Coromandel Coastal Walk

Today Elli (Germany) and I did the Coromandel Coastal Walk. The walk is at the top of the Coromandel Peninsula and connects Fletchers Bay and Stony Bay. The track is 7 hours return but we just walked one way, from Fletcher's Bay to Stony Bay. It took us about 3 hours to do the walk one way. Elli's wonderful boyfriend, Marcus (Sweden), drove us to the start of the track and then picked us up later at the end of the track. During out walk we went through all different kinds of environments. It starts in farm land, then you walk along the coast, then you start walking through the jungle-like bush and then back to coast and back again to jungle. It's a really amazing walk! Here are some photos:

Looking down towards the start at Fletcher's Bay

Through the middle of this photo you can see the walking track.

Pretty amazing, isn't it?

A small rocky beach about 1 hour into the hike. You can't swim here as there are rocks under the water and it's too dangerous.

Elli and I with the beautiful coastal views.

The colors in this photo are not enhanced!

Look at that blue water!

Off the right in this photo is Stony Bay, where the walk terminated.

You can see barely see Elli reaching her hand into a small waterfall along the trail.

Overall Elli and I were very happy we had the opportunity to hike this trail. It is not easy to get to without a car and it was good timing the Elli and I were both off on the same day, Marcus had the day off and could drive us, and Elli and Marcus's landlord did not need her car so we could use it. Once again, the start aligning to offer us a cool opportunity. Traveling is really teaching me that what is meant to be will be and what is not won't. 

As I said before, the hike is at the top of the peninsula. It takes about 2 hours to drive there, even though it's only about 40 miles, because it's all winding, twisting, turning gravel roads. On the way up we saw a few farmers moving their calves down the road. Here's a photo:

In non-travel related news, I finished Harry Potter # 7 today so I'm done with the series! I'm happy I read it but I found the ending to be rather confusing. Anja (Switzerland) and I sat around and discussed it for like an hour trying to sort out everything that happened. She finished the series a while ago so was interested to learn what I though. Even after some internet research I was still a bit confused about some aspects of the ending but it's over now and I can move onto LOTR.

That's all for today. Nothing too exciting for tomorrow. I'll likely go to the beach if it's nice and I then spend the rest of my time packing/organizing. I have acquired a lot of stuff since I arrived in Coromandel and need to get rid of some of it now that I need to pack up again. Wish me luck with this please.

Best!

A Lot to Catch up On!

Sorry for not posting yesterday - it just totally slipped my mind. And I realized I have a lot to catch up on - from Saturday, Sunday, and Monday so let's get down to business.

So Saturday I did the pig hunt and we didn't catch any pigs as you know. The hunt was really great though with the amazing views of the area, the sea, the hills, the bush, etc... If I come back to Coromandel I'll definitely go pig hunting again, and hopefully get a pig, but I was happy for the experience none the less. Here's a few photos:

The guy's land we were hunting on, Bernie, has beef cattle on his property. At one point during the hunt we got between a mom and her baby. I was very nervous she was going to charge me or something but in the end she didn't. I'm just happy it was a cow mom and baby and not a bear mom and baby, I probably wouldn't be coming home from NZ then. 

The sun is rising over the hills just outside this photo on the right.

Hunchy.

One of the dogs.

Hunchy pointing to where the dogs were catching a scent.

A pig track. It was a few days old so not helpful for our hunting purposes on Saturday morning.

While we were out there we walked over a stream of crystal clear, fresh water and I drank some of it right out of the stream. I've never drank stream water before but this stuff tasted very good. You could bottle it and sell it as New Zealand water and probably make a fortune!

After the pig hunt I worked at Top Pub all day, from 12 noon until midnight. The bikers were in in the afternoon. We were super busy for tup pub but after being at Sturgis, 200 bikes is no big deal. After working the crazy poker run shift, however, I think I'd enjoying bar tending at a night club or super busy bar where when you're done you're exhausted but where work just flies by! Maybe in Queenstown I'll be lucky enough to get a job like that. I'd also prefer to work somewhere where there are bar backs doing the restocking and such. It got a bit difficult at top pub during the poker run because there wasn't anyone to restock the bottle and glasses as we ran out and we were so busy at the bar we couldn't really afford to have a bar tender doing that work. Either way, it all worked out good in the end.

Later on Saturday evening Terry Ann had we try on some of her lip color. I thought it might've been like lip stick but it was more like lip stain. My lips were bright red for the entire evening. It was pretty funny since all the locals were asking me if I had some big plans for after work or something because of all the make-up I had on. At the end of then night I had Terri Ann take a photo of me behind the bar so I can always remember what it was like working there. Here's a photo:

Check out the crazy red lips!

That was all for Saturday, now onto Sunday.

I worked Sunday day and then after work Anna and I went to Long Bay for a swim. We got a ride down with a guy named Greg, a local. We then went for a swim and after we got out of the water, and as we were on our way to the bathrooms to get changed, who showed up? Greg! He told us that it was a coincidence that he was there and was wondering if we wanted to come over to watch a movie at his place. He lives about a 5 minute walk from our place. Anna and I decided that maybe going for a drink with him in town was better than going to his place for a movie but he didn't want to do that so we went our separate ways. On the ride into town, however, he told us about 15 times how it was a total coincidence that he ran into us at long bay which the more he told up that the less I believed it. There's no reason you would accidentally end up at long bay since it's at the end of a dead end road. We're not sure where he came from when he pulled up to give us a ride back but now we know not to take rides from Greg anymore.

When he dropped us off in town we went and had a drink at the middle pub and then headed back to the cafe and watched a move, I Am. It's a documentary about what is wrong with the world and what we can do to fix it. They interview lots of famous people in the movie, like Noam Chomsky, and it's really cool to hear from all of them. We both really enjoyed it, I would highly recommend it. You can stream it on Netflix for those of you who have that.

Monday:

I went on my date yesterday evening with a local guy, Johno. He took me over to Whitianga for dinner. He had a really nice date planned. We took the ferry across to the Cooks beach where he had a cab waiting to take us to a tapas restaurant. We had Venison Heart and Ostrich Fillet. The heart was not bad but the Ostrich Fillet was amazing!! It was so tender and just melted in your mouth. It was cooked pretty rare, which is how I like my meat, so if you ever get it, get it rare or medium rare, but definitely try it if you have the opportunity. All in all it was good fun. I'm leaving on Thursday so that's it for that one but it was a good.

Okay, I have to go now as Elli is coming to pick me up in about 20 minutes and I don't want to be late.

Best!

Too Tired

After yesterday's long day I'm just too tired to write much. Worked during the day then Anna and I went to long bay for a quick swim after work. We stopped at the Middle Pub for a drink on our way home and are now settling in for dinner and a movie tonight. Sorry for the short post - more to come tomorrow.

Best!

PIg-less Hunt, Poker Run, Last day at Top Pub

It's really late, 12:45 in the morning, but I want to write a quick post before bed. I will elaborate tomorrow when I have more time.

I went on the pig hunt this morning with Hunchy. He picked me up at 7am. We didn't get a pig but it was an amazing morning. We spent 3 hours hiking through the bush - even more intense than when we were tracking the kiwi - and got to see the sun rise, drink from a creek, and see lots of amazing plants. As we were walking back to the truck the dogs caught a scent but they weren't able to track it all the way to a pig. Getting a pig would have obviously been a cool experience but being out in the peaceful native bush of NZ on a stunning summer morning was great nonetheless.

We got back from pig hunting a bit after 10am. I relaxed at the cafe for a bit and then went into work at Top Pub for my double. I started at noon and the first hour of my shift was really slow, no one really at work. Then about 1pm the bikes started to roll in and for about 2 hours we were crazy busy. It was super fun, but would have been better if we had a few dedicated bar backs. Anyways, I loved it. I ended at 4 and then went over to the couches in the restaurant (which is closed during the day) to read Harry Potter. I fell asleep and while I was sleeping a few of the guests walked in but whatever, I was so tired I didn't care. I started again at 5:30 and worked until midnight. The night was fun - lots of the regular locals around - and a good steady pace all night. After I got off I had a few drinks - something I've never done before at Top Pub (drink their after work) and it was really nice.

I'm really realizing how much I'm gonna miss that job! It's nice to know that Julianne would probably hire me back at any minutes if I'd like though. I know I can always come back to Coromandel!

Okay, that's all for tonight. My feet hurt really bad, I'm tired, and I have to start work at the cafe in 9 hours and I need my rest,

I'll elaborate on today in tomorrow's post as well as share photos.

Best!

Items to look forward to:

Sheep Slaughter - Monday or Tuesday
Date - Monday Night
Coromandel Coastal Walk - Tuesday
Cray-fishing - Wednesday?

I'm Really Gonna Miss the Top Pub

Tonight at the Pub we were totally slammed. It was super fun and super fast paced and work just flew by. I was there for just over 5 hours, one of the longer shifts I've had. When things started to slow down, around 9 pm, I got a few minutes to sit back and watch the bar and I realized just how cool of a place it really is there. It's like Cheers (or at least I imagine it is - I've never actually seen Cheers). Everyone knows each other, they all have their own little friend groups but they're all really friendly with each other. All of the local fill a little niche in the bar scene and together they make for quite a cool crowd. Although I'm not much of a drinker, I've always thought it would be cool to have a bar that I can call "my bar" - where I go on a regular basis, where the staff knows me well, where I know the other patrons. That is exactly what Top Pub is and I love working there. I'm really going to miss it once I'm gone. Plus all the ladies I work with are really cool. Tonight when I got to work my boss gave me a present as well since this is my last weekend. She gave me a really cute bracelet and it even had some heart charms on it. Although I think it was just an accident I am going to pretend like it was on purpose for Valentine's Day.

Earlier today, before work at Top Pub and after my work at the cafe, I spent the afternoon trying to plot my next month - 2 months of traveling before I get to Queenstown. Although nothing is set in stone at all, I've started to look into prices and dates and hours and etc. for all of the activities I want to do in hopes of avoiding any wasted days where I go somewhere to do something and that thing is closed for that day. It looks like I'm going to need a lot of time to do what I want to do. But it also looks like I might not buy a car and just take the bus around. As of today what I'd like to do is use Auckland as a home base for the next month and take trips around the North Island going to all the places I'd like to see either by bus and/or hitching. Once I get the North Island done, I'm going to take the train to Wellington (the South tip of the North Island) and then spend a few days that. After that I'm either going to take the ferry across, take the train to Christchurch and then fly to Queenstown <or> fly from Wellington to Queenstown straight away. Obviously none of this will work as planned but I always like having a goal to work towards, it gives me motivation to keep moving.

And everything for Auckland is working out very well. The family I will be staying with has offered me an amazing amount of support - as a home base and place to leave my stuff, help with buying a car if needed, they've offered their 20 something children as friends for me while I'm there, they're going to pick me up at the ferry when I arrive - I really couldn't be luckier! And everything is also working out well with the dairy farm.

Okay, I've got to go to bed now as I have to be up in 7 hours for the pig hunt and then have a full day of work tomorrow at Top Pub with the Poker Fun (Harley-Davidson ride).

I hope all is well back home.

A toast to my grandmother who would have turned 90 yesterday - February 13th.

And HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE!

Best!

My Second Tip Ever as a Bartender

Today at Top Pub I got my second tip ever from a regular, Betty. She gave me $5 for always being so nice. So far, in 3+ weeks of working as a bar tender, I've made $8.50 in tips. Probably not all that bad for NZ, but horrible for the states. Anyways, it made my day. (I should say though, that I've gotten a lot out of that job so far. I got 4 really nice fish fillets last week and now I'm going to get to go Pig Hunting on Saturday, none of while would have happened without that job. Although those aren't cash tips, they are definitely great benefits of the job!)

Also at work tonight, one of the locals, Skinny, gave me a connection for another great activity here in NZ. He had a friend, Allan, who lives in Invercargill - the town at the southern tip of the South Island - who works at or runs the aluminum smelting plant. He told me that I can go down there and the guy would give me a tour of the plant. SUPER COOL! So now I have another place I'm going to have to visit before I leave. And apparently they also have the largest truck museum in the world there. I'm not really all that into trucks but if I'm in Invercargill I might as well go!

This afternoon I went up to the Driving Creek Railway to buy my souvenir from Coromandel. As you may remember I did the train ride a few weeks ago with Patricia and Alanna but I went there today to buy a piece of pottery. One of the potters, Paul Armstrong, comes into the cafe on a regular basis and so I decided I'd buy one of his pieces since I know him. I got a beautiful glazed mug from his "seconds" pile. Although there are technically some imperfections I think the pieces is beautiful! It's also light weight - so easy to ship - and functional - you can always use another mug! While I was there I started asking the woman behind the counter all sorts of questions about how the place works. (See background information below). While I was talking with the ladies they introduced me to a visiting potter from the States - a 24 year old girl, Maya, from Miami. She took me to her studio that she shares with her boyfriend Chris - from Ohio - and I got to chat with them for a bit. It was really cool to see some Americans over here making art and having a great time. She made me a small eyeball out of clay but apparently when it dries it will just crumble and fall apart. No keeping it but that's okay. Here's what it looks like:

It was really cool to get to talk to a traveling potter, and especially one from the States. They're only there for one month but seem to be enjoying themselves. Pretty cool! Anyways, I'm happy I have my souvenir sorted and can now finally ship a package home. (Since getting here, I have acquired a lot of items and now need to ship them home or get rid of them as things will definitely not fit back into my suitcase! Please wish me luck with this as it's going to be quite a task!)

That's all for tonight. I'm working both jobs again tomorrow and then pig hunting and the motorcycle ride on Saturday. I think next Tuesday Elli and I are going to do the Coromandel Costal Walk - a 6 hour walk, return, at the top of the peninsula. It's supposed to be really nice and neither of us have done it yet. It's hard to do if you don't have transportation but Elli's landlord said she could borrow the car for 1 day so that's great. I just hope the weather will cooperate for us!

Best!


Background on the Driving Creek Railway and Pottery:

The railway was built by a gentleman named Barry Brickell back in the 1970's as a way to transport clay around the hill to use for his pottery. It now operates as a way to both transport clay and as a tourist attraction for visitors to the area. You can take the railway up the hill and as you travel see pottery constructed by the artisans as well as learn about the local flora and fauna and see beautiful views of Coromandel Town and the ocean. As the railway they have both full time potters and traveling guest potters. What I gleaned from them today is that it is not a teaching facility but a place for experienced potters to work and share ideas/technique with the permanent potters and vice versa. Any experienced potter can apply to visit and most come for about 6 months at a time. About half of the visiting potters come from around NZ and the other half come from around the world. They pay for their own clay and pay to fire their pieces and then can sell them in the shop at the railway or anywhere else they'd like. It is very neat concept. Here's a link to their website if you'd like to check it out.

Cleaning the Freezer

I don't really have anything to say for today but I don't want to get out of the habit of posting every day so here goes.

I worked at the cafe - on the mid shift. Nothing too exciting here. I cleaned the freezer out today, removing all the ice. I probably got about 90-95% of the ice off so that was good. My fingers got super cold working on this project - like they to when you're working on an outdoor project during winter - and I realized that was enough winter for me this year! 

I am still working on Harry Potter #7. It's getting better by the minute. Hopefully I'll be done by Friday.

I got the opportunity to Skype with one of my friends from home today who I haven't spoken with in probably 4 months, since I left the states and she moved to NJ, and that was really nice to catch up with her.

And tonight for dinner I went out with Shelley and her friend Christine at the Star and Garter. Elli was there so she joined us as well (as a reminder, Elli is the German girl who went on the Mussel Barge with me). She wants to go camping overnight next week Tuesday at the top of the peninsula. She's going to look into costs and we might do it. If it's too expensive or hard to coordinate she's probably going to come kayaking with me.

That's all. For tomorrow I've just got work on the calendar.

Best!

A few more photos

I have decided to upload the rest of the photos now as I'm still waiting for my video to finish uploading. Here are some more photos from today:

So beautiful!

Okay, night.

Best!

Food, Fun, Sun, Oversized Vehicles

I went to Whitianga today, a town over the hill from here where I've been once before with Alanna. When I woke up the weather wasn't that nice but I was hoping it would clear up for me to finally do the kayak tour. It never did in the end but the day was good none the less. I got a ride across the hill with Michael, the delivery guy for the cafe. I've probably told you before but just as a remind he's 21, from Michigan, lived in NZ for about 7 years now, and is never looking back on America. He loves it here and that's cool. I wish he was a bit more patriotic about his home land but oh well, that's just my patriotic side coming out.

Anyways, I rode over the hill with Michael. We actually spent like an hour and half together because he had 4 or 5 drops after he picked me up. It was good time. It's nice to ride with someone you can trust so you're not nervous on the ride. It's also nice to go with Michael because you get a scenic tour of the coromandel, going around to the various cafes and restaurants and such. We had some pretty deep conversations today too so I feel like I really got to know a lot more about him. I'll likely get one more ride from him next week when I go back over to Whitianga for one last attempt at a Kayak tour.

When I got to Whitianga I went right to the iSite for suggestions on places for coffee and lunch. The girl working at the iSite wasn't that great at her job. I asked her for a good cafe to read my book at and she started recommending every cafe in town. I obviously didn't go to the iSite so she could tell me that every cafe was the same, I went there to find out which is the best cafe for what I want. I later asked her "If you were going to read your book at a cafe, where would you go?" and I got the answer I was looking for - Cafe Nina. It was such a cute little cafe and the coffee was great! I was very happy I went there :)

As I was finishing up my coffee it looked like it might be getting nicer out so I decided to take the ferry over to where the beaches are and where I could catch the shuttle to the kayaks. When I got off the ferry I walked down the beach a ways, farther than Alanna and I went last time, towards a cafe we had heard about before, Eggsentric. I had the Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon for lunch. It was the best meal I've had since I arrived in New Zealand. AMAZING! If you every come to Whitianga, you have to go to Cafe Nina!

Before I went for lunch, however, I found this great little chair along Flaxmill Bay Beach and sat and read my book. Here's a few photos:

The view from the chair.

While I was sitting there reading it started to rain. I tried waiting it out for about 10 minutes but it didn't stop and was getting windy so I went over to Eggsentric for lunch.

After lunch it was too late to the do the kayak tour. The sun was starting to come out a bit though so I went down to the beach in from of the chair and went for a quick swim. The water was so clear - I couldn't believe it. It wasn't all pretty and blue because the sky was still pretty cloudy but it's nice when you can see straight down tot he bottom of the water without problem. After me swim I laid on the beach for a few minutes reading and taking photos of the view. I also took a video of a rock that was being tossed around in the water. You can watch it here.

Here are some photos I took while lying on the beach:

Pretty clouds, aren't they?!

After the beach I walked back towards the ferry. I walked past the local cemetery on the way and wandered in to check it out. There were some really old and really cool gravestones:

Not a bad view to have for the rest of eternity!

After the cemetery I took the ferry back to Whitianga and spent maybe 30 minutes lying in the grass watching the fishing boats come in and out of the harbor. I took some cool photos here but it's taking forever to upload today so I'll do another post of those tomorrow.

About 4:30 pm I decided I needed to start trying to get a ride back to Coromandel. Last time me and Alanna did this same route it was pretty hard for us to get a ride so I was mentally prepared for a long wait. I got my first ride after maybe 5-10 minutes. The guy only took me down to the main intersection before the end of town. It wasn't far but at least standing at this intersection I knew everyone would be going towards Coromandel Town. It didn't take long for me to get a ride here but I got a ride from the most unlikely of people - a trucker, Willie, carrying an overside load. I was standing at a corner and he waved at me as he was going around the corner but I thought he was just waving. I didn't immediately realize that he was offering me a ride. I looked back though and saw him still waving at he while he pulled over, motioning for me to get in. I did and he was very nice. It was pretty funny though because the lead car also had to pull over so I could get in. I went around some really steep, windy roads with him but we made it safely! He took me about half way to Coromandel town to the logging road he was driving to. He was going to pick up some logging machinery to move it to another location. He dropped me at the entrance to the logging road. It was a place where I was pretty visual but also where the cars we going maybe 80 or 90 kph, pretty fast. I had to wait there maybe 15 minutes before I got a ride. There wasn't much traffic but a nice man finally picked me up. And he actually knew Willie, the guy who gave me the first ride in the oversized load truck. (And Willie knows Hunchy, the guy who's taking me pig hunting on Saturday morning). While I was standing on the side of the road waiting for a ride the rest of the way to Coromandel it was amazing how unstressed I was about standing on the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand. As I've been on this trip I've really started to learn to leave things up to fate and not get so stressed out about everything. Not that I don't still get stressed at times, but when I find myself worrying I just think, "whatever is meant to happen will happen". That keeps me quite calm most of the time. When I think of how well everything has turned out to date and how many starts had to align for all of it to work out I realize that if something is meant to be it will. If it's not, it won't, and that's all there is to it.

When I got back to town I went to pick up my check at Top Pub and ended up having dinner with Aimee and Terri Ann, two my fellow bartenders, who are also sisters, and Terri Ann's 3 year old son. It was nice to spend some time with those ladies outside of work. 

Then back to the cafe where I've been relaxing, socializing with the new girls Anna and Anja, and working on my blog. 

And that's all for tonight. I'll post some more photos from today tomorrow. 

Best!

Farewell to My Friends

Let me start by giving a shout out to Alanna, Phoebe, and Patricia. I will always remember you ladies. What a wonderful summer of 2013/2014!!! Y'all are the best!

Yesterday was Phoebe, Alanna, and Patricia's last day the cafe. They left this morning for the rest of their own respective journeys. Patricia and Phoebe are going to the Northland to do a house sitting WWOOFing job for 3 weeks. Alanna is going to Auckland and then down to the glowworm caves at Waitomo and then to Queenstown. I'm very excited to see where their journeys take them but I was very sad to see them go. After embarking on this journey alone and then making some real friends it's hard to be back on my own again. When I left the states I was prepared for traveling by myself. Now that I've been with some cool people for two months and really gotten to know them and be comfortable around them, it's sad to be on my own again. I think it was also very hard since they all left together. Although they've already dropped Alanna off and are splitting up themselves, I was sad to know they were going off together. If they would've left one by one it wouldn't have been so bad but together I'm just quite sad. I never thought I'd enjoy living with 3 other girls but I really had a blast around them for 2 months. And I just can't believe it's over already. What a fun summer we had together. I just hope I get to see them all again (one on one or all together) before I leave New Zealand. Queenstown, ladies?

Here's a last photo we took together. We were trying out the new look - relaxing all the mussels in your face. Here's what we got. It could be an album cover, couldn't it?

Best WWOOFing crew ever! Love you ladies! I'll never forget you. Mostly because of them memories but also because we got a tattoo together...

Anyways, enough of that sadness. The new WWOOFers have arrived and they all seem quite nice. We have Marga from Germany, Anna from England, and Anja from Switzerland. Looks like Anja and I will be together int he bunk house, Anna has taken over Patricia's spot in the Caravan, and Marga has moved into Phoebe's garden shed. They're settling in quite nicely. I've started to train them all in the cafe. By the time I leave this place will be running like a well oiled machine ;)

Last night, to celebrate the girl's last night here in Coromandel, we had a big party at the cafe. Everyone who works here from town was there as well as many of the friends we've made while we've been here. We were up until all hours of the night dancing and singing and having a great time. It was such a wonderful time together. Plus, as many of you know, I'm not much of a dancer but I tried out some new dance moves last night and had a great time! I told the ladies we should all meet back up in Queenstown for a dance party, I just hope they show up!

Here's some photos from last night:

Found this one on my camera of Melody (NZ - barista) and Lee (NZ - Alex's girlfriend).

Mel and Lee again.

Mel.

Alex (NZ - barista), Mel (NZ), and Katie (England, but lives in Coromandel Town - cook).

Patricia (Canada), Sandy (NZ - chef), Alex.

Lee and Phoebe (England).

Alanna (Canada) and Tim (NZ - Mel's boyfriend's brother)

Patricia.

Alanna and Katie dancing.

More of Katie and Alanna.

The party was super fun - everyone was pretty hung over this morning (not me, I only had one drink) - it's sad to think we'll never be back together again.

Let's think what else....

Oh I took a few photos the other day while we were working. Here they are:

And here's a video in the dish room. The sound might be off a bit on this video - sometimes that just happens - sorry!

I'm trying to think what else....

Motorcycle rally in town this weekend so I'm going to be very busy with doubles at Top Pub Friday and Saturday as well as work at the cafe on Friday morning and pig hunting Saturday morning. I need to catch up on my sleep the next few nights.

I might finally go kayaking Cathedral Cove tomorrow. The weather's supposed to be nice. If it's sunny when I get up in the morning I'm going to get a ride to Whitianga with Michael, the delivery guy, and then do the kayak tour.

I went "shopping" today at the neighbor's house. Piet, a neighbor of the cafe, has WWOOFers at his place and they tend to leave clothes behind. He let me pick up some jeans and a few tops to use when I go pig hunting and then again at the dairy farm that I'm going to. He also gave me a pair of gum boots that he never uses. This is all great, except that I don't have any room in my suitcase and I'm accumulating so much stuff. I might have to buy another bag or something!

I think that's all for now. I'm listening to Lorde's new album now, recommended by Heydon, an Aucklander who gave me a ride the other day back from Thames.

That's it. 

Oh and I'll be starting HP # 7 tonight. Can't wait to get this series over with. I'm still upset that Dumbledore is dead. 

One last and final thing, my parents were in Mexico last week. My dad had a guy on the beach do the southern cross tattoo on his thumb in henna to match the one I just got one with the ladies from the cafe. It's not exactly the same but pretty close. Here's a screen shot from our Skype session this morning:

Best!

P.S. I'm adding this a few hours after the original post. Yesterday I had a man come up to the counter and order and I could here his North American accent right away. Whenever I hear that accent I always have to ask people where they're from because I just love knowing that Americans are out seeing the world! Anyways, when I asked where he was from he replied "Minnesota" to which I said "No way! I'm from Minnesota!". We continued narrowing down where we were both from, down to the cross street and it turns out he and his wife both grew up in south Minneapolis about 10 blocks from where I grew up. It is such a crazy small world - I really can't believe it! They moved to Auckland for his work back in October and are heading back to the states in May. Couldn't ask for a better time to be in the South Hemisphere I don't think. He works for Valspar which just bought an Australian company and he is working at that company's office in Auckland. He told me some sad news, however, that the Valspar building off Washington Ave. has been totally re-done and is no longer the bright fun building that it was. He said they're doing a big remodel and such, which obviously sounds exciting, but I just can't believe they changed that. It's such as landmark building, everyone knows the Valspar building. I didn't know what they sold until maybe last year but I always knew who they were - I just thought they were like a record label or something. 

Anyways, that's finally it for today. If I think of anything else to write it's going in my blog post tomorrow!