We just left Graham and Michelle's farm yesterday and have arrived in Raglan, which is on the west coast of the north island and is considered to be the surfing capital of New Zealand. The town is tiny...it consists of maybe 20 shops and restaurants, all located on one street, and you can walk all the way from one end of town to the other in about three minutes. The hostel where we are staying is incredibly nice...we got the last room there, which is really meant for just two people, but we are easily making do with an extra cot added in between the two twin beds. The hostel is called Raglan Backpackers, and it has this lovely little courtyard right in the middle of it with a jacuzzi, a sauna, and a whole bunch of hammocks, which are constantly occupied by people who are reading and basking in the sunlight. The hostel is right on the shore and has its own little beach, though there is an even better beach only a short walk away that extends for over a mile. We are again meeting a ridiculous amount of Germans, now that we're back in a hostel...which is fine by me, as they're always exciting people with a lot of personality, and they similarly are really glad to finally encounter some people who aren't from Germany and can help them practice and improve their English speaking skills. Oh, and speaking of Germans...we have just met back up with Dardan and Luise, our friends from the hostel in Auckland, and are going to the beach for some surfing with them in a little while. Their host who they are WWOOFing with is apparently a world champion surfer, so hopefully we won't look too foolish in comparison as we try surfing for the first time. As long as we don't get too sunburnt, though, I'll definitely be happy.
I've finally found a good source of wi-fi, as it's free at the Raglan library, and I'm uploading all of the pictures I have taken so far right now as I write this. I'll probably have to create a separate entry consisting of photos, but I will nevertheless upload them both to this blog and to facebook as soon as they are done transferring from my camera. Enjoy the pictures, and I'll keep posting as regularly as I can, whenever there is something good to write about.
Cheers!
Jack
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Saturday, 16 November 2013
Start Your Engines....
11/17/13
Today was our day off, so we woke up at 6:30 A.M. and headed in to Auckland for the weekly car fair in hopes of finding ourselves a ride to take us across the country and back again. We found several that looked promising, and we even took one Volvo that we thought was particularly good in to a service station to get it checked out. The check cost us $150, and it turned out that basically the entire car was a disaster. All of the oil was leaking out of the car at an alarming rate, the battery was shot, it required a full servicing...the list of problems went on and on. I guess that's kind of to be expected when you're looking for a car at around 2,000 bucks, eh? So back to square one we went. We had a look at basically every car in the place, and ultimately we settled on a 1996 Honda Orthia station wagon, which we took back in to the servicing place to see if it checked out. We had much better luck this time, as it turned out the Honda only needed an oil change, a new oil filter, and some new wiper blades. So we bought it, went directly to an auto parts store, got everything we needed, and came back to the farm to change the oil and give it a good wash. It's nothing too special, but we're really happy with it given the low price and our confidence that it will last us the whole trip without any major problems. Also, my two favorite features on the car that I think are worth noting: it has a custom radio already installed, so we can hook up our iPods to play music directly through the car, and it's purple (go Frogs). Oh, and one other thing...we thought Orthia was a really stupid name for a car, so we de-badged it, chopped up the letters, and re-badged it as Thor. 'Merica!
We had a little 23rd birthday celebration tonight here on the farm, which was really awesome. Michelle baked me a double chocolate birthday cake, which was delicious, and we had a really great dinner consisting of steaks, sausages, salad, fresh vegetables, corn on the cob, and Mac's Gold lager. It's tough to imagine a better place to spend a birthday than in the heart of New Zealand. We start work again tomorrow morning, likely cutting some trees down by the lake that are getting a little too big, and then collecting them into a huge wood pile for burning, which will (hopefully) go up some time in the next few days before we leave. We're headed out of Waikato this Wednesday, and we feel like the sky's truly the limit now that we've got wheels. We're still planning on heading down to Raglan, surf nation in New Zealand, to catch some waves and hopefully not fall on our faces too much, but I'll keep you guys updated as things progress.
Still rockin' the Horned Frog colors on the other side of the world (and not at all upset that we've been missing these football games),
Jack
Today was our day off, so we woke up at 6:30 A.M. and headed in to Auckland for the weekly car fair in hopes of finding ourselves a ride to take us across the country and back again. We found several that looked promising, and we even took one Volvo that we thought was particularly good in to a service station to get it checked out. The check cost us $150, and it turned out that basically the entire car was a disaster. All of the oil was leaking out of the car at an alarming rate, the battery was shot, it required a full servicing...the list of problems went on and on. I guess that's kind of to be expected when you're looking for a car at around 2,000 bucks, eh? So back to square one we went. We had a look at basically every car in the place, and ultimately we settled on a 1996 Honda Orthia station wagon, which we took back in to the servicing place to see if it checked out. We had much better luck this time, as it turned out the Honda only needed an oil change, a new oil filter, and some new wiper blades. So we bought it, went directly to an auto parts store, got everything we needed, and came back to the farm to change the oil and give it a good wash. It's nothing too special, but we're really happy with it given the low price and our confidence that it will last us the whole trip without any major problems. Also, my two favorite features on the car that I think are worth noting: it has a custom radio already installed, so we can hook up our iPods to play music directly through the car, and it's purple (go Frogs). Oh, and one other thing...we thought Orthia was a really stupid name for a car, so we de-badged it, chopped up the letters, and re-badged it as Thor. 'Merica!
We had a little 23rd birthday celebration tonight here on the farm, which was really awesome. Michelle baked me a double chocolate birthday cake, which was delicious, and we had a really great dinner consisting of steaks, sausages, salad, fresh vegetables, corn on the cob, and Mac's Gold lager. It's tough to imagine a better place to spend a birthday than in the heart of New Zealand. We start work again tomorrow morning, likely cutting some trees down by the lake that are getting a little too big, and then collecting them into a huge wood pile for burning, which will (hopefully) go up some time in the next few days before we leave. We're headed out of Waikato this Wednesday, and we feel like the sky's truly the limit now that we've got wheels. We're still planning on heading down to Raglan, surf nation in New Zealand, to catch some waves and hopefully not fall on our faces too much, but I'll keep you guys updated as things progress.
Still rockin' the Horned Frog colors on the other side of the world (and not at all upset that we've been missing these football games),
Jack
There and Maybe Never Back Again: A Birthday in the Shire
11/16/13
Today was my birthday, and we spent it visiting the Shire from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. We had heard mixed things about it, so we were worried that it would inevitably disappoint, but now having seen it I can say that it certainly did not. There were 44 hobbit holes there, and I took pictures of every single one of them. I know a lot of you have been asking for pictures, and I'm just as eager to share them with you, but I have to wait until I'm not on my hosts' internet connection to upload them so as not to use too much of their data. Don't worry, though, it won't be long until they're posted both to facebook and to this blog. Along with the 44 hobbit holes in Hobbiton, there was also a mill with a running water wheel, and, of course, the Green Dragon pub. They served a selection of authentic Hobbit style ales there, which were all free, as well as a delicious cider (we were very disappointed to find, though, that the drinks did not come in pints! Upon reflection, we realized that it was in the Prancing Pony in Brie that the hobbits expressed their delight at the increased serving size, not at the Green Dragon.) Apparently, the beers served at the Green Dragon, as well as the cider, are brewed specifically to be served there and cannot be found anywhere else. We learned a lot of pretty fascinating things about the Shire set as we toured around; for example, all of the footpaths there were not cleared or laid with machinery. Rather, they were blazed by hundreds of people whose job it was just to walk around Hobbiton on designated routes, so as to make the paths look authentic. Another group of guys had the job of pinning thousands of fake leaves and pieces of fruit to trees every day, and one guy walked around with buckets full of vinegar and wood shavings to dump on all of the fences so as to make them look older. Similarly, someone took a chainsaw around to all the hobbit holes to put scuffs in the wood and make them look realistic, and lots of things were built really big and all the plants and vegetable gardens were injected with steroids to make them grow taller and thus make the hobbits look as short as they do. Our guide told us that at one point, the Shire was producing strawberries that were nearly the size of soccer balls! The movie crew also had to import a lot of the trees and plants that can be seen in the Shire, so as to match up perfectly with Tolkien's vision of Middle Earth as presented in his books. Peter Jackson is quite the perfectionist, it seems, but I think we can all agree that it has paid serious dividends. A few other interesting things: the address of the Shire is on a road called Buckland, which is an area in the Shire in the books, but the road ironically was already named Buckland Rd. before Tolkien even put pen to paper. Peter Jackson just happened to pick that spot. And something I couldn't believe was that the whole of the Hobbit trilogy of movies was filmed in just twelve days! Compare that to the two years it took to construct the Shire, or the eight months that were required to negotiate the contract dictating that it would stay after filming was done as a permanent tourist destination on the Alexander sheep farm where it's located. Pretty crazy stuff.
Now on to the scenery and landscapes that surround the Shire. You'll all get to see for yourselves soon enough with the addition of the pictures, but let me just say for now that the place was absolutely stunning. There is no sign of development as far as the eye can see, no power lines or poles or anything, which was a major part of the reason that Jackson selected the Alexander farm as the ideal place for the Shire. There was also an ENORMOUS tree on site, which very well might have been the biggest tree I have ever seen, and one could only guess how old it might be. You guys might remember it from the films; if you go back and watch them I'm sure you could pick it out. Oh, and something I've forgotten to mention...none of the hobbit holes had any sort of a legitimate interior, as the scenes on the inside of them were all filmed down south in Wellington. There was only enough space behind each round door for a person to stand in, so as to enable the shots of hobbits walking in and out of their homes. Don't worry, though, we'll definitely be visiting the movie set in Wellington once we get down there, and I'll be sure to share that experience with you guys and take lots of pictures.
After the Shire, we headed into the city of Hamilton for a visit, as it was only a few kilometers down the road from Matamata (which is the actual name of the area that Hobbiton is in). Hamilton is a big city, certainly much bigger than we expected, but we only had about an hour and a half to spend there and we didn't get to do much beyond walking around a bit. It looked like it had a lot of really nice public parks and gardens, though, as well as a bunch of Irish pubs, which are always awesome (and, of course, tons of Thai and Indian restaurants on every corner! Mmmmm, curry). After our short visit to Hamilton, we piled back into our host's little Ford flatbed (which they call Utes here in Kiwiland), topped it off with gas (or should I say petrol?), and headed back to the farm so as not to be late for supper. We had homemade burgers and fries (called chips here), and, as always, the food was really tasty. Also worth mentioning was a shepherd's pie we had a few nights ago, which was equally delicious, followed by a bread pudding with steaming hot chocolate sauce (all homemade...I really can't say enough about Michelle's cooking). They've invited us to come back for Christmas, which might just be too good of an offer to pass up.
Tomorrow is another busy day for us; we're going into Auckland for a car fair, where we'll buy a car that looks mechanically sound and thus enable ourselves to travel onwards in our adventure across New Zealand. We'll be leaving the farm some time in the middle of next week, as we've now completed virtually all of the work that needs doing around the place, and we think our next stop will be Raglan, which is on the west coast of the north island and is called the surfing capital of the country. None of us can surf, and we're hoping we don't make fools of ourselves as we try to learn. Our buddy Dardan told us that the surfing camps there have some really awesome views and nice rooms, and they only cost about 150 bucks for a week's stay, including all of the equipment we'll need. We also hope to play a few rounds of golf soon, and after our stay in Raglan we're planning on traveling to another farm for some WWOOFing, where we've been told there are tons of ATV's to ride around on and up to 12 WWOOFers at a time. I'll of course be keeping you guys in the loop as our journey progresses, and I'll probably write another entry tomorrow to let you know how the car buying went. Bye for now, and I hope you've enjoyed your virtual visit to the Shire!
Kindest regards from the happiest of hobbits,
Jack
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Kiwifruit Driving Range
11/12/13
Yesterday after we got off work, Kellogg, Simon and I spent the rest of the day hanging out with our hosts' son James and his father-in-law Tony, drinking beer and driving old golf balls into the kiwi fruit orchard in their back yard. Which was even more awesome than it sounds. Kellogg hasn't even played golf before, but we all had an equal amount of fun whacking the crap out of balls and watching them sail over the rows of kiwi plants, sometimes even over the forty foot tall hedgerow at the boundary of the property and into the country road beyond, if the shot was good enough. We had spent the day as usual, splitting wood and piling it up and then combing through the kiwi orchard to collect all the old and rotten out wooden support beams, which are now being replaced with steel. We got seven and a half hours of work in yesterday, as we're trying to get our Saturday work done early so as to free up the whole day for our visit to Hobbiton. Which, I have no doubt, will be the coolest and most unique birthday I've ever had. Today, we split more wood and finished painting the fence around the farm, logging another 30 minutes of extra work. I would say that everything's going splendidly for us thus far all the way over here on the other side of the world, though Augie is headed back to Canada tomorrow, which none of us are too happy about. Except Augie, I guess, who's pumped to be able to chug maple syrup again. REAL maple syrup, he says. And he's excited to see his dog, which is a feeling I can certainly understand. Life's never perfect, but if missing my pup who's back home in the States is the worst thing that happens to me during my time here in New Zealand, then I reckon it will have been a pretty successful trip. I miss my friends and family quite often too, and it's really hard to stay in touch, especially with such a crazy time difference, but I guess that's why I write this blog. It wasn't easy leaving everything and everyone I've ever known back in the States, but it's easy living the Kiwi life, and really easy sharing it with all of you, so I do my best to keep this experience well documented. Anyway, it's getting late here and I feel like I'm rambling, so I'll do you all the favor of cutting myself off now. I'll post again soon, certainly no later than Saturday, after we've gotten back from Hobbiton. As long as I haven't had one too many pints at the Prancing Pony, that is.
Missing you all on the other side of the world,
Jack
Yesterday after we got off work, Kellogg, Simon and I spent the rest of the day hanging out with our hosts' son James and his father-in-law Tony, drinking beer and driving old golf balls into the kiwi fruit orchard in their back yard. Which was even more awesome than it sounds. Kellogg hasn't even played golf before, but we all had an equal amount of fun whacking the crap out of balls and watching them sail over the rows of kiwi plants, sometimes even over the forty foot tall hedgerow at the boundary of the property and into the country road beyond, if the shot was good enough. We had spent the day as usual, splitting wood and piling it up and then combing through the kiwi orchard to collect all the old and rotten out wooden support beams, which are now being replaced with steel. We got seven and a half hours of work in yesterday, as we're trying to get our Saturday work done early so as to free up the whole day for our visit to Hobbiton. Which, I have no doubt, will be the coolest and most unique birthday I've ever had. Today, we split more wood and finished painting the fence around the farm, logging another 30 minutes of extra work. I would say that everything's going splendidly for us thus far all the way over here on the other side of the world, though Augie is headed back to Canada tomorrow, which none of us are too happy about. Except Augie, I guess, who's pumped to be able to chug maple syrup again. REAL maple syrup, he says. And he's excited to see his dog, which is a feeling I can certainly understand. Life's never perfect, but if missing my pup who's back home in the States is the worst thing that happens to me during my time here in New Zealand, then I reckon it will have been a pretty successful trip. I miss my friends and family quite often too, and it's really hard to stay in touch, especially with such a crazy time difference, but I guess that's why I write this blog. It wasn't easy leaving everything and everyone I've ever known back in the States, but it's easy living the Kiwi life, and really easy sharing it with all of you, so I do my best to keep this experience well documented. Anyway, it's getting late here and I feel like I'm rambling, so I'll do you all the favor of cutting myself off now. I'll post again soon, certainly no later than Saturday, after we've gotten back from Hobbiton. As long as I haven't had one too many pints at the Prancing Pony, that is.
Missing you all on the other side of the world,
Jack
Monday, 11 November 2013
Life on the Farm
11/11/13
This entry marks the morning of our fifth day on the farm. Since I last wrote, we have spent our working hours chopping and splitting wood, hauling it to wood piles, clearing brush, pruning trees and hedges, and painting fence. Yesterday, though, was Sunday-our first day off-and our WWOOFing family hosted a big kiwi barbecue (or barbie, as it's called here) where we met lots of new people, tried lots of new food, and also played more badminton than I've played in all my life. It was an early Christmas party, so there was even a secret Santa-I was given a Kiwi style bottle opener, with a Maori dancing the Haka and sticking out his tongue on it. The people we met were definitely the highlight of the party-I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly friendly everyone is here, all the way down to the youngest of the kids. One little girl named Charlotte introduced me to Minecraft for the first time, which was cool to try my hand at, and she was always motivating all of us to play another game of badminton. Lorenzo, who was only about four or five, was determined to come help us when we at one point went to shovel some mulch that one of the guests had bought, and I dare say we might not have gotten the job done without him. The cider at the barbie was really delicious, and kumara is one Kiwi food that you'll have to try if ever you make it out to this incredible place. It's similar to a sweet potato, although it comes in a variety of colors and is much more flavorful. Augie, who is a fellow WWOOFer here on the farm with us, talked it up quite a bit before the barbie started, and it did not disappoint. Augie is from Canada, and he only just arrived on the farm two days ago-he's already traveled all the way around New Zealand and back again, and he's been relating to us the best parts of his experiences so we can be sure not to miss out on them. In exchange, we taught him how to play Risk. I've still got a full day's work ahead of me, likely splitting and hauling more wood with Graham and Michelle's son James, and I expect we'll be starting soon, so I'll conclude here for now. As always, though, I'll work to keep this blog updated, and I'll be sure to document all the most exciting things we see and do so that you guys might be inspired to come and do them yourselves. We're planning on driving down to Hobbiton on my birthday this Saturday, because we know we'd never live it down if we came back to America with nothing to say on the subject of the Shire. I'll take pictures and mental notes, and you guys will be the first to have them. Bye for now, and keep it classy, America!
Regards and best of wishes,
Jack
This entry marks the morning of our fifth day on the farm. Since I last wrote, we have spent our working hours chopping and splitting wood, hauling it to wood piles, clearing brush, pruning trees and hedges, and painting fence. Yesterday, though, was Sunday-our first day off-and our WWOOFing family hosted a big kiwi barbecue (or barbie, as it's called here) where we met lots of new people, tried lots of new food, and also played more badminton than I've played in all my life. It was an early Christmas party, so there was even a secret Santa-I was given a Kiwi style bottle opener, with a Maori dancing the Haka and sticking out his tongue on it. The people we met were definitely the highlight of the party-I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly friendly everyone is here, all the way down to the youngest of the kids. One little girl named Charlotte introduced me to Minecraft for the first time, which was cool to try my hand at, and she was always motivating all of us to play another game of badminton. Lorenzo, who was only about four or five, was determined to come help us when we at one point went to shovel some mulch that one of the guests had bought, and I dare say we might not have gotten the job done without him. The cider at the barbie was really delicious, and kumara is one Kiwi food that you'll have to try if ever you make it out to this incredible place. It's similar to a sweet potato, although it comes in a variety of colors and is much more flavorful. Augie, who is a fellow WWOOFer here on the farm with us, talked it up quite a bit before the barbie started, and it did not disappoint. Augie is from Canada, and he only just arrived on the farm two days ago-he's already traveled all the way around New Zealand and back again, and he's been relating to us the best parts of his experiences so we can be sure not to miss out on them. In exchange, we taught him how to play Risk. I've still got a full day's work ahead of me, likely splitting and hauling more wood with Graham and Michelle's son James, and I expect we'll be starting soon, so I'll conclude here for now. As always, though, I'll work to keep this blog updated, and I'll be sure to document all the most exciting things we see and do so that you guys might be inspired to come and do them yourselves. We're planning on driving down to Hobbiton on my birthday this Saturday, because we know we'd never live it down if we came back to America with nothing to say on the subject of the Shire. I'll take pictures and mental notes, and you guys will be the first to have them. Bye for now, and keep it classy, America!
Regards and best of wishes,
Jack
New Zealand: Week One
11/7/13
This entry marks the end of my first week in New Zealand. After about 20 hours of flying, my buddy Allen Kellogg and I arrived in Auckland, where we spent the first seven days at a hostel called Silverfern backpackers. To you and to me, this is the land of literally everything being backwards-from the side of the road that the locals drive on to the direction in which the water flows when you flush the toilet. It's typically warmer in the north and colder in the south, and the Kiwis even mix up some parts of the English vocabulary, calling shrimp prawns and gas petrol. In New Zealand, there is no such thing as a cooler; rather, it is called a chilly bin. I've never even seen a hostel before this week, but I will say for my part that they are extremely welcoming and bustling places. You are provided virtually everything you could need at a flat rate of about 20-30 dollars a night, depending on the number of roommates you choose. The people here are remarkably nice and outgoing-and to us, their names are similarly outlandish. Dardan, Leonie, Fabio, Dirkje, Felicitas, Ulysse...one of our closest friends has a name that sounds exactly like Jah Rule, but he shakes his head every time we butcher his name like that so we just call him Belgium because that's where he's from. Then there's Andrea, the guy with the girl's name...it's a bit of a headache to keep them all straight, but we do it because the kindness of each of these people is unforgettable.
I suppose we spent most of our time in Auckland hanging out in the hostel lounge, drinking the nights away with our incredibly diverse group of newly made friends and teaching them American card games. I just realize, I've forgotten to tell you where they all are from...so far, we have met people from Ireland, France, Sweden, Italy, Albania, Austria, the Netherlands, Argentina, Chile, Australia, South Africa, Scotland, the Philippines, and, most of all, Germany. Upon arriving in New Zealand, we managed to walk across all of Auckland in just 15 minutes-we panicked for a moment, thinking we'd surely be out of things to do in this, the biggest city in all New Zealand, in three days or less, and with a whole week booked in the same hostel. This of course proved to be untrue. In that short week, we went to the incredible Auckland city museum, learned the native Maori Haka dance, climbed a volcano, toured an island military outpost, visited nigh on every park in the city at least once, and went through an unreal LED light saturated dreamworld called the "Odyssey Sensory Maze" twice over. I will pause here to express my amazement with the Auckland parks-these places were mini jungles, and if you walked just ninety or so paces into the place, you would look all around and feel certain you had gotten hopelessly lost in the heart of an endless rainforest. Similarly, the Auckland museum was a sight worth every penny; it had exhibits on the native Maori culture, all the indigenous flora and fauna, the volcanoes and the formation of the beautiful landscapes in New Zealand, every military engagement the country has ever been involved in, and even a 19th century reconstruction of colonial Auckland.
These were our daytime activities; at night, we would go out to a local restaurant that looked good and affordable to us and then hang out, usually at the hostel, with our international friends as we sipped on Kiwi brews and swapped stories about back home and also our time in New Zealand. Alcohol, by the way, is outrageously expensive here-I've seen a six pack selling for 30 New Zealand dollars, and the average one goes for about 15-20. A handle of Jack Daniels will cost you over a hundred dollars here. As for pubs, we would point you in the direction of Mac's, by the harbor, which brews all its own beers, or the Albion on Hobson Street, right across from our hostel. We went out to the Auckland clubs one night to celebrate our close German friend Dardan's birthday, where we ran into nothing but sticky floors and even more young world travelers, and a mosh pit in one especially sticky place. A word from the wise on going out with internationals-don't dare attempt to keep up on drinking with a German, because it will, sure as Death himself, kill you. The food we've typically been eating here is Asian. There are a ton of Asian immigrants here, and consequently a ridiculous number of Asian restaurants on every block, so we've been frequenting Indian, Thai, Turkish, and all that sort of places for a new kind of curry every day. Our favorite place to go is a road called K Street, where all of the food is, by New Zealand standards, awesomely cheap and equally good.
Yesterday, we left the bustling city of Auckland to head south for the rural region of Waikato, where we're taking up work on a local Hereford cattle farm in exchange for rooms and hot food. In New Zealand, this arrangement is called WWOOFing. We were very sad to break up our little fellowship of new friends at the hostel (which in fact was not so little, by the end of a week), but we were sure to trade numbers with everyone and promise to keep in regular touch. Fortunately, one of the best friends we have yet made was able to come with us to our new home on the farm...he is from Sweden, and his name is Simon (in the fellowship, we equate him to the hobbit Merry. You're welcome, fellow Tolkien fanatics). As I sit down to write this, I have just finished my first day's work, which I spent cutting down trees and clearing them out, along with heaps of overgrown brush. It's hard work, but not so hard that you can't enjoy the rolling hillsides that extend for miles all around you or the music of the local birds that are constantly chirping their encouragement (or disapproval, now that I've thought on it...but at any rate, it's quite a soundtrack for us). After work, we get to pass the rest of the day as we please, and we need only put in four solid hours a day, so we will always have plenty of time to soak up the Kiwi life in our own way and at our own pace. Our gracious host Michelle cooks a hot meal for us every night, and she also packs a hearty lunch for us every day alongside a thermos full of tea. Milk, she says, is an essential part of a good cup of tea; they don't take it any other way here. Last night, which was our first night on the farm, she prepared for us a dinner of farm raised sausages, potatoes, and assorted vegetables, and served for dessert a piping hot rhubarb and apple tart with steaming homemade custard. Our other host is Michelle's husband Graham. Though we can never get him to stop talking, we similarly can never stop eagerly listening. Their farm is so beautiful that even language of utmost eloquence can never do it justice, but to put an accurate picture in your mind, we are just about an hour outside of Hobbiton, so you might as well think about this place as our own kind of hobbit hole. It certainly feels it, with the warmest kind of coziness and more food and brew than even our American stomachs could ever hope to handle. To put a price on experiences like this is not a doable thing, and I can say with confidence that the memories of these places we are seeing and these people we are meeting will be forever engraved upon our beating hearts. I will close here to step outside and take some photos to share with you all, and I will do my best to keep this blog updated with the experiences I'm yet to have in such an amazing country. Though it goes without saying, of course, that you'd do just as well to get out here and live this Kiwi life for yourself. Cheers, mates!
Kindest regards, your friend,
Jack
This entry marks the end of my first week in New Zealand. After about 20 hours of flying, my buddy Allen Kellogg and I arrived in Auckland, where we spent the first seven days at a hostel called Silverfern backpackers. To you and to me, this is the land of literally everything being backwards-from the side of the road that the locals drive on to the direction in which the water flows when you flush the toilet. It's typically warmer in the north and colder in the south, and the Kiwis even mix up some parts of the English vocabulary, calling shrimp prawns and gas petrol. In New Zealand, there is no such thing as a cooler; rather, it is called a chilly bin. I've never even seen a hostel before this week, but I will say for my part that they are extremely welcoming and bustling places. You are provided virtually everything you could need at a flat rate of about 20-30 dollars a night, depending on the number of roommates you choose. The people here are remarkably nice and outgoing-and to us, their names are similarly outlandish. Dardan, Leonie, Fabio, Dirkje, Felicitas, Ulysse...one of our closest friends has a name that sounds exactly like Jah Rule, but he shakes his head every time we butcher his name like that so we just call him Belgium because that's where he's from. Then there's Andrea, the guy with the girl's name...it's a bit of a headache to keep them all straight, but we do it because the kindness of each of these people is unforgettable.
I suppose we spent most of our time in Auckland hanging out in the hostel lounge, drinking the nights away with our incredibly diverse group of newly made friends and teaching them American card games. I just realize, I've forgotten to tell you where they all are from...so far, we have met people from Ireland, France, Sweden, Italy, Albania, Austria, the Netherlands, Argentina, Chile, Australia, South Africa, Scotland, the Philippines, and, most of all, Germany. Upon arriving in New Zealand, we managed to walk across all of Auckland in just 15 minutes-we panicked for a moment, thinking we'd surely be out of things to do in this, the biggest city in all New Zealand, in three days or less, and with a whole week booked in the same hostel. This of course proved to be untrue. In that short week, we went to the incredible Auckland city museum, learned the native Maori Haka dance, climbed a volcano, toured an island military outpost, visited nigh on every park in the city at least once, and went through an unreal LED light saturated dreamworld called the "Odyssey Sensory Maze" twice over. I will pause here to express my amazement with the Auckland parks-these places were mini jungles, and if you walked just ninety or so paces into the place, you would look all around and feel certain you had gotten hopelessly lost in the heart of an endless rainforest. Similarly, the Auckland museum was a sight worth every penny; it had exhibits on the native Maori culture, all the indigenous flora and fauna, the volcanoes and the formation of the beautiful landscapes in New Zealand, every military engagement the country has ever been involved in, and even a 19th century reconstruction of colonial Auckland.
These were our daytime activities; at night, we would go out to a local restaurant that looked good and affordable to us and then hang out, usually at the hostel, with our international friends as we sipped on Kiwi brews and swapped stories about back home and also our time in New Zealand. Alcohol, by the way, is outrageously expensive here-I've seen a six pack selling for 30 New Zealand dollars, and the average one goes for about 15-20. A handle of Jack Daniels will cost you over a hundred dollars here. As for pubs, we would point you in the direction of Mac's, by the harbor, which brews all its own beers, or the Albion on Hobson Street, right across from our hostel. We went out to the Auckland clubs one night to celebrate our close German friend Dardan's birthday, where we ran into nothing but sticky floors and even more young world travelers, and a mosh pit in one especially sticky place. A word from the wise on going out with internationals-don't dare attempt to keep up on drinking with a German, because it will, sure as Death himself, kill you. The food we've typically been eating here is Asian. There are a ton of Asian immigrants here, and consequently a ridiculous number of Asian restaurants on every block, so we've been frequenting Indian, Thai, Turkish, and all that sort of places for a new kind of curry every day. Our favorite place to go is a road called K Street, where all of the food is, by New Zealand standards, awesomely cheap and equally good.
Yesterday, we left the bustling city of Auckland to head south for the rural region of Waikato, where we're taking up work on a local Hereford cattle farm in exchange for rooms and hot food. In New Zealand, this arrangement is called WWOOFing. We were very sad to break up our little fellowship of new friends at the hostel (which in fact was not so little, by the end of a week), but we were sure to trade numbers with everyone and promise to keep in regular touch. Fortunately, one of the best friends we have yet made was able to come with us to our new home on the farm...he is from Sweden, and his name is Simon (in the fellowship, we equate him to the hobbit Merry. You're welcome, fellow Tolkien fanatics). As I sit down to write this, I have just finished my first day's work, which I spent cutting down trees and clearing them out, along with heaps of overgrown brush. It's hard work, but not so hard that you can't enjoy the rolling hillsides that extend for miles all around you or the music of the local birds that are constantly chirping their encouragement (or disapproval, now that I've thought on it...but at any rate, it's quite a soundtrack for us). After work, we get to pass the rest of the day as we please, and we need only put in four solid hours a day, so we will always have plenty of time to soak up the Kiwi life in our own way and at our own pace. Our gracious host Michelle cooks a hot meal for us every night, and she also packs a hearty lunch for us every day alongside a thermos full of tea. Milk, she says, is an essential part of a good cup of tea; they don't take it any other way here. Last night, which was our first night on the farm, she prepared for us a dinner of farm raised sausages, potatoes, and assorted vegetables, and served for dessert a piping hot rhubarb and apple tart with steaming homemade custard. Our other host is Michelle's husband Graham. Though we can never get him to stop talking, we similarly can never stop eagerly listening. Their farm is so beautiful that even language of utmost eloquence can never do it justice, but to put an accurate picture in your mind, we are just about an hour outside of Hobbiton, so you might as well think about this place as our own kind of hobbit hole. It certainly feels it, with the warmest kind of coziness and more food and brew than even our American stomachs could ever hope to handle. To put a price on experiences like this is not a doable thing, and I can say with confidence that the memories of these places we are seeing and these people we are meeting will be forever engraved upon our beating hearts. I will close here to step outside and take some photos to share with you all, and I will do my best to keep this blog updated with the experiences I'm yet to have in such an amazing country. Though it goes without saying, of course, that you'd do just as well to get out here and live this Kiwi life for yourself. Cheers, mates!
Kindest regards, your friend,
Jack
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