Endless summer, sand flies, and wtf is wwoofing?

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So last I left off, I was leaving Akaroa to go to Nelson, which I had been to briefly before and really liked it, the hostel especially. It was St. Patty's Day, and I was arriving late at the hostel, once again fearing I'd be sitting in a corner with my book. But as I've learned, there's not much sense in resigning to that until its absolutely necessary. So I situated myself in the kitchen/dining area to start cooking dinner, but it only took about 2 minutes before I was scouted out as someone's dance partner for the evening. I found myself among a group of people who had all originally come to Nelson for a couple days, and ended up staying for weeks, and some even months, most working, but some just lounging in the sun. The next day I did a half-day walk, half-day kayak at Abel Tasman National Park. And by "half-day kayak", I mean spend an hour in the water and the rest of the time waiting and talking about safety. It's probably for the best though, seeing as how my arms were tired after approx. 2.5 strokes.

I would have liked to have stayed longer, but I had made plans to meet up in Wellington for an Easter-weekend road-trip with two girls who I had met my very first weekend up in Auckland. We rented a car (which I was excused from driving, having no experience driving on the left side of the road), and headed up to Raglan. Raglan is notoriously an amazing surf spot, featured in Endless Summer, and being 2 girls who had never surfed before, and one who only pretends to know what she's doing (yours truely), this was maybe not the most obvious choice. In New Zealand both Good Friday, and Easter Monday are bank holidays, and most people were heading out on trips of their own, so beware of "horrendous traffic". Yea, NZ on its worst traffic day looks like LA on its best.

Raglan was really gorgeous, and we stayed at a very relaxed lodge. From the lodge there was a shuttle down to one of the beaches, where you could rent gear and take lessons, and since my friends were taking lessons, and I had no gear, well this was my only option. Unfortunately I soon realized that this beach was pretty much only good for first timers catching white-water, so I ended up doing more sun-bathing than surfing both days as I had no real means of getting gear, and myself, to any other beach. Not to mention being the best surf spot in NZ, there are of course some of the best surfers too, and there's no way I'm about to come within 100yrds of them. All was not lost though, because hanging out at sunset, or just about any time of day, watching the waves and pro surfers on them was pretty satisfying.

So then it was back to Wellington, where I pretty much had no plans whatsoever. Time to figure things out. I spent a couple days at a hostel with free internet looking into different WWOOFing (willing workers of organic farms) options that sounded appealing, and started contacting them. And after hemming and hawing for an absurd amount of time, I swear you'd think I was deciding what college to attend, I decided on this one lodge in the Marlborough Sounds area which sounded so perfect. You work for 4-5 hrs a day in exchange for food and accomodation, and the rest of the time I'd be free to horseback ride, swim, bike, etc. So I headed south, had to cross to the South Island to get there, and stopped in Blenheim, close to where I was going. I ended up in another one of those house-turned-hostel deals, which is always pretty intimate and inviting. I was immediately welcomed, and picked up from the bus station by the owner, who gave me the run down of the place and introduced me to a couple people staying there, all of whom were there for seasonal vineyard work. They had free bikes for use, so I headed into town to do some grocery shopping. The only reason I am mentioning this is because I chose to wear a bright pink helmet with stars on it, and I looked so ridiculous that I was laughing along with the people passing me. Especially on my way back, trying to balance with my bags.

So crap. After all that figuring out I'd done, all kinds of stuff got changed at this lodge, and the owners decided it was a good time to take a spontaneous vacation, so I was no longer able to come. And this was just after I'd gotten an email from the owner telling me how that days activities had been potpourri making! Making potpourri, I was sold! Bummer. That night after repeating the cycle of thinking 'shit, I have no friends', and then realizing that all it takes is sitting down next to people to make a friend, I headed out to a local house party with a team of kids from the hostel. It was pretty interesting.

The next day I went on a wine tour! The Marlborough region is the biggest wine-producer in the country, and Blenheim is a pretty boring place, so it was a no-brainer. It was a really small group, just an Aussie lady, an adorable old Scottish couple, myself and the driver. We went to seven different vineyards, and at one point I was told I had quite a refined pallate, as I started getting into the whole "oh yes, I there's quite a nutty aftertaste," which I usually roll my eyes at. I'm a little confused now, because I'm pretty sure I still couldn't tell a 2 Buck Chuck from a $100 bottle. Last stop chocolate factory. Amazing.

Ok so back to the drawing board, and even more hemming and hawing, if that's possible, as to where to go for WWOOFing (there's over 1200 listings). I kinda decided on this one place back up on the North Island, and I was hesitantly going to go, but got the bus times confused, therefore missing the ferry, and realized I didn't even want to go anyway, so it was all OK. But what to do now? Cluelessly standing in the info center, I decided to head back to Nelson.

I arrived there and immediately saw people I had recognized from before. The hostel I keep returning to is called Paradiso, with a pool (that almost no one swims in b/c its way too cold), hot tub, volleyball net, comfy TV lounge, and plenty of chill-out space outside. (Check it out! http://www.backpackernelson.co.nz/ ) There's a pub around the corner which sells 2 Litre bottles of draft beer and cider for about $10, which is understandably popular. Its a bit of a walk from the center of town, but that's all the more reason it has more of a sense of community. I just hung out here for a few days at first, with the anticipation of heading off to do some wwoofing at a spa back in Marlborough, but that got pushed back, so I decided to join the housekeeping team for a few days in exchange for free accomodation. Its a pretty fun group of people, and I've spend most my days doing the kitchens, which is lucky because I actually like cleaning kitchens as long as they're not disgusting. Then I decided that I liked it so much that I'd just stay here and not go to the spa at all.

Since its mostly been nice sunny weather here I've spent some time hanging out by the pool, and have made a trip to the beach. I also took a trip to the Nelson Lakes, about an hour and a half drive, where I got eaten alive by sand-flies, but was joined by an old man, who lived in a nearby cabin, and shared his stories and philosophies on life with us. It's been nice hanging out with people who know the area, I get clued in on different things to do and places to go. I recently made a whimsical trip to the playground with a couple girls, and was reminded of how much fun it is to spin around. Ah the simple pleasures. I also went indoor rock climbing, and yesterday attended a friend's water aerobics class, which was surprisingly more challenging than I had expected, and was not filled with overweight old women wearing frilly bathing suits. I've met this cool German girl who makes tons of jewelry, is very bohemian, and gorgeous even after sleeping in her car night after night and not showering for 4 days. I kind of want to be her and am emulating her by now starting to make earrings, which knowing me will be just a phase and I will end up with a hardly-used bag of earring hooks. I've made a couple decent pairs already though, so that's something I guess. This past weekend was a birthday and going-away party, themed "What the f**k" (which I will now refer to as "wtf"), meaning whatever you wear, it's supposed to make someone say "wtf?" After hitting the saturday market, a few girls and I stumbled upon these amazing crocheted sparkly halter tops for only $5, so using those as our foundation, accessorized with items from the thrift shop and $2 store. The best part was later when I ended up out at the bars, separated from any dressed up friends, and just looked like a crazy person. I tried to tone it down a bit, but there's not much you can do with a hot pink cheta-print skirt.

Nelson has been great, oh and the two guys who's "going away" party it was, have since still not left. In my spare time I've been enjoying the path along the river and local trail-hikes, leading up to lookouts which make the town look very similar to a puzzle my family would whip out at Thanksgiving. Oooh, that just gave me the best idea for a souvenir.

We just had daylight savings here, and it's beginning to feel like fall. The leaves are turning and Nelson is becoming more and more of a Norman Rockwell painting. While days are still nice and warm, nights are getting cold and windy, and it feels weird that Halloween is not right around the corner.

I do want to say that while I am having an amazing time, I have by no means forgotten about everyone back home. Far from it. In fact, some days thinking of all the amazing people I'm so lucky to have waiting for me when I return is what gets me through the day. And if you're reading this, I can almost guarantee you're one of them.

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Photos

Rock/ladder climbing
trickier than it looks

sabrina & I
in all our wtf glory