In New Zealand for the last five days; spent a day in Auckland, and took a bus to my first WWOOF place. The sheer excitement of being in New Zealand made everything seem extra interesting at first. I may have gone a bit over getting excited about lichen on a plum tree or chicken-looking black birds on country roads. Overall though my stay has been supreme. Conny, my host-lady took me swimming in the Pacific Ocean right after I got off the bus; the work on the farm is easy, the food is good, Connie takes me mountain biking and does yoga, there's a picturesque swimming hole a short bike ride away.  

One of my more exotic experiences has been a hay staking evening/party. The local farming community is quite tight and friendly and one of the evenings this past week I, along with about twelve other people from different farms, went to help out with hay staking on a farm nearby. The whole experience is very fun and unsafe. Dogs, young people, old people, utes (NZlanders call trucks "utes") mingle as heavy bailes of hay are being staked precariously high on utes to be transported to the barn and re-staked there. The work is hard and hay is prickly, but afterwards the beer flows freely and there's no limit to cheer and merry-making. I'm sure I'm romanticising; but it's quite easy to do so seeing a bunch of not-so-young people gather in a large work-party and make merry. 

I'm staying on this farm for another couple of days and then heading up north to Cape Reinga to take a four day hike. 

So long.

From pickled fat and stinky herring...

Dearest all,

I am about to start a new adventure, tomorrow evening I am flying out to New Zealand to spend three months there with a lose plan of hiking trips and WWOOF stays. It is my first big solo travel - the fact that both, scares and excites me. A year ago a mere thought of a three months solo travel was terrifying only, so maybe I have grown  since then. 

Blogging is also a first-time experience for me, guess I'm crossing into a lot of new territories here :). It's an attempt to maintain or restore some friendships, be more mindful about travel and exercise my editing skills. Please read it,  leave comments, travel suggestions, criticism and encouragement.

I am hopeful and cautiously happy ...