A Little Over A Week In Country and NZ is AMAZING

Wow this place is breathtaking! My trip to Clevedon(where my first farm is) from Auckland(where I stayed a few days after landing) wasn't bad at all. One funny thing did happen though.

While waiting for my host in Clevedon to pick me up from Papakura(where the bus took me from Auckland) I was sitting outside a closed shop. My pack was at my side and I was just sitting. Most people passing by paid me little notice. A few people actually crossed to the other side of the street, i noticed cause i was doing was people watching while waiting. A few people stopped and said hey and asked where I was trying to go.. Then a woman offered to buy me lunch- I was full so said no thank you... She said "good for you, son." I thought that was odd- just the way she said it. Then another man stopped by me and started digging out change from his pocket... It was at this point I realized ... wow I look like a homeless person... Then I thought... Wait... I pretty much am homeless hahaha. I refused the change and tried to start sitting differently. Thinking that would somehow help.

My time at Crabtree Farm has been pretty freaking sweet. My hosts name is Marcia. She is a 50 something British woman with an accent that I thought only existed in movies. It's the old British, very proper, "darling won't you come in for tea", kind of accent. She only ask me to work 3 hours a day. It's super easy work. Planting a few trees and prune some in the vineyard. The only hard work so far has been taking care of all the Gross(soft o, not sure of the real spelling). It's a horrible bush. It's nothing but spikes and if it sticks you it's like getting bit by an ant, it's got this venom in it. Sucks hard core. But then again how much can you complain when you get called in from work for lunch that consist of very upscale food. Think stinky cheese and wine every day.

For the first 6 days I was here there was also a woofer(different work live program that only does organic farms) named Jenn. Very nice American girl from Oregon. Jenn was a good worker and very nice. We could also joke back and forth very quickly. And soon her, Marcia, and myself were all rolling on the floor laughing at each others "naughty"(in Marcia's words) jokes.

Since she was here before me she got dibs on the guest room and I have to sleep in the garden. Oh no! It's actually really awesome- cool in the evening. Its about 30 yards from the house. Separate so it's nice. Grassy area surrounded by flowers and tropical trees. Great place to hang my hammock.

As far as adventures go there have been a few pretty fun moments. As soon as I saw that Marcia had a 4-wheeler, I knew much fun would be had, eventually had to teach Jenn how to drive it. I've been across pretty much all 100 acres of the farm now. Really cool woods and ridges. The farm is located in a valley between two steep hills. They are very tall for hills but also very beautiful. From ontop of the ridge overlooking the house it looks something like the shire. Soft rolling hills with golden grass. A creek rolling through on one side with willow trees along the bank. A now well pruned vineyard(thanks in most to Jenn), its about the size of a football field. Multiple duck ponds. Crabapple trees. And loads of trees I've never seen before.

I went to the one pub tonight and met an American named Nick. He had some legit philosophies on how the American lifestyle has made traveling not attractive to Americans. Long story short we take to much pride in 'Mercia. And think that all other countries are inferior, so why travel? We are the best. It kinda forces people into this mindset of "high school, college, marriage, good money, kids....." And if you break that you're nuts!! I think there was something to that.

Well yall, I'm not sure where exactly I'm going to take this blog. I could just ramble on and on like this entry(thank you so much for reading by the way, I know this one was to long), or if I meet enough cool people with interesting points of view I could take this blog on the social commentary path. Or just talk about only the fun things.


What do y'all want to hear? Write a comment, Facebook me, or email me.

That time I randomly stumbled across a Scottish Cultural Festival

Well it's pretty much exactly like the title suggests. I was walking around Auckland NZ, and i realized I was close to a museum- from what I had heard it was worth a look. As I was trekking to it I started hearing bagpipes. Seeing as how I love bagpipes I followed the noise until I was at a Scottish Cultural Festival. Unfortunately they were out of the free whiskey and haggis but it was still fun talking with people!

Auckland!

From the second I could see the country side from the plane I knew I would love this place.

I haven't really left the city yet, that should happen Sunday morning on my way to my first farm in Clevedon, a city not to far from Auckland assuming I can get this bus/train situation figured out. It shouldn't be to hard because I have a lot of help from my hosts here in Auckland(Sarah and James).

It's kinda funny but the first food I had in New Zealand was Pizza Hut! And it's SOOOOOOO much better than American Pizza Hut, I'm really glad Sarah suggested it. The other food Ive had so far has been pretty regular stuff, I have yet to identify what "New Zealand Food" is.

 It's the perfect weather here. Sunny, breezy, cool... perfect. The apartment I'm staying in right now is close to the harbor so it's cool and just awesome in general. I really like Auckland but really want to get to the country side soon. The city is great but I think I'll like the country even more! Tomorrow I'm hoping to go to a place called One Tree Hill. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Tree_Hill,_New_Zealand A 360 degree view of awesome country side!

I have yet to get my iTouch hooked up to wifi but when that happens a few pictures should pop onto my facebook/instagram.

Everybody I've met has been pretty cool. On the flights over I ran into many different people who all had cool trips to talk about. On the last flight a couple, The Wyatts (http://wyattsinwellington.wordpress.com/) were a couple who were doing a pretty sizeable hike down to Wellington. So pretty much going from the North part of North Island all the way to the South. Scott had me worried for a little bit when he talked about it possibly being hard to get my visa in New Zealand but it all worked out!

I will forever remember the feeling I had when I saw my pack at the baggage claim in the Airport. She was beautiful! Not a scratch on her and everything was there! She's the pack I'll be taking around the world with me and it killed me to be apart from her not knowing how she was. Yes, this sounds a little crazy but that pack is all I have now O.o As I grabbed her off the conveyor belt I remember looking and two strangers standing side by side watching me. One of them obviously a backpacker and he smiled. The other a guy in a suit, he looked at me strangely. The backpacker understood my joy I think :)

I know this post has been a little all over the place, it was written pretty quickly because time on the public library computers is limited. Sorry for the spelling mistakes that I'm sure are in here!

So, I'm in Auckland, I'm safe, Everything is going great! Farms and Backpacking start Sunday! Christchurch by April 15 or I get deported!

Take care and thanks for reading,
Steve