Oak Tree Cottage

G’day!  

One week left in New Zealand! The host that we have been staying with is the best host that Nolan and I have had for our HelpX experience. That is saying something with ten hosts under our belts in the last four months. Nicola is such a warm-hearted person. They family is so outgoing and they love to have a good time and just have a good laugh. They have a very relaxed outlook on life. Money and things are not quintessential necessities for the Kerslake family. They just take the willingness of good people and love around them to make them happy. Having said that they do have some bumps along the road, but what family doesn’t? My point is that they are a special family that I have grown close to in the last week and a half and I can say in confidence that I will be sad to go when Monday roles around. I feel like this is what Helpx is all about. I have been asked a reoccurring question several occasions by many different backpackers. Why would you do HelpX, don’t you just work all day and sit around the house afterwards? My answer to them is no. Helpx actually is entirely different from what tone may perceive. It’s not just work for a free bed to sleep in at night and free meals during the morning and evening. It is more about experiencing another person’s way of life and way of living. I’ve learned so much in the last four months that I wouldn’t have learned sitting in a classroom in a university. I’m not saying that traveling is for everyone. Although I am saying that traveling is for me. I believe I have made one of the best decisions in my life to travel overseas and do this amazing program. I’ve learned a lot about my self along the way and the people that also live on the wonderful planet of ours. There is so much to offer out here and such little time to discover it all. I’ve grown to really love this as you can see with my blogs. I believe that the world is our playground. If we decide to take that first big step out of our comfort zone and gain the courage to book that flight and take that step onto that plane then your world can be flipped upside down. The beauty of it is that my travels our now taking a new and interesting chapter to a new foreign land. Similar to that of New Zealand but a bit different at the same time. I’m eager to head to Christchurch on Monday then fly out on Tuesday to Sydney. I have already got my next Helpx host all lined up for my next adventure to Australia! 

The past two weeks Nolan and I have just been doing serious amounts of landscaping. Cutting down trees and taking off limbs! Two chainsaws and two young men that are eager to get out and work are asses off for Nicola and Russ because they are such lovely host. Our little saying at the cottage is, “Work hard, play hard”. Basic saying indeed, but it is the truth. Nicola is a big believer in what you put into work is what you will get out of it at the end of they day. She has taken us down the coast so we could get pictures of the seals and see the rugged coastline. Also, today she took us to Yealdans Winery, which is the largest privately owned winery in the entire southern hemisphere. We had a wine tasting for free and that was really nice of her! I’m sure having a blast at the Oak Tree Cottage! 

Continuous Adventures

Hi there,

We’ve now left Ohakune and we’ve been at our new host for about three days now! Ohakune was such a great time with the horses we really loved it!

Our trip to the South Island was quite comical really. First off…Jewel’s told Nolan and I that we were going to have a really hard time hitching out of Ohakune because there wasn’t much traffic that day. Also, right outside there house where you hitch form is a 100Km stretch so the cars aren’t going slow so there is a lesser chance for them to pick us up because they have to make such a split second decision. Nolan and I have learned almost all the tricks to hitching and I think that is one of the biggest ones. Being in an area where there is room for the car to pull over and there is a slow speed limit so it gives the driver more time to make a decision. Although the odds were stacking against us for this tough hitch out of town we still got out there after we had just finished the shed that we built. Within two minutes a Maori woman picked us up! Nolan and I  were laughing because Jewel’s told us last week it took a French couple two hours to get out of the spot that we were hitching from. The woman told us that we looked friendly ! She said with my tie die shirt and Nolan and I both having long hair she said we had the look of good guys. That was nice to hear J She dropped us in a little town called Waiuru, which was great because that town is located on state highway one which runs straight down the North Island being the main highway in New Zealand. We only waited for two minutes again and this car full of middle age twenty-year-old guys picked us up. They were heading to Wellington, which was where we were going to catch the ferry. Apparently a bunch of kids were heading down to Wellington because of this big concert that was going on called Homegrown. These guys were working at the concert and they kept us laughing from Waiuru to Wellington, which was a four-hour ride.

Our plan when we got into Wellington was to catch the Bluebridge ferrry that very next morning at 2AM. There was one problem…the Bluebridge we found out only sails the 2AM ferry on the weekdays and this was a Friday night. The man working at the desk told us that we could catch another ferry with a different company called the Interislander. This is where it begins to become comical. The man also said the ferry leaves at 6:25PM and it was 5PM at the time. Nolan and I thought screw it we’ll just stay in Wellington for the night and leave tomorrow morning that was to big of a time crunch. We then ventured on over the hostile that was across the street. We asked them if that had any available space and the guy politely looked at me and gave a little chuckle. He then said, “Mate, its Homegrown this weekend every single bloody hostile in Wellington is booked.” He said well I can book you the 6:25 PM ferry its just that the shuttle from the train station leaves in fifteen minutes around 5:35. He rang a hostile in Picton in the North Island and booked our night stay there and then book our Interislander tickets. Very fast and very efficient it was great. We then ten minutes to run to the train station with our bags and catch the shuttle. We were running across the street bumping into people and laughing at the same time yelling, “We’ve got to catch the shuttle!” We made it with about five minutes to spare and we were on the ferry within twenty minutes. That hour long was like a movie the way it worked out…what a day!

We arrived in Picton that night around 10PM and went to our hostile and got a good night sleep. The next morning we hitched out of Picton and went to Bleheim where our next host Nicola and Ruessel told us that they were going to pick us up from. Mind you I hadn’t been in too much contact with her because we didn’t have Internet at the horse farm and we don’t have a cell phone. I needed to get in contact with her so I needed to find a phone. Nolan and I found a nice tree in a little park where he sat and watched the stuff as I went off in a search for a phone so we could call Nicola and see what the situation was. There was a man playing his guitar and singing on one of the street corners. He was singing really lovely country music so I decided I would take a break for my search for a phone… park a seat next to him and enjoy his music. I sat next to him as he played as he was smiling at me because he could tell I was really enjoying this. He finished playing his song and he just thanked me for stopping and listening. We never exchanged names but we just began to talk. Asking me where I was from and how long I was in New Zealand for…the basic questions. I told him I really liked his music! I then asked him if he new where a telephone booth was where I could make a call from. He told me Blenheim unfortunately didn’t have telephone booths they only had stores with payphones in them and it was after there normal operating hours. I thought to myself, shit well I’m out of luck on this one. He simply reached into his pocket and gently placed the phone in my hand. “There you go mate, just don’t run off with it I’m too old to be chasing after people”. He smiled. I called Nicola and she told me that she couldn’t pick us up until tomorrow night at around 5pm because she was in Nelson visiting family. I thought dam now we have to spend another 25 bucks on a hostile. I wanted to camp but the man playing the guitar told me that it wasn’t a good idea because there was a lot of local gangs in the area that like to mess with people. So now my new mission was to find a hostile. I walked back up town and found a hostile. Then I walked back downtown and told Nolan and we had to walk back and hang out there for the night.

We met some German guys about our age. Three of them in total. They had been living at the hostile four three weeks trying to make some money at the local vineyards. They wanted to drink that night so we agreed. They didn’t want us to pay so they went out and bought a bunch of booze and we “got on the piss” as the Kiwi’s would say it. It was a hell of a night with lots of laughs and some serious fun. When ever we would make a cheer the German’s would say. Ok America you need to learn with us…share make fun! Hahah it was hilarious and they loved saying it.

Nicola and Russel picked us up the next day. Nicola and Russel are easily some of the best host that we have had and I have only been here for three days. They are just such open people and very full on! Nolan and I fit in very well with out outgoing personality they love it. They have a 21 year old daughter and an 18 year old daughter that are super nice and we really enjoy the company. We have had so many laughs in the last couple of days. Especially explaining our night with the Germans drinking. We nearly had them falling on the floor in laughter.

Laura Jean who is the eldest daughter is a professional chef so she makes AMAZING food J I love it!

The work has been really fun too. We have been chain sawing down trees and using the truck and playing with the dogs. The two dogs run along side the truck when we are bringing the tree limbs and thing to the pit. They have such a great life those two.  I really feel so at home at this host! Nicola is such a sweetheart J I’m glad that we get to spend our last two weeks in New Zealand at such a special place.

Ohakune Horse Farm

Hello to all!

Mid was through February and its hard to believe. Only about three weeks left in New Zealand. We’ve now been at the horse farm for a week and a half and we plan to leave by Thursday. I found a host that seems interesting to us. They are in the South Island in a place called Marlborough. They need help with some building and things so we thought we could be of some assistance to them. We figured we would venture to the South Island now since we only have about three weeks left and we have to get to Christchurch eventually because that is where our flight leaves.

This week has been great here at the Horse Farm. I’ve ridden the horses a couple of times. One time I rode a horse named YO-YO bear back and I felt a bit like a cowboy hahaha. Jewel’s who lives at the farm as well is an experienced horse rider so she has been showing me the ropes. There is something very liberating about riding a horse. I can’t quite explain it but I really have grown to enjoy it. I also am not as timid around the horses like I was before.

All week Nolan and I have been working on covering the greenhouse that Sue and Don have. They wanted us to cover it with large slabs of wood and give it a unique look to it. There vision is to turn the greenhouse into a reception area for the costumers who want to come and ride horses. It is really shaping up and it is going to look really great when it is done!

Goldey and Snoop were put down today unfortunately. It was sad to watch them go but I guess that it was the only solution to the problem. Snoop went after the goat again two days ago when Nolan and I were spraying the antibacterial medicine on its ripped off ear. Nolan had a handle to an axe and just raised it at Snoop and he ran away. Good thing because that goat was petrified. I am a really big fan of the goat J she is very tough and still so friendly so Nolan and I like to protect her haha. 

Long Hitch!

Wow…this past week has turned out to be a really great time. In Muriwi the work was really quite easy and mostly fun. Martin is an older guy probably in his 50’s who is just a kid in a man’s body. He surfs and skateboards and lives a really simple life with he and his family owning the surf shop. Our work consisted of a couple different things. Picking up cut grass, washing and cleaning out the company van, weeding, digging trenches, and pulling out fencing. Mostly physical labor but Nolan and I both really enjoy those types of things.

The day before we left the waves were really good! Low wind and they were just rolling in really smooth and they were just about head high. After work I went out and the waves were breaking so far out. It took me about fifteen minutes just to paddle out and by the time I got out there I had to rest. Just sitting out there waiting to catch my breath as the waves past by me I was taking in the beauty of the New Zealand waters. It is really special out here. I ended up surfing for about three hours and caught some amazing waves! The waves were bigger but they were rolling in so smooth that your barely even had to paddle twice and you were in it. Powerful and graceful it was a beautiful combination. I was so exhausted by the end of the session.

Nolan and I decided to leave Muriwai on Friday and get going to our next destination. Nolan had e mailed a farm on the lower South Island a couple of weeks ago and they juset got back to us and informed us that they had room for us at there place. Worked out quite nice actually. This was going to be a very long hitch from Muriwai, which is actually North West of Auckland and is pretty close to the top of the North Island. We had a pretty serious hitch ahead of us! We began hitching at 11AM. We got a total of ten rides! Our last ride of the day was quite comical really. (Not so much at the time) We were in a town called Waiuru and it was about 8PM. The sun was going down and it was raining. Nolan had just got off the phone with the host that we would be staying with. We had thought we were only about 25 KMs from the house that we were going to be staying but it turns out our host’s were at there other house in Palmerstone North which was another 200 KMs south of where we were. We thought we were screwed at this point standing out in the rain and it was almost dark. We got picked up by a Maori truck driver that told us that he wasn’t going to let us stand out in the rain all night and not get a ride. His truck route was going to Palmestron North so that was perfect for us! We rode with him for two hours and we met up with Sue who is our host on the side of the road in a town called sanson which was closer to her house then Palmesrtion North. We eneded up getting to there house after all was said and done at around 10:30PM. Longest hitching day yet! Sue was very nice she cooked us a large dinner at 11PM because we hadn’t eaten since 12 the afternoon.

It’s February 5^th 2012 and I’m resting after knocking off a first time experience off of my list! I just got finished riding a horse. It may not seem like that big of a deal to some but it was really wild for me! Nolan and I are now working on a horse trekking farm. It is in the lower North Island in a little town called Owakuni. The horse farm is home to over twenty horses. All who are very well trained and quite calm. The horse that I rode was named Mia and she was one of the calmest horses so I was told. Riding wasn’t to difficult it was just an experience being so high off the ground and noticing that it was quite a ways down if I was to fall. Nolan and I had free range to do what we want with our horses in a smaller size paddock. We were riding side by side and I felt like all I needed was an old Smith and Wesson on my hip and I would have made the perfect cowboy haha! When the horse began to get a nice trot I was just being bounced up and down and I felt really awkward almost as if I was doing it wrong. Even if I was it was still a great time first experience.

Don and Sue don’t live in Owakuni on the weekdays. They live in Palmerston North where the manage another business. They are both very busy people! Meaning Nolan and I are left at the farm on our own. There HelpX system works a bit different from what we are used to. They have a white board and they simply write our tasks for the week. They go back home and they just leave us to it. We have lots of freedom and that is really cool. They allow us to ride the horses whenever we want and take care of the rest of the animals that are on the farm.

It is now February 6, 2012 and this morning I had quite an interesting experience. I woke up and began my daily routine with about a 8AM wake up, coffee, and some cereal. I decided shortly after that I would take the dogs for a walk and let them run around the farm. Sue told me that they need excericise and that the need to run around daily. Once I let them out I fed them there breakfast and began my walk around the farm. The dogs were acting great! Running around coming to me when I  wistled and called ther names it was really sweet. We walked into the stabe and they were sniffing around. After they ran into the closests paddock and were barking at the horsese which they are not supposed to do. I called them back…when I did they took a big loop and ran at the goat that was to my left and started nudging it. I wasn’t to worried until Snoop, one of the dogs bit the goat. As soon as snoop bit the goat the other dog who’s name is Goldey jumped on the goat and they both began to bight it. Goldey latched onto the goats ear and then it began to get serious. Goldey was ripping the goats ear off and Snoop was pulling on the goats leg. I ran over and they goat was yelping as it was completely defenseless. The goat was tied up so it had no where to run to or get away. I was really panicing beasue if I didn’t do something this goat was surley going to die. I ran and grabbed Goldey and started chocking him and puncing him in the face and tell them to get out of it. I was screaming for Nolan because he was still in bed. He jumped the fence and ran over as Goldey wouldn’t let go of the goats ear. Goldey ripped the goats ear right off of its head and I picked the dog up and smacked it head. Nolan ran after Snoop and grabed him and got him off the goats leg. We both picked the dogs up and hrew them in their kennel. The goat had is whole ear ripped off and a wounded back leg. I was really shaken up because I’ve never seen dogs act like this before. The goat is ok and Sue told me she is going to put Goldey down. It was so strange because they were such cool dogs until they got around the other animals. Don told me farm dogs should know better and he can’t have this on his farm. What a wild experience.