Queenstown and Htiching

December 1, 2011

This past week has been filled with fun and adventure to say the least! I’ve met so many great people along the way. Queenstown was easily one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen in my life by far! Right in the backyard of the hostile there was a very pleasant patio with lawn chairs and a picnic table that looked out to the lake. Behind the lake was the “Remarkables”, this is a beautiful mountain range that everyone in New Zealand was raving about before we arrived in Queenstown. You can definitely see why all the Kiwi’s love it.

The first night we spent there we ended up going out and we had a couple of beers. Everyone was extremely nice and easy going. A lot of foreign people populate Queenstown because it is such a large tourist attraction. Not to many Kiwi’s actually live there.

We decided to do a hike called the Ben Loumon hike, which was a daylong track and lasted about 6 and a half hours up and down. Going up initially wasn’t to bad although I did realize how out of shape I am. Nolan and I were joking about that and we had a couple good laughs because at points we were huffing and puffing. When we arrived at the final ascending point a man and a woman that had to be in there 70’s walked past Nolan and I. They smiled and said, “Come on boys you almost got it!” I was thinking to myself how the hell did they make it all the way up this mountain…this is not easy. Good for them! Once we made it to the top I was amazed by the view. I can say that this was the most amazing view that I have ever experienced in my life. Full panoramic view of the all the mountains that surround us! You feel so small when you are at 5000 feet elevation. It was remarkable and I was so glad that I completed that hike to the top of the mountain. At the top I made friends with a couple of English fellows and one American girl. They were so nice and we ended up descending with them. It was funny because later that night when we went out for a drink we ended up seeing out friends from the hike and we had a drink with them. Pleasant surprise!

We planned on leaving Queenstown on Monday and hitching to Greymouth. That plan didn’t quite fall through because the weather was not very cooperative. We had to end up staying one more day at the hostile…that also gave us a little more time to look up host for our next destination because we didn’t really have anything lined up yet. On Tuesday we got up early and I checked my e-mail and saw a host had e-mailed me back from Greymouth! They asked if we could stay longer than a week... we couldn’t stay longer then a week because we already made plans for leaving Greymouth on December 7^th and heading to Punakaiki, which is about 70 Kms from Greymouth. The last e mail I sent her before we began our travels was just letting her know that we could only stay a week. I was not entirely sure if that was ok with her or not but we already had plans to travel up the West Coast so we figured we’d go to Greymouth and talk to her in person and see what she had to say.

Our first ride of the day took us the longest. We waited about a half an hour and then got picked up by two Argentineans. They just brought us to the next town up…just about ten minutes up the road. We then waited right outside of a very busy intersection. We knew that we would get picked up quick because this was such a prime location to hitch from. A very nice middle-aged lady by the name of Debra picked us up within ten minutes. She was so nice and we were getting such greaet vibes from here. She loved to pick up hitchers…she told us. We were told that her only condition was that we had to sign the visitor’s book. She had a little book in her car and we had to sign it and tell what country we were from. She had picked up so many hitcher’s in the past it was great! People form all over the World! We had such great conversation so she decided to take Nolan and I out to lunch. She paid for us which was so generous of her! We spoke of politics, family, and life in general. She was an interior designer and she gave us her card and told us if we ever needed a place to stay then we could stay at her house, which is about two hours from Christchurch. We might take up that offer who knows.

She dropped us off in a little town called Wanaka, which was about 6 hours from Greymouth. We just had to ride up the West Coast now. We literally waited two minutes and then two Austrian girls who were in the mid 20’s picked us up. One of them was going to study at MIT in Boston and the other girl was traveling around. They had a really spacious van so I lied down for the majority of the ride it was quite nice actually. We stopped in a couple of places and took in the views.

They dropped us off in a town just out side of Fox Glacier and then we were picked up by two Swedish people. They were brother and sister. The girl was 27 and her name was Annie. The brother was 24 and his name was Bjorn. Such nice people! They took us a couple towns up, which was a nice help. We figured it was getting late so we would walk to the nearest campground, which was about 10 miles away.

We walked about two miles and we tried hitching to the campground although it was a pretty short distance away. We ended up getting a ride form the Austrian girls that picked us up earlier! It was too funny! We were all in laughter as they asked us if we needed a ride yet again. We got to the campground and set up the tent and took amazing pictures of the sunset( I’ll be posting that soon) We met the Swedish brother and sister at the sight as well and had a nice fire that we all sat around and watched the stars. It was a great couple of days!

Now Nolan and I are in Greymouth but we are not in the hostile that we intended because the one we intended on was overbooked with helpers. We found one just down the road and they needed help so now we are here for a week before we head to Punakaki J

Bye for now J

Jon

Queenstown

Hello all,
Happy Thanksgiving! :)
It's been a while since my last post and i'm sorry for that. Last week I started working again and that was great to be back on my feet. As you know I was thinning apricots and that job was not to fun...quite boring actually. The upside to this was that you were surrounded by the most beautiful green hills and mountains. Breathtaking...
Nolan and I made the decision to leave the fruit garden and continue our adventure. Queenstown, which is the party central of New Zealand was our next choice. We hitched here yesterday and it took us three rides...not bad. All of the rides that we got were great. All the people were very nice and love to pick up hitchers. It's a great way to meet people and talk about interesting things. The first ride we got was a couple in their mid 50's. The man's name was Mark but i'm sorry to say I don't remember the woman's name. Mark was very religious and we spoke a lot about God and our feelings on religion and the afterlife. I for one am not to religious, more spiritual if anything. Regardless Mark had some very interesting things to say about God and he told us that morning when he woke up he prayed and asked to pick up hitchers later that day on his travels. He was so happy because his prayer was answered and he just had wonderful energy and a great heart. It is fun to meet people with all different backgrounds and culture and compare yours to theirs...interesting and intriguing.
Today we went on a wonderful hike all around Queenstown and I took many pictures which I am in the process of uploading on line. We plan on staying here for the weekend and then heading up the West Coast of the South Island because we were told that it is one of the most beautiful parts of the country and that we shouldn't miss it...I'm very happy about that.
Until next time!
Cheers,
Jon :)

November 20 2011

Hello everyone,
I've started to recover from the food poisoning. Yesterday I worked my first day in the orchard. Right now we are just thinning apricot trees. Really easy work. You just are taking a lot of the apricots off the trees to give the other apricots more room to grow. It seems counterproductive at some times because so many apricots are going to waste...who knows. After doing that for about 6 hours three French people...Nolan and I decided to go for a hike to try and find the river that runs through the town.
We ended up finding the river and it was gorgeous. The water was a turquoise color like i've never seen before...simply beautiful. I was thinking about swimming until I felt the temp of the water and it was freezing!
Now it is Sunday and here at the Fruit Garden everyone gets the day off. I think we may head to Queenstown next weekend to do some bungee jumping or rafting. It's crazy to think that we have already been here for three weeks going on a month. That is why we have decided to not stay in a place for to long because we want to try and see as much of the island as possible.

Fruit Garden

Hello all,
Nolan and I have arrived at the fruit garden. Sorry it has taken me so long to post but I got nasty food poisoning about five days ago and it hasn't let up yet. We hitched from Gore to here and that took us about six hours. I was very ill while doing that and I think that made me worse. I haven't worked yet because i'm ill and I have zero energy as of now.
I'll keep you all posted!
Jon

November 11, 2011

Hello all sorry its been a while since my last post.
We have been quite busy on the farm this week.
In the beginning of the week it was absolute gorgeous outside. Just a couple of clouds in the sky and a slight breeze. We were planting yams and potatoes so this was perfect weather to do that in. Planting yams and potatoes is the easiest thing to plant here on the farm so far. Lay your yam or potato about a foot apart...dig a little hole with one hand, put the yam/potato in the hole and cover it. Easy and fast. We planted thousands of those so that took up about a day and a half's work.
We harvested carrots again as well and we were quicker then last time...I washed the carrots by myself and that took a while for sure.
One of the most interesting things that we did this week was put up a tunnel house (greenhouse). This took one full day, about seven hours in the rain. Even though it was not an easy task in the rain it was still fun to see it go up. We all felt very accomplished at the end of the day. Shaun was also relieved that this got done because he said he was waiting to put it up for over three years. Normally a six person job but we made it work with four people. I was certainly impressed.
Work aside...Nolan, Ixart and I went on a hike to the top of the hill behind the garden...you have probably seen it in the pictures you can't miss it. Nolan has a little video camera and we video taped some of it. Hysterical to watch afterwords. Shaun told us about a specific route to follow to the top so we wouldn't have to run into this nasty bush, called gorse. We failed miserably with his directions and we were right in the gorse with no chance but to truck on through it. The pricker is sooooo annoying because if it pricks you...the end falls off so it leaves a splinter in your skin...almost impossible take out. I walked away with about 15 prickers in my hands and arms. Ixart and Nolan were laughing because they wore long sleeve shirts and I didn't! Not a bright decision. on my part Through the gorse we went and we eventually ended up making it to the top of the hill. Nolan and I climbed about a twenty foot tree and we could see all of Clinton and its beauty. The view was absolutely spectacular. The picture doesn't even do it justice. Being that high in the tree was terrifying. So much wind and we were at the very top so the tree was swaying back and forth...it was worth it for the view none the less.
Nolan and I are leaving Wairuna Organics today and heading to a fruit orchard in Roxburgh, about two hours away. We are going to hitch hike ouR whole way there. We are excited for that new experience.
I'll blog again when we get to the orchard. The journey continues!
Peace,
Jon

November 6, 2011 Wairuna

Hello all,
The last couple of days have been quite busy so I didn't have much time to get on the computer and blog. Everything is going very well at the farm! I finally got to meet Pia the other host. She lives in Dunedin which is a city that is about an hour and a half away. She comes to the farm on the weekends only, she is such a nice woman...very sweet and kind hearted.
Yesterday it was just Ixart(that is how you spell his name I found out) Nolan and I. Shaun was at the market selling what we had harvested earlier this week. When we woke up yesterday morning it was a full out blizzard. There was a couple of inches on the ground and the snow didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon. It was freezing! Good thing my sleeping bag works so well! (Thanks Dad) Shaun told us since the weather was going to be bad we were just going to work in the tunnel house (the greenhouse) and do some minor maintenance and weeding. Weeding is quite boring but without it Pia was telling me today all the crops would be dead because the weeds suffocate the plants and don't allow them to grow...makes sense. Ixart, Nolan and I also had to feed the calfs which is absolutely hysterical to watch. Since they are only about two weeks old they are not very bright and they make it very difficult for themselves to mother properly. After they feed they all go around and try and suck each others  private parts because they think that the milk will come from there. It is hilarious. Even though it is funny to watch, you have to go into the pen and brake it up and yell at them because if they do that they can drink each others pee and if they drink to much it will result in death. Shaun hates this habit and is trying very hard to put it to an end.
Two German girls came yesterday to start there work on the farm. They were very nice but you could tell that they were not quite going to last on the farm. They stayed... ate lunch with us and then decided that they were going to leave. They had a car... They said it was to cold and the work might be to hard for them. At least they were honest.
Today November 6th, Pia, Ixart, Nolan and I were again down in the tunnel house. I planted salad today...two rows. Pia is very good at explaining things. She shows you how to do it once, then has you try while she watches to make sure you are doing it the right way. It is effective and it gives you more confidence when you are planting a crop. Especially lettuce which they sell a lot of. The weather has been so on and off this past week you never no what to expect.
Nolan and I are thinking about moving on soon because here at the farm you don't get any days off. We want to have more chance to go explore the island...doing some camping and hiking. Who knows where we will go next. Maybe we leave maybe we stay...
I'll have pictures again soon.

Ps. If I don't have your e mail and you want pictures...comment on this post with your e mail address and i'll put you in the contact list.
Thanks!

Jon

November 3rd...Crazy Weather

November 3, 2011

Today was a great day on the Wairuna farm. When I woke up this morning the sun was so bright and gorgeous it woke me right up and made me ready for work. Before work I went out and took some pictures of the farm and its beauty. It has so much to offer. We start work at nine o clock sharp, Shaun tells us not to be late…time is very important on the farm. Today I was in the garage separating the carrots that Esart, Nolan and I harvested yesterday. There was well over five thousand of them. What Shaun had me do was take the smaller carrots and weigh them out to 600grams per bag. Then twist the bag and put a tie on in. For the bigger carrots I had to weigh those out to 1 kilogram and do the same process after weighing. This job required much patience. Since there was so much reptilian involved I made it into a breathing exercise and did some mediation although it was hard to focus the whole time. Once the carrots were all taken care of I put them into separate bins for them to be shipped off the market. Shaun them told me to help Estar plant in this large field. Estar and I did this together for about 45 minutes and then our workday was up.

The weather today was remarkable. As a said it was gorgeous and sunny this morning. As the day went on though the weather had to change at least ten or fifteens times. I saw overcast, rain, snow, and hail today…in one day! It was truly remarkable to see the weather change with in a matter of minutes. It would hail for fifteen minutes like I’ve never seen and then the sun would come up for ten minutes then it would rain! Insanity and beauty at the very same time.

There are supposed to be a couple of new WOOFERS coming today but who knows.

Peace

Jon 

Arrived at the Wairuna

Hello!
Nolan and I woke up early yesterday morning and wanted to make it to the farm as soon as possible. We walked around for a bit in Dunedin and checked out some of the sights and caught some breakfast. The people in NZ are especially friendly and it is quite refreshing. We walked about three miles to the bus station and found out that the bus didn't leave for another three hours so we had a bunch of time to kill. I was extremely tired and still pretty jet lagged so I found a gorgeous park just across the street and we hung out there, read and did some much needed resting.
Nolan realized that there was a sports bar across the street from us and the drinking age is 18 so we decided to take advantage of that. The bar was full of middle age men gambling on hoarse races and here was nolan and I drinking are first purchased legal beer. Nolan and I couldn't stop laughing and we felt kind of out of place haha.
We caught the bus and I sat next to this kid that was my age and he was in love with the fact that we were from America. We compared things back and forth about one anthers countries and he was definitely a good laugh and most defiantly a character.
Once we arrived in Clinton where the farm was we had to walk about ten mintues and then we were finally at Wairuna. It is absolutely gorgeous. (I'll be posting pictures very soon.) Shaun was quite welcoming and set us up where we would be staying...extremely unique accommodations. There is another helper here by the name of Esart...i could be butchering the spelling...he is from Spain and he is 29 years old. He was once a mechanical engineer and he saved up enough money to travel and do what he loves most. He is very insightful and very interesting guy...we all get along great.
Today we harvested over 5000 carrots from the farm. It was about a  six 1/2 work day after cleaning the carrots and selecting which were going to be sold and which were going to be fed to the pig. (He eats sooooo much) Harvesting the carrots was a great time although you are on your hands and knees and in the dirt...you have a gorgeous view of rolling hills and it is so green! Priceless views out here.
That's about all for now...i'll be back on soon to up load some pics of this gorgeous landscape here in NZ.
Bye bye for now!

Jon