not all who wander are lost: look right, then left

Thursday, October 12, 2006
look right, then left
Current mood: grateful
Category: Travel and Places

i have arrived. this may just be the longest blog ever... skip to pictures if you're not amused.
a couple facts:
new zealand is the most geographically isolated country on the planet. australia, it's closest nieghbor, is 2,000 kilometers to the Northwest.
there are more sheep than people here- 4:1 ratio, and more like 15:1 during breeding time.
what's been going on on this side of the world:

i arrived in christchurch and set up a bank account and got a cell phone and got ready to start my life.

then i left for punakaiki (maori for "pancake rocks") where my cell phone had no service and 38 people lived in the town so the only thing i spent money on was the internet (no rush to get that bank account after all!).

i am wwoofing in new zealand (that is, willing workers on organic farms). it's a program where you work 4 or 5 hours a day in exchange for room and board. the work is not necessarily farmwork- it can be painting, babysitting, working in hostels/ accomodation type places, gardening, household maintenance, etc.

in punakaiki i was working at a hostel- the actual site of pancake rocks was 3 kilometers from where i was staying.
ran to pancake rocks at 6am one morning- still getting over jet lag- 3k one way- all along the oceanside and got caught in the rain on the way back. awesome.
it was a 5 minute walk in a rainforest to the beach. took a moonlit hike during the full moon with two other wwoofers. we walked the 3k to see the pancake rocks under moonlight, and because it was higher tide we could actually see the blowholes the rocks made when the waves came in. pretty incredible.
on the way back spent we some money on a beer at the only pub in town- it was a thursday night and we were the only ones there.

did a 3 day hike through a national park in the Nelson area. after a couple nights of drinking and hanging around nelson with a new german friend, i took off for abel tasman national park. the sights were amazing, and i had a lot of time to think and just be with me, and i liked it.

after hiking with my pack for four hours on the first day i was sitting on the beach writing in my journal and about 8 dolphins just started playing in the bay not far from where i was sitting. it was pretty great. hiked 38k- approx 23 miles. saw a island fur seal colony and a blue penguin swimming in the water.

then i went to live on an island.
there are no cars on the island and there's no road access.
lots of new experiences here: fed the chickens and collected eggs in the chicken coop, saw a sheep get shorn, saw a blue penguin up close, had the most delicious homemade fish and chips ever, went out on the dinghy to collect the fishing net, watched some forest fires (started on purpose), ran (okay, hiked) up lots of hills on the island, learned a bit more about gardening, and about me.
i told antonia that i was going for a run and her advice was: "watch out for pigs!" i actually ended up dodging more cows, sheep, and cow manure than i did pigs.

then i drove a four wheeler.

then i spent a couple days in wellington, NZ's capital, with the nicest couple. when they couldn't find any of their daughter's friends to take me out on the town, they decided to do it instead. awesome.

just left tauranga, on the east coast of the north island. i was helping the mom Wallis take care of her four girls while her husband is shearing sheep in norway and the girls are on vacation from school. they have alpacas and sheep and cows and a goat- not a large farm- 8 acres, but a happy home.

got to do yoga, run, drive a standard van on the left side of the road, make jewelry, go to the beach, hike... live.

the beach, the mountains, get to see the stars every night... bliss.

i'm currently back in wellington with what i feel like are my surrogate parents- they take good care of me... headed back to the south island to settle down and get a normal job and apartment and start a life.
anyway, there's all the logistics. and the truth is- i think i had forgotten what longer term travel brings out in me, and i like what it brings out in me. it's making me appreciate more and learn more and live in the moment more. i'm re-learning all the important lessons, and it feels right.
it's helping me get to know me better. lots of thoughts in this head of mine.