Nelson

Hey guys! Merry Christmas to everyone I hope everyone has or had a wonderful day!

Nolan and I really lucked out when it came to our host’s for the past ten days. We usually only stay for one week but Eva and Ian are so pleasant we just lost track of time and today is our tenth day. We worked at Eva’s house for six days doing mostly work outside. Shoveling clay was out first task, which was a result from the recent flood in Nelson. Eva told us that we just happened to come at the perfect time because there was so much to do at the house. We cut down a couple big branches off a tree one day. Eva was thrilled with the idea that we could use a chainsaw and we weren’t going to cut our limbs off J That job in particular was really fun…Nolan and I love doing work like that together. (Electric chainsaw’s can be really frustrating at points!) We also weeded, mowed, stacked wood. All jobs that made the outside of the house look a bit tidier, it really made Eva pleased!

The deal was…two hours of work per day we would get accommodation with no food. That was ok with us because two hours a day really isn’t much at all! Eva and Ian are such generous people and they offered us dinner a couple of times. They even took Nolan and I out to Indian food once and that was very pleasant. We stayed at Eva’s house for about six days. Eva told us that Ian’s house needed a lot of work on the outside as well. He told us that he would feed us and give us a place to stay for a couple of hours of work per day. It was perfect because we needed a place to stay for Christmas and we were concerned that we might not have one. Ian lived about forty minutes outside of Nelson in a town called Motueka. His house needed a BUNCH of work. The lawn needed to be mowed because it was about up to our hip. Weed whacking, stacking wood! He was really great. He made us the best meals, he truly was an amazing cook and I let him know nearly every meal we had. Almost every night Ian would go back to Nelson to Eva’s house to spend time with her, which meant that Nolan and I had the house to ourselves and that was quite fun. He is a computer engineer so he swore by his electronics and he had an absolutely amazing sound system. Nolan and I took serious advantage of that! J It was a very relaxed place to work at because he was very rarely there. He would just call in the morning and tell us what to do over the phone and we would get on with it. It was nice because Ian and Eva really trusted our work and that made us feel great! Eva told Nolan and I that we were the best WOOFERS that she had ever had. We felt really great about that!

 On Christmas Eve Ian took us to this river that was about a half an hour from his house. We had worked all day so he told us that it was time for some fun. On the rivers edge there were big rocks. One rock was about a ten-foot jump and the other was about a twenty-foot jump into the water. We all jumped off the rocks and it was great. I jumped off the twenty foot high one and I felt like the man. Haha. Then Ian gets up on the twenty-foot rock and said, “Jon, that jump was quite nice…but I prefer the dive.” I was thinking in my head you have to be kidding me! Mind you, Ian is almost sixty years old and he has a partially broken collarbone. He dove in with no hesitation. He is a crazy guy! HAHA it was FUN times!

Christmas rolled around before we knew it and Ian gave us the day off. Eva called early in the morning and told us to be ready at twelve because we were going to lunch at a little community that they used to live in called Riverside. Then in her quiet, adorable voice she said, “Oh Jon, by the way look behind the mattress in the second room, Ian got you and Nolan a Christmas gift. Two six packs of beer and a bit of Chocolate. Merry Christmas darling.” That made our day. Just the fact that they thought about us made me feel very happy and thankful. We couldn’t have thanked them enough.

Eva picked us up and we went to the lunch and it was wonderful! Everyone was in such a great mood and we ate plenty of food. Eva went to her friend’s house for tea and Nolan and I went for a walk. We found a pond with rafts and boards. We went swimming and the water was so warm! Swimming on Christmas day…who would have thought!

Our next destination is Wellington for the New Year. Wellington is on the North Island so we are catching the ferryy in Picton. It is supposed to be one of the most gorgeous ferry rides in the world so I am really looking forward to that! Our ferry leaves at 2 PM so we wanted to get to Picton and stay a night so we wouldn’t have to rush from Nelson on the 29^th.

Nolan and I left this morning on the 28^th and hitched out of Nelson. This guy who was from Long Island New York picked us up and he had a very heavy accent! He was hilarious. Raving on and on about the hang over he had from the night before he made Nolan drive to Picton instead of himself. It was great that we were both heading to the same place. He had some interesting stories to tell to say the least. He was very kind.

We are staying in a hostile tonight and we leave the South Island tomorrow. We plan to stay in the North Island for one month. We’ll see J

PS. This post was written over two days. (just incase you get confused)

Cheers,

Jon

Punakaiki/Nelson

We left the rainforest in Punakaki after a wonderful stay there. There was one minor issue. Nolan and I had no place to go from Punakaiki. We decided out best bet was to head south again and go back to Greymouth where we were helping last. At least there we had free internet so we could e mail host and try and find out what our next destination could be. We really wanted to head north from there and try and get to Nelson or Golden Bay for the holidays because we heard from several people that this was the place to be.

Hitching from Punakaiki to Greymouth was quite funny really. It just so happened that a massive storm front came in the day we had to leave. Therefore it was poring rain with really fierce wind. It was comical standing out in the poring rain with our thumbs up. We hoped that someone would feel bad for us and pick us up out of sheer pity J. Unfortunately we waited for about 45 minutes and we thought our luck had just about run out. Then a man pulled over and asked us where we were going. He too was heading to Greymouth to visit a friend so it worked out nice. The ride back to Greymouth was very cool! The sea was surging with such force and the waterfalls were as fierce as I had ever seen them. The man that picked us up was a host for helpx and woofing so we had that in common. He lived on the same road as the Te Nekau retreat where we had last been…. What a coincidence. He was telling us that this storm was pretty nasty and a lot of the south island was taking a big hit. He brought us right to the door step of the Neptunes backpackers where we had helped two weeks ago… it was perfect we couldn’t have thanked him enough in the nasty weather. We asked our old boss Ami (more of a friend) J if she had any available woofing spots for the next couple of days while we looked for our next host in the Nelson Golden Bay area. She gave us one day’s work, which was great because we got to stay in the hostile for a free night! Nolan and I searched and searched for a place and we couldn’t find anyone! All the host’s were booked over the Christmas/ New Years time. We thought that we might have to spend a week camping out somewhere…that was our last resort. I called about 15 different host’s. The last person that I called was a woman by the name of Eva Pick…located in Nelson. She had a quaint home stay that seemed appealing to me. She told us that she was more than willing to host Nolan and I. She asked if we could be in Nelson no later then 9 PM that day…it was 1 PM. We needed to get a move on. Nolan nor I new if we were going to make it to Nelson in that amount of time. It was a race against the clock! Quite fun really J

As soon as we were at our first spot to hitch from it started to rain…figures. Luckily we only waited fifteen minutes and a young German couple picked us up. They told us that they could bring us to Reafton which was about 75 K’s up the road. Works for us! Both of them worked on movies. The guy interestingly enough was a costume designer for the new movie The Hobbit which is coming out next year… it is apart of the Lord of The Rings series. The girl was working on an independent film. When we arrived in Reafton it was almost like a ghost town. No cars and very little people. We waited for about 15 minutes and we saw a red Jetta that passed us in Greymouth where we first started hitching from. We waived at each other and got a good laugh. They ended up turning around and picking us up. Laughing the man rolled down his window and said, “Hey didn’t we pass you about 70 K’s back?” We answered yes as he and his girlfriend chuckled they popped the trunk and told us to throw the bags in the back and to hop in! They were from Zimbabwe and had been living in New Zealand for 7 years. He told us that he could drop us off about 50 k’s up the road at a really good place to hitch. He was worried that we were going to get caught in the rain again because there were nasty clouds that looked like they would dump some serious rain at any moment. They were so nice and genuine and full of questions…mostly about the states and what it was like. We got dropped off in what we felt like was the middle of nowhere. We were about 260 Kilometers away from our final destination, which was Nelson. We waited about forty-five minutes praying that the clouds wouldn’t un leash the rain. Then a German couple picked us up. The man’s name was Ben and I don’t remember her name unfortunately. They were a middle aged couple with no children and had been married for 10 years. They were some of the happiest people that we have met this trip. They were full of laughter and fun. They have been traveling together since their marriage begun and they have been all over the world. Ben said he knew what it felt like to be a hitchhiker so he enjoys picking people up because he had been in that position before. They took us all the way to Nelson and dropped us off right at the doorstep of our next host’s house. It was lovely and we were so thankful for that.

We knocked on the door and Eva came to the door to greet us. She is so sweet and kind I can’t even really put it into words. She offered us tea and coffee and we accepted the offer. We also met her partner Ian he is equally as nice and generous. She gave us a brief run down on what she expected and what we were to expect. Two hours of work per day for accommodation. Nolan and I both got our own room, which was a first. Since Nelson just had a recent flood there was work that needed to be done on her patio in the back of the house. Eva lives right on bottom of a big hill so there was a lot of clay and mud that covered the patio…Nolan and I took care of that. We also have been doing things like weeding…stacking wood. Today we cut down a couple of broken limbs off and tree with the chainsaw then cut the rest of the wood for the fireplace.

Eva and Ian love to sing and have a great time and so do Nolan and I! They offered to take us to Gospel to sing and dance with them. They are not religious they just love singing. That is what I love about them so free and open-minded. It was a wonderful experience. The people were so open and nice. J

We plan on staying here until the 22^nd and then we will go to Ian’s house, which is about twenty minutes outside of Neslon. He said he’d host us and give us food and accommodation. There is a lot of landscaping that needs to be done there.

So that is what has happened this last week in a nutshell J

Cheers,

Jon

Greymouth and Te Nekau

Our time in Greymouth was great! The manager of the hostile, Ami is her name, was super cool! She was from England and she was also doing some traveling through New Zealand and landed that job at the hostile four days prior to our arrival. The work was quite easy and she was very laid back about it. Making beds…folding laundry…cleaning the kitchen…bathrooms. All the work usually took no more than two and a half hours so it was usually a really short day with lots of down time. Greymouth unfortunately, doesn’t have to much to offer when it comes to tracks and things like that. Although it does have a beach within about fifteen minutes walking distance so you can hang out there and catch some really gorgeous sunsets.

This HelpX experience was definitely the most laid back of all so far. Work was super easy and the people were really genuine and nice! I had several conversations with another man who also helped run the hostile. His name was Rodney and he was very wise and lovely to talk to. The night of my birthday we must have spent two hours talking about life and what makes people happy and how to stay happy. Being generous caring and empathetic. He concluded in his life the thing that he can always do in order to make him self happy is do things for others to make them feel better about themselves or just a simple smile he told me can go a long way. These are all things that people have said to me in the past but the way he was conveying his message to me was very inspiring. He was a wise and gentle soul.

Nolan and I hitched from Greymouth to Punakaiki…just about forty minutes up the road. One of the closer places we had hitched to. Again it was very easy and successful. The second couple that picked us up that brought us into Punakiki were in there mid 60’s. They were local kiwi’s that had recently retired and decided to explore there homelands! It was great to see them in awe just like we were driving up the west coast. What also made this ride unique was what they were driving! It was an old style coach bus turned into an RV! Ken, who was driving the bus, told me that he and his son had been working on it for the last six years and they just got it up and running and ready for traveling. He seemed proud and he had every right to be! I even got a couple of pictures of it. Definitely the coolest vehicle we had been picked up in so far. The couple dropped us off about 4 kilometers from the Te Nekau hostile. Nolan and I took the walk and enjoyed it thoroughly. Puakaiki is right on the coast with large waves and the rainforest that surrounds you. I had never been in an environment like this! Little Weka’s running around right under your feet! A Weka is a little bird just about the size of a rabbit that has no wings but can run fairly fast. They are entertaining to watch and if you stay still they will eat right out of your hand. When we arrived at the hostile we were stunned. Te Nekau is literally nestled in the rainforest. Everything is so alive with so many noises and beautiful smells. Here I have met the first true Maori. She is one of the managers of the hostile…her name is Bunty. She is so sweet and kind and still takes many of the Maori traditions seriously. We wake up everyday around nine and work starts at ten. There isn’t too much to do…make the beds clean the toilets and the houses. Not all that bad. Sometimes Bunty will have us do some odd jobs here and there. One day I had to do landscaping in the rainforest where the houses are set back. It’s a very unique set up here. When I was doing the landscaping it was really hard for me to believe that I was here… in the rainforest amongst all the beauty. I feel so lucky.

Everyday Nolan, Moritz, and I take about a fifteen-minute walk through the forest to the beach that is very close by. The beach is spectacular. Water falls…cliffs…massive rocks you can climb…caves and really great wildlife. Tomorrow Moritz and I plan to wake up early so we can take a walk to the beach to see the penguins and dolphins that supposedly come out in the morning. This is what Bunty told us. We trust Bunty’s word. Moritz is from Germany and he is a really cool guy. He played basketball so we talk about that a lot and the NBA. He makes me laugh and that is important! That is one of the greatest parts about traveling for me so far. I meet so many people from all these different countries with different stories to tell and life to talk about. I feel so happy to be here with this unique opportunity.

We have also taken the journey to the famous pancake rocks! I really can’t even explain it. I have many pictures that I am going to post in about a week. After that we explored a cave with our headlamps. The cave went so deep. It was so crazy in there. Just for fun we would all turn off our headlamps at once and we would be standing there in COMPLETE darkness. I couldn’t even see my hand if I held it right in front of my face. There were glowworms in the cave too! Little worms that literally glow in the dark. Amazing to see glowworms in the first cave that I had ever explored J

A couple of days ago I took a walk down to the beach and I was sitting on the rocks looking out to the horizon. I was watching the waves smash into the rocks with such power but such grace. I took time to really think about my journey so far and all I could do was smile. I am so glad I took this year to do something like this. It is simply life changing.  I’ve just been living day by day not knowing what I’m going to get into next.

I would just like to thank all those around me that made me realize that this was possible. I can’t stress enough how great of a time I’m having on my travels.  

Jon