Birthday weekend

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So, i left beautiful Waiheke island in some of the worst weather i've seen since coming to NZ, sheeting rain, it reminded me of home and put a smile on my face, and made the (unpleasant) ferry crossing to Auckland. From there i got a bus to outside Auckland and stuck my thumb out with the hope of getting to Levin (and my post) in the evening. The first was easy, but the second left me in Matamata in the pouring rain. I waited 50 minutes in it (complete with 'hilarious' 15 year old kids pulling up next to me, waiting for me to react then speeding away, bastards) before i got out. I opted to stay in Taupo that night (a city i seem to visit about once every 10 days or so) rather than risk going futher and get stuck. You may remember how i ran into my friend Josie by complete fluke on the ferry to Waiheke, well standing in line in a fellafel joint, i spied Jake, another Kiwi-burner. We got to talking then hanging out. Rather than continuing to Levin i decided to follow wherew the winds of fate wanted me to go and spent the next 2 nights with him, his girlfriend, and their friends. I had a good time and then went with Jake on a tramp south of Taupo. The first day of the tramp was spent walking up a flowing river and was a very interesting experience, 'river walking' with a heavy pack is not for the faint hearted, and day 2 was a 26km hike along a ridge of hills, down though a forest and back to the car. It was really stunning and the first over-night tramp i've done since i've been in NZ (possibly my first ever?). Follwed by a 3 hour car journey back to Levin.
After collecting my post and having a soak in the bath Jake, his girlfriend (whose name escapes me, and had stayed in Taupo and then hitched down to Levin) and myself made our way to Wellington. I spent thursday night in my friend Gwylem's squat, chilled out the next day, and got the 2am ferry on friday night. We got a little sleep on the ferry and then in a camping ground the next morning (its only a 3 hour boat ride) but not a great deal. I was gonna be going to a frisbee tournament but it was fully booked so i did what i swore i would not and returned to a wwoofing spot, namely the Tui community in golden bay, i got here on friday night, rather suprising my hosts who only had a few hours warningand have been here since. I did almost nothing on my birthday (i was 23 on sunday), because it was a wet sunday in the bush, and spent most of the time reading and writing, which wasn't unpleasant, but wasn't how i'd like to spend all of my birthdays. Infact i forgot it was my birthday until the beautiful 5 year old daughter of one of the wwoofers gave me a flower and wished me happy birthday
Monday-thursday i've been plastering the same house i was laying bricks in in december, its been cool to do it for a little while but not a job i'd want to do full time. You can feel autumn coming on here. The nights and mornings are getting colder.
Tomorrow i leave for christchurch and to meet Ben and Sarah. After that i don't know, we haven't made any firm decisions yet, but i know Aimee wants us to save the most beautiful bits for when she arrives. It'll be interesting to see how i adapt to traveling in a group, i've been on my own for 6 months now, so taking other people's opinions into consideation will be strange

Chris xxx

ps i tried to upload some photos but its not happening with tis old-school dial up, you'll have to wait

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