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.