Chasing Waterfalls in Middle Earth, refusing to stick to the rivers and lakes that we were used to

Finally found Smeegle at the Weta Cave
Holding on tight on White Knuckle Airlines, view out the plane.
Just a gorgeous day on the West Coast
Pancakes anyone? Pancake rocks on the Wild West Coast
Taking over the taps at Monteiths brewery
Considering other ways to make money in Shantytown
Running out of money on our trip so we had to stop

to pan for gold.
Breaking the rules and much happier about it, at Franz.
Trying to get closer at Franz Josef Glacier
Fox Glacier, Bob is NOT impressed. But we did walk the wrong way

over ANOTHER swing bridge so that may have something to do

with it
A river that is now a rock desert that Bob is indignant over,

and may be starting a rock export company, FYI Laurie

Mt Hooker in the background.
Mt Hooker in the background bringing out the best

in us.
Got thirsty on the drive so stopped for a quick

drink at Fantail Falls.
Should be said that Bob doesn't like heights, and this was the first of

about five swing bridges that he had to cross. Basically when you walk

on it it wobbles and shakes and makes you feel like its about to come

down. Good combo for fear of heights
Taking in the Blue Pools in my new hat, purchased while getting

trapped in Qtown

Just enjoying Middle Earth and all the wizardry that comes

with it.
Taking in the Remarkables on a remarkable boat tour
Leaving our cares behind, we took some time on the swings.

We also made this into a competition of who could get higher, which

I also won. Don't challenge me on the swings
We wanted to reenact RWRR Challenge on the Luge, but alas

it was closed so we did the next best thing. I still won
Bob conquering his fears by climbing Bob's Peak in Queenstown
Stopping for a quick healthy snack in Cromwell
Rethinking business school and pondering life, at Lake Pukaki

in the shadow of Mount Cook, after visiting Twizel, the mecca of

nightlife on the South Island.
Getting some extra arm workout, squeezing two people

in the photos at the Bridge of Remembrence in C Church.
Punting on the Avon in Christchurch, its no Venice, but that

ball was gondola.
The sunrise the morning Bob arrived. A good omen

So I've had my first friend visiting AND for the first time gone much more south in the South Island. Thank goodness I watched LOTR before I came (see previous post) because now I can really appreciate Middle Earth. So a few themes that ran through our whirlwind tour:

Enjoying Middle Earth: So many places on the South Island are just like Middle Earth, and maybe its the movie, or maybe the place made the movie, but you can't describe it and you can't capture it in pictures - but you do see hobbits. I mean they're everywhere, its ridiculous

Flying by the Seat of Pants: So although I emailed Bob a lot to ask him what he wanted to do, at the end we just ended not planning much and just deciding to see the South Island. Lucky us that this is the slowest time of year for tourists, except that this is also the time they close a lot of places that we had been planning to go. Like Shawty's in Twizel, hotspot that I'm sure it is. Also, driving times should always be extended down here, maybe by double. And hiking times should be halved, what?? That's right...you saw what I did to the QCT (see post 2), well all NZ hiking times appear to be calculated for people with a cane.

Karaoke - For me an integral part of any visit to a new place is experiencing the local karaoke. Well Queenstown delivered - including a Maori dude who blew Prince's Purple Rain out of the water. Just as Bob had finally convinced me to sing Sweet Caroline to get the crowd going, whadda ya know, another group of Americans beat us to it and got all the US street cred for getting the bar pumped up. This was soon followed by a group of Brits bringing down the house with Oasis. Apparently Oasis = Sweet Caroline in karaoke speak for crowdpleaser

Waterfalls - A friend told me that just like when you're in Italy and you get cathedral/sculpture fatigue, well you get waterfall fatigue here. There's just soooo many and so many good ones, that you're like, "Great, another waterfall and amazing view, done that". And there's so many amazing mountain views that you also are like okay, how many more do I need to see? But each one is spectacular and all do warrant a viewing and appreciation, especially Mt Hooker. Mt Hooker = The David

Roadtrips - There's a lot of time to talk in the car and ponder some of the great questions of life, like "Why did the U.S. decide not to use the metric system?" and "Why do certain countries use different voltages?", and "What's the difference between a glacier and an iceburg?" When following Lonely Planet's recommendations on places to see, just know that they tend a bit towards exaggeration, where is Rick Steve when you need him. On that note, if you ever find yourself in Blackball, pop.85 , a stop at the Blackball Salami Factory and the Hilton would be highly advisable.

Wineries and breweries - There's basically a winery or brewery in almost every town in NZ, so you could theoretically just tour around tasting libations - this would probably lead to driving on the wrong side of the road frequently, so should be avoided. Also, if going to purchase wine to bring back to America, it would be advisable to wait till the end of the trip if you still want it to be around. As a side note, if you're short on chairs, making stools out of kegs - genius.

The Great Outdoors - This trip has made Bob realize that he'd like to be more outdoorsy, well mostly for the gear, but the views are nice as well. When you're on a whirlwind tour there's not as much time for long sojourns in the wild, but we did take advantage of some highway hiking. Basically 20 minute hikes off of a highway route. Super convenient and perfect for fast-forward outdoorsing.

Hiccups - So there were a few hiccups on our South Island Adventure and a few lessons learned: I misplaced my wallet AGAIN, luckily once again it turned up, but I really need to stop making this a habit or my luck might run out. Also, had a small car accident in our rental car, some other rental car was parked directly behind me and I backed into it. No damage to their car but a bit of paint loss on ours. Luckily I got the insurance AND when we returned the car, no one was there, so little surprise for them, hoping its no big deal.....Its also no joke when Lonely Planet tells you to fill up on petrol, coasting on fumes in the mountainous terrain of NZ is not advisable. Also, missed the ferry back to Wellington so we had to take a 12 person plane ride which is nicknamed, "White knuckle Airlines". We survived and Bob conquered some more fears. But it all worked out and added a few elements of surprise to our adventure

Well those are the big picture highlights, but one thing Bob regrets is not getting to play netball (women's basketballesque game here). He thinks he would be awesome at it after watching the final of the Swifts vs. the Bluejays. Also Bob would like to note that if America put together a rugby team made up of NFL allstars, that they would be the best in the world. I defended the Kiwis, but my roommates took Bob's side, so that was that.

One thing I've learned from having my first visitor is that I need to brush up on my NZ trivia for all that question time available while driving. So back to researching.....Excited to have more visitors, thanks for coming Bob!!!

Three Months and Flying By

Just thought I'd share a picture of the first carrot cake I've made
Ended up dressing up as Princess Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. I know,

you've never heard of her, neither had I but figured it was cheap and easy

to just buy a purple wig. Someone remind me the next time that I think I

should wear a wig that I always end up just looking like a transvestite (all

transvestites reading this blog, please see previous post). But check out

the awesome Shera - esque crown that I made with glitter and stickers.

Fitting since Princess Amethyst is 13. I'm here with Zorro (Alice) and Mr

Muscles (Aaron) which is like Mr Clean cleaning product. Alice made him

this jumpsuit, which was perfect.

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit, I've been busy watching Lord of the Rings for the first time. I know, how could I have come to New Zealand without seeing it. The guy at the video store told me I shouldn't tell anyone my dark secret and that to make up for it I should watch the extended version. Extended version, what is it, 12 hours??? I got through one and two this past weekend, much at the expense of my research, and much thanks to Alice and Aaron who made it even more enjoyable by narrating where each scene was filmed and friends of theirs in different parts.

This past week marked three months here and I can't say it enough, its absolutely flying by. I guess spending 12 hours watching LOTR helps make that happen as well. To mark the three months here's a little recap/update of some themes:

Friends: Now that I have some friends, I've realized I can't afford them. Going out all the time really eats away at my meager stipend and I don't want to miss an exciting trip cause I went to trivia too many times in Wellington.....Also I need to save for when you all come to visit me. First friend arrival - Bob lands on Wednesday for a week and we're heading to the South Island for glaciers, Mt. Cook, rugby and more. Can't wait!

Fashion: Now that the weather has turned I'm having to get real creative with my wardrobe since as discussed in previous posts, for some reason I packed about 50 sundresses and tank tops and 3 sweaters. As far as fashion in Wellington goes, the basic uniform is black tights with some jean thing over it (this could be jean shorts, jean skirt, long jean shirt doubling as a dress), with some black high top keds or boots, and a black slouchie hat. So a good thing about the tights-jeanshort look is that this works basically all year round. I've decided to join this all year round club by seeing how cute my sundresses are over black leggings and seeing how many of my tanktops I can wear over a turtleneck. Will send photos

Yogging: I've taken up New Zealand's national pastime of yogging. For those not in the know, NZ invented jogging. Yep they slowed down the run and discovered a goldmine. It should be noted that I'm not naturally inclined towards running, no matter how much you slow it down. I sort of resemble Phoebe from Friends, and often feel like I'm going to wobble over. Well, picture that mess running a half marathon in about a month. I signed up for one, we'll see if I actually go through with it or just keep my yogging to what it was invented for, pleasure...

Hunting for Kiwi and getting attacked

Sharing morning tea with kakas
Happy as long as they stay one foot away

Tekahe, just chillin on Kapiti Island

In honor of Mother's Day this coming week, I'd like to take a few moments to acknowledge a few comments my dear and adorable mother made recently regarding this blog. My Mom thought that my Lady Gaga and advanced in age people story may have offended some people. I'd like to say that first of all, I love old people, and second of all a lot of people (prob especially my classmates) think I'm an old person. This story was meant to illustrate how awesome old people can be and how I relish spending time with them for the surprising and endearing things that they sometimes do. Also please know that not only am I surprised you all are still reading this blog, but that its never meant to offend anyone. And while I may enjoy my humor, I understand that the tongue in cheek (or maybe just straight unfunniness of it) isn't appreciated by all. So feel free to tell me when you think my diary has stepped out of line.

As you know I've been back to work this week. Here's a bit of the nitty gritty:

-Had to sing a waiata in front of my Maori class for a grade. Luckily it was only four lines long and I think I nailed the ng sound, although not as good as my rendition of Alicia Keys, No One.

- Also had to give my introduction in Maori at another Maori sleepover (noho). Here it is (macrons missing cause my computer doesn't let me do them):

Tena koutou, No Amerika ahau, No California ahau

Ko James raua ko Laurie oku matua

Ko Anne raua ko Allison oka tuakana

Ko Patrick raua ko Jimmy aku tungane

Ko Elizabeth taku ingoa

He korero tenei, He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka (Means this is a proverb I like, and signifies persevering by talking about a canoe through choppy waters)

Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa

This Maori sleepover was a lot of fun and basically turned into Gigglefest 2010, with bunking up with 80 people, and falling asleep next to two Germans and a Dutch girl while discussing how Beall means stupid in Dutch and E (a potential nickname I gave them when they asked if they could call me Liz) is the equivalent of ugh in English.

-Gave a presentation on biofuels to an audience of 175 at an Electric Vehicles and Biofuels conference. I had to follow a presentation by Nissan about electric vehicles. Let me tell you, biofuels are not nearly as exciting as electric vehicles, and about ten times as controversial. My Nissan buddy (remember to pronounce Nissan differently), couldn't speak English very well, so I was thinking, at least I'll be able to answer questions and relaxed into my own presentation. Now, while I don't relish standing up in front of 175 people and speaking about anything, at least biofuels is something I'm pretty comfortable with, controversy and all. Well, at the end of my presentation, when it was time for questions - instead of a question, a Brazilian priest stood up and went on for a 7 minute rant about slave labor and the atrocity of Brazilian ethanol production and ended with - "So look what you're perpetuating". That was followed by applause and then two more audience members shouting things at me about how I was promoting biofuels and why had I worked for the IDB. Thanks for the personal attacks on my career choices. What did you do, google me? The moderator stepped in and suggested we continue the conversation over morning tea - umm, no thanks. I hightailed it out of there feeling very glad I'm here for a different reason, albeit no less controversial, and made it to my research methods class just in time....

-Had to prepare a presentation about my identity to follow on the paper I wrote a few weeks ago. Well my identity paper (aka my identity) got an A, so I was feeling pretty good although not relishing another presentation. We were also told that we would be graded on creativity, so I was feeling extra pressure. I went with the poem approach, and was feeling very cheeky by making it rhyme. I also decided to incorporate some charades, because frankly, I'm quite good at charades, although usually of the animal variety. When it came time to finally give the presentation on Kapiti, I ended up going last, which was probably a mistake. Almost all the people before me made my rhyming identity poem seem like I was a dyslexic 2nd grader (no offense to dyslexics or 2nd graders). People shared deep emotional moments about their lives in really creative ways and a few even cried during their presentations, whereas I had a rhyming poem about being American (easy way out). I should have done the lean back....

-Went to Kapiti Island, a nature reserve co-managed by Maori, with one of my classes. Kapiti is just off the coast of New Zealand and is home to many bird species previously thought almost extinct, like the kaka, takahe, and the ever elusive kiwi. I was excited since a lot of the Kiwis I know (the people, not the bird) have never been. The ride over felt a bit like approaching Jurassic Park and upon arrival, the birds looked like that too. While this is a birders paradise, I realized I much prefer seeing birds, to interacting with them. We had our classes outside only to be dive-bombed by kakas every 3 min where I would duck and squeal, much to the delight and derision of my classmates. We also went on a kiwi hunt after dinner, which basically entailed walking around in the dark for three hours with a kiwi expert and not actually seeing any. I blame this entirely on one of the tourists on our hunt, a NZer, age 55 (probably doesn't appreciate Lady Gaga, and no offense to 55 year olds), who apparently got drunk on the two glasses of wine we had with dinner and was swerving, vearing, falling into every bush we walked by and doing a perfect job of ensuring the kiwi could hear us from a mile away. Thanks Kiwi for not letting us see kiwi

So thats the week of work for you. A few others items of note:

-My roommates are back and the thing they're most pissed about is going to Vegas and not realizing you can drink for free. They've told me that you couldn't have that in NZ (gambling is legal here) because NZers are too hard core and would get too drunk. I should mention they were in Vegas for less than 24 hours....

So I'm working away on my research. I've almost solved the Auckland question and don't worry I'm not leaving, its just having the conversation....

-The pro basketball team here is called the Tall Blacks. Of course it is....(no offense to tall people or African Americans)

And tomorrow night I'm going to a super hero party, any suggestions for women super heros????

-

Working my way back home and Coming to America

Another Falls named Huka, I'd learned my lesson and

went in daylight and held tight to my wallet
Thermal waters in Taupo
Called the Paris Hilton of waterfalls, in Whangarei,

because its most photographed and not that impressive
You know what there haven't been enough of (any of) on

this blog?? SHEEP, I mean there's 40 million of them here. Made a stop at Sheepworld, which

should be called Sheepletdown, although they did

have some sheep painted pink oddly enough.

Some of you have expressed some concern that it doesn't seem like I'm working hard enough for your tax dollars...well have no fear, I've been "working". I would also like to mention that I'm supposed to learn about NZ while I'm here and how can I do that without a bit of touring around? I also spent several days reading and researching on the idyllic beaches I stopped at. I coordinated meetings in a few towns at other universities while I was passing though as well. I received a few positive reactions to my research, good contacts, and reaffirmation of how glad I am that I'm based in Wellington.

One thing I've always loved about various cities I've lived in (Boston, San Diego) is the view of the city skyline that all of a sudden pops up after a turn or a tunnel and greets you to say "welcome home". Well, Wellington is one of those cities. When you come down State Highway 1 back into the city, you come around a turn and then there it is - all of Wellington Harbor and the city, spread out before you. Just reaffirming there's no way I'm moving to Auckland. Still working on that...

So as a sum up to my trip, I finished it off by giving a nice Finnish guy that I met at my backpacerks a ride back to Auckland. I now know a more than I ever hoped to know about Finland, including that Swedish is a required language for them to learn and that they're not too fond of the Swedes. An added bonus to giving this guy a ride, other than the conversation, was that he figured out that I do in fact have a cd player in my car (again sometimes I'm slow, see former post). I then stopped for some meetings in Auckland and decided I didn't need to spend much more time there and got back on the road to get more of my journey home underway. I made it to Taupo before it got too dark and the roads became too windy, all along enjoying finally listening to my book on CD. Taupo is in the Center of the North Island (aka home to my research) and is on a big lake (Lake Taupo) which is the result of a large volcanic eruption many years ago.

To illustrate the smallness of NZ, I was just cooking up some dinner after I arrived, and ran into an Aussie woman who had been in my room in Leigh (where I scubadived, they save dived, don't correct me, two weeks ago). When I was in Leigh I had also run into another Fulbrighter strolling down the beach (there are only 11 of us here and she lives two hours from there).

Anyway I was only in Taupo as a stop-through, but made the most of it by spending the next morning doing a hike and lounging in some thermal waters. Got back on the road to Palmerston North, where I had a few meetings set up since there is an agricultural university there. I also caught up with another Fulbrighter based there and we shared stories of fighting to live on our Fulbright stipend, kiwiisms, and research struggles. Caught up with 3 Fulbrighters total on my tour, pretty good since 5 of the 11 are in Wellington already.

Arrived back to Wellington and had to rush right to another meeting. See, aren't you bored by all this work/research talk? In the two weeks I've been away, autumn has definitely arrived, and its probably 10 degrees (thats Celsius) colder than it was up north, but still sunny and pretty.

A few things I learned on my little Northern Tour -

-Although distances seem short, they take longer cause the roads are so curvy. I spent two weeks in one small part of the country and still didn't see everything. Those of you coming for two weeks, get ready for a whirlwind and quite a bit of driving

-I would like to have a discussion with NZ about planning for tourism. Tourism is one of their biggest industries (after agriculture and forestry and other primary industries), and yet in my mind they are not thinking like a tourist. For example, tourists want to come and eat lamb and take advantage of all the dairying with delicious cheeses, not eat fried meat pies. Even vegetarians want to see that the 40 million lamb are here for a reason, not just socks. Where are you hiding all of the lamb and cheese? Frankly, every menu should have a lamb sandwhich of some sort on it, forget the sausage roll and fish and chips. Second, although NZ markets itself as NZ Naturally or Pure NZ, all of their tourism locales/shops border/or totally embrace cheesy. NZ, you need to work on toning down the cheese factor which is not why people come here and counter to your marketing image. Although still cute/kitschy now, I fear for NZ becoming Myrtle Beach in 30 years...

-I have yet to meet a single American on my travels in backpackers and such, and yet have met a whole host of Germans. Germany's population is around 80 million and ours is over 300 million. A few Germans I met said that at any given time, at least 2% of Germans are traveling overseas, which explains why there are so many of them here and everywhere. I wonder what our percentage traveling/living overseas is? I also keep hearing from people that they don't understand the reputation of negativity about Americans, since they've only met "nice ones". I've explained that we leave all the terrible ones at home in order to ensure that we have enough people for a tea party.

On that note - finally booked my U.S. tour today!!! Without going into the many airlines I spoke to and mileage accounts I had to access - you can find me in the U.S. from June 10th-20th. Ten days, three cities - San Diego June 10th-13th, DC June 14th-16th, and Rochesta, NY June 16th-20th. Hope to see you at one of my soon to be sold out appearances.

So this week, back to class and work. I also have to speak at a conference about biofuels as a favor to my old job. They needed a headshot for the conference website, and the only photo I could think of/find on short notice was one of me getting ready for my 10 year high school reunion, including hearts on my Mom's wall in the background. I'm so professional. Already been warned that some human rights activists will be there rallying against biofuels, so from one hot topic to the next. Then off to Kapiti Island this weekend for another noho (Maori sleepover). Don't worry Mom, I won't take sleeping pills this time, unless I have to....

Sometimes you have to call an audible

One of the bazillion beaches I stopped at

on my drive. Its like Fiji, but sans boat/plane trip (because I know Fiji?)
Whangaroa Harbor
Just cruising down 90 Mile (KM) Beach,

with my RVR
You probably can't read it but this sign says

"Caution, Oncoming Traffic", in a stream. Not

"Caution, Beware your vehicle will flood". I could

actually feel the car get colder mid-way through. The sandy

bottom doesn't help at all.
Cape Reinga, where the Tasman and the

Pacific collide and the place of the Maori

afterlife
Just me and Cape Reinga, the northernmost

tip of NZ
Enjoying some forest walks and basking

in the glow of ol' Tane Mahuta, the oldest

kauri in NZ
After leaving my comfy wwoofing, albeit somewhat intense conversation, domain, I set off for Cape Reinga, the northern most tip of New Zealand and a spiritual center for Maori. On my way I stopped at a few more picturesque beaches and thought of how much I'd like to come back with a group of friends and stay awhile and swim, dive, and just enjoy the winterless North.

On the way to Cape Reinga, there is the much heralded Ninety Mile Beach, mind you they use kilometers here, which instantly confused me. Ninety Mile (Kilometer) Beach is basically a beach that you can drive up to get North, but you should only do so if you have 4x4 since the sand can get deep and the tides do come in. I decided it was a must on my Northland tour. While it was nice driving on the sand with just beach and coastline to look at, it was a bit stressful by myself since at times my car would fishtail. I would say it would be more fun with someone to take your mind off the actual driving at first. After awhile I really started to like it. So I was cruising along and the beach ended at a cliff, hmmmm. I didn't see any turnoffs and Lonely Planet didn't advise me about this. People always say NZ is really well marked/signed. And it is, especially in rural areas, not as much in cities. Lonely Planet and super touristy Ninety Mile Beach failed to have a sign of when it ends. Probably because when it ends you have to drive up a stream/river. No, not beside the river/stream, but in it. I've had a lot of surreal moments since I've arrived in NZ, but driving up a stream 5km where water is halfway up my car, was really one of them. I did my touristy/spiritual thing at Cape Reinga and then headed back south. While I've been good at not consuming, that doesn't include petrol (gas) which unfortunately my car uses a lot of, good thing I'm working on biofuels and that I got to get full use out of my 4x4 gas guzzler with the beach and stream.

Sometimes I'm a bit slow. Like when I started this trip, I went to the library to get a book on cd, since I knew the radio would be intermittent. Well, there's no cd player in my car, I subsequently realized. Also, I forgot my shampoo and conditioner, which I then bought while scuba diving and subsequently left in my hotel in Bay of Islands. But all good, small things that don't matter except when I get really bored of myself on long drives and I don't even have my windpipes to chime into music to.

Stayed the night in Ahipara at the Endless Summer Lodge, which although a backpackers (the only thing I stay in these days) was super nice and right on the beach. I spent today driving back south down the West Coast of Northland. You don't come to NZ to see ancient monuments, cathedrals, or popes - you come to see ancient trees. So thats what I did today. Spent a few moments in the company of Tane Mahuta, the oldest kauri tree in NZ and then a few moments in the company of a few other old kauri, and a few stopoffs at kauri museums and shops. I planned to keep driving south and stay somewhere....but when I was planning this trip I sort of gave up after Ahipara and decided it would just work out. Well, I got as far south as Dargaville, and realized after finally reading ahead in my Lonely Planet that there were no backpackers until near Auckland. I checked out a few campsites since I have my tent and all with me, but decided I shouldn't give my Mom another heart attack with me having no internet, after my lost wallet day. So I called an audible, or as Alice and Aaron would say, an impact play - and I drove back East to Whangarei. I'm now at a lovely backpackers with views of the harbor, cooked myself a nice cheap dinner, have the internet, and tomorrow will maybe go diving.....

One thing I can't believe I haven't mentioned till now....the local dairy/corner store is called 4 Square!

WWOOF WWOOF and going Gaga

The stupid Huka Falls where I lost my wallet
Waitangi Treaty grounds, all this drama

because of a mis-translation
My Wwoofing hosts, Bruce and Alta, also

my first kiwi hug
The Earth Dome that Freddy and I

worked on for our wwoofing. We suggested

it be called a Hobbit Hutt to increase revenue
Earth Doming around

Amber baking up some awesomeness

in the open-air kitchen
My wwoofing home, with view of harbor out the

open-air kitchen.

So in case you missed it, I have my wallet, but haven't much had to use it since I lost it since I've been wwoofing. Those of you unfamiliar, WWOOFing is Worldwide Organization of Organic Farms and basically you pay $40NZ ($25 US) for a book and membership and then you can stay on farms anywhere for free with food included, in exchange for a half-day's work. This was my first opportunity to WWOOF since they mostly require more than 2 days stay so you can actually get into the work. Before I get into my wwoofing experience, I'll pick up where I left off...

After finding my wallet again, I was still a bit out of it, since I had been planning for the worst (meaning a drive back to Wellington with just $20), but I got on the road much lighter in emotion and much heavier in cash. I stopped at Waitangi Treaty grounds, where the Maori first signed the treaty with the British. Let me just say this treaty is at fault for all the drama here in NZ and basically for me being here right now, so I figured I'd pay a few respects. In order to tour the full grounds and get the full Maori experience, as a Non-NZer you have to pay $15. Although I'd just recovered my wallet I decided since I'm studying the Maori and treaty repercussions, I could skip this and just head to the cafe for a coffee and a look at my map. I did get a few photos. Next stop, KeriKeri, agriculture land of NZ (I mean it all sort of is, but KeriKeri means dig dig). So I decided to stop at the oldest stone house and the oldest wood house in NZ. This also includes the Stone Store.

I have grown so good at not-consuming here and, if you can believe it, I haven't "gone shopping" or entered a store for anything other than a necessity (okay I bought a few maps and some chocolate, but other than that...). To digress a bit, my income is one deterrent to shopping (about 1/5 of my previous income and no I wasn't making a million dollars) and in case I needed another deterrent, I found out the smallest size here is an 8. The last thing I need is to come home with a suitcase full of size 16 clothes. Anyway...In the Stone Store I made my first purchases just for fun, and all of them were gifts (watch your mailbox lucky ones). So after I got over my guilt of buying non-necessities, I got back in the car and headed north. Stopped to buy some local hot sauce (a necessity) and some snacks to eat on a few picturesque beaches that I stopped at along my way.

I called my wwoofing place since I'd told them I wasn't coming due to lost wallet, and reconfirmed I could still come and asked for directions. Upon which they told me, go past the two wrecked cars and lift up the second gate after the cows and go up the hill. People say NZ is like California in the 50s. Well Northland NZ is like Northern California (meaning far north of SF). Lots of trees, lots of farms, lots of marijuana growing, and lots of "unique" people. After making a wrong turn at the wrong cow and wrong gate which lead me to one such marijuana farm and whole host of barking watch dogs, I was greeted by my host Bruce on a motorbike. I arrived to a hilltop farm, with warm, loving Alta (South African descent), another German wwoofer Freddy, and a little girl, Amber who was spending her Easter break at the farm. I was greeted with a homemade chili beer and showed to my bed in a parked campervan on the side of the barn/house, and felt right at home.

Over the next three days I was spoiled with huge meals, home-cooked by Alta in their open-air kitchen, awesome views of sunset and sunrise, lots of chili beers and homemade wine, baking a la a Amber, interesting conversation, and a fun project to work on. I thought I would be working on a mini-hydro project that they're working on since right now they're only on solar panels, mind you the solar panels provide them with enough electricity to run the internet, a few lights, and do the wash every now and then (pretty impressive). But I soon found out instead I would be helping to build an Earth Dome, which is basically a small house made out of bags filled with dirt, and making chili beer and wine. Freddy, being a good German, was a great partner for the Earth Dome since he was stronger and much more focused on detail, than I tend to be. I spent three days wwoofing and probably could have spent 2 weeks. I mean building a house, and making wine and beer is pretty awesome, and coupled with free food and awesome views. Oh, I also learned to ride a motorbike around the farm. One of the highlights, was one night at dinner, around sunset, Bruce and Alta had two friends over and the guy (about 60 years old) kept talking about Lady Gaga. So we ate dinner with Bad Romance blasting from the computer (all on solar still somehow)with a bunch of sixty year olds bobbing their heads. Even when you're so far away from it all, Lady Gaga finds her way in.

A few notes about my hosts and the conversation - you'd think people living off the grid, on a farm in a remote part of NZ wouldn't really care much about what's going on in the rest of the world, right? Well my host Bruce did not let a day go by without informing me about the civil revolution that is forming in the U.S. and that Ron Paul is the only politician who can make a difference. He kept asking me if I knew about the huge bomb shelters that the U.S. was building and FEMA coffins, and if I knew we were going to have a huge revolution soon - I kept either trying to change the subject or just informing him I wasn't aware or that I was glad I was in NZ if this was all going to go down. I do think something happens to you when you get older that you become more of a conspiracy theorist, but this was intense. Then there was Alta, so warm and loving, originally from South Africa and she left because her children were threatened post apartheid and her father and brothers were shot. She's the first South African I've met who described apartheid as a necessary separation to keep white people safe and also feel terribly for what was done atrociously. Just goes to show you it isn't about race, its about bad people. Then there was Amber, my new bestie. She's twelve, and since Alta and Bruce were gone some of the time, I spent most of my time with her and Freddy. Amber loves to bake or basically anything that has to do with sugar. In my three days there, she made brownies, chocolate cake, pancakes with lemon and sugar on them, and toasted marshmallows every night. I realized quickly that I can't have kids anytime soon, because I will spoil them. I bought her marshmallows and took her to the store to get ingredients to make a dip and get icing sugar. In exchange, she did my hair like Pipi Longstockings. The one thing I'm worried about with little Amber is she's a bit of a racist. But up there in Northland, everyone seems to be a bit insular. Even more grimaces about my research. And then there was Freddy, my other Wwoofer. He's a 20 year old German, who's grandpa fought in WWII filling sandbags (weird similarity) and was jailed by the Russians. He and I shared our thoughts on traveling with guilt about your country, how our hosts (mostly Amber) were a bit racist, and how he needs to start a brownie business when he gets back to Germany.

Of course I found my wallet b/c this is NZ

I wanted to reassure all of you and let you know after a short trip to the police station this morning, I got a call from a nice UK family who had found my wallet at the falls. Apparently in my excitement to take a picture, I'd inadvertently dropped my wallet. All is good and I'm now wwoofing in Whangaroa Harbor. Gorgeous and I get to work on the mini hydro dam tomorrow. More soon....not a lot of internet time here since its on solar power, sleeping in a camper van tonight....