Andrea Excerpt PART II

From her mouth (typing) to your ears (eyes)....
"Our adventure in Abel Tasman Park was amazing.  We hiked along a coast trail with views of turquoise water and snowy mountains.  Getting to the hut just at dark, we slept in a giant bunk bed with strangers.   The next day we had a short trek to a lovely beach where we swam shivering a bit and then kayaked back to town in time to have a yummy meal of burger/veggie burgers with farm-fresh toppings. (Olivia gives this the BEST Burger in NZ rating!)  Then we drove down the west coast.  We have a lovely purple and green eye soar of a Juicy van. This minivan converted to campervan includes space and pull outs for eating, sleeping, cooking, DVD watching and a mini-cooler fridge. Brilliant.
Anyway, we had planned to drive into town but I had to pee, so we pulled off at a rest stop..  It ended up being a beach (nature reserve) where penguins have been spotted.  We decided to camp there for the night.  We didn't see any critters but the moon was shining on the incoming tide and it looked like mercury.  We sat in our camp chairs and drank wine.  To balance it out, we woke up being eaten by mosquitoes and sand flies and had to make a quick get away. 

We are headed south along the coast to check out the glaciers.  Olivia is such fun company (yay me) and in a crazy moment where some bees were after her lunch, she threw the meat stick she was eating across the beach.  It almost hit me in the head which would have been the perfect veggie moment."
More later.... 

An Excerpt from Cosby Kid Adventures PART I

I haven't had time to write with all the adventure seeking lately, but here is an update written by my wiser, older sister. This is how Andrea describes part of our first 48 hours together.This was almost three weeks ago when our adventures began. I wouldn't want to spoil the updates to come, but they do involve jumping out of planes, sleeping in a mini van, exploring by sea and of course the DREADED sand flies! More on that later.... off to celebrate my last night with my sister in lovely Queenstown. She has made so many things that backpackers like me can only dream of in NZ- a reality.
So here is a glimpse, from PortlanDrea herself, with my commentary of course.

"At one point, I was really hungry from rushing all day to the geysers, back to one town, grabbing our stuff, throwing my forgotten key at the hostel-dude, and jumping on a bus, I started fantasizing about nachos.  So we get into town and the most amazing looking hippie restaurant emerges like a mirage in the distance with "gluten-free" and "no meat nachos" beckoning me from afar. (read dietary restrictions of travel fun!) I have my big pack on my back, my day pack in front and assorted groceries/hat/wallet-purse dangling.  In my excitement, I turn to shout to Olivia about the nachos and I don't notice the step up.  I stumble and catch myself on the door knob making all sorts of racket and coming close to going through the glass door. (I am not the only clumsy Cosby.... it turns out.) Olivia and I are cackling and crying from laughing (in only that way we Cosbys can do so loudly) so when we enter my audience just says that they knew I was OK because we were laughing so hard.  Their food was fantastic and we ate their twice in our 24 hours in that town- GF buckwheat pancakes with blueberries and cream- yum!

On a similar note, after a 6 hours in a bus, Olivia all of the sudden says urgently, "we have to get off now" and we are barefoot with stuff everywhere.  A little girl helps Olivia find her shoe while I'm grabbing and stuffing.  She hadn't figured out that we could cut some time to her friend's until she saw the town.  The bus driver grumbled but we made it.  Then we borrowed a shopping cart that had been on the side of the road to push our packs when we got some groceries.  I think we might be famous already.  

To backtrack, after Auckland, we went to Rotorua which is known for it's sulphur smell which I kinda like.  Olivia says it smells like a fart of someone who has eaten lots of hard-boiled eggs.  She's not so much of a fan.  Anyway, we tried to do a walk there but our directions were bad so ended up getting lots of rides/directions from the insanely nice Kiwis.  That day ended with a 4 hour Maori ceremony (well, you know, the tourist version) and feast.  Yes it was touristy, but the food was interesting and good (it had been steamed in a pit in the ground) and the "actors" seemed authentically into it.  

The next rushed morning was our geyser day.  Also touristy (read expensive) but the colors of the water (lime!), the billowing steam, bubbling mud, and general landscape was really beautiful.  Then we jumped on the bus to Taupo where it poured during our evening but turned it around for our adrenaline adventure."


Peace and love to all!

You Might be an NZed WOOFER if....

• ............
• you are barefoot 50% of the day
• you eat the fruits of your labor- literally
• your everyday vocabulary includes words like "permaculture, horticulture, organic, spray free, harvest and mulch."
• your finger nails are dirty to a point that your mother would deem unacceptable
• you see both the sunrise and sunset in the same day (by choice)
• you haven't worn makeup in two weeks
• you've been pecked by a chook! (hen)
• rain actually means you have to change your work plan that day
• you've cleaned more dishes than at any point in your life time (shocking to my former roommates)
• you have more than 20 bug bites at any given time
• you find mosquito nets endearing
• taking a break means going for a swim in the ocean
• you haven't met a spider web you couldn't conquer
• when nature calls, you can really only go in nature
• you understand the use of a compost toilet
• your hands often smell like work gloves
• you have a farmers tan
• you are lulled to sleep by the Morepork (native NZ owl)
• you have attained new skills in painting, sanding, gardening, weeding, cleaning, fruit picking that makes you realize you are not as smart as you thought you were
• you have driven in a Ute (small truck) 
• you've been awakened by a possum
• you play with kids during your down time
• you discover the only way into THE town is to hitch
• you have discovered fifteen different ways to use avocados (list coming soon..)
• you've discussed American politics, food, family and economy over home brewed beer with your hosts
• you have consumed local foods like kiwifruit, plum chutney, whitebait, kumara and feijoa
• after a hard days work (a whopping required four hours) you indulge in amazing hospitality over delightful meals that have been prepared from the garden- SEED TO TABLE! 

 In other news, I have so much to report on the last two weeks of solo travel and meeting up with my sister, who as safely arrived from Oregon for a three week adventure. However, I am feeling back-blogged, so I wanted to share this list as I am about to post photos that will better depict the aforementioned and give you an idea of my first two weeks of WWOOF experience in the Northland of NZed (the British way of saying EN-ZEE.) And to the disappointment of my LSU Communications professors I have not been editing, spell checking or attempting any journalistic content on my previous blogs. Perhaps that's the goal for the next half of my tale telling! Please excuse the rambles and enjoy my Olivia-esque train of thought. I can't believe I am already half way through my time here and have only five weeks left!
Abrazos a todos!