3-29-10

I had the most amazing weekend with Mike and Jesse. I think traveling alone in this country is more difficult than it has been in others- and I’m so glad I had someone to share the experience with. We spent the weekend beaching it during the day and sharing meals and travel stories, and mingling with the locals. They had been setting up at one particular spot on the beach where they had gotten friendly with the guy that was renting them surf boards. Every day his crew sets up in the shade with their dogs, drums, and guitars and have a great time. They were really friendly and interested in conversating, which is such a gift when you are in a foreign country and wanting to learn about the culture and day to day life there.

On Friday night we went out and it turns out Seminyak is the P-town of Bali! Lots of interesting gender benders going on as well as costumes, contests and performances. It spices things up, especially in a town that has a bit of a slower pace like this one and the entertainment factor is high. I have been having some really great meals for around 5$ on average, and have gotten my appetite back now that my body has adjusted to the heat. (The first few days in Kuta I couldn’t eat a thing).

The beach here has a pretty intense crew of ladies looking to sell their wares, and oftentimes they come to where you are sitting and just plop down and insist that you have a look. When they other ladies see you sitting with someone they all swarm in and try to get you to look at their stuff as well. Its really hard to say no to them because they are really sweet people and you can tell they are barely getting by. Many of them will tell you about their children at home or their large families they have to take care of. They also say “you buy from my friend but none from me! Ohhhh yesterday you say maybe tomorrow”!! As obnoxious as can be it just breaks my heart to see a grown woman so desperate for a few dollars, and how grateful they are when you do buy something. There’s a few that have recognized me on the street later and the group will hug, hold my hands and cluck around me making a fuss when they aren’t trying to make a sale which makes me feel good.

Jesse, Mike and I went for massages which are $5 an hour, and they were amazing. It made me wish I had splurged and gotten one every day! In Bali though, $5 feels like so much money- and I am definitely running low on funds so thank God this segment of the trip was less expensive than the rest.

Yesterday morning we were walking to our beach spot and I looked out and saw a guy with a pretty black horse swimming in the ocean. I told Jesse and Mike I would catch up with them later and asked them to take my stuff to the spot. I walked down into the water, introduced myself and made friends with this guy and before you know it I was headed over to his horse farm where he keeps 10 horses a few blocks from the beach. Apparently they take them during the hottest part of the day for a swim to cool down. He said it costs about 30$ to go riding on the beach but I told him if I could ride I would help him bathe the horse and so we got one that needed a swim and took it down to the beach where I washed it down and then got on and rode bareback along the beach until I found Jesse and Mike. It was a really good feeling to be back on a horse again after a month! The horse was a cute little bay mare called “sweetie” and she just loved going in the water, splashing, rolling around on her back and everything.

Yesterday afternoon our Balinese friend Eka took us to Tanah Lot Temple which was amazing. It was uilt in the 16th century and is a place to pay homage to the guardian spirits of the sea. There are poisonous snakes living under the rock cliffs in caves that are said to ward off evil spirits (you have to pay to have a look at them, so we didn’t see). Spending time with Eka was nice as he was so open and really wanted to conversate to better his English and learn about each other’s cultures. I got to ask him a ton of questions I had been curious about but hadn’t been able to ask because they didn’t seem appropriate or there was a language barrier. He educated us about his Hindu religion, beliefs and traditions, explained some of the symbology and about the rituals you regularly see taking place in Bali. Eka explained that the center of Balinese Hindu spiritual life centers on the concept and achievement of balance between the worldly elements and the “dasar asasi“ (elements of the afterlife), and how this balance is found through personal harmony between self, other humans, spirits, and the natural world.


He also talked a lot about being on the other side of Balinese tourism (which we understand well) and how the surf culture works around this issue of local territories and respect.

We came back to Seminyak and Eka had to return the car he had borrowed, so we got dropped off at one of his favorite local warungs where he came back and met us on his little street bike. We had a really delicious authentic Balinese meal. After showers, Jess and I oer heard an argument taking place between Mike and the front desk. Apparently the man claimed they owed for several days more than they had actually stayed and this led to a verbal altercation between the 3 of them, which Mike promptly ended when he noticed the shotgun resting on the shelf behind the clerk. Stuff like that really reminds you that you arent home.

We met back up with Eka and he loaded all 4 of us onto his bike to ride a few blocks to the beach for drinks. You see this all the time in Bali but I didn’t foresee myself doing so and it was really funny. A few of his friends showed up and we had a little farewell celebration as I was flying out last night and Mike and Jess today.

Goodbye Bali, Hello Holland.

Xoxoxoxo K

3-26-10

I just arrived in Seminyak which is slightly north of Kuta. I left Uluwatu this afternoon and stopped at the Uluwatu temple before heading here. It was under some pretty heavy construction so I don’t know that I got the full effect but the views were amazing. This temple is believed to act as Bali’s south-west guard from the evil spirits of the ocean. There is a community of monkeys that live on the temple grounds and are cute… but they are aggressive and they steal from people- sunglasses, cameras etc. Then they only give back your stuff if they get fruit, and then the staff at the temple expect payment in return for getting your stuff back. Sounds like a learned behavior to me… anyhow they didn’t take anything from me but one girl got a big bite taken out of her flip flop by one of them. The babies are really cute and tiny and I did see one really sweet little family of monkeys sitting together- mom, dad and baby.

On my way out of Uluwatu the cab had to stop and pull over because there was what looked like a parade coming down the street. I got out and watched and it turns out it was a sort of funeral procession. There was a mass of people walking, carrying flags, beating drums, singing- and one large float type structure that was being carried in the air. Inside were just a few people and the ashes of the deceased. It was really interesting because at first thought I assumed the ceremony must be for someone ‘important’ but the cab driver explained that this is how its done when someone passes away. I personally felt that it was a beautiful (better) way to celebrate a life.

Seminyak is similar to Kuta but taken down 10 notches of intensity. I really like that there is still good beach, shopping and restaurants here but not as many people or as much traffic and insanity. I checked into the same hotel that the Vineyard couple are supposed to be staying in but haven’t seen them yet and I am really looking forward to spending time here with folks from home!

3-25-10

I am now in Uluwatu, staying at a little lodge that is very peaceful and quiet. When I got to my room the first thing I saw were stickers on the mirror for The Boarding House and Sickday surf shops in Hyannis and Wellfleet. Such a small world. One of the girls working there also had a Wellfleet t-shirt on. I only have enough time to stay in Ulu for 1 night before I go to meet some Vineyard people in Seminyak tomorrow evening, so today I walked down to the beach and watched the surf for a while and poked around the warungs (food spots) and shops. I met some of the other folks that are staying here, one American guy and 2 really sweet Brazilian couples. I went to dinner at a place that was about a 15 minute walk down the road and mingled with the surfer set for a bit before heading back to the hotel and taking a late night swim (its still so hot at night!)

3-24-10

Just got back from Kuta beach and wandering the markets for the afternoon. When you walk into one of the shop bays you get pounced on immediately by the shop owner, “yes please, yes please! Good price for you!”. The personal space norm is much closer, and there’s a lot of hovering. They are just so anxious to make a sale, and I can understand why. Most of the shops have the same merchandise and tons of it.

The currency situation was a bit confusing until I figured out that roughly, 50,000 rupiah is equal to $5 USD etc. But its strange to have everything from 1000 to 100,000 bills in your wallet haha. It makes it psychologically harder to spend!

In the afternoon many of the women have their babies sleeping on mats in the shop in front of a fan. They are so trusting! One woman went away for about 5 minutes to make change and left her baby alone there with people wandering in and out. Many of the shop owners also apparently fancy an afternoon fiesta and barely wake when you arrive, sometimes they barely move and people are walking right over them. There are usually a few people around though taking turns selling. God forbid you walk into a bay when the owner is next door having a chat with their neighbor. Their friends start shrieking at them and shooing them before they miss their chance.

I met a few sweet French girls on Kuta Beach and hung around with them. It is just so incredibly hot here you have to swim every ten minutes. There were probably a hundred surfers fighting over one crappy wave and tons of learners bombing around as well. The entire stretch of beach is lined with racks of surfboards and people trying to rent them out. Ladies walk along the beach with trays of fruit on their heads hollering at you, “coconut! Watermelon! Pineapple!”. There are also ice cream men that check on you every 10 minutes or so to make sure you’re still all set.

As I mentioned before its all a bit overwhelming after leaving a country with so much space, privacy, and quiet all around you and nothing but beautiful nature to look at, but I am beginning to appreciate the warmth of the hustle and bustle and the abundance of bright colors and different languages being spoken all around me.

The hotel is nice in so far as the room I have is quite big, but without AC, but I have a sweet little balcony and private bathroom. The bathroom is quite strange however, there is a shower head that comes out of the wall with no enclosure at all and the drain is just a hole in the floor in one corner- the sink also have a faucet but just an empty hole where the drain would be and the water just goes onto the floor. There is a beautiful pool and gardens though, and it’s a five minute walk to the beach.

I went to dinner last night at a reggae lounge, the food was incredible. There were a bunch of Australians partying there, this seems to be quite the holiday destination for them. And I take it they really come here to party! When I was walking back to my hotel last night I encountered a gang of them drunk driving their mopeds through the side streets- scary!

People stand outside the restaurants and hound you to eat there. If you say you aren’t hungry they try for getting you to have drinks and you have to just plow through them. Every club and bar is competing with the next to have the loudest system so the streets are filled with a mix of music. I think a few days of this pace is enough for me so I am heading tomorrow to Uluwatu where it should be a lot quieter and more relaxing. Uluwatu is the southernmost tip of the “Bukit”, which is the point at the bottom of Bali. It is a world class surf break and hosts a temple that is supposed to be a must see.

3-23-10

I just arrived in Kuta by taxi. Holy sensory overload. This city is crammed to the hilt in every way imaginable. The shops are one after another, with clothing and sunglasses and knickknacks bursting at the seams, out onto the street. There are mopeds headed every which way and there doesn’t seem to be any rules of the road. Cars are parked all over the place and the streets are only big enough for one small vehicle to squeeze through, yet its two way traffic. It is colorful though and filled with spicy smells and surfboards and bikes. I am taking a time out in my 12-dollar-a-night hotel room letting the fan hit my sweaty self full blast. I think I may be having a slight bout of culture shock due to the sudden switch between such contrasting environments.

The Hindu religion is predominant here, and there are offerings put out 3 times a day called “canang sari” which consists of a small basket (about the size of a pot holder) woven of green palm like leaves and filled with bits of flowers, rice or crackers, and sometimes coins and fruit. A stick or two of incense stands from the basket and burns. There are so many of them, especially in doorways, it creates quite a challenge to wheel a suitcase around or even around stepping on them by accident.

After asking around about the meaning of the offering I gather that it is a way of acknowledging the richness of life and gratitude for what has been provided by the gods (usually Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu- all manifestations of the supreme deity ‘Sanghyang Widhi’). The offerings are also meant to create balance by appeasing the spirit world in hopes of being looked upon favorably with health and prosperity.

According to my research Indonesia’s population is 89% Muslim. Bali, being predominantly Hindu is an exception- and has paid dearly for this deviation in the past (nightclub bombings in 2002 killed hundreds, mostly tourists). The attacks are said to be associated with al-Qaeda or intended to expedite the formation of an Islamic state which included this part of Indonesia.

3-21-10

3-21-10

I am madly in love with this pink lilly that grows wild all over the North Island. They have a really delicious scent as well. They seem to like to spring up in the middle of a place you dont expect them, like the side of the highway or right in the middle of a cow pen.

Last time I wrote it was the 11th I beleive. On the 12th we were anxious awaiting word regarding our Pixies tickets for the show we were planning to got to in Auckland that evening. We were trying to decide whether to head to Auckland or not, and it didn’t look like tickets were going to come through after all so instead we decided to leave the Bay of Plenty and head to Raglan which has several world class surf breaks. When we arrived there were a ton of surfers in the water and the weather was a little chilly. We met some really fun British guys that were surfers and made friends. There was a surf competition scheduled for the next day at the main break so early in the morning we drove to the next break and met up with the Brits who were surfing there also. One of them had recently had appendix surgery and couldn’t surf so I hung with him and tried to get pictures of the guys surfing which is impossible because you can’t tell who’s who when they are out in the waves they all look like black seals. Turns out I got some cool footage but none of it was Jason haha. There were some gnarly rocks that the guys had to get over to get into the water and there were quite a few people that were cut up and bleeding and a few close calls with guys getting too close while surfing and washing up.

Our friends invited us to follow them up to Northland, where the waves were supposed to be great the following day and the weather much warmer so we headed for Ahipara to a break called Shipwrecks. It was supposed to be a 4 hour drive but ended up being 7 and then there was no wave and the weather was crap! Jason kept calling it “Mythwrecks” which he picked up from one of the locals. We did enjoy ourselves anyhow. We camped in a field beside a little Maori homestead that had a pig and 10,000 cats out front. Ok, 20 naughty kitties. The cats ripped apart a bag of our trash we left hanging outside the van while we were around the corner at the beach to eat eggshells.

In order to get out to the surf break you had to walk or drive the beach while the tide was low to get around the point. We couldn’t take our van onto the beach even though the track was hard packed, because it gets stuck so easily. (Did I mention before that I got the van stuck in the sand and we had to be towed out when we first got to the North Island?) Not one of my better moments. Anyhow we weren’t going to take the risk even though there were tons of little sedans and station wagons driving out there. Our British friends had a 4WD van so we walked out to meet them, which was cool because the beach backs up to a rock cliff which had all sorts of little streams and mineral deposits and tiny caves burrowed into the side of it.

On day 2 there I looked up at the hill behind our van and 2 beautiful horses were looking down on us. I had carrots in the fridge and I tried everything to get them to come down but I don’t think they knew what a carrot was because they didn’t budge. Or they thought they were going to be caught and put to work.

We decided to head east and check out the east coast of Northland. Jason picked out a random spot that turned out to be incredible! A little bay in Mimiwhangata- in order to get there we had to drive the twistiest roads all though hilly farmland, some of them just a ledge cut into the rock with enough room for one car to get along. The views were incredible. When we arrived there a young guy that looked about 15- but might’ve been the ranger… told us we couldn’t camp there so we drove out a mile or so and camped in a little pull off on the road. It was one of the prettiest places we’ve driven through and we took a little hike together through the livestock fields to see the bay around the corner. At the next beach we took a swim and it felt so good, the water is cold but it wasn’t cold enough there to be painful, just really refreshing and crisp and clear.

Oh I forgot a really funny story. Before we decided on Mimiwhangata, we went down to another bay just before it where there were a ton of cows on pasture along the road. We stopped to take a picture of these really bizarre looking cows that had hair like a golden retriever, and next thing you know a big bull from the other side of the dirt road is just climbing over the wire fence like its nothing. I started laughing and then got worried because it had its leg stuck between the wires and I thought it was going to bet hurt, but then it got free and headed right for the van looking like it wanted to ram the front grill haha. Jason was really freaked and threw it into reverse trying to get away from the thing, which just ended up crossing the road and standing by the fence belonging to the shaggy cows. In all seriousness it could have done some serious damage to the van if it wanted to but I just knew it wouldn’t so I had to tease Jas about it.

I was seriously in need of a shower so we headed to a little town called Whananaki for a campsite. It wasn’t a small town size wise but it was the smallest town ever in the other sense. We figured we might go out to eat or grocery shop at least, but they had 1 store in the entire town with one gas pump. It was called “The Shop”. They had about 7 food items which were frozen or out of date and tons of fish bait, along with the randomest items. They even had 1 pair of high heels there, but no fruit or veg besides onions.

Before heading to Auckland we spent a little time at Ocean Beach in Whangarei Heads. On the way there we stopped and saw a pretty waterfall. We got there at night but walked out on the beach and the surf was perfect for Jas. I could tell he was just praying it would last until the next day. Unfortunately, it flattened out a bit but he still did get some surf. In the afternoon I was watching Jas surf for a bit and trying to get some footage (again, filmed some good surfing but none of it was him!). He got out and we were relaxing on the beach and suddenly there were dolphins swimming in the waves! There was 3 of them it looked like and they were doing synchronized swimming J. I was so excited.

On the way to Auckland I almost caused an accident having a fit to pull over and take a picture of some pink sheep. I don't know what they do to them to make them pink but its bizarre.

We booked a hotel near the airport so we could get the van sorted before dropping it off and take a shuttle to the airport in the morning. I think we both had misty eyes while we unloaded all our stuff, I know I did. That little van really started to feel like home after a month. I loved it. So easy to keep clean. No really, how amazing is it to be sleeping in a comfortable bed and be able to slide open the side door and sleep with the ocean air on your face. I’ll definitely miss it.

Anyhow, goodbye New Zealand, hello Bali. Goodbye Jason :( xoxoxox -K

3-11-10

It’s day 19 in NZ and I can’t believe how fast time is going by. We have made it to the Coromandel Peninsula and we are camping at a beach called Sailor’s Grave. There’s a nice, small hippie/surfer crowd that’s also staying here and surfing, and during the day the locals drive in to surf as well. The beach is at the bottom of a hillside, and a really cold freshwater stream cuts through a valley and runs into the ocean. The sun is really strong and hot but the land and air isn’t- when I’m sunbathing and a cloud goes by its chilly. Its just getting to be the beginning of Fall here now but the weather is still summery except for at night.

Tomorrow we are due to arrive in Auckland for a Pixies show at the Vector Arena in Auckland which is a few hours away from here. We’ve been away from cities and towns almost the whole time and the idea of going back into that world seems strange… but we are excited about the show.

A few of the places we have freedom camped are in Maori territories with tiny town centers and miles of empty beach. The Maori are the indigenous people of NZ and in comparison with Australia’s Aboriginals they really are culturally and socially intact. It’s a beautiful thing to see that almost all the territories, schools, and roads have Maori names and there is also a lot of Maori art in public areas and on signage. It seems that in the rural areas the towns are either predominantly Maori or not, but in the cities its all mixed. The Maori communities feel close knit… its like you can tell just from shopping in the grocery store and seeing everyone chatting in the parking lot.

We are hardly going to campsites at all now because we have a converter for recharging batteries from the cig lighter, and we just snaggle water from the gas station spigots. I think we love living in a camper.

I feel as if I’m saying less in my blogs than usual but we are really taking it easy and doing the same things day after day, beach, camping, driving to the next place for beach and camping and good surf for Jas. Everywhere we go is different but with the same feeling of open uninhabited spaces, cliffs and mountains and hillsides with beaches of yellow or black sand. And wind.

Our fellow campers at the moment are from Malta and UK, and one girl from Oklahoma that has been living out of the states for years and traveling. The Malta group is really into fishing and seems to be living off of fresh fish and rice which smells really good when they are cooking. Jas and I don’t have it so bad ourselves, last night we ate gnocchi and ceasar, the night before chicken burritos with all the fixings.

We made a stop a few days ago at a beach parking lot for a phone call where there was service, and suddenly about 20 flies had come into the van and weren’t leaving. We have brought them with us to 2 different campsites now and there are only 3 left. We got a flyswatter and Jason is having fun with it I think.

I paddled out for a try at surfing Mount Manganui Beach with Jas but it was too big and speedy with the sets really close together. I ended up really frustrated not being very good at duck diving with the board yet and just getting tossed around. It kind of seems pointless to try learning on Jason’s short board as well but I’m going to give it another go when the conditions are right.

I am now reading the Bhagavad Gita (contemporary translation) and I am desperate to find Lost season 5 which so far in my travels appears to have not been released here yet.

Getting excited for Bali in 10 days, but will miss this and Jas, and have not made any plans or arrangements for my stay there yet. Life without internet!

Xoxoxox K

pictures

if you feel like revisiting the older posts, pics have been updated going back to the beginning of the trip

3-5-10

My blogging exercises are feeling disjointed because the whole frequency of life here is so different for me. The landscape is overwhelmingly beautiful and it is beautiful everywhere you go. Its strange when you’re driving for hours and you just sort of stop marveling at it and just be really in the moment- its so easy to feel great when there’s beauty everywhere you look. I’m reading a really interesting book that chronicles a journey, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Keeping my perspective fresh. Jason and I are on to the second Lord of the Rings movie as well which has so much to do with a journey through New Zealand.

The routine is that we have been freedom camping on beaches about every other night or every 2 nights, then hitting a campsite for water and power. We did not spend very much time on the south island because we both felt pulled to the North because of the warm weather and waves. We arrived on the North Island in Wellington on 4 days ago and we are almost to the Bay of Plenty on the north east side of the island. This is the first decent surf we have found which has been frustrating for Jason, but he’s all smiles now.

We got a rock to the windshield yesterday and there’s a crack creeping along the middle of it, but we are pretty sure this will be covered by the ins. Policy and just hoping it holds up through the trip J.

I watched Jas surf today for the first time and I was so impressed. A little intimidated though! The surf just roars here even when the swell Is small, but I am determined to at least paddle around.

Xoxoxox K

3-3-10

Feeling so blessed to be in this place. Getting into a routine with the camper and freedom camping about every other night in some little beach nook somewhere. Its really cozy in the van and my cooking experiments are amazing! Yum!

We’ve made it to the north island after the tsunami threat which produced a three foot wave on the opposite coast from where we were, thank God. I got some sort of bug that made me want to sleep so I missed the ferry ride which is supposed to be beautiful, but I am feeling better now. We’ve been zigzagging along stopping in small towns and finding information about weather and waves, met some pretty cool Kiwis.

The van has decided that it does not have 2nd gear any more so we are waiting to get a diagnosis and repair in the am. No worries though Jas can shift from 1st to 3rd no problem. It is much warmer here in Napier, east coast central. The wind is still going but the weather reminds me of late summer Cape Cod.

I’ve been slacking on the photo front because there is just so much beauty here, if you snap everything you have too many pictures to sort. I am hoping these images are burning themselves into my memory because they are something I don’t want to forget. There is so much open, wild land here. And the parts that are developed have expanses of pasture and farmland surrounding them. We find beaches where we see hardly anyone. I have gotten the fire bug and am always insisting on a camp fire at night even though its too windy sometimes and I regret it. Ha.

Jason has been such a champ about driving even though I offer all the time. The van is tricky but he’s mastered it and takes some really windy roads nicely with no power steering.

2-27-10

Its hard to believe I have already been a week here in NZ… its going by so fast. I flew into Auckland on Sunday the 21st- I was supposed to meet Jas in the afternoon but my flight was delayed so I didn’t meet him at the hotel until almost 11pm. He was running a fever and feeling really sick but got a good nap all afternoon before I arrived, so it worked out. The room he got for us felt really luxurious to me after all the dorms and hostels, and it was so nice to lounge around in the spa and sleep in a king sized bed. We stayed undercover for a few days while Jas got better and I had some much needed RandR. We didn’t see much of the city but have plans to come back in the middle of March to see a Pixies concert so we can make it up then.

On day 3 we had to be on a 6am flight for Christchurch so it was an early start and we were both really beat when we arrived to get the camper van! The rental agent was a massive jackass and I don’t know if Jas or I really took in anything he said between being exhausted and annoyed at the same time. However, we did figure the van out after some trial and error and have been cracking up ever since competing to do the best imitation of captain douchebag. He actually told us not to drive into rivers with the van… and to pretend we were Canadian in light of the American reputation that precedes us.

This is by far the most beautiful country I have seen, and Jason and I find ourselves speechless with it as we travel across the landscape. There are mountains everywhere but they all seem to have their own character… its really funny to think about Lord of the Rings and how some of the mountains are lovely and bright and fresh, and some are dark and scary looking because they really are that way. (Jason and I have been watching the films late at night on the laptop as he has never seen them).

Our first day with the van we parked in the shade near a sweet little river and got some sleep and then some groceries and things. You wouldn’t believe the delicious things we have been eating off our little two burner propane stove! I’ve taken on the challenge of being creative with it. Last night we had a really good curry and spinach tomato omelet for brekky.

We traveled from Christchurch north to a little beach town called Kaiapoa where a pretty river runs into the sea. It was really pretty there, there was hardly anyone on the beach. It was covered in driftwood and riverstones, and the sun was so so bright. There is a huge hole in the ozone layer right over NZ so the sun is a lot stronger than we are used to. We had a swim and a sunbathe in the morning then after lunch put on some music, set up our chairs and cracked a bottle of wine next to the river. We met a really nice local guy there named Micheal that was fishing with one of his buddies and him and Jas hit it off quite well. He ended up asking us to dinner and offering us to stay at his home in Christchurch for the night which we took him up on.

Irst we headed into the city to see what there was to see there. We went to the Christchurch Cathedral which was incredibly beautiful and made me miss my mom because she really loves old churches too. We also walked through the arts district and center but it was sooo hot in the city we had to get moving out of there. Everyone had warned us about how cold the south island was going to be but we flew into a serious scorcher that lasted until we headed to the west coast.

It ended up being really great to stay with Micheal and the conversation was great, especially because he is a published author of New Zealand history and has a background in education and an interest in the social side of things. He gave us some good feedback on where to head next although the advice did include some tourist traps which we narrowly avoided.

We headed west towards Greymouth in hopes that there would be some surf-worthy conditions for Jas and some warm beach and easy rollers for me. The drive was awe inspiring and just cut right across all the central mountains. Our little van was struggling up some of those hills! We saw some people biking the pass with big backpacks and things and it was hard to believe they would make it across, it took us 3 ½ hours by car. When we got to Greymouth we found the cooler weather that everyone was warning us of and I ended up in jeans for the first time since I’ve been traveling minus the horseback riding times.
When we got to the beach the waves were huge and just hammering the coastline- way too dangerous to even try swimming. But regardless it was really beautiful scenery and nice weather for snuggling up in the van to sleep. We got a campsite so we could re-up on water, charge the batteries and have a hot shower before heading north in the morning.

When we got on the road we saw a poor thing hitching with a big pack and we picked her up. She was a nice Aussie girl headed north to do a 5 day hike inland and we took her as far as Westport where we were heading which was about an hour and a half up the coast.

Westport was much warmer and we found a perfect sneaky spot by the beach to camp last night. It was still quite windy but we parked the van against the wind and got some sun. The waves were more under control but still not surfing conditions apparently. However it was so lovely there and when the moon came up it glowed in on us and was really romantic!

Xoxoxox K

2-21-10

Sunday I got dropped at the festival and met my British friends and their friends. They had a cool setup going with all sorts of teepees and campers and tents set up across a golf course. There were about 8,000 people there I think but it wasn’t too crowded and the weather was great. We had a really great night although the later the night got the more dubious the music became. Apparently Australians LOVE house music???? Anyhow I couldn’t afford to secure myself a tent in the tent hotel, so my friends were very generous and offered me a spot in their tent.

The tent was meant for 2 (although I don’t see how it could have comfortable slept more than 1) so it was a very tight squeeze with all of us in there. We didn’t crash until late but the party people partied alll night long and into the dawn haha. We actually had someone crash and fall onto our tent in the early morning hours which was scary to wake up to. Anyhow, in the morning it was like a little oven and very smelly! I got moving because I had to find a ride to the train. As it turned out, the coaches they were supposed to have going back and forth from the festival to the closest train station (45 min drive) were nowhere to be found so I found myself camped in the parking lot with a cardboard sign, “Windsor Station PLEASE” written in red lipstick. Luckily I only sat for about an hour before a nice Australian couple scooped me and a few other stragglers and took us to the train.

When I got to Sydney I was in for another surprise. Because there was, of all things, an AC/DC concert happening in the city there was not a bed to be found in all of Sydney or its outskirts. I posted up at a laundrymat next to an internet café and while I did some laundry I had to have called at least 30 hostels/hotels/motels and was having no luck. I decided I was going to have to sit overnight at the airport and deal until my flight left at noon the next day. However, at the last minute I luckily found one backpacker that had one bed left.

Goodbye Australia, hello New Zealand.

Xoxox- K

2-17-10

Viki and I have done some riding now which has been amazing. The landscape is so incredibly beautiful and when we ride we see tons of wallabies and cattle and birds. The young horse is going really well for me and that makes Viki really happy. She’s a little nervous to get on her because there’s been some bucking incidents in the recent past, but this is young horses for you. She’s been an angel for me so far, besides the fact that she hates the girth and gets herself in a little tizzy over it.

There’s 2 or 3 goannas that hang around the property and they look like little dinosaurs. If you come too close they scurry up a tree but besides that they are very mellow and slow moving lizards. The one that enjoys hanging around my cabin is about 6 feet long and really seems to like having his picture taken.

Viki is a “keen” scrabble player and we played an intense game last night which ended really closely (but I lost!). She has cooked some really good food for us which I am so grateful for, especially because she doesn’t like meat either. I am covered in bug bites because the mosquitoes are brutal here, and go right through the repellent. There are also some HUGE spiders here which I am actually learning to be ok with- mostly because Viki is forcing me to. There was a furry one the size of my hand on the wall which she touched, and when it ran away she said, “see- they’re more scared of us”. Well I’m coping with that as they live in the house and she wouldn’t kill one. At least there aren’t any that big in the cabin!

xoxoxox K

2-15-10

2/15/10

Yesterday I packed up my things and left Bondi to meet Viki, my WWOOF host at Pennant Hills Station outside of Hawksbury. She is amazing… 60 years old, drives an ‘83 Mercedes station wagon run on biodeisel, and has bright orange henna dyed hair. We ran some errands and then met up with a few of her friends that are a part of her acapella singing group. I went with them to their practice which they have at a really really old pub called The Settler’s Arms. The building was beautiful, all made of stone and decorated with old iron farm tools. Everyone there had a dog with them.

After singing we went to her friend Gaia and Tony’s place and they cooked us an amazing dinner. We spent the night chatting over wine. It was really nice to be out of the city and in horse country. (According to Viki, this region has the most horses of any in the southern hemisphere).

The valley is incredible! There are wallabies everywhere with their little babies in their pouches, and they stand and pose for pictures holding their hands together. The little teenager wallabies are really cute also. There is so much wildlife here!

Viki has 2 horses on the property and one of them has just turned 4. Her name is Orly and she is learning the basics J. She’s an enormous black shire cross which is my favorite type. We’ve started doing ground work with her and plan to ride tomorrow if the weather holds up.

My little cabin is adorable! The front side is screened and it has a little futon with mosquito netting around it. Its nice to be out of the dorms for a change and get a little privacy. Viki lives up on a sandstone cliff formation. To get there I have to walk up a lot of stones arranged as steps and over a log bridge, its quite steep! Her house is really interesting, covered in eclectic art and photos, and she has a little yurt that she sleeps in. She runs everything off of solar power and the toilets are composting.

Viki has a little greyhound mix dog named Lola haha. Lola only has one eyeball but she’s really cute and sweet. There is also a peacock that lives on the property names Alf. He’s friendly but he loses his tail at this time of year which Viki claims gives him a temporarily bad attitude. According to Viki, there is also a python that likes to live in the roof of the house a lot of the time, but she hasn’t seen him in several weeks. I saw some pictures of him though and he’s got to be about as thick as my leg and over 10 feet. She told me not to worry he knows we’re too big to eat and besides when he eats one possum he isn’t hungry again for over a month.

Viki is an accomplished student of homeopathy and has been teaching me a lot about that sort of medicine. She “doused” me and determined what my compositional formula is, and then made me some to keep. It seems like a really complicated science and I don’t really understand how it works but I don’t believe that it can harm me so I’m giving it a shot.

Xoxoxox- K

2-11-10

2-11-10

On Monday night I checked my email in between flights to Sydney and got a message from my WWOOF host stating that she had been flooded in to the valley where she lives in Hawkesbury, and would not be able to get to the station to get my until the water went down low enough to cross a bridge that was a meter underwater. I had planned to spend the night in a hostel in Sydney anyhow, so I rolled with it.

I arrived in Sydney at about 7am and looked online for cheap hostels. I was led to the Kings Cross area of town where there are backpacker’s lodges all over. I took the shuttle in and booked a night at the first one that was available, because apparently they were very busy in the district due to the Chinese New Year celebrations that start this week.

The place was a total shithole and when I got to my dorm I discovered 3 smelly men were my roommates and it was filthy! There were pictures of naked women cut out from magazines all over the walls, holes in the ceilings, and a layer of grime covering everything. The shower had about 8 used razors on the floor amidst piles of hair and mildew. Eeew! I locked up my stuff and got the hell out of there- set off to explore the city, which ended up being really fun.

I walked about an hour from Kings Cross to the Opera House and Harbor Bridge, through the royal Botanical Gardens which were knockout. The gardens are divided into different themes and had incredible landscaping, wildlife, sculptures and statues, and lovely trees and ponds etc. I saw the Govt. Building as well which looks like a little castle. The Opera House is really beautiful, and I had a few moments where I was really wishing I was with someone to share it with.

I cheered up a lot though because on my way back through the park towards the city I put down my towel under a tree to read for a bit. I looked up into the trees and there were HUNDREDS of bats hanging from them! They were bigger bats than I have ever seen, the kind you see on Halloween paraphernalia. The size of cats I’m guessing. They looked like little fox heads with giant wings! That entertained my for about an hour or so because they change branches and fly about, and stretch their wings while they are hanging upside down.

There were also some really interesting black and white birds walking around in the park that were quite big and brave, with long curved beaks. One of the workers told me they are actually not native to Sydney but have migrated here for some weather-related reason and are considered a pest.

The city itself is very charming and there are a lot of beautiful buildings. Parts of it reminded me of San Francisco. There were loose dogs everywhere, but the funniest thing was that they definitely are not strays, but fancy little dogs with haircuts and everything just walking around like they are on an errand. The city is chock full of joggers that are in perfect shape. There are several places where you must take some seriously long and steep stairs in order to walk from one part of the city to another and the runners were going up and down them repeatedly which was amazing, because when you get to the top just walking you just about pass out from the heat and your butt cheeks are on fire.

I am experiencing a little culture shock just from the Fiji/Sydney transition. The city is very fancy and everyone is impossibly beautiful, ripped, tan, manicured, pedicured, blond, coifed and dressed to the nines. A bit intimidating for me after spending weeks in nothing but a bathing suit and sarong with flip flops. There are lots of really nice restaurants with great atmosphere and adorable coffee and ice cream shops. Most of the shops are very boutique-ey and expensive, but a lot of them have really neat handmade things like paper, candles, and jewelry that were fun to look at.

Unfortunately, the strip where my hostel is happens to be in the red light district which is only about a 3 minute walk from the areas I was describing but is entirely composed of strip clubs, pawn shops, convenience stores and hookers. Hence the cheap rates and horrid conditions. I resolved that I could make it through one night there since had already paid and figure the rest out in the morn.

One of the roommates was a young British guy of about 20 years old that I was friendly to and turned out to be a STAGE 5 CLINGER. Very nice but madly obnoxious and veryyyy immature. Before dinner I braved the dorm for a shower and when I left he was apparently accompanying me where ever I was going. I sat at a nearby hotel bar for dinner and he was just slamming down beers and chatty chatty chatty. I felt a little strange having drinks with him as he’s barely older than a lot of my clients haha.

I (by I, I mean we. Uggh.) later joined bunch of people from the hostel that were taking a shuttle about 15 minutes into the city to go to a bar called The Gaff which is allied with the hostel (meaning free beer for hostel guests). The scene was a little on the young side for me and I left right before the wet T shirt contest started and walked back to Kings Cross which took about 30 minutes.

As soon as I woke up on Wednesday I had big plans to get a train to Bondi Beach and see if it was more my scene. The clinger was clinging and seemed to be following as if he were coming on the train with me to Bondi. Luckily on my way to the train I happened by a really cool thrift/vintage clothing outdoor flea market and browsed endlessly until he began to get ants in his pants. Brilliant. He told me to meet him back in town and he would join me to Bondi so this is how I was able to lose him. I got some really good stuff for pocket change. Sydney has to be the best city ever to get second hand clothing… I got a pair of Diesel boots for 5$ and picked through a hundred other things that I wanted (but everything was a size 4) blahhh! I did get a few cute things though for 50 cents a piece.

As soon as I got to Bondi I knew it was more my speed. If I couldn’t be on the horse farm I prefer to be in a place like Bondi that has beach options during the day and right along the beach there is a skate park, shops, restaurants and bars and everything is much cheaper (except for the hostels). I spent all day yesterday on the beach which is really busy but is also huge so you don’t feel too crowded in. I went onto a really cool gallery that exhibits and sells all aboriginal artwork which is beautiful! So colorful and interesting designs, but totally unaffordable. I really wish I could have bought a piece because the money goes to the artists and the aboriginal people are in such a bad way here in Australia.

I have had several conversations about the “Aboriginal problems” with Australians. I am still learning the history but in brief, not too long after the European arrived in Australia the determined that the Aboriginals were an inferior group and set out to dissolve the race. This involved removing ALL OF THEIR CHILDREN and putting them in missionary schools in order to assimilate them.

Aboriginals have not been able to assimilate to the Western culture or cope with the introduction of alcohol and have therefore dropped to the bottom of the social food chain, and have a reputation as notorious alcoholics. Many that do live in environments that are conducive to the culture of hunting and gathering have lost the ability to do so. There is now a generation missing as well due to the prior offense of removing children from their families, so the passing down of skills and traditions has been interrupted.

Many of the aboriginals that do live in remote Western areas of Australia rely on food deliveries for sustenance which consist of primarily junk food non perishables. Their health outcomes are atrocious and they tend to die very young (in rural and metropolitan areas). This type of problem I find very interesting as it is still in the beginning stages of figuring, and there has been very little success in finding ways to create and facilitate reparation that is effective and realistic. It is, however, clearly necessary for efforts to be made as the damage has been done and done directly. It’s painful really to think about the realities of this problem and how a culture can be victimized to this point.

I find these issues really interesting but don’t know enough to say much more until I do some reading.

Xoxox -K