Hey Hey W(aih)eke

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I was very lucky to get to work on Waiheke. CVNZ only goes there for a few weeks every year, and the other team had to stay on the main land at Atiu Creek. It is a island of wine and beaches, but sadly I only got to enjoy the latter. It was a busy and chaotic week. Not everything worked out quite perfectly, but we coped. The house was in the most romantic spot ever. Directly at the beach. Living in a place like this has always been a childhood dream of mine. 

Since there is no road directly to the house, we had to walk for a few minutes. That’s not too bad, even though we had to carry everything, luggage, groceries, water – there was no drinking water, and we had to preserve the tank water for showering etc. As pretty as it is from the outside, no one lives there apart from volunteers every other month. That means it is not very well maintained. Upon entering the kitchen, we found a few mouse droppings on the counter, and of course more spiders than there are people on the island. However, at this point, I’m used to it. A few little bugs don’t impress me anymore. Cockroaches, moths, spiders, rats,... – They are as much my house mates as the other volunteers. 

A hand full of spiders wish you a good morning in the toilet, then you find some chilling in their nets over the stove as you make breakfast and say hello to the ant family in the food cabinet and maybe clean up the fresh mouse poo from the fruit bowl. Then you go to brush your teeth together with the cockroaches. At night, you fall asleep listening to dozens of little rat feet on the roof. That’s just the life.

What bothered me a bit more than our unrequested pets was that we were almost out of gas. And the energy outlets didn’t work. Neither did the microwave. And we didn’t have any hot water for the showers. Awesome. At least the gas lasted long enough to cook couscous. And since we would get sweaty and smelly again the next way anyways, it didn’t really matter if we didn’t shower. That day, we had only spread out some mulch. Boring, but not that hard. Luckily, we could sort out most of that the next morning.

On Wednesday we fixed bait lines. That means filling rat poison in traps and smearing on a bit of peanut butter on it as bait. It was a nice walk, at least for me. I volunteered to go with the ranger. It’s always great to work with the professionals, they can tell you so much about native plants. And that way I wouldn’t get lost somewhere in the deep forest. I saw a great old Kauri, and a tree that might have been used by the Maori to store dead bodies. Our route was easy for the most part, but appearently the other teams had a hard time climbing around in the jungle. The ranger might have kept the easiest route for himself.

This may have been a burial tree

Thursday morning, a not-so-pleasant surprise waited for us: The tap stayed dry, the toilets didn’t flush, we had run out of water. Or at least we thought so. Later we found out that there was still a lot left, it just didn’t get pumped out of the tanks. At least we didn’t have to do the breakfast dishes. We had to resort to flush with sea water, one resource that was not limited.

We got to do my favourite job: Killing gorse. I was excited, even though I just managed to pick the last thornes out of my hands. This time with great seaview. We worked at the top of a cliff. I’m glad I’m not scared of hightes anymore. Our team leader Sirri told us very specifically not to risc too much and that we should not climb down too much to cut the gruesome weed, only if we were 100% sure that we would not slip and fall to our death on the rocks down below. I am not sure if I was always truly 100% sure, but I think I managed a good 76. The cliffside, though, was definately over 100%.For the most part, I could get a good grip on other trees or use them as foot support. It only got a bit icky when the soil started crumbling. They should have given us a climbing harness and tie us to a tree, that would have been cool, and safe.
Since we had worked so hard, Sirri convinced the ranger to give us an hour off in the afternoon and we went into town and to some beaches.

"Please Respect"

Me and German Steffi 

Somehow, and with a lot of screwing and unscrewing, the water came back after dinner, right in time for all the dishes.

Like every Friday, we had to start the day by cleaning the house. I don’t even know why I try to do that properly every time if I don’t even get to profit from it. Most places I have lived in are a unhygenic  health hazard with dead cockroaches everywhere and ten year’s worth of dust. And the shower drains were blocked, which made cleaning them very annoying. Also, I was approaching a bad laundry situation, since the washing mashine in the house, of course, didn’t work, even if we had had enough water to wash clothes.

We were supposed to mulch some more that moring, which I was not excited about. It’s dull and not rewarding and doesn’t feel like proper conservation work. So when I heard that someone was supposed to go back to where we cut the day before to fix up some bits that were missed, I volunteered immediately. I thought it would just be some really small ones on the top that we specifically left there since they could be sprayed easily. I was wrong. He made me and another girl poison the ones down very low that we specifically left there since they were too dangerous to get there. The dude was sliding around on loose soil and falling several times with a running chainsaw in his hands. I honestly was a bit freaked out and constantly thinking “If Sirri saw this, she would not be happy” Well, it was fun, in some ways. What good is living if you don’t feel like you are going to die painfully on the scenic shore every once-in-a-while?

Then we went back to Auckland on the ferry.

From the Water

It might sound as if I am complaining and having a horrible time, but honestly, it’s just the truth. And I still enjoy my time, I still love the work. It’s still great, at least it’s exciting!

Then the sad part came: I had to say goodbye to all the new friends I made and went to the Airport.

I arrived in Christchurch at night and naturally, it was raining. Because Christchurch is much nicer to you than Auckland, there is a public bus service from the airport to the city centre and you don’t have to pay for the insanely expensive Skybus. It’s still not cheap, but better. As always, the bus driver was almost uncomfortably nice. I just wanted to go to the city centre and walk the two kilometers to my hostel from there. He actually wanted to help me find the bus that I had to get on at the city centre bus stop so that I didn’t have to walk. I didn’t listen and walked anyways. It’s far more exciting, and after a flight it’s always nice to get some fresh air.

The next morning, I finally could sleep in a bit longer. I did not have anything special planned for my stay, just walking around and relaxing a bit. And I needed to do my laundry in the morning. I really needed to. So I slipped into my cleanest dirty shirt and took care of that while catching up with the world online.

Parts of Christchurch are still in ruins, even if it’s been over five years since the big earthquake. But they dealt with the disaster beautifully. For example, there is a mall completely built out of shipping containers.

I found this traffic sign sculpture very interesting

"Everything is going to be alright"

The botanical gardens are also pretty, even though I can’t forget that all these colourfully blooming plants are weeds. There is a New Zealand garden as well. 

There was a charity race and their outfits were just too good!

Sunday morning, I stumbled by a Thriller-flashmob, and of course I got nice Zombie-Make-Up done and jumped in.

I woke up like this

I was also interviewed by a local TV Station. You could say I'm internationally famous.

That's what I look like every Sunday morning

I proceeded walking around town pretty like that. It was funny to see how the people reacted. I think I freaked out a little girl.

Now I’m on the bus to Greymouth and get to see the mountains of the South Island.

A shame the bus didn't stop for pictures

 I just want to go up to these summits and build a snowman. I have officially reached the listening-to-Austropop-a-lot-stage of my journey now and would kind of like to go skiing, even if it’s too early. It took me longer last time, in the USA, maybe because that had more of a homey-feel to it. I’m not sad-homesick or anything, more like happily sentimental in an almost nostalgic way. I enjoyed being on my own for a bit, especially with my single room, but now I’m  looking forward to meeting new people and re-meeting my friends that left Auckland to go to the south before me. 

Sulphur City

If any town deserves its nickname, it would have to be the tourist-hotspot Rotorua. I already got to smell the vulcanic activity in this area a month ago, on my bus ride from Wellington to Auckland. I don’t mind it that much, and I got used to it after a while, but when the first punget wave of rotten eggs hit my face, I was a bit overwhelming. I had to think back to when I visited the Italian vulcano Stromboli with my family and my brother constantly whined about the stink. He didn’t even take a hot mud bath at a pool, while I got completely covered in therapeutic vulcanic dirt.

The weekend was exciting, we were really busy. To be honest, I left exhausted, feeling like I could sleep for a week. And I took 938 pictures that I sorted through on the busride back to Auckland. I won’t post all of them that I decided to keep here – that’s still over 200. And I don’t have good enough Internet access so that it wouldn’t take hours to upoad them.

We arrived in Rotorua at Friday night and found our amazing hostel without major problems. And we could sleep in the next morning – almost till 7:45! What a luxury, I am not even used to getting up that late. And I’m not that much of a night owl anymore, I’m usually pretty sleeps by 9:30. Oh god, I’m already turning into my mother. Well the hard work and tons of activity all day long probably helps with that. 

Getting up, getting dressed, trying not to wake up our dorm mates, buying breakfast, eating breakfast where we were supposed to get picked up by the shuttle bringing us to the Thermal Wonderland. We waited. We realized we might have waited at the wrong side of the corner shop. We waited a bit longer. 15 minutes after the scheduled pick-up, we got a wee bit nervous. Missing the bus by being too dumb to wait in the right spot would not have been a great start into the weekend. Finally, the shuttle showed up. The driver jumped out and asked us if we slept in this morning. Sheepishly, we got onto the bus. Somehow, we didn’t see the other one that tried to pick us up 20 minutes earlier. Luckily, the company operates two busses and leaves nobody behind, even if they are late. Despite the delay we were on time to see the eruption of the Lady KnoxGeyser.

Every day at 10:15, they pour soap into it, and the Geyser erupts due to a chemical reaction. This was also discovered by convicts wanting to wash their clothes in hot springs. I don’t think they were happy about the boiling hot surprise shower.  It was cool, not as big as Yellowstone’s Old Faithful, but it kept on spitting for by far longer. In fact, I don’t know how long, since we had to get back to the bus to get to Wai-O-Tapo.

At the bus, the driver told us that the other bus, the one we were supposed to catch, had a flat tire, so the people on it were brought to the park in vans and had missed Lady Knox. Ah, sometimes the irony is just awesome.

We had to rush through Wai-O-Tapu a bit, since our receptionist gave us an amazing tip for the end of the tour, but I took a bunch of really pretty pictures. 

Then we walked to a spot where a hot and a cold river meet and took a little dip. Thanks to our receptionist at RSB for the great idea! It was nice, totally worth hurrying a bit earlyer.

However, that's why I don't like guided tours, I don't like the time limits and the pressure to be there and done at exactly the right time. I like taking my time. However, that's hard without a car.

Then we went to Waimangu, the less touristic geothermal attraction. While Tapu was crowded with people who constantly were in my way when taking pictures, we hardly met a soul in Waimangu.

I love the mystic mist

The Inferno Crater, we were really lucky to see it this skyblue

We were back in Rotorua in the early afternoon and decided to look around town a bit. It is not much but shops and hostels, but the lake is gorgeous. Rotorua is actually a Maori word, Roto means lake and rua two. So Lake Rotorua is actually Lake Lake Two.

This asshole hissed at me when I was taking pictures

In the town itself, there is a lot of vulcanic activity as well, there are a bunch of hot pools. And it's funny how sometimes some smoke comes out of the gullies

This is Rachel Pool, a alkaline pool in Rotorua's Government Gardens, a park you should definately visit if you are in town. Formerly named Whangapipiro, it was renamed  after Madam Rachel, a notorious English cosmetician who promised youthful complexions because of the softening effect of silica water on the skin.

There are still a bunch of big, old trees around the area. This one is in Government Gardens. 

Since we didn't do a lot that day, we went wall climbing. Our hostel wasn't name Rock Solid Backpackers for nothing - They have a indoor climbing gym! So we did that from 9 at night to 10, and slept well until we had to get up the next morning to go to Hobbiton!

Just outside the shire - It already looks like a movie.

We were so lucky with the weather. The perfect lighting to capture the lush grass and colourful hobbit

holes.

This is something you just have to do if you are ever on the North Island. Even if you are not a big fan of the movies. Some people on our tour had never even watched them. But as fans who had even read the books, Xandra and I enjoyed it all the better.

Bag's End, the home of Bilbo and Frodo

This post box is the only one that openes.

If you are a LOTR-Fan, you probably recognize the oak on top of Bag's End. It's a fake tree. For the original trilogy, they actually used a real tree but glued on all the leaves. Every single one. And with the Hobbit movies, it got even more ridiculous. They could not use the same tree, since the movies are perquels and the oak is supposed to be 60 years younger. So this is a fake tree. The leaves are not a natural green, right? That's because they faded in the New Zealand sun. The same happened when they had to interrupt filming for a few months since Peter Jackson got sick. What made he his crew do? Spraypaint every single leave. The tree was in the movie for about 10 seconds by the way. Our guide told us this and a bunch of other stories about the living movie set. If you have the opportunity, go. It's worth your while.

In the afternoon, we visited Whakarewarewa,  the redwood forest near Rotorua. Even though these are weeds, not native New Zealand plants, they are pretty cool trees. And big. We didn't have any transportation and did not want to wait for a bus, so we just walked there from the city centre. I would not recommend that. It's not that far, only about 45 minutes, but next to a busy road. We took the bus back.

At night, we visited the Maori village Tamaki. There are several around Rotorua, but Tamaki was recommended to us. And we can recommend it as well (at least to men). We learned many things about the Maori culture, and the food was delicious.

I just have a bit of an issue with the lack of gender equality there. It is quite authentic that women are not valued as much as men, as it has been for many years in most cultures. Still, it made my experience less awesome than it could have been. Every bus had to have a "Chief" who had to accept their peace offering. The chief had to be male. When watching the show, no women were allowed to sit in the first row. And we were not allowed to try and learn the Haka. That's what bothers me most, it looked like so much fun! And that's like THE Maori-thing. I wanted to do that as well. I paid for it, as much as the men, and I didn't get the same. Maybe it is a bit petty, but stuff like this perpetuates sexism. So one extra star for the authenticity, but three less for sexism. I just want to Haka. If white men are allowed to do it for fun, women can, too. Feckin sexists, our culture is getting over it as well.

Our male chief standing in my picture's way

The food gets lifted from the ground for the Hangi

One highlight of the night was the busride back into town. I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone else, but it was fun! 

On Labour Day we split up. Xandra went to Taupo, and I went whitewater rafting and biking. Please appreciate the pictures, since I had to purchase them from the photographer.

This is the highest commercially rafted waterfall, it is seven meters high. Luckily we didn't flip the raft, but one group did. Some people were going down there on kayaks, and that definately looked dangerous. It freaked me out more than rafting it myself.

In the afternoon, I hired a bike at Mountain Bike Rotorua. And I have to tell you here that they are the most amazing, kindest people ever and I recommend their service with all my heart.

I went to the forest again, this time near Te Puia, where the great MTB trails start. There are trails for anyone, easy, relaxing ones and crazy dangerous BMX routes that are more stressful than rafting a 7 meter waterfall, and I did not even do anything past intermediate. My brother would have loved it. To get there, however, I had to cycle on the street. Oh man, I was so freaked out. It's so hard to remember to stay left. And the right turns... Horrible. And the cars passed me on the right side! I would probably crash if I drove here. Then again, I would prbably crash my car anywhere. Most of the trails were one way, but I always instinctively went to the right when someone came towards me. I'm sorry, there's a reason I don't drive.

When taking this picture, I layed down on the ground next to the trail to take the picture from below. A bunch of people came past me and freaked out because they thought I fell.

So yeah I think you get that I was pretty exhausted at the end of Labour Weekend. We left in the evening and I spent the busride looking through pictures. But when we came back to Auckland, the exercise for the day was not over. To get to Titirangi, we had to catch the train and then the bus. Since it was Labour Day, there was no bus service after 9. So we had to walk to the house from New Lynn. It took us about one-and-a-half hours. We even tried to hitchhike, but didn't get far. It's surprisingly hard. A college student picked us up for a bit. She told us she wanted to go to the USA soon to travel around in the southern states. I think she did it mainly for good Karma. I hope she has better luck than us if she ever needs to hitch a lift. Anyways, she was super nice and we had a great time on our ten minute ride. In case you are wondering, hitch hiking is not that dangerous here, many volunteers of our team have done it around Auckland already, just not at night. And after the long, dull busride, we needed a bit of excitement.

We slept well, until we had to get up and leave for the short work week.