard time holding back the tears and the giant lump that is stuck in my throat. What is it about goodbyes that creates such strong reactions? Piers, Stefan, and I are headed to Clinton-our first wwoofing adventure-it's exciting, but right now all I feel is loss. Even though it had a bit of a rocky start, the ultimate road trip ended up being a huge success. Two islands in one month, friends I will never forget, and a lifetime of memories. Crazy to think that back in welly I was ready to leave everyone. Just goes to show how a bit of perseverance goes a long way. Oh my. It may not have been the adventure I imagined or expected, but it sure was one hell of a month I will never forget. :end journal entry: Now is my last night with piers and Stefan! It's weird to think I may never see these people again-these people who Ive spent nearly every waking minute with for the past 3 months. Seems impossible that they'd ever really be out of my life. And I don't think they will be-we've all made lasting impressions on one another. But I'm off on my own again, though this time I'm meeting up with a whole heap of friends in Christchurch-it's gunna be tiiight!

WO-AH

Sitting in Queenstown right now, and it just hit me how little time I have left in New Zealand!! Just one week ago I was so homesick I wanted to get on a plane and go home immediately, but now it's completely different!

Thinking back on my journey I realize how crazy of an adventure it truly was. Strangely, while it was happening I often felt underwhelmed by the journey, as if I wasn't doing enough to fullfill my expectations. But that's the way it always goes I guess. Now there are tears in my eyes and a giant smile on my face as I look at the pictures from the past crazy month. Jack and his crew have gone throughout nearly all of NZ in 4 short weeks and although there were some trying times, overall it has been incredible. I've seen amazing things and done some pretty heart stopping activities. My favorite of which was the tongariro alpine crossing, which took us high into the mountains and gave the most breathtaking views.

I jumped out of a plane, 12000 ft in the air and I explored the abundant forests at ground level. I rejoiced with my friends over free pudding at 8:00 pm, which barely satisfied our infinite cravings for chocolate. We've driven through the southern alps and stopped many times along the way to take in the sights and just "be." Even on low key days like yesterday where I spent the majority of my time on the internet organizing things, new experiences were abundant. Stefan and I ventured out in search of pavlova, a traditional kiwi dessert, and after a bit of a wild goose chase, found the scrumptious delicacy in a resteraunt called lone star, which had a roaring fire in the center and a very kind and humorous Maori waiter who made me feel like much much more than a poor dirty backpacker, especially when he brought me my glass of pinot gris wine on it's own platter and bent down for me to take it "madame,"

I know I still have 3 weeks left and I shouldn't yet be reminescing, however, the end of this part of my journey is nearly over. On Saturday the frenchies will drop stefan, piers, and I off in Invercargill and from there we'll find a way to get to our first wwoofing host. The jack clan will be split and the super fast crazy "see NZ!" will be over. A couple weeks of wwoofing, a show in Auckland, and some partying with friends, and then home. I simply can't believe it.

At least I had some time to relax and think of the future whilst in fox glacier. After the trek on the ice during the day, we came back to the hostel and jumped into the hot tub located on the back deck amidst a forrest at the base of a mountain. Pure Awesome.

I don't wanna leave. But you can bet I'll be thoroughly enjoying these last few weeks.

Much love!

Recently:

I've got no excuse for the lack of updates. Absolutely none as I've had 3 days of free Internet and nothing to do except sit around in the hostel. So I apologize for neglecting this. However, it's late and I'm exhausted (I actually went on a hike today) so no big posts today. Just a short update-I'm now in the south island and it is absolutely magnificent. Does not disappoint! I have a flight back to Auckland on the 28th of June, markingbasically the end of my trip. :-( But, good news! My mother's results came back and the tumor has decreased 50-60%! Still 2 more months of chemo to go until the next step. But I'll be home soon to help my mom fight. Here's the bad news-I go home soon. Here's the good news-I go home soon! So many conflicting feelings about that! Until next time when I'll give a proper update, Te anui

Indulging desires in Wellington

It began with an egg. But not just one egg, I wanted heaps. A plate filled with a mountain of eggs! The cravings began two days ago and slowly built up until the crushing weight of my yearnings were too strong-I became weak under its pressure and when I saw eggs Benedict on the menu of a strange cafe located in a home and garden store, I cracked-just like the eggs that were shortly thereafter released into the frying pan. The circle of life. Price? $16 Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), it didn't end there. After a nudge from the fates (a German girl I'd met previously asking me if I had plans that night), I cracked again. But what a delightful break it was! $4 for the best cappuccino to have graced my lips, complimented perfectly by the live jazz playing in front of me whilst I sat in cafe lido trying to make sense of the broken English my new friend was using. Pure brilliance. Pure bliss. Leaving the smooth sounds that breathe fire in my soul was a sombre task, however, my friend was tired (and probably straight up didn't like jazz). But we battled the Wellington wind home to our hotel hostel where I was rewarded with a huddle of friends and a good movie. ...whoever said money can't buy happiness was a liar...