New Zealand, Why Not?: November 2010

This morning we woke up to the sound of rain on our "moon roof." Rain is a welcome sight to the gardens of the Whangarei region, as it has apparently been dry for weeks. There's no doubt that Fern needed the wash, but we left the towels outside to dry last night, which are evidently now still wet. Life on the road is the sort of stuff you joke about later over beers, when you are off the road. Waking up at 2am to swat at the mosquitos who have wandered through the open window (an attempt to counteract the effective greenhouse our van is by day) doesn't make for the most glorious travel stories. But there is plenty of glory to be found in NZ, usually when we are on break from our mobile apartment.

We have been north-bound for just over a week now, in search of the top of NZ. Here are some of the highlights:

- A stop in Auckland to see the largest metropolis in NZ and visit with Tom, who has escaped the UK to study at Auckland University for his PhD. We share fabulous food, share stimulating conversation, and hike Rangitoto, Auckland's newest volcano.

- We camp at Rawene and Bry makes bread in the camp kitchen's oven. Making the most of motorcamp facilities makes it less painful to pay obsence amounts for less than brilliant accomodation.

- We lunch in Ahipara with a view of the beginning of the 90 Mile Beach, a beach that actually doubles as a highway.

- We enjoy a quiet coffee break in Kaitai, 30 minutes of free internet at the local library, and stock up at local Pak 'n' Save for supplies (needed daily as our chilly bin is a mere decoration and hasn't worked since day 1).

- We reach Cape Reinga, the very top of NZ where the Tasman sea and the Pacific Ocean meet, before 8am and our fellow tourists. We are rewarded with a massive beach to ourselves to soak it all in.

- We scorch our feet on the Te Paki sand dunes during the hottest time of the day. Who's idea was this?

- In Paihia, I buy Bry a "cheap" NZ breakfast ($13 NZD) which seems like a good idea at the time, but actually results in hours of "gut rot." While Bry recovers in the van I frolic in the Pacific, realizing that the "moving seaweed" I am swimming with is actually a huge (sting?) ray.

- And then YESTERDAY! We splurge on a tour of the Poor Knights marine reserve which is just off the coast of Tutukaka. The tour includes a boat tour of the reserve, snorkeling, sea kayaking, paddle boarding, and lunch. Oh and an unexpected bonus; wild dolphins! So we swam with wild dolphins, no big deal... These surprisingly large, magestic beauties were within metres of us for about 20 minutes. As we struggled to keep up with them, they danced in circles alongside us, almost mocking our rudimentary swimming abilities. We (along with our fellow divers from the tour) were both simply bursting. It was the perfect day.

I realize that it will be hard to top swimming with wild dolphins, but the trip is still young. Until then, don't pee in a rented wetsuit.

Some photos for you to enjoy.

We realize that in NZ a "jafa" is not a type of caffeinated beverage, but simply an affectionate name for Auckland urbanites.

Murray, the Atlantic Puffin who joins us in the front seat. He is constantly pouring over the map, consistently annoyed at Fern's ability to consume petrol like it's her job, and manages to enjoy the cd's we purchased from the Waikato District's Libary for $2 each.

Fern, in all her glory.

Just relaxing where the Tasman Sea ends and the Pacific Ocean begins.

Te Paki sand dunes at noon.

Leaving the Poor Knights Islands marine reserve, estatic.

It's been a while since our last post. I believe we were in Raglan, which is now a distant memory of great friends and great waves. A lot has happened since we embarked on our second WWOOF. For one, living on a farm with a family has been very different than "working" at a hostel with other travelers.

On this free range, rare breed farm, we have seen the full spectrum from birth to plate. This included day-old piglets, bottle feeding calves, and well... making sausage. We have had the opportunity to learn a great deal from our hosts (along with their friends, organic dairy farmers). We covered everything from NZ farming in general, how bacon is processed and smoked, how to make lard, NZ gardening techniques, as well as the less appetizing things like how prosciutto is aged for a year.

We have also gained some interesting insight in farmers markets. Although we are both used to going to the farmers market, I for one have never acted as the vendor. I learned a lot about how people act, as well as body language that can predict whether we were dealing with a "browser" or a "buyer". Surprisingly, Kiwi can be frugal with their food purchases and complain that the Soggy Bottom free range, nitrate-free, no additives (snout, feet, floor-droppings) added meat is just too expensive. Lesson learned: real food is supposed to cost money.

Although much of our time at Soggy Bottom was spent mucking about or in the butchery, we also got to leave the farm a few times for our own little adventures. This included re-attempting and completing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing after much of the snow had melted, delivering meat to Raglan (for the organic burger shack) and staying for a surf, visiting an organic dairy operation, and going swimming in one of the Waikato regions many lakes.

So many thank-yous to the Walkers, Torben (our fellow WWOOFer, a spunky German who embraced our "words of the day" while feeding the pigs), and Stonker.