for those of you confused by this blog title, the word "kiwi" has multiple meanings. in no particular order, it can refer to the delicious fruit (which incidentally grows quite well in New Zealand), the rare flightless bird that lives in the forests here, or any person who identifies as a New Zealander. although i have never seen the bird except on the local currency or nature murals, i am pretty sure it is as cool and unique as the other two.
let me see, where did i leave off after the last issue? ah yes, the second marae next to Tongariro National Park and the beautiful volcano called Mount Ruapehu. after leaving Massey University in Palmerston North, we bussed up to this picturesque (sorry, no photos this time - forgot to bring my usb adapter) landscape and were welcomed onto the marae by a contingent of the local Maori community. over the next few days,
they showed us genuine hospitality and shared with us the beauty of the land, elements of their belief system, and the struggles that they are involved with on social, economic, and environmental levels. we were guided on a hike partway up the volcano, around the river systems that emanate from it and are currently threatened by extensive damming projects, and through native forests and nature reserves with all of their lush foliage and wildlife. each of these excursions would have made our visit more than worthwhile, and being able to experience all three was almost an overload of incredible experiences. the people that i met were so eager to communicate with us, to teach us some of the real gems of their culture, and to learn from us as well. i cannot say much more about how wonderful this time was: there was so much spiritual growth, so many breakthroughs for the group, and so
many connections established with the people and the land that i would be undermining its value by trying to express it in my goofy little blog. ask me about it sometime when i get back and i will be more than happy to give the full story.
returning to Wellington was a bit of a harsh transfer, but it was also rewarding. as soon as we arrived we divided up into our respective homestays, and by a stroke of luck and last-minute planning i was able to get placed with a sweet little family of four ON MY OWN. time away from the group is almost as scarce as, well, the kiwi bird, so i was really excited to have 5 whole days with just myself and my host family... and a few good books.
our school schedule continued unabated, so during the day we all congregated at one of the university campuses in Wellington for some really unique and insightful lectures. we learned about New Zealand's Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme (part of their Kyoto Protocol implementation), about social issues in Wellington, about decolonizing anthropological methodologies in relation to the Maori, about the dairy industry, and especially about political activism and New Zealand's Green Party. we even got to visit the Green Party headquarters in the
Parliament Building and have an hour-long discussion with the co-leader. in addition to all of the academic activity, i had many long talks with my host parents (both members of the Green Party) about politics, environmental issues, and raising kids in an urban environment.
in my typical fashion, i also spent a lot of time just walking around the city, getting myself quasi-thoroughly lost, and then finding my way back home. this is, in my opinion, the best and most interesting way to get to know a city. there are a lot of cool little neighborhoods, a beautiful seaside stroll, and funky cafes galore. caffeine intake reached dangerous levels.
the week ended with a little pre-vacation party to celebrate the 6 peoples' birthdays that landed during the time that we will be off doing or own thing around the country. also it was a good excuse for all of us to dress up like pirates (the theme of the party) and drink wine and listen to music on small ipod speakers in the botanical gardens. when you work and study hard, ya gots to have some hard-core fun to balance out the emotional checkbook.
and then... vacation! Emma (my travelling buddy) started off our adventures by defining our motto as: "no plans, no pants, no priorities." basically we were wingin' it. and doing as much skinny dipping as possible. we were off to a good start: on the ferry ride from Wellington (North Island) to Picton (South Island) we unexpectedly met 3 other IHPers. when it got to raining too much to stay out on the deck, we all crammed into a little landing at the top of the stairs and busted out the guitars and our early-morning singing voices. eventually we had a veritable shindig going on, and lots of strangers joined in our renditions of Sublime, The Beatles, Nirvana, and a medley of jumbled lyrics from folk classics. upon arriving in Picton, Emma and i decided to bum around with another IHPer and her visiting boyfriend... and their rental car. we crammed all our gear into the teensy trunk, satisfied our gastronomic desires with a hearty meal of fish and chips, and then took the scenic drive out into the Marlborough Sound until we found a campsite that suited our liking. oh, and we made sure to stop for some naked swimming and raft-lounging along the way. that night, we wandered down to the beach and marveled at the populations of phosphorescent algae that lit up the tiny waves like millions of little roman candles. i could have spent all night just watching them spark up as i moved my feet through the water, but eventually we decided to call it a day and settled into our cozy tent. i might be stretching the term "cozy" here; the tent was made for 3 people, not 4, so suffice to say that we mastered the art of sardine-esque human spooning. a good end to a good start to a good vacation.
Emma and i left our friends the next day in Nelson, then began hitch-hiking down the East Coast towards Christchurch. it took us 5 rides and 3 days to get there, and we had some... interesting times along the way. lots of "well what do we do now?" "i don't care." "cool. let's go see what's over there." "i'm down." ... and so forth. we arrived in Christchurch the same way as we did everywhere else: not knowing where we were, where we were going to sleep, or what crazy concoction we would come up with to nourish ourselves using our eclectic traveling pantry of foodstuffs. (we invented a surprisingly tasty grilled sandwich using beets, apples, cheese, garlic, chili sauce, and roasted peanuts). in true serendipitous fashion, we quickly discovered that another IHP was staying in town with her very hospitable mother. which meant a nice patch of floor in a quaint little B&B fully equipped with kitchen and TV showing NZ's equivalent of MTV. maybe it was the fact that i hadn't seen American programming for 5 months, but music videos seemed pretty, well, stupid.
anyhoo, we met up with our friend Michaela there, which was nice because we weren't really sure how we would actually rendesvouz with her other than pure chance. the three of us booked rooms at a hostel for the next two nights, and proceeded to paint the town red. and blue. and pink. and green. literally.
in true bohemian-crazy-college-students-on-vacation fashion, we invaded a dollar store and stocked up on goofy hats, fake moustaches, and sidewalk chalk. all the ingredients for good fun. then we strutted over to the central plaza, a pleasant centre called Cathedral Square, and proceeded to perform acts of guerilla barbary (no, not the raid-and-pillage kind, the haircutting kind) in the form of them shaping a mohawk on my skull using the ubiquitous trusty tool: pocket-knife scissors. after that, we opened up the chalk bucket and graffitied the plaza with our own brand of landscapes and psychedelic impressionism. many asian tourists were intrigued, and i expect my artwork will be featured in many tedious holiday slideshows back in Japan, South Korea, and China. we also had a few people join in the fun and create their own pieces to add to the ad hoc masterpiece. again, i've got some good pictures but you'll just have to wait for my own tedious slideshow presentation.
the following day we rented a car, bummed around the city for a while, and then picked up the final two traveling companions from the airport. not wanting to waste a single precious minute of our 12 days of freedom, we pumped up the volume, rocked out, and drove through the night to wake up in Te Anau, the jumping off point to Milford Sound. we camped in one of the most serene places i've ever had the pleasure to sleep in and spent the next two days playing in the spectacular rainforests and fjords and huddling together to survive the unexpectedly chilly nights.
after Milford Sound, we scooted up the West Coast, stopping in Queenstown, Wanaka, some other places i can't quite remember, and spent our last night in
Punakaiki. we explored glaciers, beaches strewn with Georgia O'Keefe-inspired driftwood sculptures, and everything in between. many more hilarious stories should be told, but unfortunately my time is up.
don't worry, i am still alive and in one piece. might not have another chance to update on New Zealand before we leave, so my next installment will most likely be an ecstatic ode to the joys of Mexico City's street food. hasta la proxima!
let me see, where did i leave off after the last issue? ah yes, the second marae next to Tongariro National Park and the beautiful volcano called Mount Ruapehu. after leaving Massey University in Palmerston North, we bussed up to this picturesque (sorry, no photos this time - forgot to bring my usb adapter) landscape and were welcomed onto the marae by a contingent of the local Maori community. over the next few days,
they showed us genuine hospitality and shared with us the beauty of the land, elements of their belief system, and the struggles that they are involved with on social, economic, and environmental levels. we were guided on a hike partway up the volcano, around the river systems that emanate from it and are currently threatened by extensive damming projects, and through native forests and nature reserves with all of their lush foliage and wildlife. each of these excursions would have made our visit more than worthwhile, and being able to experience all three was almost an overload of incredible experiences. the people that i met were so eager to communicate with us, to teach us some of the real gems of their culture, and to learn from us as well. i cannot say much more about how wonderful this time was: there was so much spiritual growth, so many breakthroughs for the group, and so
many connections established with the people and the land that i would be undermining its value by trying to express it in my goofy little blog. ask me about it sometime when i get back and i will be more than happy to give the full story.returning to Wellington was a bit of a harsh transfer, but it was also rewarding. as soon as we arrived we divided up into our respective homestays, and by a stroke of luck and last-minute planning i was able to get placed with a sweet little family of four ON MY OWN. time away from the group is almost as scarce as, well, the kiwi bird, so i was really excited to have 5 whole days with just myself and my host family... and a few good books.
our school schedule continued unabated, so during the day we all congregated at one of the university campuses in Wellington for some really unique and insightful lectures. we learned about New Zealand's Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme (part of their Kyoto Protocol implementation), about social issues in Wellington, about decolonizing anthropological methodologies in relation to the Maori, about the dairy industry, and especially about political activism and New Zealand's Green Party. we even got to visit the Green Party headquarters in the
Parliament Building and have an hour-long discussion with the co-leader. in addition to all of the academic activity, i had many long talks with my host parents (both members of the Green Party) about politics, environmental issues, and raising kids in an urban environment.in my typical fashion, i also spent a lot of time just walking around the city, getting myself quasi-thoroughly lost, and then finding my way back home. this is, in my opinion, the best and most interesting way to get to know a city. there are a lot of cool little neighborhoods, a beautiful seaside stroll, and funky cafes galore. caffeine intake reached dangerous levels.
the week ended with a little pre-vacation party to celebrate the 6 peoples' birthdays that landed during the time that we will be off doing or own thing around the country. also it was a good excuse for all of us to dress up like pirates (the theme of the party) and drink wine and listen to music on small ipod speakers in the botanical gardens. when you work and study hard, ya gots to have some hard-core fun to balance out the emotional checkbook.
and then... vacation! Emma (my travelling buddy) started off our adventures by defining our motto as: "no plans, no pants, no priorities." basically we were wingin' it. and doing as much skinny dipping as possible. we were off to a good start: on the ferry ride from Wellington (North Island) to Picton (South Island) we unexpectedly met 3 other IHPers. when it got to raining too much to stay out on the deck, we all crammed into a little landing at the top of the stairs and busted out the guitars and our early-morning singing voices. eventually we had a veritable shindig going on, and lots of strangers joined in our renditions of Sublime, The Beatles, Nirvana, and a medley of jumbled lyrics from folk classics. upon arriving in Picton, Emma and i decided to bum around with another IHPer and her visiting boyfriend... and their rental car. we crammed all our gear into the teensy trunk, satisfied our gastronomic desires with a hearty meal of fish and chips, and then took the scenic drive out into the Marlborough Sound until we found a campsite that suited our liking. oh, and we made sure to stop for some naked swimming and raft-lounging along the way. that night, we wandered down to the beach and marveled at the populations of phosphorescent algae that lit up the tiny waves like millions of little roman candles. i could have spent all night just watching them spark up as i moved my feet through the water, but eventually we decided to call it a day and settled into our cozy tent. i might be stretching the term "cozy" here; the tent was made for 3 people, not 4, so suffice to say that we mastered the art of sardine-esque human spooning. a good end to a good start to a good vacation. Emma and i left our friends the next day in Nelson, then began hitch-hiking down the East Coast towards Christchurch. it took us 5 rides and 3 days to get there, and we had some... interesting times along the way. lots of "well what do we do now?" "i don't care." "cool. let's go see what's over there." "i'm down." ... and so forth. we arrived in Christchurch the same way as we did everywhere else: not knowing where we were, where we were going to sleep, or what crazy concoction we would come up with to nourish ourselves using our eclectic traveling pantry of foodstuffs. (we invented a surprisingly tasty grilled sandwich using beets, apples, cheese, garlic, chili sauce, and roasted peanuts). in true serendipitous fashion, we quickly discovered that another IHP was staying in town with her very hospitable mother. which meant a nice patch of floor in a quaint little B&B fully equipped with kitchen and TV showing NZ's equivalent of MTV. maybe it was the fact that i hadn't seen American programming for 5 months, but music videos seemed pretty, well, stupid.anyhoo, we met up with our friend Michaela there, which was nice because we weren't really sure how we would actually rendesvouz with her other than pure chance. the three of us booked rooms at a hostel for the next two nights, and proceeded to paint the town red. and blue. and pink. and green. literally.
in true bohemian-crazy-college-students-on-vacation fashion, we invaded a dollar store and stocked up on goofy hats, fake moustaches, and sidewalk chalk. all the ingredients for good fun. then we strutted over to the central plaza, a pleasant centre called Cathedral Square, and proceeded to perform acts of guerilla barbary (no, not the raid-and-pillage kind, the haircutting kind) in the form of them shaping a mohawk on my skull using the ubiquitous trusty tool: pocket-knife scissors. after that, we opened up the chalk bucket and graffitied the plaza with our own brand of landscapes and psychedelic impressionism. many asian tourists were intrigued, and i expect my artwork will be featured in many tedious holiday slideshows back in Japan, South Korea, and China. we also had a few people join in the fun and create their own pieces to add to the ad hoc masterpiece. again, i've got some good pictures but you'll just have to wait for my own tedious slideshow presentation.
the following day we rented a car, bummed around the city for a while, and then picked up the final two traveling companions from the airport. not wanting to waste a single precious minute of our 12 days of freedom, we pumped up the volume, rocked out, and drove through the night to wake up in Te Anau, the jumping off point to Milford Sound. we camped in one of the most serene places i've ever had the pleasure to sleep in and spent the next two days playing in the spectacular rainforests and fjords and huddling together to survive the unexpectedly chilly nights.after Milford Sound, we scooted up the West Coast, stopping in Queenstown, Wanaka, some other places i can't quite remember, and spent our last night in
Punakaiki. we explored glaciers, beaches strewn with Georgia O'Keefe-inspired driftwood sculptures, and everything in between. many more hilarious stories should be told, but unfortunately my time is up.don't worry, i am still alive and in one piece. might not have another chance to update on New Zealand before we leave, so my next installment will most likely be an ecstatic ode to the joys of Mexico City's street food. hasta la proxima!
Posts
