Taranaki

Mt. Taranaki.


Waffles.


Sweet mug.


Stony River: a good swimming hole.


Hitting the road again.

Christmas 2005

On the way to the beach.


At the beach, semi-naked and laid-back.


Sunset.


Backyard Christmas Hongi.

At the Rowntrees

Phil on the Hill. We cut this fenceline together.


Kauri tree.


View from the top. That town's Leigh and the
ocean's the Southern Pacific.


Me, Paul and Lois Rowntree.


View from the top 2. That's Goat Island up front,
across from the Marine Lab, and Little Barrier Island
in the distance. The farm is at the bottom of the hill.

Chores

Coming back from the field.


Tires I moved.

On the Farm

I am at the first farmstay with a family near Leigh, NZ. Farm chores so far have included gardening, window-washing, sweeping, scrubbing, herding cows, and lugging a pile of tires from here to there. Tomorrow we clear some bush to get ready to put in a new fence. It's been rainy and windy, so no snorkelling yet at the nearby marine reserve. Pictures coming soon.

Auckland Parks and Gardens

Bee having a field day.


Wintergarden.


Gum Tree Hill: runner-up U2 song?


Posing modern day hobbit.


Nice pitcher plant thing.

Hooray for internet cafes

Creepy winking and finger-beckoning Santa
in downtown Auckland.



Bungee-Jumping optional Space Needle

Auckland

I'm in Auckland, New Zealand, just getting my feet on the ground. The hostel computers won't let me upload pictures, but soon...soon. Auckland is pretty nice. Hot, humid, tropical trees all around, a Space-Needley thing, lots of water, volcanic mounds, and designer buildings. Tomorrow I take a bus to Warkworth and my first WWOOF hosts will pick me up and take me to their farm near Leigh. Apparently, there is a black sand beach with good snorkelling nearby and also some small Kauri-tree forests.

Trip Status

Just to clear up the rumors about the trip: I'm in Berkeley right now, waiting to hear if I got a job offer in New Orleans. The trip is still on, but there are two routes it could take now. 1) I get the job, go to New Orleans until Christmas, go to New York with Greta for New Year's, go back to New Orleans until late January, then leave for Indonesia with much more money in my pocket and start the trip with Greta. 2) I don't get the job, fly back to Seattle, pack my bags, fly to New Zealand, work on farms until late January, fly to Indonesia and meet Greta with significantly less money in my pocket, but...uh...a wealth of experience?

New Orleans/New York or New Zealand? Either way, I'm happy. The whole trip is still slated to last until early next summer sometime.

Pictures should be coming soon.