life on the road

after a long (well, short actually) week and a half or so, i guess im up for a pretty long update. i moved on from auckland after three days; just left myself enough time to get a bike, and then peaced out. it truly was an awful place.

on the morning that i bought the bike, i realized that i hadnt planned my next move at all, really quite unusual for me. this, however, seems to be the trend for this trip. anyway, i quickly grabbed my guidebook and picked to closest city along the coast and made a hostel reservation. i rode away from the dealer's lot without really ever riding a roadbike, but made it successfully the two hours, winding through the hilly farmland country outside of auckland to raglan, a tiny little surf town on the west coast.

i spent about 5 days there, waiting for the time to come when id have to move on to my first WWOOF farmstay. it was amazing. people go there to surf for a few days and end up staying for 5 months. i was so very very tempted. all of the people that live "permanently" and stay for short periods of time in the backpackers hostel are so amazing. really really fantastic people. i just spent 5 days with them and i feel like ive known them for years. (tove, lucan, sof, dede, fabio, etc. - cheers. i miss you all dearly).

it was really hard to leave sunday evening (the 11th), especially as they were just starting to have a few beers, go for a surf, and a lovely danish friend was trying to coax me into staying by batting her beautiful eyelashes and making the cutest face she could muster up. but alas, i found the strength to hop on the bike and move on (sorry sofie).

i got to rotorua just after sunset and was met with open arms by the bolivian couple that i met in auckland. theyre incredibly friendly and hospitable. we stayed up late talking in hushed voices, so as to not was 2-year old Mateo, and woke up early monday morning for breakfast before they scooted off to work and i headed into town, where i spent only enough time to grab a coffee, check my email, and refuel before heading out on the road again. rotoua supposedly has some amazing hot springs, but is also awfully touristy, so i got on my way as soon as i could.

from there i headed to gisborne and had quite the drive. if you look at a map, youll see that there are a few ways from rotorua to gisborne, with one of them following the coast along the whole east coast "cape" along the top of the north island. i tried to take this route, but failed. instead, i somehow ended up on the inland gorge route, thinking i was bordering the coast the entire time and wondering where the hell the bloody beaches were. ah well, it was beautiful anyway. it was an incredibly curvy, mountainous road and i encountered so few cars the entire 3-hour drive. of course, there's only one "township" along the entire road, which obviously reduces the amount of traffic. regardless, it was a gorgeous (ha) ride. (you can see fotos, by the way, at my picasa site: picasaweb.google.com/wrenar. there are shots from raglan, a mountain hike, the curvy, beautiful road to gisborne, my farmstay, and everything else along the way that ive experienced this far. check it out).

i spent the night after what turned out to be a long, 6-hour drive to gisborne. met some great guys from brazil and holland and spent the night chatting and putting back cheap, shitty new zealand beer at the backpackers hostel. then i headed out around noon the next morning for my first week at a WWOOF farm.

to make a long story short, i lasted two days. dont get me wrong, the place was amazing. i had to drive about 7 miles out into the hills on a tiny, one-lane dirt road to get to the farm. and from the top of their hill i could look out over the hills and countless sheep grazing in the valley to the pacific ocean. absolutely phenomenal (check the photos). the hosts, however, were another story. honestly two of the most awful people ive ever had to spend time with in my life. the father, christopher, was a bossy, controlling, terrible english bloke who thought that the world revolved around him and he was the next einstein. he gave me lectures on why the word "sure" was an unacceptable substitution for "yes, please," and argued on the vast differences between jelly and jam. jesus. it was fucking terrible. i was going to leave on the night that i got there. after having to clean the pool and sweep/clean chicken shit off their porch, i soon realized that i wasnt going to gain as much agriculture and permaculture experience as i was hoping. nevertheless, it started pouring rain just as i finished tying up my equipment to my bike and i was forced to stay the night.

i ended up working the next day and miserably just thought i would have to stick it out for a week, but another couple WWOOFers showed up and reminded me that it wasnt a prison and to just go for it. so after dinner (strategically planned to approach them after they put food in my belly) i told them id be leaving the next day.

so on wednesday the 14 i woke up early and took the long, winding road through the mountains from gisborne to napier (photos). i spent the night there, hung out on the beach and refreshed, then took off the next morning for wellington, the windy capital.

i got to wellington yesterday and was immediately impressed - infinitely better than auckland. fully equipped with great restaurants, bars, a fantastic downtown area, their own part of the city dubbed "Brooklyn" (!), and countless beautiful, interesting travelers, im already siked to move in and start classes.

after a spicy dinner at the flying burrito brothers, where i exchanged stories with the mexican and chilean travelers serving, i grabbed a bottle of wine and passed some time on the docks at the bay. its so beautiful. i promise to upload some gorgeous, long-exposure night shots once i get back.

i woke up early this morning, made a wonderful, enlightening trip to the organic grocers, and boarded the Interislander, a huge ferry that brought me to the south island. after arriving in picton and filling up the tank, i bundeled up and adjusted my gear for the rough road i had ahead. from my pictures you can see the conditions: pouring rain and 30-mile and hour winds along the winding mountain highway nearly the entire 2-hour stretch to nelson. needless to say, i was soaked to the bone and freezing within the first 5 minutes of the ride, but hey, it builds character, right? despite the drenched nature of the ride, it was actually really beautiful - bigger mountains than ive seen thus far in my journey, opening up to grand, 180 degree views of the nelson bay, surrounded by a mountain range in the distance. its so breathtakingly beautiful here.

ive posted up in a backpackers for the night and will head out to check out the city in the morning. from what i hear (thanks, mom), nelson is a lot like ithaca. if she's right, im sure ill love it. then off to the next WWOOF host around noon. ill be staying at an ecovillage this time, and am really looking forward to it. my host, Cheryl, and i have been corresponding for over a month now and she seems fantastic. there's no doubt itll be better than the last one.

wish me luck and keep warm, those of you suffering through the cold american winter. oh how i pity you. take care and keep in touch. (i promise i wont wait as long to write again).

one love

kiwiland ahoy!

well, ive made it. after a three-day long bender with the pals in good ol' NYC, causing plenty of trouble, and giving little georgie here more excitement than he's gotten in quite some time, ive made it clear across to the other side of the world (the elusive george is not pictured yet. bloody computers won't let me upload any pictures aside from the one below. follow-up foto edition to follow later this week...).

between my 9-hour layover in LAX and the 40 hours of travel, i was pretty pooped by the time i arrive in auckland at 7 am. needless to say, i didnt get much accomplished on sunday. or yesterday either, really. i managed to find a bike, some wheels that'll hopefully take me around the country for the next two months without fail.


this place is incredibly diverse. so much so, honestly, that i can't say ive met too many kiwis. there are so many bloody people from around the world that i think they probably outnumber the locals. and apparently its the same for the rest of the country as well. we shall see. my hostel alone, which is surprisingly enormous, has helped me meet so many people in a very short period of time. and for the most part, everyone ive met has been incredibly outgoing and pleasant.


on a hunt for some delicious vegan eats sunday night, i stumbled upon an irish pub in the center of town. you know, your classic irish pub. huge irish flag outside. blaring live music inside, so loud that bartender and customers have to yell at the top of their lungs in order to be heard. and, of course, a slew of people outside, downing ice-cold frothy mugs of guiness. mm. walking by, i was naturally intruiged by the deafening music, etc. and stopped to have a looksee. no harm intended, didnt want to start spending money on drinks already. id had enough over the last few days in brooklyn to last me a week or two, at least. but alas, i was unsuccessful. two cheery blokes grabbed hold of me and coaxed me into trying the delicious irish hard cider on tap, which "i would love, of course, because i'm american." and indeed, it was loved. so much so that i had to stay for a second. and by that time, more foreigners had flooded in, the music had gotten louder, and all signs pointed towards a great night to be had. the bar manager kept on buying all of us shots of jager, and so went the rest of the night. we eventually migrated to the bar underneath my hostel, where we were joined by the likes of other interesting travelers and local maori alike. it was quite fantastic. didnt feel that great for a few hours yesterday when i woke up, but so it goes.



as i said, yesterday was pretty uneventful. explored the town a bit more. which is quite odd, by the way. its the largest city in the country, which really isnt saying much. but its just a strange place. i was surprised to be met by such globalization and corporatism so far from home. there are so many damn burger kings, wendys, mcdonalds, and starbucks in this city that its disgusting. shopping malls down most streets, and food courts making up the majority of the eateries. thus, i havent been too awfully inspired to write anything interesting. but luckily, everyone that i've spoken to has shown the same contempt for auckland, saying that its the worst place theyve visited in the country by far. so it may not come as a surprise that im dying to get out of here.

i hope to leave today and move on to better things. i met a bolivian couple at a sushi joint yesterday that have lived here for a few years. they were great and offered me a place to stay in rotorua, a maori village in the center of the north island with hot springs and such. perhaps ill head off in that direction...