Zen and the art of window washing

The rain is gone (for now), the breeze is light, and I have a beautiful 90 degree view of the green trees and patches of blue sky.  I am sitting on a bean bag looking through floor to (almost) ceiling windows that I have just finished cleaning.  I spent the day before last learning the art of cleaning windows and then cleaning the outsides.  I spent today finishing all the outsides (between rains) and just finished the inside of the living room. 

 Did you know there was an art to window washing?  I didn’t.  It starts with a bucket of water and your preferred cleaner (apparently the pros use dishwashing liquid).  Then you take your scrub brush and wet your first window down, letting the water do most of the work.  You let your first window soak while you wet down your second window.  Returning to your first window, use your brush and water to give the window a good scrub – loosening all those dirt spots.  Next, take your squeegee (whew, glad MS Word knew how to spell that word!) and wipe it down with your towel.  Then use your squeegee to remove the water from the window (removing excess water from the squeegee with your towel between wipes).  When the window appears clean; use a corner of your towel to wipe the edges of the window next to the rubber lining/pane.  Watch a line of water emerge.  Use your squeegee to remove this line.  Watch the line of water continue to stay next to the edge.  Use your squeegee again.  Watch your line of water thin out, but remain.  Use your towel again.  Watch as you smear a big patch of water down the edge.  Use your squeegee again.  Repeat until the squeegee flies out of your hand in frustration, or until you just don’t care anymore.  Move to the second window and repeat. 

 :-p      ha ha ha ha.  Oh man, that cracks me up.  Really, the process is similar to the above – only I figured out how to get most of that edge line to go away.  When I was working on my bedroom door to the outside (yes, I have my own room with my own entrance!) I wanted to finish before it started to rain (again), so I didn’t worry about the water at the edge as much as I had for every other window.  Would it really matter?  Well, if you look through the window and at the edge, then yes it is obvious – a line of smear right there.  However, if you step back and just look through the window like a normal person, the edge is hardly noticeable.  

 Oh – the reason for the squeegee method and not a dish cloth or paper towel?  Armin swears that the latter methods leave small scratches in the glass.  I guess when your house is half glass, such things would irritate you (if you were able to notice it through the rain spots that just marred your cleaning job).  Would I recommend the process to anyone else?  Only if they had floor to ceiling windows; and only then because I think it is an easier method for large/long surfaces than pure elbow grease (although the squeegee does use quite a bit of shoulder grease).

 Having spent 2 days cleaning the many windows of this house (I still have 1/4 of the inside windows to do) I can tell you that I have no desire to become a professional window cleaner.  However, I also didn’t let the work get to me.  I know I spent more time striving for perfection than necessary (and it gave Armin a good chuckle to see), but since I really have nothing else to do I decided to go for quality not quantity.  I have to work around 4 hours a day for room and board, so if it’s not windows it would be someting else.  I picked up a free hostel book a time back The Snow Leapord.  I probably won’t finish it as it’s not keeping my attention as well as I’d hoped.  In writing about his Buddhist sherpas and their tendency to offer help cheerfully : “… since they are paid to perform a service, why not do it as well as possible?”  I guess that’s kind of how I feel about life here (at a Zen Buddhists home).

 One thing I did notice while I was working on the insides of the living area was a small bug on the outside.  It turned out to be a tiny praying mantis!!  I’d seen a mid-sized one earlier in the day, and a massive one 2 days ago – but this guy was SO small.  I was happy that he had fewer cobwebs to get stuck in thanks to my efforts.  I was also happy that he was there after I’d finished the outside.  If he was there during the outside cleaning, he probably would be drowned by now.  I had no mercy for anything living.  Today, however, I actually saved a fat ugly black spider from the water bucket!

 

 

 

 

 On other, less mundane news - I’ve done more than just work here.  Armin has given me destinations to check out every day.  I’d love to write about all of them (Rainbow Falls, Matauri Bay, and today’s Kauri forest), but don’t really want to bore people.  So I’m just going to write about today  (I really considered shortening the above passages, or posting two separate blogs, but decided if this turns into too long a missive, people can read it in two sittings ;)

 The first part of my day was spent in a native forest.  Kauri trees are the big thing here – they are massive trees that take ages to grow (oldest carbon dated one was 4,000 years old!).  Of course, they were pretty much all cut down for lumber.  How could they not be, they grow perfectly straight and shed their lower branches (leaving no knots in the wood!).  I had stopped at the Puketi forest on my way to Armin’s on Sunday, but since it is so close I headed that way this morning - while the sun was still out (a strong cold front bringing rain and tornados was forecast this morning). 

 I started at the short nature walk trail I had taken previously.  Only this time, I wasn’t rushed to be somewhere and I wasn’t distracted by the urge to take photographs of everything (since I managed to dunk my camera in a tidepool yesterday – my second camera lost to salt water in 3 months!!!!  It’s a whole other story, that, while involving more details than how I broke my camera, isn’t extremely exciting).  So, I strolled leisurely through the forest, conscious of the sounds and plants.  My first trip through had been kind of eerie.  It had been raining all day so I guess all the birds were in hiding because it was noticeably quiet.  This time through, the birds were singing all around.  At one point, I noticed a bird call that reminded me a lot like the Alaskan raven (kind of a cluop sound?).  I quietly walked back the trail a bit and tried to find the bird – which kept singing and then cluoping and then somewhat cluck/barking, it was a bit odd.  I really didn’t have much faith in finding the bugger – since the forest was so dense and palm fronds are everywhere obscuring the branches of other trees that are obscuring other trees.  However, I somehow managed to spot the blue/black tui.  I think what caught my eye was the white beard beneath his beak quivering and shaking as the tui talked.  I watched for a really long time as the tui went from song-bird like phrases and then dropped in a couple of the cluops and the occasional bark.  It went on for a while.  Then it listened for a bit, fanned it’s feathers, and hopped to another branch.  It did a complete loop-de-loop around the branch before settling on top and starting to feed.  After a short time it flew into a palm tree and there was no way I was going to find it again.  So I moved on.  As I walked away, I heard the tui start singing again. 

     ((  I just looked in an old Lonely Planet guide I picked up – it says about the tui (or parson’s bird – named for the white feathers on it’s neck) “The tui is perhaps the most beautiful singing bird in NZ.  Parts of its song are an almost liquid call similar to that of the bellbird, but it adds clicks, grunts, chuckles and other sounds from its extremely large repertoire of sounds.  It may also mimic other birds.”))

 After the nature trail, I drove down the road to a 10 minute board walk through an area with prominent Kauris (the nature trail was more of a forest with lots of tree types, whereas the 10 minute walk had virtually all Kauris).  I marveled at their size and their straightness.  And to think, these are only young Kauris!  The trail was well done.  The board walk is to protect the roots, which are actually quite shallow for such big trees.  There were several sign boards talking about the past – logging, natural history, and gum bleeders (the sap (gum) was used for varnish and linoleum).  One section of trail was a straight lane laid out between the top and bottom of fallen Kauri.  The trail was built over the section that had been harvested.  It was built to the width of what the tree had been(enough wood was harvested to build 10 houses! – though what size houses they didn’t say).  Another section of the trail was built in a circular platform, the circumference of which was the size of the largest Kauri ever measured.  Really quite a neat place (and it’s wheelchair friendly!).  The whole time I heard lots of birds.  I couldn’t remember what the tui song sounded like (as the cluop and bark is all that ever really caught my attention), but I imagined I heard similarities in these birds song as I had heard from the confirmed tui earlier.  I pictured all these little, white, feathery beards shaking and quivering as a bunch of tuis talked to each other.  Makes me chuckle just remembering.

Some pics, just to make your reading worth while!

Lake Ngatu - very near my first WWOOF host.      

On a beach during the Cape Reinga tour

Ninety Mile Beach (from the Cape Reinga Tour)

Flying cow and noisy kiwis

I reached my 2^nd WWOOF host without any problems.  Had a nice leisurely drive with a couple scenic detours: Taupo Bay (watch a few surfers in the water) and to Puketi Forest (short ½ hour walk through kauri forest).  I called my host and got directions to his place – keep driving down the gravel road until you hit the last house.  And WOW, what a house!  It’s not grand as in multiple levels, acres of lawn, and a roundabout driveway.  It’s actually pretty modest, just well built with passive solar energy in mind.  Passive solar energy came up within my first ½ hour here – my host, Armin Hanik (Flying Cow in the WWOOF registrar), can’t figure out why anyone would build a house without thinking about this energy.  I would find out later, that there are many aspects about people that make Armin shake his head. 

After I arrived, we had coffee on his deck – it is on the edge of a hill, which has a zen like garden meandering down it (though I haven’t walked through the garden yet).  At the bottom of the hill, is Waipapa river.  On the other side of the river is lots of greenery (though none of it native)with a small break in the trees to see a bit of the neighbor’s sheep paddock.  I could hear birds in the trees across the way, although a fantail is all that showed itself on our side.  Very sweet view. 

Armin showed me my room – yes, an actual room inside of a house! – and gave me a tour of the house.  Not only do I have an actual bathroom with indoor plumbing (instead of a garage with a composting toilet), but I have MY OWN bathroom!!!  Don’t get me wrong, I really like the idea of composting toilets - they make sense.  I just don’t want to smell it when I get in the shower.  After I got my sheets changed and bed made, I told Armin to tell me anything he wanted me to do.  He had already told me that he didn’t have much outdoor work, but had plenty of indoor – so I wasn’t surprised when he asked me to the house.  In fact, I was more than happy to help him clean the place.  A home so beautiful shouldn’t be such a mess.  I was happy to take the vacuum and suck up cobwebs.  I was even happier to start with my room.  I don’t know how many spiders I sucked up (and they’ll probably crawl back out of the vacuum tonight), but at least they’re not in my room right now!

Armin used to be a woodworker.  Due to a nerve problem in his neck he hasn’t been able to work for a while.  He also hasn’t been able to clean much (hence the cobwebs).  His house is furnished with tons of beautiful wood - ceiling, cabinets, benches, sculptures, and an amazing front door.  You just want to touch it all.  Unfortunately, his house is situated in a prime place for bugs.  Including cockroaches!!!  He warned me about them, and asked that I didn’t scream when I saw one :-0  I sucked a few up while I cleaned, but I’ve already come across another one in the clean bathroom.  Oh well, as long as I don’t step on it in the middle of the night!

While we were having our coffee on the deck, we talked a bit about the birds in the area.  Armin has no idea how the Maori slept at night before all of the native birds were extinct.  Apparently he hears kiwi birds all night long – and they are loud!  We heard a male (higher pitch with longer sound) and a female while having dinner.  MMM, dinner was yummy (garbanzo bean salad with cilantro and tomatoe and miso soup that tasted WAY better than any miso soup I’ve ever had).  I think I’ll like it here for the few days I stay.

Saturday night Caili

Today is my last morning on John’s place. It’s an appropriate leaving – it’s raining again, perfect weather for a late morning bacon and egg breakfast. Oh – NZ does have bacon bacon now (not just Canadian style – but the funny thing is, they call it “streaky bacon” ;)

Yesterday we went into town and checked out the local market. It felt more like a mass yard sale than a farmer’s market, but it was fun. Fresh grown food spread out next to boat motors and old clothes. I picked up a bag of dried persimmons and a bag of dried feijoas (a soury type, green fruit). The rest of the day was spent doing WAY more work than we were supposed to – cutting down and removing a horribly invasive (and nastily thorny) bush called gorse. I had a great time, though I am no paying the price – I have massive amounts of tiny splinters in my arms, which will all eventually fester out I guess. Goody! Last night I tried to decide which was worse: Pacific Northwest devil’s club or gorse. Last night, I thought devil’s club (when I thought all the spots on my arms were just scratches). Today – gorse wins. Luckily it’s not painful – I’ll just be wearing long sleeves for a bit (and hope they don’t scar, ewww).

After taking a much overdue shower to remove as many gorse pieces and dirt as possible, I dressed in some of the few clean clothes I have left (oh man, I need a laundromat!) and ate a pretty simple and quick meal. John had told us about a Celtic caili (kay-lee) that was going on in a town ½ an hour away. He wasn’t interested in going, but gave Dominic and I all the details. So we headed out. It was a great time. A caili is basically just group dancing (though don’t confuse it with line dancing, which I find much less interesting). I had gone to one “contra” dance in Juneau and had had a good time, but didn’t remember any of the dances. Dominic and I weren’t the worst dancers there, but we were the best either! I danced with another guy for a few dances too. He had a bit more coordination than my fellow WWOOFer, but still didn’t know exactly what was going on. There were several REALLY fun dances – including a wave of some sort where the whole line of couple goes under each other’s arms and then over each other’s arms. It was crazy and fun and pretty hard to describe.

It was a good Saturday night out in a local town! Met great people and had many, many laughs.

Danger: Quicksand on beach

Dominic and I spent the last 2 days working all day – running roof lines, cleaning up the place, and finishing the moving of a mound of soil into three raised beds. If John had been here, he would have had us stop work after lunch. But he wasn’t here, and we wanted to make up some hours we lost to rainy days. We’re both leaving John’s place soon, so we wanted to get the soil moved. Plus, working all day yesterday allowed us to take a free day – which we both greatly enjoyed.

We met a tour bus at 9:30a.m about ¼ of a mile up the road from John’s place (we missed the tour through the Kauri Kingdom, but it’s free and I can do it on my way out). It was just starting to lightly rain when the bus finally showed up. We paid our $45 each and took a seat. Our guide was an older Maori man that entertained us all with stories, information, and jokes. He was very interesting, got me to chuckle a few times, and cracked himself up at his own jokes (which is pretty amazing since he’s been doing his spiel 5 times a week for the last 2 years).

The drive took us through many rolling green hills, passed avocado orchards in construction, and up to several scenic outlooks. We stopped at small town store where the driver delivered some eggs and encouraged us to get a huge scoop of ice cream (“women, you’re on vacation so you don’t have to worry about your figures.”) Everyone on the bus took his advice, some opting for a towering 2 scoops! I settled on a “hokey pokey” single scoop – which was still a mountain of ice cream. But boy was it good. It’s the first ice cream I’ve had since arriving in NZ. This was “Tip Top” brand which is made in NZ. I had seen their slogan “It’s ice creamier” above several small shops in Auckland, but had never thought it worth my money to binge on sugar. So I thoroughly enjoyed my purchase today! The “hokey pokey” flavor was kind of buttery, kind of caramelly, but very sweet. It had bits of something crunchy (toffee-like maybe?).

So we all piled back on the bus and headed towards the very tip of the north island – Cape Reinga. We had beautiful views of distant sand dunes through thick mountains of bush. On the east side (Pacific Ocean), the sand is very white and extremely fine (we stopped at one of the beaches). On the west side (Tasman Sea), the sand is golden and coarse. Don’t ask me why the difference, I didn’t think to ask then and our guide didn’t say. Located on the end of Cape Reinga is a lighthouse. There is supposed to be a sign post listing kilometer distances to various locations, but all of the place names had been broken off (except London and Sydney). I had my picture taken with it anyway.

Below the lighthouse, the Pacific and the Tasman meet. It was really pretty neat to see. Both oceans had waves traveling in opposite directions, so where they met they crashed together! It was a decently windy day (we’ve had A LOT of wind lately – another front moving in), so some of the crashes were quite violent. The only other place I’ve visited where two seas met, was Cabo San Lucas (this year actually) where the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez meet. However, I was on a boat at the time and I didn’t get the overview of the two meeting. I don’t recall the waves crashing together.

After piling back on the bus, we took a short trip down to a beach on the Pacific side of the Cape. Our guide set out lunch while we all checked out the rocks and tide pools (not much life there – clear water, some seaweed/algae growth in the pools, small mussels and barnacles on the rocks, and a few limpets and snails here and there – but no submerged barnacles for viewing :( (that’s sort of an inside joke – I did a small research experiment on barnacles in Alaska – I really do enjoy watching their feathery legs wave around feeding). Lunch was great – sweet scones and butter, tea (so so much tea is drank here!), and various other packaged snacks. Our guide encouraged us all to take the extras. No need to tell me twice! I took another scone and many of the snacks. (They’re now safely in my car for emergency stores :)

Once our blood sugar levels were back up to ice cream levels, we piled back in the bus and headed towards Ninety Mile Beach – a golden beach stretching from the Cape down past John’s place. It’s really only a total of 70km or so, but it’s still quite long. The Maori’s have a native name for it, which translates into “long beach”. Captain Cook called the whole area “desert coast” because the whole area was covered in massive golden sand dunes. Our bus driver took us past the warning sign, through the parking lot, and into the stream. We drove down the wide, shallow stream at a speed that allowed us not to get stuck and also not get water in the engine. It’s quite common for locals to drive on the beach, but if you’re not local, or not with a local, it is highly recommended that you DO NOT drive into the stream and onto the beach. The tides create areas of quicksand that WILL eat your car if you park on it. Our guide encountered some tourists that had done just that- except it was a rental car, and the fine print on the rental agreement states you will not drive on a beach!!! They are out a bit of money!

So, back to our bus and local driver in the stream bed: Eventually our guide found a dry stream shoulder to park on and had us pile out. He handed out toboggans to everyone that wanted one, showed us how they worked, and then said “have fun”. Almost everyone (2 older people and our guide declined) crossed the stream and hiked up one of the steep sand dunes we’d been following. While I wasn’t the first to reach the top (whew, it was a bit of work and I was breathing hard), but I was the first to give “sand tobogganing a try. It was excellent. Despite the necessity of having to put your legs straight out in front (flash back to Cascade fiasco), I managed not to fall off the sled, let alone break, bruise, or scrape anything. After 4 runs (a couple of which did involve rolling over), I pretty much had sand EVERYWHERE (I can still rub some out of the corner of my eyes!). It was a really fun time.

As we were waiting for everyone to cross the stream and get on the bus, one guy (from another company and using a something more like a boogie board) went down the dune on his stomach, hydroplaned across the stream, and came to a stop on the other side!!! Way cool.

Once we were all piled pack on the bus, we headed up the stream again. We came out on Ninety Mile Beach. The bus driver drove us in a circle to view the tip of the beach and its’ massive dunes and then started south down the coast of the Tasman Sea. I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t stop the bus and let us take any photos, as we had an excellent chance to see the natural dune state of the beach, as well as a perfect photo opportunity for a “hole in the rock” island. However, he kept driving and pretty soon the dunes on our left were in their unnatural, forestry state. The farmers of the area complained about sand getting in their fields, so the forestry department said they would fix it. They planted several deep rooting grasses, then followed up with lupine (which puts nitrogen in the soil) and then eventually planted California pine trees. The trees have done very well – so the coastline has grass covered dunes in the foreground and green undulating forest in the background. The “hole in the rock” island slid by on our right side. First the view of the hole was gone (large enough and deep enough to take a boat through) and then the island was behind us, gradually disappearing in the distance. By the time we stopped at our next designated photo spot, the island was way off in the mist with no indication of a hole going through it (though, my zoom did manage to get a decent shot, though non-detailed shot).

I took a few more pictures, had Dominic take a picture of me, and took some video of the crashing waves (more my dad to enjoy someday, if I ever get a DVD of photos made and mailed). Then we all piled back on the bus and headed down the beach some more. I think I saw a seal way up on the beach (I’m pretty sure the few other driftwood I’d seen didn’t have whiskers), but we were travelling so fast I barely had time to register what I was seeing, let alone take a picture. I did get several good pictures of rainbows though! We saw them all day! We had a few misty rains when we were off the bus, but for the most part the weather was excellent.

Our journey ended where it began. Our bus driver exited the beach at the end of the road by Lake Ngatu (where I had parked my car and wandered around slightly over a week ago – while I was waiting for directions to John’s place). Our guide didn’t forget about dropping us off, and pulled over in front of the elementary school where he had picked us up. While the tour was lacking in the one photo op and I would have loved to hear more Maori stories, I gave the guy a decent tip and jumped off with sand still sticking to my bare feet.

Flying Fruit

I’m taking this time after my lunch break to finally share some of the new ideas I’ve come across while WWOOFing with John (though I’m posting this before dinner ;)

I think the main thing that I am most aware of after my time here is how decentralized our communities are in terms of self-sufficiency. While I lived in Idaho, I shopped mostly at Fred Meyers (with ashamedly more frequent stops in Wal-Mart than I care to admit) and purchased organic foods only when I was chipping in my bit towards mom and dad’s food bill. I took for granted that I could eat a banana a day throughout the entire year. I missed seeing the little fruit stand by my parents house that I encountered on one visit years ago (I have never tasted a peach so heavenly again), but I never made an effort to stop at that little market next to D&B in Nampa (cannot for the life of remember the name). I was actually disappointed to see that this nameless market has been converted to a day care. I thought it a bit sad that a local place for produce had gone away – but then, if everybody else made as little effort to stop and shop there as I did, it shouldn’t be surprising.

One of the first ideas I was introduced to upon my arrival at John’s place was “transition towns”. John, Dominic, and Erica (the WWOOFer I replaced) had put together an informational meeting about the idea using John’s environmental group/center contacts. They showed a film about “peak oil” (the fact that the world IS going to peak (plateau really) on how much oil can be produced for the world, and then supplies WILL start diminishing and prices WILL go out of control). We are all very aware of the price of gas these days. It’s gone up 12 cents since I parked my car at John’s (good thing I filled up when I got to town!). We are at NZ$2.12 per liter right now – which is a little over $8 a gallon! Now, granted NZ$8 is only US$6.4, but what are you paying in America right now? Is it even $4 yet?

The idea of transition towns is that a community/city gets together and makes changes in their area that will dampen the effects felt when peak oil hits (planting nut trees instead of ornamentals down a boulevard, vegetable trade markets for gardeners, etc). When I was buying those yummy bananas I ate everyday, did I ever consider how much fuel it took to get them to my store? Nope. I figured I was giving someone in a third world some employment growing them (granted, I did know that mono-cropping (growing lots and lots of only one crop in one space) was a horrible way to produce food (it takes much more fertilizer/pesticides which equals more oil)). However, I never thought to consider how much the boat/plane used and then how much the truck fuel to get to the store used. In England, they’ve started labeling their food with carbon footprints related to how it got there and how it was grown. England was the site of the first ever transition town. There are now A LOT of towns in England that have started taking steps towards sustainability and many, many more around the world (4 in NZ, 2 in US – including Sandpoint ID!!!).

I haven’t done all the research on transition towns (missed the meeting :(, but I really, really like the idea behind it. Start making changes now, so that you’re not ROYALLY screwed when gas prices are through the roof and your food prices reflect it. Or maybe, all the truckers will protest the price of oil and no food will even get to your town! Do you know your local farmer? Does he grow more than just wheat/potatoes/corn? Funny thing, Cuba is a prime example of not just a transition town, but a transition country. When American put their foot down (that is whole other can of worms I’ve been exposed to – Noam Chomsky and the horrendous behavior of our government) and told Cuba to “shove off or get in line with us” (my words :), Cuba refused to compromise and took the embargo. No more imported oil! Which meant that they couldn’t run their tractors, use fertilizer, or transport their crops. The people ended up taking it upon themselves to feed themselves. Reclaiming parking lots (no fuel to run cars) to grow gardens. The government didn’t try to stop the people taking back the land, they supported them. Instead of trying to solve the food/transportation problem for all of the 2 million people in Havana (what an overwhelming task that would be), each neighborhood block did what worked for them. It’s really quite inspiring. Imagine if you had the time to plan such a community!

I’m sure I could go on (just imagine if I actually had done research!). You get my point though; and that’s only one idea I’ve been exposed to! Between John’s knowledge (he’s traveled the world over: Africa, Middle East, UK, etc) and the environmental/political magazines he subscribes to (“New Internationalist” is great) I’ve got a lot to think about lately. Good thing my next WWOOF will be doing yoga and meditation!


Oh – and those bananas I ate everyday! I just skimmed an article in the Sept 2007 issue of “Ecologist” regarding how those bananas are produced. I wasn’t so much contributing to some third world persons economy, as I was exposing them to hazardous work conditions: from spraying pesticides/herbicides (one of mono-cropping’s biggest issues) to the women who spend up to 12 hours a day with their hands in water washing those chemicals off. Then more chemicals in the US end to make the green bananas turn yellow. Etc, Etc, you see why I could only skim the article. I didn’t even read the article about plastic pollution (when was the last time you cut your six-pack rings so a bird didn’t get it’s neck stuck in it? – I saw a picture of a massive tortoise (Galapagos size) that had grown around a similar type of ring – horrible, horrible, horrible image). The same magazine had an article on the cost of Bio-fuels (third world farmers that feed themselves well, ripping out their food supply to be poor and hungry while growing alternative fuel). The one article I did read in depth? The interview with Leonardo DiCaprio - (yep, I’m an American girl :) – regarding the release of his documentary “The 11th Hour”, a film not only highlighting global warming and environmental issues, but also giving us some ideas for solutions. I’ve got to watch that some time.

Um, ya - I got a little link crazy tonight! ;-p

My first rugby game

It's blowing like crazy out there with precipitation ranging from non existent (very sunny this morning) to barely there (misty) to pretty decent (though not in large drops, just heavy sheets of misty wind).  So it's mostly been an indoor day around the property (not cold though).  During a break in the rain, we did get a beam realigned and I have done some Excel organization (hence the computer access)

We missed the early morning sun (though it still woke me up), because none of us went to bed before midnight, since we were watching NZ All Blacks play a rugby game against England (no mascot).  I have heard that watching these games are insane -particularly at a bar (or in person).  As it was, I was in the one room building watching the game with my host (NZ) and fellow WWOOFer (UK).  We didn't even have beer - which I would have bought when were at the store if I had known the plan for the night!  (But don't think my host hasn't been generous - beer was purchased after our full day of work putting up concrete posts and there have been several bottles of wine too - I almost feel like I'm not working hard enough for all the food I am eating!).

Anyhow - the rugby game was quite interesting.  It's basically a combination of wrestling and some strange form of American football!!  I can only tell you one real rule - you can only pass backwards, oh - and the penalty kicks are from where the penalty occurred - leading to some odd angles to get through the posts.  I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what causes ANY of the penalties!!  All I know is the players are lined up for a "scrum", then they are all pushing each other, then they are standing up and being penalised (or sometimes the ball comes out of no where and then guys are falling all over each other).  It was really quite interesting - and brutal.  

There are 2 halves, 40 minutes each.  It doesn't take much more than 40 minutes to play both halves, since there are few time outs and no clock stopping to move the chains and very little huddling.  It was fast paced, hard hitting, and a little bit bloody.  Some of the players wear bands around their heads to pin their ears down.  Some of the players were sporting decent examples of "cauliflower ear" - not pretty (though I don't think I got a view of a REALLY mangled ear).  

All in all, I would watch it again.  The All Blacks are pretty much always guaranteed to win, but it's still fun.  End score?  37 to 20 - to the All Blacks, of course.

Oh man - and the best part?  Watching the All Blacks do their "haka" before starting to play.   A haka is a Maori dance, recently associated with the men's predominant role.  It involved chanting and leg slapping and sticking out the tongue.  Quite intimidating really!!

(note - the "haka" link should work to connect you to All black info.  It's my first time trying it)

WWOOFing

I arrived Monday night at my first ever WWOOF experience (today is Friday). So far, it has been an EXCELLENT experience. I think I found the perfect place to start my WWOOFing.

WWOOF stands for “willing workers on organic farms”. It is a worldwide organization, but usually requires registering with the national WWOOF of the country you want to work. What WWOOF does, is provide food and housing in exchange for a half day of work around the place. The work can be gardening, building, tending animals, or just about anything else that needs done.

The place I’m currently staying is in the far northland (northland is the peninsula above Auckland). The nearest town to our place is Kaitaia, but the property is just off of Lake Ngatu (ng makes a sound like the Spanish “ñ” in niño). I am staying with a retired guy – John Kenderdine – that has been living “off the grid” for 14 years! He uses solar and wind energy for power, has a composting toilet, collects rain water from the roof, and lives in a 1 room “shed” built entirely of natural materials (primarily dirt and concrete). The shed he lives in was a practice run for the house he is currently building. I sleep in an old camper trailer, so I have privacy, warmth, and a place to put my stuff that isn’t my car. I haven’t driven my car since I got here! (I haven’t spent any money either!!). When I arrived, another WWOOFer was already here – Dominic. He sleeps in his camper van.

The projects we are working on include building the aforementioned earthen house, moving dirt from a pile into 3 raised beds (we filled one already), and finishing the front shed porch with concrete and tiles (we already cemented in a patch under a bench and added our own tile work!). While we are supposed to only work 4 hours a day, yesterday was a long day – for which we will earn a day off (but not today). Yesterday John did all the hard work of cutting concrete power poles into sections for the house supports. A friend of his came over with his old construction truck and lifted the sections into the pre-drilled holes. Dominic and I put sand in the bottom of the holes to keep the beams in place. It was really neat to see the supports erected. This afternoon we will finish the job. I’m not sure what the next steps for the house will be after that.

Dominic and I aren’t just slave labor. Yesterday we did some computer work to organize contacts for an environmental group John works with. (I did check my e-mail, but didn’t get have time to write anything to anybody - a bit like today). Today, we are having a lazy morning while John is in town for business. Dominic and I took Gus (John’s dog) for a nice walk around the lake. I’m writing this as Dominic does some planning online. I’ll post this when I send out my application for a University of Auckland technician job. I don’t have high expectations, but with some luck I’ll get an interview!

I am really stoked about WWOOFing. I am eating REALLY well and being introduced to new ideas. I’ll probably write a whole blog just about some of the ideas I’ve encountered.  It's been pretty good for me not having access to the internet ALL the time.  I got a little antsy a couple days ago, hoping my parents weren't worried.  So I texted Kristi to pass the word to mom and dad that I was fine (wasn't sure at that time if Dad got my first text).  It was good that I was already awake at 3am when she got back to me (9am her time) - as it would have scared me awake.  As it was, I had been having absolutely terrible dreams all night.  I'll never read Noam Chomsky right before bed again!

Now – I’m off to get an application in!!!!

A map could save your life

Well, I’m out of Auckland! I came really close to going back tonight, but just couldn’t do it. After flipping the coin that decided I was heading north, I ate breakfast, checked out, and headed down one of the main roads I know. I couldn’t turn where I thought I could, so I turned at the next place I knew went north. My car started making a horrible sound while I was on the motorway, but then it stopped. I figured (hoped) I was just riding the bumps that are the suggested lanes. When my car made the same sound I took the first exit and stopped at the first gas station. I topped the tank off, kicked the tires (no flats), and looked under the body. Nothing. Maybe it was my imagination?

I had already decided that this journey would entail as little backtracking as possible, and the exit from the gas station wouldn’t let me anyway. So I started heading down the road (highway 11 maybe). From there, I started driving about the way I walk through the city. Hey, that street looks good, lets try it. Oh, but don’t turn back, just find out where it goes and keep going (hey, that’s how I ended up at Mount Eden and working in Eden Gardens my very first day in Auckland!!).

So I decided “Great North Road” sounded like it was going my way, and maybe there was reason it was called GREAT. I followed Swanson Road for a bit and then found “Scenic Drive”. Hey, sounds good to me. Out of the many maps I have, all are pretty useless once you start looking at non-motorway or major streets. As I was driving down “Scenic Drive” I enjoyed the luxurious green everywhere and the few glimpses of the city I caught between mountain breaks (it was pretty far away!). I saw a couple markers indicating trails of the road, so at the first pull off I could find I locked my car and headed back towards one of them. I kind of questioned myself when I looked down onto a muddy, somewhat steep path that had a “Danger” sign at the bottom. I wasn’t sure what a stoat was, but I was definitely keeping my hands (and pets if I had them) to myself. The track was muddy (made me wish I had put my tramping boots on instead of my trail shoes), but no worse than any SE Alaska trail after a typically drizzly day.

It didn’t take me long to start worrying about my car. I had no idea what road I was on and how popular it was for breaks in. Granted, a person would have to be cruising by, see it, and then turn around to vandalize – but I’ve heard of theft in the North Island. I was kicking myself for not putting my laptop under a seat and locking it to the rail. I was doubly kicking myself for not packing my passport with me (passport plus credit cards all in a convenient IRD wallet would mean jackpot for any thief). However, I told myself I wouldn’t be long, and it was the middle of the day on a Sunday. What kind of burglars are out at that time? Plus, there were tons of bicyclists out. That would keep people honest, right? So I continued down the intriguing path, happy to be in some forest only 2 hours (approximately) after leaving the city. At some points I took it up to a trot. Not just because I felt rushed, but just because I was happy and light. Then I would come to a muck pit and slow WAY down to pick my way around it. I found a fantastic Amanita Muscaria (Alice in Wonderland mushroom) next to the path. The top was curved up and had a perfect pour spout in it’s edge. If I was a potter, I would so make a pitcher like it.
I eventually came to a fork in the path, with signs and a map. I was at the initial trail I had seen from the road. These two road paths connected to a big loop path. I decided to go down to the loop junction before heading back. The loop was supposed to go back to damn, so I was wondering if maybe there would be a lake in the center of the loop. I loped along for a bit having fun. I heard voices a couple times, but just kept going. Pretty soon the voices were quite close. I entered the loop junction and asked the 2 people there if they knew this trail. What I had hoped would be a casual conversation about the area (there is no lake until you get near the damn, then there’s some water) turned into a semil-lecture about how I should always carry spare water and food and clothes and A MAP and that I shouldn’t just wander trails because sometimes the trails aren’t well mapped and people often go missing. Oh, and I should always leave a plan with someone so they know when to call the search guys. There may be no bears here, but this is a more dangerous area than Alaska, etc etc, and then repeat the above at least one more time. I’m not sure that he ever got the point that I had never planned to go further than were I was at already, but I’m sure he felt I was woefully underprepared just for a 15 minute walk and that he was a bit concerned if I could find my way back. I finally got myself out of there. It made me really annoyed to be lectured to, but I definitely understand where he’s coming from. There have been two people missing on trails since I’ve been here – one was found dead many weeks later. I think what really annoyed me was the way he brushed aside my hiking experience and then constantly repeated his “rules” of hiking. On my way back up the trail I ran into a large group. The leader said “And here’s a happy tramper” as I came bouncing up. I smiled and we all chatted real briefly. They asked where I was going (or coming from, don’t remember) and I told him I just went to the loop junction because, as you can obviously see, I am not prepared for a longer trip (no raincoat, no water, just a camera and light jacket – go BSU). I told them I just saw the trail, parked, and walked. They thought that was great. I told them that I got a semi-lecture about maps and preparedness. They chuckled and asked who it was and then said they were with them ;-o Oh. It was funny, the guy at the end, as they group was walking away, said next time just to use a French accent and say “Oui, next time I will remember that”. :-) That made me laugh, and feel better about being there.

It turns out, I really was on the edge of wilderness though. After seeing the vast range of the Waitakere preserve, I can definitely see how people get lost. I was basically heading towards the end of the peninsula west of Auckland. The reason I was driving through such lush mountain forests is because that’s pretty much all they are. The guy definitely has a point about having a map of an area before trekking – but at the same time, I would still feel confident doing the Fairy Falls hike I came across (but didn’t do). While there will always be trails that aren’t as well marked, all the one’s I’ve seen are well marked with time and distance on them. Just don’t go down unmarked trails! Oh – I did text message my dad after that to ensure that he can get my messages. Figured I could start making nightly check in’s that way, if it made the parents feel better (since e-mail is getting expensive - $2 for 20 minutes at this place!!)

Anyway, like I said I passed up the Fairy falls trailhead because quite a few people were parked and getting ready to go (one had a baby on hip – so I was sure you didn’t need a map for that :). I kept driving until I came to the Arataki visitor center. The guy on the trail told me I could buy maps here, so I pulled in and checked it out. I wasn’t going to throw down $8-10 just to have another map in my car. If I end up working in Auckland, I will definitely get a map and check out the area, but not now. So instead, I took the free map showing that pretty much all roads from there either ended at a beach or went back to the city. I purchased a beautiful postcard of Rangitoto at sunset (my first postcard, I have no idea who is getting it – so don’t anybody hold their breath :) and talked with the cashier a little bit. She suggested I check out Piha beach and showed me a couple of trails (on THE MAP) that I could take. However, she never even suggested I buy the map. I guess she figured I took those trails I’d either fall into the ocean or be insane to climb the steep forest up the mountain!

So, I drove down some beautiful curvy roads with oncoming traffic BLAZING by. I’m not sure I’ll ever be comfortable driving that fast around corners in a station wagon – particularly while driving on the left side (yep, I never even drifted to the right). I stopped at an amazing overlook for Pahi beach and then continued down. It was lovely. Sandy beach, wave after wave after wave of whitecaps, a huge rock/mountain in the middle between the two mountain heads. I took a ton of pictures – but at ten cents a minute, you all have to use your imaginations. Sorry.
Anyway – long worded day short. I saw a bunch of beaches, walked through forests, took mass amounts of pictures (and couple videos of seafoam blowing by like tumbleweed), and still had time to find a place to sleep. I admit, I had to suppress the panic that kept wanting to creep up on me when I saw that it was 3pm and I still had no idea where I was going to sleep. I’m not even sure what the laws in the USA are for sleeping in your car, let alone what they are here in NZ – but I don’t feel particularly safe doing it on the north island – unless I’m at a designated camp site, which there weren’t many of nearby. So, as I stated earlier, I came very close to heading back to Auckland, but I really didn’t want to go back to my comfort zone. So pressed on, consulting my accommodation books and pamphlets over and over until I finally saw that I was really quite close to town with one hostel in it. I headed for it.

I arrived at in Helensville just before sunset and found “Malolo House” easily. To my surprise and happiness, they were not full (I didn’t think it would be because of location, but I figured my luck would be that it was full). In fact, it’s just me and 2 German dudes. The Malolo House is a large, beautiful place that I would love to have my mom stay in (or any relative - but it’s not handicap accessible :( It even has a hot tub!! I have been drying off while writing this! I could have gone deluxe for $33 and had a room to myself with towels and washcloths provided, but I saved $8 (hey, that’s 4 Liters of gas!) and went for the dorm/bunk room. I’ll have it to myself anyway. Plus, breakfast is still included! Yay.

I survived my first day of wondering aimlessly. Now, to spend $2 to get online. I’ll post this, check my mail (but not reply to anybody at these prices), and hopefully find that a WWOOF farm wants me to stay with them. *sigh* I am homesick, but I’m relieved to have a place to rest my head – that isn’t some creepy place in my car.

Oh yeah - and that awful car noise? it's my crappy speakers kicking in and out - whew!!

Hey - I just checked my e-mail. I got a WWOOF job working on building an earthen house (among other duties). Yay, free room (and hopefully board) while doing good hard work for 1/2 a day (not stupid bed making). Hopefully free internet?

Northward bound

I just tossed a gold $1 coin. It landed queen (heads) so I'm travelling north this morning. If it had landed kiwi (tails) I would be headed east - towards thermal hot spring and chilly mountains. Instead, I head up the peninsula and into probable rain. I'll probably end up doing some diving at poor knights (cross your fingers for me that they need someone to work in their shop).

I had a minor meltdown yesterday - stressing out over spending money while not making any - but am much better now that I've made the decision to leave Auckland. Money comes and money goes, no point in stressing. I do want to get on the move though. (Yes Viriginia, I am impatient - always have been, but I'm trying :)

It's funny. My initial plan when I came here was to head up north after my a week in Auckland. Here it is, 4 weeks now and I've only left Auckland once! Hence my desire to flee quickly. I am tempted to stay - drop a resume at a recruiting agency (a smart thing to do, but I should have done it 2 weeks ago) and I would like to got to a trecking club meeting Monday night - but I decided if I kept hanging out because of one more thing I wanted to do, I'd never leave. I'll be back though. The northland is a dead end, and all roads lead back to Auckland. Besides - I have to eventually pick up the mail my parents posted to my former hostel ;)

Am I nervous? Extremely, I don't even know where I'll be staying. Am I excited? Yes, I just wish the freaking manager of my current hostel would show up and unlock the pots and pans so I can make some oatmeal! Am I prepared? Probably not. I really should pick up a stove to go with the gas cans I've been given, but then I'd have to pick up a pot to boil water in. Then I'm just finding more and more reasons to linger. Not going to do it. I'll buy all that junk when I pass back through Auckland. There will be plenty of grocery stores where I can stop and pick up the bread and jam i need to live off of PBJs ;)

Yay. Happy travels to me! (now I just wish this sinus headache would go away - I think I inhaled some mildew or mold from the old blanket I was sleeping with - ewwwwww).

Phosphorescent dreams

I am currently back at the hostel where I stayed upon first arriving here in Auckland. My face is hot. It could be the wine, but I think it’s the sunburn. My cheeks are even redder than usual. I guess that should be expected when two days are spent on the water under a sunny sky.

After spending a night at Verandah’s hostel (where I worked and met Bobbie), I got up early, packed my things, woke up Bobbie and gave here hug goodbye, and got picked up by an older retired guy named Roger. Roger and I had corresponding for a week or so regarding a sailing trip.

We headed to Okahu Bay where is small sailboat is anchored. He purchased the boat in 1985 or 86 and raced it for many years. He now posts bulletins on backpacker boards advertising day or overnight sail trips – of course I called! Roger was a very nice man and was very interesting to talk with – as a civil engineer from Britain, he spent many years in Iraq and Jamaica before settling in New Zealand. Jamaica is where is got into sailing.

Yesterday was a beautiful day to go sailing. Calm waters, a bit of a wind, and a fairly clear sky. Roger was pleased to have someone on board that had a bit of experience, as some people come on the boat expecting a luxury yacht and no work. I manned the tiller the entire way to Mototapu island (the island right next to Rangitoto, of a previous blog). We passed Islington bay, the water between the two islands, where I had walked to on my trip to Rangitoto. We anchored in Home bay and had the whole bay to ourselves (well, after we chased a fishing boat out :). After setting the anchor and stowing the sails, Roger rowed us over to the beach and got his feet wet in order to get me shore dryly (I felt a bit bad about making a retiree haul me around – but that’s why I was paying him, right?). After scaring some sheep further up their hill, we cut off from the road and onto a path that took us through some lovely restored vegetation. We walked to the top of the island and saw the remnents of old gunnery hides and armament storages (with cows standing right next to them, how NZ is that?).

After looking around a bit, we headed back down to the beach and rowed back to the boat. Roger would not let me row, I offered. We sat around and had tea, chatted about this and that, ate some pasta and tuna fish, and then chatted some more. After dark and before bed, I used the ladies loo (a gray bucket, not to be mixed up with the yellow dish washing bucket) and was thrilled to see the sparkle of phosphorescence when I emptied the bucket. I love phosphorescence. Okay, I love anything that glows and sparkles – and these little buggers did both. So what is phosphorescence? Phosphorescence is basically just light. In this case, the light is produced by tiny little organisms in the water. When you disturb the water the organisms produce a bright light. I’m not sure why (I know, what kind of biologist am I?), but it’s absolutely beautiful. I remember seeing phosphorescent streaks created by fish at night when Forest and I were sailing. The coolest was pulling up the shrimp pot. You would see this glowing blob get closer and closer to the surface until you could see each rope of the pot creating its own light.

I woke up in the middle of the night and use the bucket again. I took the time to look up at the millions of stars sparkling above (there were so many that I couldn’t even make up a constellation!). After pondering the sparkle of the universe for a bit, I pondered the sparkle to the ocean. I used the bucket to create swirls of twinkling light. When I went back to bed I had dreams about being on a boat and watching the phosphorescent outlines of manta rays, turtles, fish, jelly fish, and all sorts of crazy creatures creating crazy designs. I would have forgotten this dream if it hadn’t been for Roger. We were sailing back to Auckland under blue skies with a good wind (less than 15 knots). We wanted to get back before the 25-30 knot winds picked up in the afternoon. Roger was telling me that orcas sometimes came into the bay in winter. They chased the rays up. That reminded me of glowing images under the water.

Roger also told me that the little blue penguins could be seen in these waters. You only ever see them in a sailboat, because the engine noise frightens them. He pointed out a bird he thought was a penguin. Then decided it was riding to high in the water. Then we watched if fly away. Penguins don’t fly (in the air). As I watched the cliffs roll by and the green of Browns Island approach I saw a dark bird low in the water. “No, it can’t be a penguin” I thought. I had tears in my eyes from the sun and wind (oh yeah, I lost my sunglasses just before picking up my car a couple days ago – I really need some new ones, I’m really cheap and the style here is BIG sunglasses. I look horrible in BIG sunglasses. Did I mention I’m cheap. I don’t really want to buy stylish sunglasses for $200. I’ll keep looking). Anyway, I cleared the water out of my eyes. The bird was still there, riding low. I asked Roger “that isn’t a penguin is it?” He was surprised to say that it was in fact a penguin. I didn’t get a really great look at it, let alone a picture. I was manning the tiller at the time. I can say, it looked a lot like any other sea bird, only it looked like it was floating on it’s belly – it’s head didn’t come up real high and when it did, it was more horizontal than vertical. Pretty cool though – my very first ever penguin!!!!

A hint of winter and a LONG drop

I returned last night from my first road trip! I picked up my new car Wed. morning and was on the road Wed. afternoon. (I was supposed to get the car Tues. night – but I won’t go into boring details; suffice it to say that the whole thing was more of a pain than I had hoped).
My travel companion (for whose birthday this whole trip came up) was my roommate – Bobbie. It was a nice 3.5 hour drive from Auckland to Taupo involving only one missed turn (which we realized as soon as we passed it) and only one reminder that I was on the wrong side of the road :) The landscape reminded me hobbiton (Lord of the Rings -LOTR) - there are crazy hills EVERYWHERE. You’re just driving along and pretty soon there are 4 or 5 tall, but somehow small, hills all grouped together. All they need are some doors and windows and they’d be the perfect place for a hobbit to live! Most of the hills are a beautiful green grassy color, due to previous logging and current grazing (yep, cows and sheep everywhere, even a few alpacas). Some of the hills/mountains were currently being logged, which was pretty ugly. A couple of mountains were only half logged, creating a bizarre lopsided forest with a perfect line between clear cut (or maybe some small new growth trees) and the old forest. Kind of bizarre.

Our arrival at the pre-booked Rainbow Lodge was pretty simple (once we got on the right road). It was a very nice place (huge) with a sauna (!) and separate TV room (which we geeked out on for WAY to long after dinner). We put all our stuff in our rooms, headed toward the lake, and looked for a place to eat. The lake was beautiful, surrounded by hills with a couple of mountains far off in the background. These snowcapped mountains are the home of the Tongariro crossing and of Mount Doom (again LOTR). I kept kicking myself for forgetting to take my camera! We picked up some dinner and headed back to the hostel for the night (no, we didn’t use the sauna).

Bobbie was quite surprised with how much cooler the weather was in Taupo – she hadn’t considered a change in elevation. There was a definite chill in the air when we arrived that evening. What surprised her even more was seeing a good layer of frost on the ground (and car) the next morning! A little touch of weather to come? Not sure if Auckland ever gets a freeze or not, but Bobbie is happy Auckland is where is she’s wintering. I put on my long johns and we went for an early morning walk in town to Bobbie’s ATM. After a short panic, in which she thought she hadn’t gotten paid, we walked back down by the lake. The cloudless sky above was a beautiful pale blue, but there was a heavy fog hanging over the lake. The water’s surface had bits of mist drifting off of it. Really pretty.

We headed back to the hostel, checked out, and climbed into a long white limousine. We were going skydiving – and we were going in style! There were 4 of us in the limo, along with one mom just going to watch, but we there were several more people at the airport when we arrived. We all sat through a demo DVD and a brief description of our purchase options – 45 seconds of freefall from 12,000 feet, or 60+ seconds of freefall from 15,000 feet. Bobbie and I had already decided we were both going from 15,000 feet and buying the whole package (DVD and CD of still pictures – plus we got a free t-shirt and one of those dumb rubber bracelets (what is the deal with those things?)). I think we were both surprised when every other person in the group chose to jump from 12,000 feet. They were all doing the DVD package deal, why not spend the extra $80 and get those extra amazing 20 seconds of free fall? Several of the people later said they wish they had.

So, we signed our names stating that no one would get sued if we died (afterall, one of their crew would have been injured/killed too, since they were attached to us if something happened), put on our cool blue jumpsuits, and got cinched into a very secure harness. They ended up running two plane loads of people that morning. We were in the first plane, along with 2 other guys (and their tandem partners).

Now, I must say, Bobbie has been thinking about, and worrying about, this dive for the last several days. She woke up extra early that morning because she was so sick at the thought of sky diving. But this was her birthday present for herself and she really did want to do it. I, on the other hand, put hardly any thought into it other than knowing that sometime after 9am on Thursday the 5th of June I would be falling out of the sky. It didn’t scare me, it didn’t worry me, in fact I wasn’t even that excited about it! It was just a fact. I started getting pretty excited after watching the intro DVD and wearing a harness. It barely started sinking into me what I was going to do. So, when I watched the first 2 people sit in the plane’s door and just… disappear, I was like “What, Why?, Oh my lord”. :-0 I started to get a bit excited, but not really nervous. After the second 2 people rolled out, the plane door was closed and we continued up to 15,000 feet. Bobbie and her partner (Dean?) went out the door first. That’s when it hit me. I actually watched her do the roll out and fall into nothingness. I, and my partner (Mac), were the only people in the plane (that weren’t at controls anyway). I think I started screaming before I even got my feet out the door!!! It wasn’t so much that I didn’t want to do it, but screaming just makes these kind of things fun. I mean, I never really need to scream on a roller coaster ride or when I’m upside down at the fair – but it just makes it more fun and scary. So, I started screaming before I even fell into nothingness. I was vaguely aware of the pilot yelling something, but I had no idea what (when I talked to him later he said he was just screaming because I was! Awesome).

Having someone else there to do the actual rolling out of the plane makes it a lot easier to exit a perfectly good plane! I didn’t know when we were going, I just knew I wasn’t going to screw up the only thing I had to do. That was to “be the banana”. I had to arch back into my partner, and I wasn’t going to screw that up. So amid my yelling, I felt him tilt my head back and I knew we were going. I arched my back and bent my legs as far as I could. I think I did it right. It was hard to tell since I was all of the sudden completely weightless and extremely disoriented (they do a full 360 roll on exit – a little dizzying). I was now screaming because I didn’t know what the he** I was doing. I didn’t even know where my stomach was! The way they make the DVDs is by having your tandem partner record everything with a handheld camera. My video, for the entire free fall, shows me with my mouth wide open (in a scream you can’t hear) and drool running by my cheek. It’s hilarious.

After the parachute opened I was able to close my mouth and take some actual breaths (maybe that’s why he hopped me up on oxygen before we exited the plane). The view was absolutely amazing. Indescribable really. The video doesn’t do the mountains or lake any justice. The white mountains of Ruepehu are completely lost and the small mound of a lone hill can’t really be seen. But I can still remember the clouds hanging over that small butte and the snow gleaming white on the far off mountains. The lake was wide and the land was cut into nice little plots of farm and grazing land. It was 50 times better than parasailing. Not because of the view, but because you’re not attached to anything terrestrial at all. Plus, you don’t get anywhere near the rush parasailing! I can see how skydiving can be addictive! Mac got a couple more good yells of excitement out of me before we landed, by putting us into a couple tight spiral spins. They could be used for a theme ride!

The landing made me breath a bit faster. I thought the ground was still coming at us a bit to fast, but Mac was great. He had prepped me for a sit down landing. Even though my ears registered that I was supposed to stand up (because everything was perfect), my brain refused comply (I’ve already broken one leg, no need to repeat it!). So I sat, while Mac stood, making it a bit awkward for him, since we were still tightly attached. I got myself together fairly quickly and it’s hardly noticeable on the DVD. Mac unhitched us, let me clear the snot, tears, and spit off my face before doing the close for our DVD. Then I went over and gave Bobbie a big hug - we had both made it safely (watching her video later we saw that her chute was actually crossed over at first! But her extremely capable partner fixed it without her even knowing!).

It was an amazing time! The handycam DVDs are really different and pretty fun. They even let you pick out your own soundtrack, choosing 3 different songs for the intro, freefall, and parachute descent. Then, after you’ve taken everything off and are still talking about your experience, they show you your DVD on their really big screen and you get to relive the whole thing. It’s definitely a souvenir worth the price!

So, that makes three of us Dohner girls to have gone skydiving. Mom was the first (an anniversary present from dad I think – hmmmm, is that love?), Kristi did her dive in Hawai’i I think, and now me. So next time I’m in Idaho with the two of them, we are SO going sky diving together!!

Rangitoto Island

Yesterday was “Queen’s Birthday” , an holiday. Apparently her actual birthday is in April, but it’s too close to Easter to celebrate in that month. NZ celebrates by closing some business (banks I think) and paying time and half for those that stay open. The UK celebrates by closing nothing and paying regular. Odd?

Luckily the ferry schedule was not affected by this holiday. I took Saturday off from maiding so that I could do the Maori planting, but Sunday was my last day altogether. To celebrate not making any more beds, I took a 25 minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland to a little old volcano in the sea, called Rangitoto (ron-g-ee-toe-toe). While the ferry drops people on the island twice a day, I was very glad to have the entire day to explore, 3 hours would not have been long enough. I still didn’t see the entire place in 5.5 hours. I’d say I spent 4 – 4.5 of those hours just walking.

I woke up at 2:30am to the sound of rain. I stay in the basement of the hostel - if I can hear the rain, it’s really raining. So, at 2:30, half awake, I start thinking if I can switch my Tuesday schedule (sitting in a wifi café uploading pics and posting blogs) with my Monday schedule (tramping up Rangitoto). I decide it’s impossible – Tuesday afternoon I definitely want to see La Boheme, an opera in town for a short time, and I should have a car to pick up too. I go back to sleep having decided that rain or shine, I’m summiting the volcano.

As luck would have it, there was definitely more sun than rain. My walk to the ferry terminal was cool and dry, but as soon as I arrived a nice drizzle started. Obviously, I had packed my raincoat. By the time we reached the island, the rain had stopped and the sun was warm (though the rain would briefly return another 3-4 times throughout the day). I watched most people head straight towards the summit, via the direct track. So I took one of the side paths, choosing the one that looked like it would be in the sun – since I was still a bit chilled by the boat ride and rain. I’m glad I choose the “coastal track”. I put my hands in the NZ Pacific Ocean for the first time!

The whole island reminded me a lot of Hawai’i – the lava of course, but some of the plants are similar too. The coastal track began by following the beach of a’a (sharp, rocky) lava, but then moved inland and into trees. The tide was low, but there weren’t any good tide pools or anything of much interest on the beach and a lot of it was covered in mud (there was a WHOLE TON of garbage lining the high tide mark though). I used my camera to video tape 4 water birds talking to each other on a rock. I think mom and dad will like it. I found a few flowers to photograph when the track turned inland, but everything is pretty much done, as it’s turning into later fall here. Funny though, I found some lichen that reminded me of Chilkoot trail trip in Alaska! I also saw a few super tiny lizards run out of my path. They were so small and so fast that I couldn’t even begin to describe them. They were brown. I think.

I completed the coastal track in half the time they listed and was a bit surprised to hear voices at the end in front of me. Then I the trail opened up and I realized I was hearing people on their boats anchored in the bay. Everybody was enjoying Queens’ Birthday. I followed a path that led to an old controlled mine base – where, during WWII, underwater mines were set to blow up if given a command from shore. There’s not much left there though.

I had a few other options at that point. I could walk across a bridge and check out Motutapo island (which is super green and clear of trees, I assume people farm or raise cattle on it – the exact opposite as the vegetation gone wild on Rangitoto), but I didn’t have a map of trails for that island and I wanted to see the summit. So I started walking the road (yes, this little place has a road – most of it is unpaved though - they have small bus/carts for tourists to get rides and listen to a guide). I was going to forgo the lava caves because I had forgotten to bring a torch (flashlight), but then I remembered that my cell phone has a light in it – and I don’t mean the light from the screen; it has an actual function that lets you turn on a flashlight!!! The light is definitely dim, but was fairly useful for the 5 feet I needed to traverse in absolute darkness. After that I could see the light at the other end! It wasn’t much of a cave, but it was plenty for me. There were some small openings in other areas, but there was no way I was exploring those – I’m way too claustrophobic. There was also a big hole I could have gone down and explored, but I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to haul myself out again. (I later climbed into a tree on the way down from the summit, so I probably could have managed.) However, I also didn’t like thinking about all the spiders that live in those openings near the front of caves were all the vegetation and air is located.

After that quick tour of the caves (and a slight detour of bushwacking when a side trail ran out) I finally headed for the summit. When I came out onto the “summit track” I was met with people. Lots and lots of people. My entire walk on the coastal track was empty, then I saw the boaters and I passed a few people on the road to the caves, and then I ran into more people at the caves. I knew the holiday was going to be busy, but NZ is small, so busy to me couldn’t be the same as busy in NZ, right? Wow. I think if I had headed to the summit when I had first arrived I would have missed the crowd, but I didn’t. So, when I came to the summit track, I headed right up it. I wanted to get in front of the people that were standing around (waiting for what, I have no idea) and I wanted to get some distance between me and the people coming up the track. But no matter how far the people were behind me or how many of them, I was not prepared for the throng of people at the summit itself. Wow, every railing on the deck seemed full of people. Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration – it wasn’t sardines up there – but you get the idea. Lots of people. So, instead of eating my lunch overlooking Auckland or the ocean, I ate lunch behind a building looking into the forest. I was rewarded for my anti-social efforts though. I saw some funny little green birds flitting around – I think they were called white-eyed juncos in Hawai’i, but I’m not sure what they call them here (or even if that’s the proper Hawaiian name). Got a good photo or two, but they don’t ever sit still very long.

When I came out of hiding after lunch, I was surprised to find the decks even more full than before. I quickly took pictures from each of the corners and then headed back down the mountain. I took some scenic detours when they were offered, but I was mostly walking behind people – passing them when room allowed or getting off the trail for a short break so I could fall behind. When I arrived at the ferry dock I headed to the toilet (they don’t call them restrooms or bathrooms or facilities here)and was surprised see a lot of people already milling around. When I came out of the toilet the ferry had arrived and people were already queuing (that’s what they call a line here and in the UK – pronounced cue (weird spelling – I had to ask my UK roommates)). If I thought there were a lot of people at the top of the summit, imagine my surprise when I saw the queue! I didn’t think we would all fit on the ferry! But we did. When I got back to the mainland, I was pretty tired of walking – I caught a bus to the hostel, took a shower, ate some leftovers, and wrote this long-winded (er, long-worded) blog. And even now, I find things I could blather on about! It really was a fun day. I’m glad I finally got “out” of Auckland and saw some nature.