Thursday, December 28, 2006

Two tummy aches and a map book

We've both got some grungy feeling tummies right now. The kids at Keri and Phillip's place were ill the night before we left. Perhaps we took some of the germs with us. What can we do for our poor tummies? Cookies? Some baked goods? Hmm... A lamington? Hmm... Maybe just some good old fashioned soda crackers? Yeah, I guess so... With our bellies on the rocks, we're getting out the old map book and heading south through Auckland, down towards Hamilton, and maybe to Tokoroa to see Hans. We'll see how far we get with these tummy troubles. Where did we put the crackers?

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

The most unusual Christmas

Yes, I must say, this has indeed been the most unusual Christmas I've ever had. To begin with, it's super hot out, there are no decorations around hardly at all, and the odd person will say to us, "Happy Christmas". On Christmas Eve, Beth and Lena and I stayed up late, drove into Whangarei and attended a Catholic Midnight Mass (Beth is Catholic). The most unusual part was when they sang Silent Night in Maori. At the end, nearing 2:00AM, we ate a piece of Christmas cake and then toodled off back to the farm and snuggled into our beds. The following morning, we made pancakes with fruit salad with Keri, Phillip, Oscar, Elli, Arla, and Rufus (the dog). It reminded me of my dad making a big Christmas day breakfast. Keri and Phillip had told us previously not to buy the kids any plastic toys or anything, but I had already begun a toque-making factory in the Crusader campervan. Everyone in the family received a hand-made toque and we also printed that great picture of Arla (on my blog below). Keri was so touched she cried and gave me the warmest hug. It melted my heart and I thought, "Yep, this is the true meaning of Christmas..." Beth and Lena and I decided that a small hike and a trip to the beach were the best activities to do on a sunny, 30 degree Christmas afternoon, so we went to a place called the Whangarei Heads and climbed up a cool little mountain with spectacular views of the entire area. After the hike, we kept driving with no aim in mind, and arrived at an amazing place called Ocean Beach (how original, I know), but it was so beautiful! Upon admiring the hot sand and the cool waves, Beth noticed something in the water... A shark?.... Nope, two dolphins body surfing in the waves right before us! Wow! What a sight! We felt so lucky to have seen these playful and beautiful dolphins - a present for us all. Christmas dinner consisted of tuna fish sandwhiches. Mmm-mmm... Not quite the turkey dinner we're all used to, but it was satisfying, none-the-less. Overall, a good day... ... Taking a step back here for a minute - before I left Canada, my grandmother was very ill and in the hospital. I spent some time with her before I left for New Zealand, knowing that it was possible she might not be alive when I returned to Canada. I've been getting updates during my travels this past month, and on Christmas Eve, my dad said that she hasn't got much longer to live. During the first part of the hike we did on Christmas Day here, I was thinking about my grandma, my mom, and my Aunty Joan. I knew they were all together... In my heart, I was sending love and warmth to them, sending my supporting and healing energy outwards. In my mind, I said to my grandmother, "Don't be scared" and before I could finish my thought, a voice came back clearly saying, "I'm not scared". It was so beautiful, and so clear and comforting. The most beautiful and powerful part of this story is that I later found out that my grandmother had passed away at the exact same time I had experienced this connection with her. I become quite emotional when I think of this sharing we exchanged, this comforting feeling that she is going some place better, some place where her soul can laugh and play... This made me think that perhaps the sight of the two dolphins playing in the water was maybe a sign that grandma was now in a place where she is free and uninhibited, playing in the riding waves, and back with her partner, her true love. How lovely.... We love you, Grandma.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Keri and Phillip's Farm

We arrived at Keri and Phillip's farm on Dec 21st, I think. Days seem to fly by. Keri makes our lunch, and we make dinner. This is a photo of our first dinner at the farm. I figured my cuisine professional friends, like Brett, would appreciate the presentation style. This is our humble abode for this week. One caravan called "The Crusader" and one small shed with a make-shift kitchen. It's awesome! The work we've been doing has mostly been mulching around trees. Phillip got some old hay delivered to use as the mulch, and we quickly discovered that the rotten stuff was a bit on the really stinky side. It's too bad we spread the smelly stuff all over the garden in front of our caravan, especially since the prevailing wind was causing the stench to come right into our bedroom. Closing the windows to the caravan was not only to stop the smell from evading our space, but also prevented the mosquitos from coming in to prick our arteries. During lunch time, we've been chillin' out with the three awesome kids. Here's Beth double-fisting it with Arla in one arm and pushing Elli with the other. Arla is the cutest baby I've seen in a long time. She's just learned to crawl today! What a trooper! Man, she's so cute, you just want to hold her to see her smile. After our work yesterday, we went to a beach town called Pauia (I think that's how you spell it). I did yoga for a while and Beth and Lena walked the few kilometers along the beach. This is a picture of the bay and the beach is over the hills and out to open ocean. Upon returning to The Crusader, the sun was about to set, so we walked up the hill to get a better look and I took some great photos of the fields and the setting sun. The three chocolateers. We all love chocolate. It's quite dangerous, really. I've made a solemn swear not to eat unnecessary sweets for the next week. Hmmm... what am I classifying as an unecessary sweet? That I'll leave up to last minute decision upon being offered random treats. One last thing... The stars out here in the country are so beautiful and clear. I can't help but stand in amazement and wonder when I stay up late enough to see the night sky. And the only thing I recognize is Orien's belt, and part of the milky way. The rest of the constellations are new and delightful, and I must really try to stay up past 9:00 PM to be in the presence of such wonder more often.

Omapere

We stopped in Omapere to look for a place to *maybe* sleep in our cars. But the rain was pounding so heavily that we decided it was best to just spend the twenty bucks for a dry bed and a nice kitchen at the Globetrotters Hostel. After the perfect bowl of soup and sandwich, I went for a walk on the beach to take some pictures of the rain clouds. I stumbled upon an overturned car. Beth showed up and I began to experiment with my camera by twisting the lens as I pressed the shutter button. I like the effect! I like the effect on the sunset too.... The following morning, we got up at 5:30 AM to go to the lookout to see the morning light come. It was cold and windy, but beautiful... Later that day, we stopped at another lookout on the main highway to have a hood picnic. It was the best lunch we've had in a while. We found these potato chips we really like, and now we can't stop eating them.

The Kauri Trees

We got booted out of Pete and Sabrina's like a mother nest pushing her little one's out into the real world. The rainy world. We drove into Kataia to refill on supplies and then said, "Adios" to the strange town and headed south to the famous Kauri tree parks. On the way, we had to take a small ferry ride. Bobbi appreciated the floating break from the curvy roads. We ate crackers and had a few laughs at my attempt to dance in my slippery shoes. Just before the town of Omapere, we stopped to do a short hike up to a waterfall and some Kauri trees. It was raining, but felt like a beautiful rain forrest, kind of like home. The Kauri are New Zealand's biggest and oldest trees. They are indeed big, and have a majestic, wise, and kind feeling about them. They definitely deserve a capital "K".

Sunday, December 17, 2006

After a while, the smell goes away

My body is smelly, dirty, sweaty and awesome! Beth and I are getting used to being non-clean individuals. We reak like garlic from the harvesting we have done the past few days. Picking garlic is actually pretty fun, especially when I am listening to the band "Barley Wik" (a sort of pop-ish folk band) on my ipod. After the pickin's done, we tie groups of garlic to wires across the ceiling of the garage. I'm the only one tall enough to reach the ceiling, so I became the knot-girl.
I took a few photos of the farm we're staying at.

The main house:

Sabrina and Beth on the porch:
The kitchen...The German WOOFer, Lena: The scary as all heck doll in the living room...
That doll creeps us out. Ugh.
Well, we've made it through a week here with the girls and Pete and Sabrina and the garlic. All three of us (Beth, Lena and I) are leaving tomorrow to go check out some old forests and camp a few nights before we head to Whangarei (pronounced "Fang-ger-ay") to stay at a new WOOFing farm.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Barry, the accordian player

As we were driving up to the farm, the radio was playing "Should I stay or should I go now" by the Clash... Sign of what's ahead?.... Upon arrival at the latest WOOFing farm, I made homemade mayonnaise while listening to Barry, this old dude from down the road, play the accordian. He was really good! I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Then I tried my hand at making whipped cream. No one told me that if you whip it too long, the whey and the fat separate and you end up with.... butter. I learned this the hard way, but the butter we made was fantastic: garlic and onion butter. Lena is another WOOFer staying at the farm. She's a very sweet German, who we adore. The owners are wonderful folks, Pete and Sabrina, and they have two little girls. One of them was nice enough to bring a fresh cow's eyeball into our room (they butchered a cow that afternoon). She left it for us on the table and then began touching the door, the flashlight and almost Beth's water bottle! For Beth and I, two self-proclaimed germ-a-phobes, it was quite a test of our ability to remain sane. "Where's the hand sanitizer?" And to further our interesting adventures on this farm, we had none other than curried lamb for dinner last night!! At first, we thought it was the fresh cow from this afternoon, but it didn't taste quite right. Bad cow? Suddenly, I realized it was LAMB! We were too polite to tell them we didn't really like lamb. Dee's solution was to plug her nose while eating it, and Beth's solution was to put into small bits on the side of her plate. Successful methods, and definitely necessary! I'm getting better with my germ issues. I barely flinched when Pepita (the littlest girl) coughed six centimetres from my face. We haven't had showers much at all, which is really saying something for Beth and I, so we're getting used to this farm life.... sort of.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Lamb, anyone?

Yesterday was a great day. After our work, Beth and I went to the beach and relaxed. I did an hour and a half of yoga. So nice.
I took photos of the oranges at Gerlinde's: Beth took a swing near the river: And we bottled some beer:
Last night, we had the best pizza EVER. Homemade pizza dough, plenty of selected toppings including feta cheese, and cooked in the dandiest outdoor pizza brick oven. How sweet is that? SUPER SWEET! This morning, we're getting ready to leave Gerlinde's farm and head to the next one. Beth just informed me that we are leaving just in time because there is a lamb in the slow cooker, and both Beth and I cannot stand the smell of lamb cooking. Yuck, pah-tooie, and gross me out. I suppose we came to the wrong country. We've had such a great time at our first WWOOFing experience, and we're looking forward to the next destination: Long Flat Bottom on Takahue Road near Kaitaia (still in the far north). The farm grows potatoes and garlic. Mmmm-mmm. Everything is going really well with the exception of minor sunburns.... Beth... (hah hah hah). We'll buy some more sunscreen before hitting the next farm.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Surfing Hostel, Lighthouse, and WOOFing

The other night, Beth and I stayed at the coolest little hostel in Ahipara (at the south end of 90 Mile Beach). We walked the beach for a few hours on the afternoon we arrived. The locals drive their cars over the sand and rocks on the beach to get to the best surfing spots. We even saw a tractor on the beach! Beth made a new friend, but he was too big to travel with us in our car.The following day, we drove up to the tip of the northern island: Cape Reinga. The lighthouse was nice, and had a mailbox for postcards, but the lighthouse is not as big as the one in Peggy's Cove, NS. Next to the lighthouse was a big sign post with the directions and distances to major cities, and apparently Vancouver is 11,222 km away from that point. We had lunch at a little beach east of the lighthouse where we had to fight the sea gulls from stealing our tuna sandwiches. The sea gulls make the grossest head movements that resemble someone gagging. Ewe. It was a nice addition to our lunch time experience. Shortly after, the tour busses piled in one after the other, so we beat it on out of there in the nick of time.Here are some more photos from the trip to Cape Reinga...
Our next destination was our first WWOOFing experience (Willing Workers On Organic Farms). We drove down to Honeymoon Valley to meet Gerlinda and her two kids (13 and 20 years old). The house is really awesome, and very different to what you would see in Canada. It kind of looks like a house that belongs in Hobbiton where the house emerges from the hillside, and grass grows on the roof. Some of the walls in the house are made out of homemade clay bricks from the soil on the land. The house has such a great feeling...Beth and I are sleeping in a bus, just down the hill from the main house, that was transformed into living quarters. There's really no way to explain what the bus is like, so I'll just put in a photo here... Basically, Beth and I are sleeping with the spiders. It's super. We've put in our working hours for today, so we'll be heading into town on the coast for a 'famous' fish and chip lunch in Manganui (I think that's the town). Gerlinde's daughter, Lena works at this place and said it has the reputation of being the best fish and chip place in NZ. We'll be the judge of that. Apparently, there's another fish and chip place down the road who also claims it is 'the best'. Maybe we'll have to try both. We're hungry enough.
Random stuff we saw on our journey the past few days: 1) wild turkeys, quite surprisingly everywhere 2) microwaves or barbeque's as mailboxes 3) a cow hopping over the electric fence in a rather sly-ish manner (he knew he was being bad) 4) listening to "Eye of the Tiger" on the radio as we drove to the sand dunes That reminds me, I forgot to mention the sand dunes. HOLY MOLY. Huge, hot, sandy, windy, and freaking awesome! Beth and I hiked up the biggest sand mountain we could see so that we could run and frollick all the way down. It was pretty unique and ... sandy. I've ingested enough sand for the time being, I am sure. It must help to cleanse the system. I'll keep believing that until we get out of sand territory.