If everything was like New Zealand Air, the world would be a better place

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Hey all,

As I told you, leaving Nananu was extremely difficult. The ride out of the community yet again brought a few tears to my eyes, leaving such a wonderful place. Not to mention all of the magnificent surrounding mountains and foothills that had given me a place to explore around by myself and with the group. That being said, the ride out of community and back to Newton (the place we went to the beach during orientation) was quite silent. I slept a little, but the ride was only 2 hrs. The hostel we were staying for the night was right next to the ocean, and there was a group of English soccer players playing a game of volleyball, so I jumped on that right away. It would be a lie to say being tall isn't an advantage, so most of the games we played they would just set me up for spikes. That is until some Fijians arrived, and I've told you just how good they are. Later on that evening, a fire show took place at the hostel right next to us. I took quite a few pictures, and the show was really impressive. They did a few traditional island dances, and some knife tricks. It sort of felt like a really touristy thing to do (the label which I try to avoid,) but it was pretty cool. At the end, they had us all get in a circle, and two people paired off in the middle, so I showed off some of my moves 😉.

I guess my feelings at this point were: I would like to be back in Nananu, or in New Zealand. Since we weren't going back to Nananu, I was ready for a new chapter. The following morning we had to wake up 7, so I went to bed rather early- packed and all. Something that made me somewhat nervous was the possibility of customs confiscating my broom and fan- my gifts from Mangu and Nau, so I rolled around in my bed with that on my mind for a bit. Thankfully, they had been wrapped heavily so they had a better chance of making it. And guess what? It did. New Zealand customs agents are notoriously strict (maybe the most of any country,) but I worked my magic on them and everything that came with me from Fiji, stayed with me. Shortly after, we had a hostel crisis in the airport. By the time we had gotten out to the curbside area, we had no hostel booked. Normally, it would be easy for 13 people to find a place to crash, but since the Christchurch earthquake had happened so recently, most were booked up. I was able to find one in Parnell for 22/ person a night. Previously, we had planned out a couple hostels closer to the city scene that were a bit nicer and highly recommended by the Lonely Planet, but this hostel could not have been better. It was run by a couple who met in New Zealand, one from Denmark and one from the South Island. Each night I ate dinner was based off of Peter's recommendation- the first night we all had delicious fish and chips, the second night I had Burger Fuel, and the third night Ryan and I had Hell Pizza. All were fantastic experiences, and I certainly don't regret taking his advice, he knew whatsup. The three days we spent in Auckland I and others spent: visiting the skytower, buying All Black jerseys and other souveniers, visiting coffee stores, going to a hookah bar, and eating ice cream on the waterfront. I personally enjoyed walking around more than anything. Not feeling like I want to or have to buy anything makes roaming around a new city exponentially more enjoyable. While Kareem and I were walking around, he needed to stop in the outdoor store for some supplies, so I talked with one of the store employees (people here are so much more interested in interaction than back in the U.S.) A 20 year old British born nomad named Steve Cleverdon told me his entire life direction. He set the record for walking from the northern most point on the larger island down to the southern most point in a matter of 69 or so days. Thats some serious passion and dedication. He had not attended university and didn't plan to, but was taking Spanish and economics at the local college because he wanted to live in South America at some point. Essentially, he wanted to make a career out of his love for traveling and exploration (he claims to have gotten the "travel bug" when he kayaked and climbed around the Andes at age 15.) The whole time I was filled with joy- heres a guy who doesn't let school get in the way of his education, what he learns and his belief system is based entirely off of real life experience. Additionally, his other life goal was to live a self-sufficient life where he needs no electricity, water, or other utilities. Total independence is what he is striving for-mentally and physically- and he is living it and making it happen. How many people can say the LIVE and BREATHE their absolute deep down desires, dreams, and ambitions. It nearly brought tears to my eyes for the second time on this trip, it was the most amazing thing I've heard in my life.

Thats basically it for Auckland, seeing as I was anxious to get to the WWOOF farm and do some manual labor. To get there, we were on a small bus for 2.5 hours, winding and speeding through some extremely narrow roads surrounded by yet again- more breathtaking scenery. And not surprisingly, as we pulled in to the farm, that is all that could be seen for miles- besides other farms. Having done so many solo hikes, I perked up like Tucker when it's time for dinner (Tucker is my dog.) As we unpacked, we all marveled at the architecture of the house (part of it almost looked like a lighthouse,) and were warmly greeted by Sheila- our host and the owner of the farm. Boy was she a firecracker, never hesitated to call someone out when they were lollygaggin on the job or doing it differently than how she asked. Each time it would happen, no one took it personally and always responded well, which shows a certain level of maturity within ourselves and the group. In addition, no one ever complained when extra work was dished out. Each and every day, we had a schedule of duties we would do in pairs including: lunch+dinner, breakfast+tea, laundry, vacuuming, water duty, etc etc. Often times however, Sheila would dish out extra projects- often times they were awesome like herding bulls, collecting mulch- Hannah and I got to operate the tractor, and checking up on her water system. A little something about that, all of her water supply is obtained through rainwater runoff from her roof. How sick is that? My daily duties included building windguards for her garden- which I did with Ryan- and digging trenches for new electric fence wires, about 8 inches deep. Like I said, there were extra duties that were distributed (which were by far the most fun,) but those two jobs occupied much of my 5 hours of labor each day. Unfortunately, for most of the week I was extremely sick. Chills, throat ache, 105 degree fever...the works. I did get to the doctor, but since it was a virus, no antibiotics could be given. I continued to try and work- thanks to my friend Advil- but it kept coming back every few hours, and that type of sickness really weighs in on your energy level and mental toughness. Once it did finally start going away, I had almost forgotten what feeling normal was, thus a feeling of sheer joy was experienced. On the last night of our stay, we had a fire down the hill in a pit (made by ryan and I) where we roasted kabobs, marshmellows, dough, and had many other delicious items along with them..and the moon was gorgeous, sitting right above all the ridgelines. To top off the night, we sang a song we wrote to apologize for the things we broke in Sheilas house during our stay, which was hysterical. That was my favorite week of the trip so far.

Much much more to come, once internet isn't outrageously expensive.

Cheers to all, life is good

Dylan

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Comments

[Ev]

Good to read about your life!!
Hey Dylan - Loved reading about your New Zealand days, glad to hear you're feeling better! Fun Blazer games with Anja last week, this week with your mom! They're playing some ball!! Thinking of you, cheering along with us, though that all probably seems so far away for you these days! I can sense your appreciation for the beautiful landscape, the gracious people, enjoying the moment! So proud of you & with admiration for all that you are experiencing & how you are "soaking it in", love Ev & Scott

[Grandma Buzz]

My what wonderful writing, I am an ardent reader of yours, keep it coming!

[Tom and Sheri Linnell]

Thank you
Dylan, What you write never fails to captivate me. Thank you for taking the time to share what you are experiencing. It enriches everyone. Tom