Happy Valentine's Day!!

It's Valentine's Day in New Zealand and I do NOT have a hot date lined up for tonight. Instead I'm taking the train from Wellington to Palmerston North (about two hours north) where my WWOOF host is picking me up. Some of you know what WWOOF is but for those of you who don't, WWOOF stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms. (If you want to check out the website, it's www.wwoof.org.) The organization puts people with farms in contact with people who want to work on farms, and the workers are given lodging and food in exchange for a few hours' work each day. I sent out several e-mails and most of the people already had enough WWOOFers but I ended up making plans to work for a man named Paul Rivers in Manawatu. Paul sounded nice over the phone when we spoke the other day so I'm hoping for the best. He said it's not a very big farm so I'll just be doing some gardening, painting and cleaning (my fave!) in exchange for my room and three (I hope!) meals a day. I'm not sure what else there is to do up in Palmerston North but I'm sure when I'm not working I'll be able to find some nice hiking/walking trails -- and keep your fingers crossed for me that the property isn't far from a beach! :) Here's a map of where (approximately) I'll be:

I'll be there until Saturday and then I'm taking a train back to Wellington and then a ferry to the South Island! It was pretty expensive ($54) but the ferry is the only way (other than a flight) to get to the South Island so I didn't really have a choice, and according to the website, "The 92km voyage takes 3 hours and has been described as 'one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world.'" I'm excited! Now here's what I've been up to since leaving Auckland ...

I took a bus to Taupo. I can't remember if I mentioned this in my last post but my masseusse in Auckland told me about a website called nakedbus.com where you can get cheap bus tickets for long-distance trips in NZ. I found a ticket to Taupo (five hours south) for $32! I wasn't sure if that was a great deal so I asked some of Earl's roommates and they said you can't even drive to Taupo for that! So I booked it. I thought the bus would be crowded and terrible, but it was actually pretty good, other than the woman who got on with a baby that screamed for an hour before they finally got off the bus (one of the many times on this trip that I've been thankful for my ipod). We stopped a few times, once in Rotorua for about half an hour. I didn't have time to do much of anything during that quick stop but it was nice to see the town. I know I'll be going back in a few weeks and visiting the Polynesian Spa. When we got to Taupo, I walked around the town a little and decided to check out the Base hostel. I stayed at Base hostels in Brisbane, Sydney and Magnetic Island (Townsville) and they're always clean and comfortable. They're kind of pricey ($25-30/night) but I had a "Base Jumper" card (11 nights for $249) that I purchased in Brisbane at the beginning of my trip. When I bought it they told me I could only use it in Australia but I thought I'd try my luck at the Taupo, NZ hostel ... and it worked! I used my two remaining nights and didn't have to pay anything. Woo hoooo! :) I went up to my room and met all my very sweet roommates -- a Dutch couple, a British couple and some Swedish guys. They were all on the same Kiwi Experience bus, along with at least 20 other people at our hostel. They asked me if I was going to the hostel's bar that night. I had been planning on hitting up the free BBQ and then going back to the hostel but they were fun so I decided to hang with them for a while and ended up staying at the bar until 2 am. The bartender loved me for some reason so she was giving me discounts on drinks -- I think I spent $8 the whole night! Score! :)

The next day I wanted to walk to a "hot stream" up the road that I had heard about. There's a little waterfall that flows into the Waikato River and you can sit in the river near the waterfall and the water is super hot! But you have to move around and find the right temperature because it's always changing, and if you move a little farther away from the waterfall, it gets really cold; if you move too close, it's unbearably hot. It was awesome!

I stayed in for about 45 minutes and then took a walk north along the trail that led to Huka Falls -- a big waterfall that apparently is New Zealand's "most visited natural attraction."

Shortly after starting up the trail, I met a nice guy from Alaska named Theodore and we spent the rest of the day walking and hiking all over the area. We stopped at a spot called the Honey Hive and tasted lots of different types of honey. We went to this spot called Craters of the Moon, a geothermal site where you can walk around and see craters and steam vents. There's a sign that says, "You enter at your own risk to this area. Thermal areas can be dangerous -- no liability is accepted for injuries while visiting this site." Scary! But we didn't even get to go in because they were closing when we got there. We walked back to the road and I climbed up a little hill and we were able to see the steam vents from there!

We walked for about another half hour and then a car stopped and a woman offered us a ride -- it was the woman who had denied us entry to the Craters of the Moon :D Her name was Jill and she drove us back to town, probably saving us two hours of walking. Since we got back to town much earlier than we expected, we decided to walk down to Lake Taupo and go swimming. It was pretty cold but it felt great after a long day of hiking -- and, like everything else in New Zealand, it was totally beautiful!!

That night I went out again with my Base roommates and the rest of their bus and we danced all night. I even met some NBA fans :)

(the "B.S." is for Bill Simmons because we looooove him)

On Thursday afternoon my new friend Ant - one of Earl's roommates - picked me up on his way down to Wellington. The New Zealand countryside was so beautiful on the drive down! We passed through a few small towns and Ant was a great tour guide, telling me about the towns and pointing out interesting things I should see and take pictures of. He dropped me off in Wellington City (which was incredibly nice because he was going to the Hutt Valley, about 25 minutes north of Wellington). I met up with my first Wellington couchsurfing host, Campbell. Campbell had very kindly offered to host me on Thursday night even though he was going camping for the rest of the weekend and had a lot to do to prepare for his trip. As soon as we got to his house he offered to let me do laundry and use the internet, and I was able to Skype my mom -- and Tyra! Some of you may have seen this pic on facebook but for those who haven't, this is the moment that made my week:

:) :) :)

The next morning we walked down the hill and took the bus into town. Campbell had given me a fantastic idea -- go to the museum (Te Papa) and check my backpacks at their bag check and leave them there all day (since I was meeting my next couchsurfing host when he got off work that afternoon). I did exactly that and it worked out great. I went to the museum and then walked around the city all day. I did a little Lakers/Celtics recon and found a bar that would be showing the game at 2:00 so I went back to the museum and got my bags, then trudged back to the bar, only to be told that the guy I'd spoken to earlier was wrong, and they would NOT be showing the game because they didn't have the channel. Sad! But I stayed at the bar and sat outside on the patio until my CS host, James, came and met me. We walked to his house, dropped my bags off, and then went to meet his friends at a bar. I didn't really click with James, but I was happy to have a place to stay for the night and I became friends with his friend Jess. We spent the whole next day together, walking all around Auckland City. We had originally planned to take the train to Featherston and do some wine-tasting, but when we got to the train station at 2:00, we found out that there were only two trains up there: 10:00 am and 7:00 pm. Maybe we should have done a little research. Oh well. We had a great day wandering around, taking pictures, meeting people, riding the cable car and checking out the Botanic Gardens.

I still didn't know where I was going to stay that night and I had thought about getting a hostel but I decided to wait and just leave my things at Jess's until we got back. I'm so glad I did because when I got online that evening, I had a message from another couchsurfer named Craig who had seen my post and wanted to offer me a place to stay. Craig is actually from Christchurch but he was in town for some music gigs (he plays guitar and sings) and was housesitting for a friend. At the end of his message he said "Go The Celtics!" but I was desperate for a place to stay for the next two nights and aside from the Celtics thing he seemed cool so I accepted his kind offer. The place was very close to town but straight up a hill and then up several flights of stairs. It was a tough walk with all my bags but I did it! Craig and I watched a 9/11 DVD that some conspiracy theorist had given him on the street earlier that day. Pretty scary stuff. The next morning I went to the city market where Craig was singing. He sang some songs I knew ("All Along the Watchtower") but he was mainly there to sing his children's song which are so popular here, he's actually turned his songs into books and they're the best selling childrens' books in NZ and Australia! (google: "Wonky Donkey") It was fun to watch him rock out

and I got to try lots of cheeses and breads and juices too. After Craig's show I walked down to Oriental Parade and rented a bike and joined about 150 women (and a handful of men) for the annual Frocks on Bikes Valentine's Day Ride. It was so much fun! It was a beautiful, sunny day and we all wore dresses or skirts and rode along the gorgeous coastline to Island Bay (over 27 kilometers according to google maps!), where the residents were holding the annual Island Bay Festival -- a big Italian festival and blessing of the boats.

I returned my bike in Island Bay and caught a bus back to town and went with Jess to watch Ant's band play at a bar called The Matterhorn in downtown Wellington.

I had such a great time in this city but I'm excited about moving on. You might not hear from me for another week or so since I'm not sure what the internet situation will be on the farm. I promise to post another blog and let you know about my WWOOFing experience as soon as I can. If anyone wants to Skype call me, my New Zealand phone number is 0220974400.

I hope everyone has a lovely and love-filled Valentine's Day!
Daddy and Mommy Sue, please kiss Ty Ty for me <3