Happy Holiday's everyone!!! My Christmas present to you all is a large blog update. As I start all of these posts, I again apologize for not updating often enough. This is a new record I will say of about 4 weeks though. I will do a quick overview of everything so I don't bore you all with the boring old details.
In general about the past four weeks I should say that it has been lovely weather. It is about 75 degrees every day, bright, beautiful, sunny, and perfect weather. I have been filling my time with hikes, trips to the beach, and just laying lazily in the sun. Let me tell you guys. My life here is really difficult. Haha.
Well, to go back to 4 weeks ago. The weekend after I left you I took my friday night nice and easy staying in that night. However I did get a text from the Chris that I had met a couple weeks back on Queens st. Well he told me that on Saturday was a the concert called Farmaggedon that he and I had talked about last we were together. He told me that he had an extra ticket if I cared for it.I told him I would love to go and would meet him at his house around noon. Well I should probably through a disclaimer out right now and say that I knew Chris was well how should I put it, a little sketchy in his own way. So I thought if anything tomorrow will certainly be an experience. Now I should also give you guys a bit of background on NZ lingo. Here in NZ there is a term "bogan" which is used to describe a certain type of person. A bogan is what you might call like a mix of a metalhead mixed with a redneck I suppose. Commonly known for their long hair, Metallica T-shirts, and large quantities of tattoo's covering them. Well now that you understand the term bogan, back to my story. On Saturday, I arrived at Chris's place around noon, taking the place in at a glance. I knew for sure after that that the next 24 hours would be both exciting, sketchy, and to say the least interesting all rolled up into one. The door to the house was partially blocked by the overflowing recycling bin that was piled to about 2/3 my height with beer and wine bottles. Walking through the yard to the house I found my foot squishing on something. I looked down to find I had stepped on a several day old decaying body of a rat. Well, I thought, Onwards and Upwards. With that I entered the house and found it much to what I would expect. A extremely messy house full of young guys all in varying levels of snobbishness on a variety of couches all watching discovery channel on a large screen plasma tv with all the gaming consoles you could imagine beneath it. It was somewhat obvious where most all the money is this house went, (alcohol and video games). Well I found Chris's room, and found him busy packing for the night. I should add that Farmaggedon is a concert in the middle of a farm north of Auckland. One can only get tickets to it if they have friends of friends essentially. It runs from 2pm till sunrise the next day. So everyone had to pack booze, food, and a tent or sleeping bag or such, (not that anyone thought they would get any sleep that night). Well I waited around at Chris's and slowly people started heading out for the concert. Chris and I had to wait till "the girls" (as they were called, I knew little beyond that) arrived. In the meantime Chris was more than happy to show me the fire staff, and the fire poi poi's that he had for the occasion. Finally, "the girls" showed up, and we made our way north to Matakana (after of course some debate about who should ride with who soe we had the fewest number of restricted licenses as possible driving) Well after an hour and a half we arrived at our location. Matakana and more specifically a man named Brody's farm. Brody (who organizes this thing and gives tickets only to friends and thus one must have friends of friends to get tickets) has a farm that overlooks the ocean and (as I say about every place around here) is spectacular. There was a large bandstand set up at one end of the field, and when we arrived (fair early like 3:30) only about 150 people where there. However I could immediately tell one thing. I seemed to have found myself in what I imagine Bogan heaven would be like. I felt somewhat out of place their not having a tattoo of my own to show off. However I put on my best Bogan face, and played the part as best I could. Experiencing the night in all its bogan glory. It was true that the concert was set after set. Honestly going from 2 till sunrise the next morning without stop. By the end I'd say about 600-700 people were there. The music varied, but overall, was surprisingly really good. The cool thing was it was all NZ bands and that was neat. When night fell, Chris and I broke out the flame staff and fire poi poi's. Now in case anyone is curious what that may be, the staff is essentially a long metal rod with sponges at each end. We dip these sponges into a bucket of kerosene, and then light them on fire. Thus you have a flaming staff. The fire poi poi's are similar, only they are essentially two straps with finger holds at one end, and a sponge at the end. Again this sponge is dipped in kerosene and lit of fire. THus you have two chains (one in each hand) with a ball of fire at the end. You can then spin these in fun and beautiful patterns. This was both fun to do and fun to watch. Chris's girlfriend was exceptionally good with the poi poi's; she could make them spin like just a blur of yellow and in dazzling ways. Anyways, it was quite the experience. Finally around 4 in the morning I was pretty much spent, so I went back to the field where all the cars were parked. Grabbed my sleeping bag, and rolled it out on a hill overlooking the ocean. About an hour later I woke to the sun rising over the hills around me and the golden orb rising about the ocean in front of me. It was pretty breathtaking. The next morning a bunch of us headed to Talafuney, which is another exceptional beach. We stayed there till about noon at which point we headed home. All in all, it was exactly as I had expected: exciting, sketchy, and definitely interesting. I had a blast being a Bogan for an evening. Needless to say all of Sunday, was then spent recovering.
On Wed. that week I ended up going hiking in the Waitekere ranges. They are mountains just West of Auckland. It is absolutely incredible that a place can be so close to a major city, and at the same time, so absolutely secluded and separated from civilization. It was a fantastic hike to do by myself. I parked the car and hiked through the mountains eventually arriving at a large lagoon tucked in just behind the beach. There was a gangplank that you could walk along which went over the lagoon. I took a couple pictures, and at one point decided I needed on that looked like I was truly in the lagoon. So I put the timer on the camera and ran off down the gangplank. I found a spot and then thought "Oh this bush next to me seems pretty sold I’ll just put a foot on it so that I can get a little more into the bush. No sooner was my foot off the gangplank then it instantly sank up to my knee into nasty lagoon muck. I quickly learned my mistake. Well I found a nice little sand dune, and at my lunch at the top of it. I was surprised to find that plain penne pasta sandwiched between two bbq chips, is actually a pretty tasty meal. After lunch I continued on. After turning a corner around the path I saw the trail end at the foot of a stream about 20 feet wide. Well I thought, "so much for keeping my other foot dry". I didn't even bother to take my shoes off. Not after my other one was already drenched. The water was cool and came up to my thighs. I crossed though and continued on till I got to the campsite. Now at this point I knew I was supposed to pick up another trail to head back to the car, but I'll be damned if I could find this other trail. Nothing was labeled, and it was getting late. Also as neat as the Waitekere ranges are, they are not exactly the place you want to spend the night alone and without help in. So I decided there was nothing for it but to turn back and go back the way I had come. When I got back to the stream I decided that since I hadn't seen anyone all day on the trail the chance of someone coming then was slim. So I decided I"d have a little dip to myself in the stream. It was probably one of the greatest feelings ever. To go skinny dipping in a stream in the middle of the bush in cool water after hiking all day in the sun. It was kind of what I imagine a man's first cold shower feels like after crossing a desert. Anyways, the hike back was all uphill, but it was finally done and when I got back to the car a wild chicken was outside the door waiting to greet me.
That weekend I ended up goin shooting with Andrew again. He picked me up early in the morning, (like 7:30) and we went up to Shakespear regional park (named after a family name, not the man. (and yes, no "e" at the end) It was the Christmas shoot, so it was pretty big. We did 100 targets which ended up doing a course of 50 twice. It was a beautiful day, and Shakespear Regional Park is a magnificent location. It is high up on cliffs that overlook the ocean. The ocean there is speckled with islands, and if you look way off in the distance you can make out the outline of the Coromandel.
I think I should also state about this sunday that I had decided the day before that I was going to fast for the whole day. I had never fasted before, and I wanted to try it. Let me just tell you now that... IT SUCKS! All day long you think of food, and everything you do is just passing time till you can eat again. It didn't help that I chose a bad day because after the Christmas shoot they grilled up delicious looking sausages and had beer out and everything. I had just shot all day, and having a beer and sausages afterwards seemed like the perfect complement to my days activities, but I had decided I wasn't doing anything but water. So soda or beer were also out of the question. As I was saying, IT SUCKED. haha. not only did I do it all Sunday, but then Christoph convinced me to hold off atleast till Monday rather than eating at like midnight that night. So I lasted till about 9 or 10 on Monday and then I just ate and ate. It was wundabar.
That monday I ended up going to Bethels Beach with Brook. It was my first time at Bethels, which is another of the West coast beaches. And as a West coast beach it was true to itself. It was completely empty, and the currents were strong and the waves were massive. We went out to this Island and climbed to the top. We were amazed to find at the top a house with a bird sanctuary sign hanging from it. With a lone person inside. I think he was as surprised to see us as we were to see him (Especially considering the stairs to get there started about 8 feet up the rocks and we had to climb to get to them). To this day I cannot figure out how they got wood and a bed up there. If it was helicopter it must have been one incredible pilot to drop it in such a precise location. Anyways, after the island we decided to check out a cave Brook knew of. So we made off down the beach. When we drew closer we heard music coming from it. When we got there we realized there was a band playing in the cave. Once they saw us the all somewhat stopped and started giving us dirty looks. We were as confused as them till a man standing in front of them looked up from what he was doing, and we realized they were shooting a music video. Sweet as. The man was nice and let us quickly let us check out this massive cave that was sitting in the cliffs overlooking the beach. We scampered in and scampered out and then felt famous considering our footprints would be in a NZ music video. All in all the day was beautiful, and we had a sweet as time.
On tuesday Aaron (from couchsurfing (who's key I broke)) met at a pool hall and shot some billiards. Its so nice to find someone who matches you well in a game of pool. Anyways, that Saturday, I headed over to Aaron's place again for a Christmas BBQ. See here instead of like having family over in front of the fire or something everyone throws BBQ's at the beach for Christmas. (A weird feeling.) The BBQ was Academics and Adventures themed and costumed, (which was a lot of fun). I ran into Amy from my improv lessons at the BBQ. Its pretty funny to be here for 5 months and have friends that have mutual acquaintances with you. Even in a city of 1.4 million. That’s kind of Auckland for you though. Well the bbq was sehr gut, and I got a delicious potato salad recipe, and gorged myself on all the meat I could get my hands on.
Monday of this last week marked the beginning of Yannik's summer holiday. That means that I have very little free time any more as Yannik is always around. On Tuesday I had him for 11 hours. Let me tell you, by the end of that its always the same feeling... i need 2 beers and a really stupid tv show to just stare dumbly at for a couple hours while i recuperate. Monday also marked the end of a series of annoying appointments I had been having to do. So that was so nice to be done with before Christmas. Wed. and Thurs. I found myself watching Yannik, and running around getting Christmas presents and such.
Thursday night (aka Christmas Eve) I ended up attending a midnight service by myself. I went to an Anglican Church (as most churches are here). Really it was more a Cathedral than a church. It was massive. So was the service. It started at 11:30 and ended at about 1:10. They had around 600 people there I would say, and they served each and every one of them communion. It took forever. Anyways, it was an neat experience, but I doubt I would go back to the same church. A little to much pomp and circumstance for me. I was however invited to a Christmas dinner if I was all alone for Christmas (the man sitting next to me realized I wasn't from NZ and invited me). It was a very kind gesture, but I refused since I was spending the day with my family. On Christmas morning I woke at 6:30 first due to Yannik, but slept in till 9 after that. When I came up stairs everything was open and done with already. I don't think Yannik was going to wait for me that morning. It was okay though I gave my presents and opened the one for me. After that we went the Maretai which is a beautiful beach in southeast Auckland. It was something else. And the water is such a nice temperature now. When we got back we started to prepare for dinner that night. I took Yannik to Oma A's and he swam for a couple hours. After which we headed home and guests were starting to arrive. We had about 18 family members over for Christmas dinner. We ate outside, and ate and ate. After dinner I served dad's nuts and Creme de Menthe cookies both of which I had brought here. They were a huge success. Overall it was a lovely Christmas. It was different and I missed home, but it I enjoyed it. In the end though I have decided I like it cold for Christmas, as cool as it was to go to the beach, I like being forced to stay inside and hang out with family. Love all you guys. And I miss you all as well. Merry Christmas.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Surfing, Turkey, and Bachs. Oh My!
Well once again I have slackened on my duties to keep up with you guys. However in the past week a fair amount has happened, so I will skip the boring parts and simply go to the enjoyable parts. Or those points of most interest.
I believe I last left you after last weekend and my little adventure with a bunch of strangers I met on the street. Well skipping ahead to Wed. night at couch surfing I had a similar experience. I, as usual had a lovely evening at couch surfing. There was a great group there, and as usual someone came up and started talking to me who, obviously knew me, and I had no clue who they were. It turned out this time though that the person happened to be Aaron's girlfriend. Aaron, a good friend of mine and organizer of the weekly couchsurfing drinks, apparently had filled his lady friend in on many of the times and stories that Aaron and I have had, because she seemed to know a lot about me. Anyways, we started talking and I was discussing snowboarding with her. This inevitably led us to talking about surfing which inevitably led to me expressing my desire to learn, which inevitably (probably due to my incredible charm) led to her describing how she has two surfboards and an extra wetsuit about my size, and that she would love to teach me. "Aces!!!!" I thought. (I thought this both because its awesome, and because I'm trying to broaden my horizon of exclamatory’s.)
So hopefully sometime soon in the future I will be going surfing with all equipment provided. But, that was not the crazy part. It was also Chris's birthday so it was jager shot after jager shot for him. BUT! thats still not the crazy part. What could be so crazy you ask?
why the bus ride home of course.
Now as some of you know I have developed a bit of a friendship with my bus driver for the past 4 months. Well last week, he broke my heart by admitting he was switching routes on me, so starting this week I had a new bus driver to take me home. So that night I was picked up by a stranger. Well I figured I may as well make friends, even as reluctant as I was considering he wasn't my old bus driver. But I put aside my agitation and started talking to him. He is an upset man however. He is from Translyvannia (which in itself is pretty cool considering I've never actually met a Vampire before). He came over here because his sister did, but he has hated it since he arrived and wants to leave as soon as he can. Oh, well I suppose. Maybe its not for everyone. BUT! to the important part. While we were talking, I happened to mention that I would be missing Thanksgiving for the first time ever tomorrow. Now in my family, Thanksgiving is probably the biggest holiday of the year, and all the extended family meet up, and its just a great time. This was the first year that I wouldn't be a part of that. Not to mention I live with vegetarians, so it would be tofu turkey or nothing for me. So I happened to mention this in passing to the man. Well a little later on a man was stepping off the bus, when he stopped next to me. It was about midnight by this point, but he leaned over and said, "Hey I heard you were aifoiw Thanksgiving. iofaoweo someone aindoiaw American ijfaoi come over. iwoinw here's my card." I put in the gibberish because thats all the parts I understood between his accent, and my tiredness (not to mention I had just come from a bar). Well I thanked him and pretended I understood everything he had said. That night I returned home and had my evening-noodles-dish-while-talking-to-Leigh-on-the-couch-till-2 talk that we do every Wed. night During which I said, "Ya know, I think I might just have been invited to Thanksgiving dinner." So the next day I woke up and looked at the card the man gave me. It said Ash Freedman, and had the name and number of what looked like a jewelers. So I thought what the hell, and I picked up the phone and called. A man answered, and I told him I was looking for an Ash Freedman. He told me that Ash wasn't there and he'd taken the day off. Hmmm. I thought to myself, whats the best way to go about this. He asked me who was calling, and I thought, "uh a um well... a friend" not really wanting to say I was a random man he had met on the bus at midnight last night. So the man told me he thought Ash was surfing and so probably out of cell range anyways. I was debating what the best way to proceed was when the man on the phone said, "actually I think Ash just texted me hold on let me check" He then continued to read the text out loud to me saying, "If an American calls make sure you take his name and number." "THATS ME, DATS ME" I cried, "I'm the American dude!!" haha incredible timing I thought. So I left my info and a couple of hours later he called me back. He said, "You probably found that pretty random on the bus last night, but I overheard you mention that you weren't having thanksgiving with your family this year and I thought man thats what thanksgiving is all about so I thought I'd invite you to spend it with me and my family. My sister-in-law is an American, so we have celebrated it with her for the past 6 years. Come on over at 6:30." So that is exactly what I did. Leigh was kind enough to give me the evening off, and at 6:30 I showed up at their door with a bottle of wine in my hand. There were 18 people there in total, myself included. All of them family members (although apparently one was pretty new since they had just gotten married). Well, it was a lovely evening. Between courses we had to all go around in a circle and say something we were thankful for which I thought was a cool tradition. And it was just so incredible I thought that some one would open his doors and his family to a stranger he has never met, never even talked to, simply because he wanted him to enjoy the holiday. It was a pretty "Capital" gesture (again thats me working on my descriptive words). Not to mention their family was similar to my own thanksgiving family, Loud and Fun.
Well the next day was Friday, and the of the weekend. For the weekend me and about 13 other people all went to a Bach about an 2 hours northwest of Auckland (A bach is a NZ word that means beach house or more generally vacation home). It was Chris's birthday weekend celebration, and it was a really good time. Haha. As usual (similar to the other 2 trips I had done like this) we were about 25 feet from the ocean, with a massive beach directly across the road from us. It was a beautiful location that might best be described as "Gratuitously Majestic". The group I was with was about 7 or so of the normal people between Mark (Kiwi and organizer) Chris and myself (Mannies) Anna, Goody, and Friederike (German Nannies (Gerannies perhaps?)) and then several new people from couchsurfing. One of the girls named Alex was from San Diego. We started talking, and it wasn't long before I discovered her travel companion (who wasn't with us for this trip) was born and raised in Charlottesville Virginia. I cracked up at that. It really is a small world, even here in NZ I find people from home. Anyways, the whole weekend was superb. The water has warmed up enough that you can actually stay in it for a bit of time. Early on Saturday we went for a walk and harvested some mussels right off the beach. We took them back to the Bach and somehow Neils and Mark convinced everyone to eat them raw. So we spent the afternoon cracking open fresh raw mussels (or oysters I can't keep them apart) and putting some lemon squeeze on them, and then down the hatch. Here is the proof of that:
why the bus ride home of course.
Now as some of you know I have developed a bit of a friendship with my bus driver for the past 4 months. Well last week, he broke my heart by admitting he was switching routes on me, so starting this week I had a new bus driver to take me home. So that night I was picked up by a stranger. Well I figured I may as well make friends, even as reluctant as I was considering he wasn't my old bus driver. But I put aside my agitation and started talking to him. He is an upset man however. He is from Translyvannia (which in itself is pretty cool considering I've never actually met a Vampire before). He came over here because his sister did, but he has hated it since he arrived and wants to leave as soon as he can. Oh, well I suppose. Maybe its not for everyone. BUT! to the important part. While we were talking, I happened to mention that I would be missing Thanksgiving for the first time ever tomorrow. Now in my family, Thanksgiving is probably the biggest holiday of the year, and all the extended family meet up, and its just a great time. This was the first year that I wouldn't be a part of that. Not to mention I live with vegetarians, so it would be tofu turkey or nothing for me. So I happened to mention this in passing to the man. Well a little later on a man was stepping off the bus, when he stopped next to me. It was about midnight by this point, but he leaned over and said, "Hey I heard you were aifoiw Thanksgiving. iofaoweo someone aindoiaw American ijfaoi come over. iwoinw here's my card." I put in the gibberish because thats all the parts I understood between his accent, and my tiredness (not to mention I had just come from a bar). Well I thanked him and pretended I understood everything he had said. That night I returned home and had my evening-noodles-dish-while-talking-to-Leigh-on-the-couch-till-2 talk that we do every Wed. night During which I said, "Ya know, I think I might just have been invited to Thanksgiving dinner." So the next day I woke up and looked at the card the man gave me. It said Ash Freedman, and had the name and number of what looked like a jewelers. So I thought what the hell, and I picked up the phone and called. A man answered, and I told him I was looking for an Ash Freedman. He told me that Ash wasn't there and he'd taken the day off. Hmmm. I thought to myself, whats the best way to go about this. He asked me who was calling, and I thought, "uh a um well... a friend" not really wanting to say I was a random man he had met on the bus at midnight last night. So the man told me he thought Ash was surfing and so probably out of cell range anyways. I was debating what the best way to proceed was when the man on the phone said, "actually I think Ash just texted me hold on let me check" He then continued to read the text out loud to me saying, "If an American calls make sure you take his name and number." "THATS ME, DATS ME" I cried, "I'm the American dude!!" haha incredible timing I thought. So I left my info and a couple of hours later he called me back. He said, "You probably found that pretty random on the bus last night, but I overheard you mention that you weren't having thanksgiving with your family this year and I thought man thats what thanksgiving is all about so I thought I'd invite you to spend it with me and my family. My sister-in-law is an American, so we have celebrated it with her for the past 6 years. Come on over at 6:30." So that is exactly what I did. Leigh was kind enough to give me the evening off, and at 6:30 I showed up at their door with a bottle of wine in my hand. There were 18 people there in total, myself included. All of them family members (although apparently one was pretty new since they had just gotten married). Well, it was a lovely evening. Between courses we had to all go around in a circle and say something we were thankful for which I thought was a cool tradition. And it was just so incredible I thought that some one would open his doors and his family to a stranger he has never met, never even talked to, simply because he wanted him to enjoy the holiday. It was a pretty "Capital" gesture (again thats me working on my descriptive words). Not to mention their family was similar to my own thanksgiving family, Loud and Fun.
Well the next day was Friday, and the of the weekend. For the weekend me and about 13 other people all went to a Bach about an 2 hours northwest of Auckland (A bach is a NZ word that means beach house or more generally vacation home). It was Chris's birthday weekend celebration, and it was a really good time. Haha. As usual (similar to the other 2 trips I had done like this) we were about 25 feet from the ocean, with a massive beach directly across the road from us. It was a beautiful location that might best be described as "Gratuitously Majestic". The group I was with was about 7 or so of the normal people between Mark (Kiwi and organizer) Chris and myself (Mannies) Anna, Goody, and Friederike (German Nannies (Gerannies perhaps?)) and then several new people from couchsurfing. One of the girls named Alex was from San Diego. We started talking, and it wasn't long before I discovered her travel companion (who wasn't with us for this trip) was born and raised in Charlottesville Virginia. I cracked up at that. It really is a small world, even here in NZ I find people from home. Anyways, the whole weekend was superb. The water has warmed up enough that you can actually stay in it for a bit of time. Early on Saturday we went for a walk and harvested some mussels right off the beach. We took them back to the Bach and somehow Neils and Mark convinced everyone to eat them raw. So we spent the afternoon cracking open fresh raw mussels (or oysters I can't keep them apart) and putting some lemon squeeze on them, and then down the hatch. Here is the proof of that:
Later on Sat, Aaron and another friend Thomas showed up. There was, well lets just say an incident perhaps, involving myself, Aaron's car key, and an attempt to open a beer bottle. This incident may or may not have resulted in me having to drive 150km's the next morning on a 5 hour trip that should best be described as an epic journey is search of a locksmith. This epic journey in itself resulted in about 7 stops of which I was shot down in 5 and successful at the 6th however had to stop at the 7th since I had lost my phone previously, not to mention the 5 hours and the hunt for something in small towns of NZ on a Sunday. Anyways needless to say it was a long arduous trip on Sunday morning but I returned with 2 Toyota keys, cut for Aaron's Dawloo, praying that they worked. Luckily for me, They did indeed work. And that was that. Actually I believe there is a pictorial explanation of this story. (PS Don't be scared of all the mustaches you see in these pictures, I should announce that in NZ this time period is known as Movember rather than the more technically correct November. Thus everyone grows a mustache and raises money doing it for a specific charity.) But here you go.
Ya it went something like that.So that was my weekend. It was a blast, and full of adventure. This week has been rather uneventful for the most part. It has been rainy and drizzly here for the past couple of days. Even though on Monday it was the first official day of Summer.
On Wed. Night I went out as usual, and took a lot of shit for the key thing from Aaron. But thats his right, and I have a feeling I'll get it for a long time coming. Julia came by the bar which will be her last time till I visit her in Munich. She just got back from the South Island for 3 weeks. She said she loved it. I left couchsurfing early though and went to a Ski team event. I had a really good time there, (I always seem to enjoy myself around them). Anyways, I left to go wait for my bus at around 11 like usual. I was at a different stop than normal, but I knew my regular bus came by there. Well it was me and a friend waiting for the bus, when low and behold who should turn up, but my old bus driver on his new route. Well I couldn't help but have a brief chat with him. Well while I was talking my actual bus pulled up behind him. I said I had to run and waved my bus down. I turned to tell my friend that I'd see him soon and I had to run. I turned back around to get on the bus, just in time to see my bus driving away. I bolted after it, but it was gone. Once again I had managed to miss the last bus home. haha. I was rather perturbed after waving him down that my new bus driver just rolled on by. Needless to say he is going to get a talking too later. So my friend’s brother ended up driving from home, picking us up and taking me home again. It was a bit of an ordeal.
Anyways, that has been my last week and a half. I hope you enjoyed the reading of it, as I enjoyed the living of it. Till next time.
Wes
Sunday, November 22, 2009
A Chance Encounter
So in lieu (sweet! I've always wanted to use that word in writing) of keeping up better with my blog, and considering the night I had, I thought I should write down my past two days. I last talked to you guys on Thursday I believe. That evening went well. I looked after Yannik, and took him to the wave pool. Actually he was rather crazy at the pool, he seemed to thoroughly enjoy jumping into a crowded location and then beating the water with his arms all around him. Also the waves were turned on (for the first time since I've gone there). This meant that I could not let Yannik pass a certain point in the pool because of rules. This is not necessarily the easiest thing to explain to Yannik and I was forced to do some dragging back over the line, while swimming in what felt like the seven seas. Finally the waves stopped and I was relieved as the pool emptied out, and Yannik and I had a corner to ourselves. It was relaxing at that point till suddenly I saw his bathing suit in hand and he threw it across the pool. It is never easy to try to dress a naked child, underwater, in a public pool. So we managed to cover him and I then said that we were leaving if he was going to act like that. So we got out and dried off. At which point Yannik handed me back his towel and ran back into the pool for another swim. (It was just one of those moods he was in I suppose) well we came back home and I was going to make some Bibimbap, but since it was late I sort of played some speed up rules. Since I did it fast, and because we lacked some keep vegetables, lets just say it was a rather horrible disaster. Well, can't win them all I suppose.
Friday was a much simpler day. After looking after Yannik in the morning, I went to Kirsten's (Leigh's Sister's) house and helped them with some yard work. I worked till two there, and then returned home. While there I did notice a large bottle of juice that seemed to be labeled as Lemon Barley drink. I thought what an interesting combination. It sounds delicious I must try some. So I took out a glass and poured myself a big batch. I took it all down in one large gulp, at which point I thought "WOW" that is strong stuff. And sweet as sugar too. Its then that I looked at the bottle more closely and noticed the directions to match one part Lemon Barley Syrup to 5 parts water before drinking. ... I had just had a whole glass of concentrate.
Anyways, I returned home and watched Yannik without much event. That evening I found myself being rather lame and so I stayed home and read in bed for hours.
The next morning I woke up to a beautiful day. I spent the day reading outside and catching up with old friends online. That evening at 8 I headed into town for an Improv Bandits show. This was the group that I was taking the Improv classes with. I was able to see them finally do a show. It was a pretty solid show, although it was all shortform. However they had some really cool new games that I can't wait to send home. So I went to the show, and since I like to think of myself as the badass lone wolf, I went alone. However, just to mix things up for a change, I thought wouldn't it be a crazy idea if I went out and met up with some after the show. Crazy thought I know. So Monika (one of the Germans (but not a nanny)) met me down at Britomart after the show. We met up and went into a Belgium beer cafe for a drink. Now to me Belgium beer is the one kind of beer that beats German beer. Monika did not seem to agree with me on this. At any rate, in this bar there was a band playing. Now some of you may have heard me go through the list and explanation of instruments I would love to learn. If you have I suggest skipping ahead. However for those of you who have not, it goes something like this:
1.Stand up Base -- I think it would be so cool to stand up with a base and sunglasses on (even though I'd be in a dark room) and just like smack a base, Bom bom bom bom (that sounds better when you hear me do it)
2.Harp -- Harps are huge! Like taller than me huge! and how cool would it be to like carry a harp on you back and be like "Lets ROCK OUT!" and spin your harp and just 'dud dud dudud dud!" Pluck it like crazy
3. Fiddle -- I want to learn the fiddle, and not the violin. Because in my mind a violin is played properly and in proper locations in a proper form. While I feel like the fiddle is played only when dancing around a fire doing a jig. And thats AWESOME.
4. Saxophone -- I only desire to play the saxophone One, because Bill Clinton plays it (props to him), and Two, because I would love to do a gut busting solo and like do a slide on my knees and then laying on my side and walking in a circle while lying on the floor, all the while blowing people's minds with my sweet as* saxophone playing.
* I should specify if I have not already, that Sweet As is a common slang term used here in NZ. It is not the sweet ass of America, but rather used as either an awesome or cool or in response to someone, similar to "cheers"
Thus this completes my list of instruments I would like to learn and why. Sorry the grammar is bad, but I get a little excited at the thought of some of those so I write it like I speak it. At any rate, in this Belgium Beer Cafe, was a band playing. And in this band was the epitome of everything I would love to be as a Stand up Base player. This man had and electric stand up base that was covered in Jack Daniels stickers. He had a sweet little mustache and dreads to match. when we walked in the man was leaning at about a 45 degree angle playing his base and tearing into it. Later we were sitting there and he went in a crazy Stand up Base solo that included both him straddling his base and playing it between his legs, and laying it flat on the ground and playing it while laying on the ground next to it. He was like my Stand up Base Idol.
Well after departing the bar and leaving my idol behind (as much as it pained me to leave) we headed back down to Britomart (the train depot and where the buses come and go from). It was about 11:40 and Monika was going to head home. Unfortunately my last bus home leaves at 11 and after that there are just two more buses, at 1:30 and another at 3:10. So the Lone Wolf was back in his native state and he was on the prowl for the next 2 hours. So what does a Lone Wolf do when he is alone. Well naturally he looks for a place he can step into to use the restroom. He may normally consider finding a corner to do such in, but considering that as soon as Monika left the Lone Wolf watched a man get chased down and tackled by the cops as he was urinating on the side of Britomart. The Lone Wolf decided a restroom would be the best solution. So I found a nice Irish bar called the Fiddler and went inside. After using the restroom I thought hell why not buy a pint of Guinness and see whats going on. They had a sweet as singer playing some good old Irish drinking songs in the corner. After ordering my beer, and looking around I realized I must have been in the hub of Irish culture in Auckland. It was a small bar, but it was filled with redheads, and everybody including both bartenders had thick Irish accents going on. I stayed and had a beer, and chatted a little bit, but considering my accent (essentially considering that its not Irish) I decided it may be best for me to go after my first beer. So I left the fiddler, and decided maybe I'll go to the culture that has always accepted me, "I'll go grab some Korean food". At this point it was 12:30 or so and I figured I'd look for some Bulgogi and then head back up Queen st. and catch the bus. So I am walking down Queen st. when somebody on the street says to me "You know what these mean man" pointing down to the two street grates he was standing on both labeled FH on them. "Free hit!" he said and lightly punched me in both arms. I chuckle and continue to walk, but he runs up beside me and continues to talk to me. His name was Chris, and apparently Free Hit is a game played by all Kiwi youth (normally ending around the age of 12 I presume, but alcohol can turn a man into a 12 year old agian) Well, it just so turned out that they were going to a friends 21 birthday down on the pier at Buffalo bar. The very same bar I go to for Couchsurfers. He said I should come along and that he could probably get me in, I smiled and said its cool, I friends with the owner. NICE! I thought. I've been here three months and I can tell some guy not to worry about getting me in somewhere, "Please, I know the owner." Haha. Well anyways he was impressed and we continued to chat. He introduced me to the group of 7 or so he was with. I figured well lets forget Korean food and see where this adventure takes me. So I wound up at Buffalo bar with a large group of people I had met on the street cause one of them punched. I thought this is interesting. But I had a lot of fun. I was able to walk right into the bar and grab a free beer from the owner and then sit back and smile. I spent the night just chatting and meeting people. Around about 2 in the morning Chris (it seems all the people I meet over here are named Chris) said they had to head home around 2:30. I told him my bus didn't leave till 3:10. So he said "hey I have some tickets to a private concert up on Albert street if you want them. Not like I am going to use them." So he handed me tickets to a concert up the street. I headed out and hit it up. It was pretty cool to walk up pass a long line of people waiting to get in and hand the bouncer a ticket that said VIP Permission. The bar was pretty cool and DJ was alright. But by that time I was rather hungry and tired so I didn't stay long, and walked to the bus.
So that was my evening. Sorry the post was so long. Have a good one.
Friday was a much simpler day. After looking after Yannik in the morning, I went to Kirsten's (Leigh's Sister's) house and helped them with some yard work. I worked till two there, and then returned home. While there I did notice a large bottle of juice that seemed to be labeled as Lemon Barley drink. I thought what an interesting combination. It sounds delicious I must try some. So I took out a glass and poured myself a big batch. I took it all down in one large gulp, at which point I thought "WOW" that is strong stuff. And sweet as sugar too. Its then that I looked at the bottle more closely and noticed the directions to match one part Lemon Barley Syrup to 5 parts water before drinking. ... I had just had a whole glass of concentrate.
Anyways, I returned home and watched Yannik without much event. That evening I found myself being rather lame and so I stayed home and read in bed for hours.
The next morning I woke up to a beautiful day. I spent the day reading outside and catching up with old friends online. That evening at 8 I headed into town for an Improv Bandits show. This was the group that I was taking the Improv classes with. I was able to see them finally do a show. It was a pretty solid show, although it was all shortform. However they had some really cool new games that I can't wait to send home. So I went to the show, and since I like to think of myself as the badass lone wolf, I went alone. However, just to mix things up for a change, I thought wouldn't it be a crazy idea if I went out and met up with some after the show. Crazy thought I know. So Monika (one of the Germans (but not a nanny)) met me down at Britomart after the show. We met up and went into a Belgium beer cafe for a drink. Now to me Belgium beer is the one kind of beer that beats German beer. Monika did not seem to agree with me on this. At any rate, in this bar there was a band playing. Now some of you may have heard me go through the list and explanation of instruments I would love to learn. If you have I suggest skipping ahead. However for those of you who have not, it goes something like this:
1.Stand up Base -- I think it would be so cool to stand up with a base and sunglasses on (even though I'd be in a dark room) and just like smack a base, Bom bom bom bom (that sounds better when you hear me do it)
2.Harp -- Harps are huge! Like taller than me huge! and how cool would it be to like carry a harp on you back and be like "Lets ROCK OUT!" and spin your harp and just 'dud dud dudud dud!" Pluck it like crazy
3. Fiddle -- I want to learn the fiddle, and not the violin. Because in my mind a violin is played properly and in proper locations in a proper form. While I feel like the fiddle is played only when dancing around a fire doing a jig. And thats AWESOME.
4. Saxophone -- I only desire to play the saxophone One, because Bill Clinton plays it (props to him), and Two, because I would love to do a gut busting solo and like do a slide on my knees and then laying on my side and walking in a circle while lying on the floor, all the while blowing people's minds with my sweet as* saxophone playing.
* I should specify if I have not already, that Sweet As is a common slang term used here in NZ. It is not the sweet ass of America, but rather used as either an awesome or cool or in response to someone, similar to "cheers"
Thus this completes my list of instruments I would like to learn and why. Sorry the grammar is bad, but I get a little excited at the thought of some of those so I write it like I speak it. At any rate, in this Belgium Beer Cafe, was a band playing. And in this band was the epitome of everything I would love to be as a Stand up Base player. This man had and electric stand up base that was covered in Jack Daniels stickers. He had a sweet little mustache and dreads to match. when we walked in the man was leaning at about a 45 degree angle playing his base and tearing into it. Later we were sitting there and he went in a crazy Stand up Base solo that included both him straddling his base and playing it between his legs, and laying it flat on the ground and playing it while laying on the ground next to it. He was like my Stand up Base Idol.
Well after departing the bar and leaving my idol behind (as much as it pained me to leave) we headed back down to Britomart (the train depot and where the buses come and go from). It was about 11:40 and Monika was going to head home. Unfortunately my last bus home leaves at 11 and after that there are just two more buses, at 1:30 and another at 3:10. So the Lone Wolf was back in his native state and he was on the prowl for the next 2 hours. So what does a Lone Wolf do when he is alone. Well naturally he looks for a place he can step into to use the restroom. He may normally consider finding a corner to do such in, but considering that as soon as Monika left the Lone Wolf watched a man get chased down and tackled by the cops as he was urinating on the side of Britomart. The Lone Wolf decided a restroom would be the best solution. So I found a nice Irish bar called the Fiddler and went inside. After using the restroom I thought hell why not buy a pint of Guinness and see whats going on. They had a sweet as singer playing some good old Irish drinking songs in the corner. After ordering my beer, and looking around I realized I must have been in the hub of Irish culture in Auckland. It was a small bar, but it was filled with redheads, and everybody including both bartenders had thick Irish accents going on. I stayed and had a beer, and chatted a little bit, but considering my accent (essentially considering that its not Irish) I decided it may be best for me to go after my first beer. So I left the fiddler, and decided maybe I'll go to the culture that has always accepted me, "I'll go grab some Korean food". At this point it was 12:30 or so and I figured I'd look for some Bulgogi and then head back up Queen st. and catch the bus. So I am walking down Queen st. when somebody on the street says to me "You know what these mean man" pointing down to the two street grates he was standing on both labeled FH on them. "Free hit!" he said and lightly punched me in both arms. I chuckle and continue to walk, but he runs up beside me and continues to talk to me. His name was Chris, and apparently Free Hit is a game played by all Kiwi youth (normally ending around the age of 12 I presume, but alcohol can turn a man into a 12 year old agian) Well, it just so turned out that they were going to a friends 21 birthday down on the pier at Buffalo bar. The very same bar I go to for Couchsurfers. He said I should come along and that he could probably get me in, I smiled and said its cool, I friends with the owner. NICE! I thought. I've been here three months and I can tell some guy not to worry about getting me in somewhere, "Please, I know the owner." Haha. Well anyways he was impressed and we continued to chat. He introduced me to the group of 7 or so he was with. I figured well lets forget Korean food and see where this adventure takes me. So I wound up at Buffalo bar with a large group of people I had met on the street cause one of them punched. I thought this is interesting. But I had a lot of fun. I was able to walk right into the bar and grab a free beer from the owner and then sit back and smile. I spent the night just chatting and meeting people. Around about 2 in the morning Chris (it seems all the people I meet over here are named Chris) said they had to head home around 2:30. I told him my bus didn't leave till 3:10. So he said "hey I have some tickets to a private concert up on Albert street if you want them. Not like I am going to use them." So he handed me tickets to a concert up the street. I headed out and hit it up. It was pretty cool to walk up pass a long line of people waiting to get in and hand the bouncer a ticket that said VIP Permission. The bar was pretty cool and DJ was alright. But by that time I was rather hungry and tired so I didn't stay long, and walked to the bus.
So that was my evening. Sorry the post was so long. Have a good one.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Recap.
Well, I suppose at some point I was going to be forced to face the fact that yet again I have let 2 weeks slip by me without much of a report. However I am going to try to make this as direct as possible, so that we can catch up with each other.
Since last Wed 2 weeks back, my week continued in much of a similar fashion as before. On Thursday and Friday I continued to do yard work. Which was pretty nice since it earned me some extra cash, and I must say the house looked lovely by the time we were done. On Friday night I stayed in and relaxed. However on Saturday night I went out to Takapuna (a place on the North Shore). It was Julia's going away party. Julia is a german that had been studying here, and now that exams were over she was returning to Germany. Fortunately for us we had talked her into moving to Munich so we had a place to stay for Oktoberfest. So I will see here soon. At any rate, there was a going away celebration at her place Saturday night. It was quite the event. As soon as I got there Chris had to pass out in my car because he was already done for the night. On the bright side this gave us plenty of opportunities for us to take pictures while messing with him. The next morning I woke to find I had a parking ticket due to annoying circumstances. That was disappointing, but oh well. It happens.
The following week was what can only be described as lazy. Both Leigh and I were sick. Thus she stayed home from work on both Monday and Tuesday. Resulting in my normal schedule being completely out of wack. Along with this I felt groggy and took several naps myself. Needless to say it was a week of laying around reading and doing nothing of great value I am ashamed to say. I will say that on Wed. night at Couchsurfers Aaron (who runs the whole thing and has become a good friend of mine) decided to grace me with a homemade shirt. It was something that we had joked about the week before, and low and behold he had done it. The shirt had a large rooster on it with the words "The Big Cock that Hits the Spot" written over top of it. Underneath in handwritten letters Aaron had written his nickname for me... "ASSHOLE". (Well naturally you see I am an American.... and thus that makes me an asshole by nature to the rest of the world.) I felt privileged to receive it and strutted around all night as the "Big Cock" showing my shirt off as much as possible. On Friday of that week, several of the Germans and I decided for the hell of it, to go out to the Family Room, which according to many magazine and newspaper articles (and user reviews) is quoted as "the gayest bar in Auckland". And Gay it was indeed. Let me tell you walked in and the bar arranged the liquors in a fashion so the formed a rainbow with their labels. (Which was pretty awesome if I say so myself). We enjoyed ourselves drinking, dancing, and watching a drag queen walk/dance off that occurred at midnight. I also was successful at congratulating Mrs. Gay of 2009 on her victory, and being hit on myself by 2 men. I have a sticker from one of them that says "Hey Ho, Lets Go" to prove it. The next evening I was invited over to a bbq at a friend of mine from the Ski Club. I joined them over in Glen Innes which is East Auckland (first time I had ever been out that way). I had an excellent time there. It was really good to again see some of the people I had while riding with the ski team. I ended up staying up the night at Racheals house (my friend from the ski team). She happens to live in the garage of a family, and I was placed in the spare bedroom in the house. The next morning I was awoke to a older-middle aged woman trying to plug a vacuum cleaner in. I rolled over and she suddenly realized I was there. "Oh my.. ummm. Oh. So sorry. Oh. Well then. Sorry. Oh" was what followed preceded by my quickly throwing a shirt on and apologizing profusely before dashing off to the garage.
That Sunday I continued my lazy streak, only to momentarily break it long enough to make homemade veggie burgers. (they were actually quite successful and tasty. We had to cook them over an open fire since they don't have a grill, but considering that they stayed together quite nicely.) Oh, I nearly forgot. When I arrived home on Sunday, the house was empty, which was normal since it was early morning, and they usually take Yannik to the beach or something in the morning (on the weekends), however they did not return for some time. When they finally did, it all became apparent. Yannik had pulled a head over handlebars fall on his bike that morning. Followed by a nice several yard slide landing. His face had been pretty badly scratch and his left hand has really nasty gashes on it, but the real one was a deep cut on his knee. I suppose the bike accident and injuries wasn't anything worse that what most adolescent boys sustain growing up. However for Yannik its slightly different. After he wrecked he didn't make a sound. He did not cry or make a noise. There is only a slight change in his breathing and thats the only way you know he is hurting. Also if he has done more that whats obvious he cannot tell you. So to be on the safe side they had taken him to the hospital. He was checked up on and we were told he was fine. The doctor pointlessly had but butterfly bandages on the cut on his knee. I say pointlessly, because as soon as they were placed Yannik removed them. After two more sets of bandages we gave up. Now for the past two days I have had to give him antibiotics and a painkiller. Neither of them taste two delicious, and the antibiotics are hot pink. It is also the antibiotics that he likes to spit out. On tuesday it took me 4 tries of him spitting it out and me trying to bribe him with chocolate and coke, before he kept it down. So this current week had been full of caring for Yannik. On Monday he stayed home from school because he was just so much to handle that we couldn't (with a clear conscious) send him to school (for their sake). So Monday was a really really long 11 hour day for me. After wards I called Chris and we went out for a beer. Tuesday was spent recovering, and Wed. was spent trying to get back into a normal schedule.
SO FINALLY.... we are brought back up to pace. Sorry for the long delay. I have somewhat been held up these past two weeks by an upcoming event. But the wait is over now, and I can type again. So I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you are doing well.
Love,
Wes
Since last Wed 2 weeks back, my week continued in much of a similar fashion as before. On Thursday and Friday I continued to do yard work. Which was pretty nice since it earned me some extra cash, and I must say the house looked lovely by the time we were done. On Friday night I stayed in and relaxed. However on Saturday night I went out to Takapuna (a place on the North Shore). It was Julia's going away party. Julia is a german that had been studying here, and now that exams were over she was returning to Germany. Fortunately for us we had talked her into moving to Munich so we had a place to stay for Oktoberfest. So I will see here soon. At any rate, there was a going away celebration at her place Saturday night. It was quite the event. As soon as I got there Chris had to pass out in my car because he was already done for the night. On the bright side this gave us plenty of opportunities for us to take pictures while messing with him. The next morning I woke to find I had a parking ticket due to annoying circumstances. That was disappointing, but oh well. It happens.
The following week was what can only be described as lazy. Both Leigh and I were sick. Thus she stayed home from work on both Monday and Tuesday. Resulting in my normal schedule being completely out of wack. Along with this I felt groggy and took several naps myself. Needless to say it was a week of laying around reading and doing nothing of great value I am ashamed to say. I will say that on Wed. night at Couchsurfers Aaron (who runs the whole thing and has become a good friend of mine) decided to grace me with a homemade shirt. It was something that we had joked about the week before, and low and behold he had done it. The shirt had a large rooster on it with the words "The Big Cock that Hits the Spot" written over top of it. Underneath in handwritten letters Aaron had written his nickname for me... "ASSHOLE". (Well naturally you see I am an American.... and thus that makes me an asshole by nature to the rest of the world.) I felt privileged to receive it and strutted around all night as the "Big Cock" showing my shirt off as much as possible. On Friday of that week, several of the Germans and I decided for the hell of it, to go out to the Family Room, which according to many magazine and newspaper articles (and user reviews) is quoted as "the gayest bar in Auckland". And Gay it was indeed. Let me tell you walked in and the bar arranged the liquors in a fashion so the formed a rainbow with their labels. (Which was pretty awesome if I say so myself). We enjoyed ourselves drinking, dancing, and watching a drag queen walk/dance off that occurred at midnight. I also was successful at congratulating Mrs. Gay of 2009 on her victory, and being hit on myself by 2 men. I have a sticker from one of them that says "Hey Ho, Lets Go" to prove it. The next evening I was invited over to a bbq at a friend of mine from the Ski Club. I joined them over in Glen Innes which is East Auckland (first time I had ever been out that way). I had an excellent time there. It was really good to again see some of the people I had while riding with the ski team. I ended up staying up the night at Racheals house (my friend from the ski team). She happens to live in the garage of a family, and I was placed in the spare bedroom in the house. The next morning I was awoke to a older-middle aged woman trying to plug a vacuum cleaner in. I rolled over and she suddenly realized I was there. "Oh my.. ummm. Oh. So sorry. Oh. Well then. Sorry. Oh" was what followed preceded by my quickly throwing a shirt on and apologizing profusely before dashing off to the garage.
That Sunday I continued my lazy streak, only to momentarily break it long enough to make homemade veggie burgers. (they were actually quite successful and tasty. We had to cook them over an open fire since they don't have a grill, but considering that they stayed together quite nicely.) Oh, I nearly forgot. When I arrived home on Sunday, the house was empty, which was normal since it was early morning, and they usually take Yannik to the beach or something in the morning (on the weekends), however they did not return for some time. When they finally did, it all became apparent. Yannik had pulled a head over handlebars fall on his bike that morning. Followed by a nice several yard slide landing. His face had been pretty badly scratch and his left hand has really nasty gashes on it, but the real one was a deep cut on his knee. I suppose the bike accident and injuries wasn't anything worse that what most adolescent boys sustain growing up. However for Yannik its slightly different. After he wrecked he didn't make a sound. He did not cry or make a noise. There is only a slight change in his breathing and thats the only way you know he is hurting. Also if he has done more that whats obvious he cannot tell you. So to be on the safe side they had taken him to the hospital. He was checked up on and we were told he was fine. The doctor pointlessly had but butterfly bandages on the cut on his knee. I say pointlessly, because as soon as they were placed Yannik removed them. After two more sets of bandages we gave up. Now for the past two days I have had to give him antibiotics and a painkiller. Neither of them taste two delicious, and the antibiotics are hot pink. It is also the antibiotics that he likes to spit out. On tuesday it took me 4 tries of him spitting it out and me trying to bribe him with chocolate and coke, before he kept it down. So this current week had been full of caring for Yannik. On Monday he stayed home from school because he was just so much to handle that we couldn't (with a clear conscious) send him to school (for their sake). So Monday was a really really long 11 hour day for me. After wards I called Chris and we went out for a beer. Tuesday was spent recovering, and Wed. was spent trying to get back into a normal schedule.
SO FINALLY.... we are brought back up to pace. Sorry for the long delay. I have somewhat been held up these past two weeks by an upcoming event. But the wait is over now, and I can type again. So I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you are doing well.
Love,
Wes
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Work Work Work
I've said it before and I'll say it again, "VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". So those bagels I mentioned in the last post... Actually came out as bagels. Even the Onion garlic bagels looked and tasted like onion garlic bagels. I was pretty freakin happy to say the least. It helped that I made them Sunday night so that I could have fresh baked bagels for Monday morning. That was pretty nice.
Anyways, not much has happened recently. I have been trying to pick up extra hours during the day to make some extra mulla. So on Monday after Yannik went off to school, I layed down some sheets and taped off the hallway in order to paint and get high on fumes all day long. I painted till about 4:30 and then I cleaned the house up grabbed a bite to eat, and ran off to Improv. At improv, this week I was definitely on. Which is such a good feeling. I also learned a new improv game called "Furniture" which is always sweet as. I also found out some information about Level 2. Level 2 won't start till January of next year. It also is by invite only. So Wade has to think I'm good enough to let me in. Which I didn't think would be a big deal till he told me that at the end of level 2 you become a Covert Theatre player essentially. Plus during level 2 you do live shows for paying audiences. So essentially if I were to do level 2 and make it through I would essentially make a small amount of money doing improv. WHich would be awesome to say I did. But first we will see if I"m invited back for level 2.
On tuesday I did much of the same. I painted in the afternoon till the paint ran out, and then I went grocery shopping for dinner. When I returned I made some homemade hummus, and then some homeade falafel for dinner. Yannik was in a bit of a funk, so we didn't go on much of a walk, and when I returned home again I talked to Christoph while I finished preparing din din. Later we watched Terminator 3, which reminded me that I haven't seen Terminator 4 (what a failure I am).
And now this morning I whipped out some more bread, and am now making a double load of pretzels to give to the german nannies at couch surfers tonight. In just a moment I will go to Leigh's sisters (Kirsten) to go do manual labour, (and maybe fish for another "muscular" compliment).
I hope everyone back home is well. Love you all.
Wes
Anyways, not much has happened recently. I have been trying to pick up extra hours during the day to make some extra mulla. So on Monday after Yannik went off to school, I layed down some sheets and taped off the hallway in order to paint and get high on fumes all day long. I painted till about 4:30 and then I cleaned the house up grabbed a bite to eat, and ran off to Improv. At improv, this week I was definitely on. Which is such a good feeling. I also learned a new improv game called "Furniture" which is always sweet as. I also found out some information about Level 2. Level 2 won't start till January of next year. It also is by invite only. So Wade has to think I'm good enough to let me in. Which I didn't think would be a big deal till he told me that at the end of level 2 you become a Covert Theatre player essentially. Plus during level 2 you do live shows for paying audiences. So essentially if I were to do level 2 and make it through I would essentially make a small amount of money doing improv. WHich would be awesome to say I did. But first we will see if I"m invited back for level 2.
On tuesday I did much of the same. I painted in the afternoon till the paint ran out, and then I went grocery shopping for dinner. When I returned I made some homemade hummus, and then some homeade falafel for dinner. Yannik was in a bit of a funk, so we didn't go on much of a walk, and when I returned home again I talked to Christoph while I finished preparing din din. Later we watched Terminator 3, which reminded me that I haven't seen Terminator 4 (what a failure I am).
And now this morning I whipped out some more bread, and am now making a double load of pretzels to give to the german nannies at couch surfers tonight. In just a moment I will go to Leigh's sisters (Kirsten) to go do manual labour, (and maybe fish for another "muscular" compliment).
I hope everyone back home is well. Love you all.
Wes
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Tasty
I believe I quote the great Johnny Drama from Entourage when I say "VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" So you guys know those soft pretzels I was trying to make at the end of my last post. Well ya. THEY"RE AWESOME! A complete success if I do say so myself. I feel like I am at a baseball game or themepark eating them. Its so great. I never thought I would have the super power of being able to summon forth wonderfully golden brown tasty soft and salted pretzels with the flick of my fingers. Dad you should be proud of your son. I have conquerored the German Soft Pretzel. Not to mention there is nothing like a warm Pretzel to suddenly appear really hot in the eyes of german au pairs.
Anyways so needless to say on Friday I made a batch of Pretzels which was highly successful. That evening I met up with a bunch of people in the city. About 5 of us met at a bar to listen to two bands playing that night. The main group was pretty cool. Sort of a little "Ani Defranco"ish. After the the bands finished another group of about 10 people came out to join us. We decided to go downtown, and ended up going clubbing. We ended up at a place called the car park and me and several people danced the night away. That night I ended sleeping on the floor of Monica's in Point Chevieler. This is because for some extremely annoying reason, the last bus for Onehunga leaves at 11. So if I want to go out on the town I pretty much have to crash on a floor. Well the next morning I woke up, and it was spectacular out. Bird was staying at Monica's as well while until his job in the south Island begins (he finally found one) We sat around outside and enjoyed the weather for a little while till I decided I should get home. For some reason, I thought it would be interesting to see what it was like to walk all the way home. Two and a half hours later, I wasn't necessarily still thinking it was such a good idea. But it was a beautiful day and so the walk wasn't too bad. (Its about the same distance from downtown to home as well, 2 and a half hours).
After I returned home, I passed out and then woke up to make another batch of pretzels (simply to put the recipe in my head). Then I head to the Kingslander in Kingsland and met up with the same group from the night before and watched the Australia vs. New Zealand Rugby game. We of course crushed Australia as we always do in Rugby. Then most people rolled out but myself and two other guys. So we went to the central city and as soon as we got out of the cab I ran into two other of my nanny friends. (it was pretty funny) so we then went clubbing again for the evening. This time I was able to catch a nightrider bus home for the evening. (Apparently, due to my frustration yesterday I had done some research, and there are nightrider buses that go from downtown back to Onehunga at 1:30 and 3:10 in the morning on Friday and Saturday nights so thats good).
Anyways, this morning I woke up at noon (latest I've slept in since I was here). Then I took a shower and headed One Tree Hill to meet up with the group. We spent the day lazing around in Cornwall Park (the large park that One Tree Hill is a part of) At around 5 we all rolled over to Kingsland and gorged ourselves on Chinese food. I definitely got my quota of meat in for the week. Afterwards just to fill in the cracks we picked up a crate of ice cream and hit that.
And now, finally, I am back at home trying to ignore my fear of the Television which is playing "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (At some point I will have to get over my fear of horror movies (even cheap, bad, teen horror movies)). I sit here while I wait for my dough to rise. This time I am making bagels for tomorrow morning. I'll tell you how it goes.
Wes
Anyways so needless to say on Friday I made a batch of Pretzels which was highly successful. That evening I met up with a bunch of people in the city. About 5 of us met at a bar to listen to two bands playing that night. The main group was pretty cool. Sort of a little "Ani Defranco"ish. After the the bands finished another group of about 10 people came out to join us. We decided to go downtown, and ended up going clubbing. We ended up at a place called the car park and me and several people danced the night away. That night I ended sleeping on the floor of Monica's in Point Chevieler. This is because for some extremely annoying reason, the last bus for Onehunga leaves at 11. So if I want to go out on the town I pretty much have to crash on a floor. Well the next morning I woke up, and it was spectacular out. Bird was staying at Monica's as well while until his job in the south Island begins (he finally found one) We sat around outside and enjoyed the weather for a little while till I decided I should get home. For some reason, I thought it would be interesting to see what it was like to walk all the way home. Two and a half hours later, I wasn't necessarily still thinking it was such a good idea. But it was a beautiful day and so the walk wasn't too bad. (Its about the same distance from downtown to home as well, 2 and a half hours).
After I returned home, I passed out and then woke up to make another batch of pretzels (simply to put the recipe in my head). Then I head to the Kingslander in Kingsland and met up with the same group from the night before and watched the Australia vs. New Zealand Rugby game. We of course crushed Australia as we always do in Rugby. Then most people rolled out but myself and two other guys. So we went to the central city and as soon as we got out of the cab I ran into two other of my nanny friends. (it was pretty funny) so we then went clubbing again for the evening. This time I was able to catch a nightrider bus home for the evening. (Apparently, due to my frustration yesterday I had done some research, and there are nightrider buses that go from downtown back to Onehunga at 1:30 and 3:10 in the morning on Friday and Saturday nights so thats good).
Anyways, this morning I woke up at noon (latest I've slept in since I was here). Then I took a shower and headed One Tree Hill to meet up with the group. We spent the day lazing around in Cornwall Park (the large park that One Tree Hill is a part of) At around 5 we all rolled over to Kingsland and gorged ourselves on Chinese food. I definitely got my quota of meat in for the week. Afterwards just to fill in the cracks we picked up a crate of ice cream and hit that.
And now, finally, I am back at home trying to ignore my fear of the Television which is playing "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (At some point I will have to get over my fear of horror movies (even cheap, bad, teen horror movies)). I sit here while I wait for my dough to rise. This time I am making bagels for tomorrow morning. I'll tell you how it goes.
Wes
Friday, October 30, 2009
A Week in the Life of Wes
Even in a country such as NZ where pretty much nothing of any signifigance happens, time still seems to pass so quickly. As of yesterday I have been in NZ for 3 complete months now. That means that I have been here for a fourth of my total time here. Man that went by quickly.
Well the weather here is getting warmer and lovelier, although it is still just as erratic. I am currently sitting here in the sun in about 70 degree weather on our back porch (which is soon to be a construction site and then quickly followed by the location of a lovely refreshing swimming pool). Well on Sunday last I mentioned how on Monday I was hoping of going windsurfing. Unfortunately the company was all booked up so we had to take a rain check on that. No worries though I hae a whole 9 more months. So monday was instead spent going on two walks with Yannik around Mt. Mangere and the local resevior. After that it began to downpour rather violently so I stayed inside and read A Portrait of Dorian Grey. Its quite a good book by Oscar Wilde. An author who I find interesting and amusing both as a writer and as a person. Regardless there are some pretty great egotistical and pretentious quotes in the book for anyone interested. I should mention in case I haven't already that Monday was NZ Labour Day so evethything was closed and it was a public holiday. I even didn't have improv that night. This is probably due to the large quantities of labor involved in such things as improv, and more importatntly making an ass of one's self. At any rate, that night after Yannik went to bed, we stayed up and watched W. (the movie about George W.'s life) it made me a little homesick and made me feel sorry for the man the ran our nation into the ground. (Sorry for my political plug). I always find myself filling in both Leigh and Christoph at the ends of movies because they always fall asleep halfway through them. Fortunately this time it meant that they did not see the embaressing parts of America that are presented in that movie. (You know back in the States, we all joke about how the world views us. However its rather humbling to go to another country and realize that really is how we are percieved. Humbling and rather embarressing) Well Tuesday was a pretty typical day. I woke up and took care of Yanik. After he left I excercised and then read and worked on German. Yannik returned that afternoon swollen again from allegies. I worked with him on swallowing pills for work time. I suppose it has been a while since I have really talked about Yannik and I's relationship. So...
Well Yannik and I get along well. Its a hard relationship to describe I suppose. I mean it exists really. He knows that I care for him, and that I am someone he can trust and feel comfortable around which is really good. At the same time though its not like we have a huge social connection and enjoy each other's jokes and stuff. I now feel more comfortable at times to have a chuckle with Yannik. When he comes out of his room with his pants around his nipples and his shirt tucked in he rimends me too much of Steve Erkle not to laugh. Laughter is something I have had to becomce comfortable with here. In our culture laughter towards the mentally handicap is viewed as severelly taboo. However, on the contrary, I now believe it is crucial to find the laughter in situations such as this. I love this job, and its a great one. I have excellent hours and only one child. However it definitely is a more difficult job at times and without a doubt takes a person with the right type of mentality. I don't say this to toot my own horn, it really is just true. It is easy with somelike Yannik to feel like things are so pointless or why bother with some things. It at times seems so ridiculous to offer Yannik a choice between toast or cereal in the morning, when he will eat either one you give him. Or not be bothered by the fact that sometimes when you do give him a choice he still refuses it after you make it for him. Or why work with Yannik on things like learning the alphabet. There is very little chance that he will ever read in his life. Its easy to feel like some of the things you do with/for him are futile. And thus it definitely takes the right mentality to do it day in and day out. Thus finding the laughter in all the silly and ridiculous things that Yannik does enables us to keep going every day to see what else he will do. More than laughter of course though, are those times when you do do make a breakthrough. And that is trully neat to watch, especially with a special needs child like Yannik. When I first arrived Yannik was biting his hand alot. It was one of his self inflicted injuries that he did alot. I made it my goal to work with him on this, and be strict with him where I thought his parents were not. Leigh, Christoph and I talked about it and made a plan for what was to be done. Whenever he bit at someone I would send him to his room. In public or when we were out of the house and he bit I would make him stand where he was, while I pretended to be on my phone until he started to say "no biting". After putting him in his room, I would ask "What do we not do?" to this he always responded "No biting" So then I started to ask him this question before I asked him things I thought might make him bite. So I'd d get him essentially to say "no biting" before I then asked him to brush his teeth or something like that. I can now say that after a lifetime of biting and his parents trying hundreds of methods and years of work on it, after the three month I have been here, Yannik rarely bites anymore. He is now down to maybe 5-10 bites a week which is mind blowing considering every morning when I first arrived after greeting him with a good morning his response was a bite in my direction. Same thing for his father. So that to me was definitely an awesome reward and really cool process to both watch and be a part of. Now that I feel I have finished that task my goal is either to get him to chew with his mouth closed or to swallow a pill. However I should say it is easier to teach someone what not to do, then to teach them what to do.
Well, onwards and upwards. What happened on Wednesday. On Wednesday I went to Leigh's sister's house (they are moving homes due to their neighbors (not a good situation)). and I did manual labour for them all day; digging holes, leveling parts of the yard, and painting. Just getting the house ready for them to show. I did have the biggest compliment of my life while I was there. I showed up and right after I started working the sun came out so I changed into shorts and a wifebeater. She came outside to describe my next job and she was like "Oh and your muscular. Good." I simply timidly shrugged and asked what was next, but in my head was "YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! Well, I had a lovely day working in the yard, and was able to make some money which was nice. That night I went out to Couchsurfing, and had a great night. My success of the evening was securing the number of the casting director for "Shortland Street" which is the big NZ Soap Opera. So I am going to give "Andrea" a call and see if I can be an extra on the show. I think that would be Extraordinary! On Thursday I slept in after Yannik left for school. Then took Leigh in to work and went to the library. I downloaded an episode of "Rome" which is a series I have started to watch. I also returned the Oscar Wilde and checked out Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins. Which is like the DiVinci Code on LSD. The book is bizzarre, and the author was definitely on mushrooms or something when he wrote it. Talk about an extreme version of Alice in Wonderland. Anyways that afternoon Yannik and I played catch. (I had to teach him how, but it was pretty cool cause I don't think they have ever really been able to play catch with him) I am hoping I can play with him again today to solidify it in his mind. We also worked on "closing his mouth" which will eventually become eating with his mouth closed. Oh ya, and I took him for a haircut. The razor scared the Bejezus out of him, but he was pretty good for 15 minutes, and then he decided we were officially done.
And that pretty much catches us up with today. I took Yannik to the doctor again today, because yesterday he was pretty swollen, and now as I am writing this I am waiting for a batch of dough to rise with which I will make my first thing of German soft Pretzels ever. I will tell you all how it goes. Enjoy everyone.
Love,
Wes
Well the weather here is getting warmer and lovelier, although it is still just as erratic. I am currently sitting here in the sun in about 70 degree weather on our back porch (which is soon to be a construction site and then quickly followed by the location of a lovely refreshing swimming pool). Well on Sunday last I mentioned how on Monday I was hoping of going windsurfing. Unfortunately the company was all booked up so we had to take a rain check on that. No worries though I hae a whole 9 more months. So monday was instead spent going on two walks with Yannik around Mt. Mangere and the local resevior. After that it began to downpour rather violently so I stayed inside and read A Portrait of Dorian Grey. Its quite a good book by Oscar Wilde. An author who I find interesting and amusing both as a writer and as a person. Regardless there are some pretty great egotistical and pretentious quotes in the book for anyone interested. I should mention in case I haven't already that Monday was NZ Labour Day so evethything was closed and it was a public holiday. I even didn't have improv that night. This is probably due to the large quantities of labor involved in such things as improv, and more importatntly making an ass of one's self. At any rate, that night after Yannik went to bed, we stayed up and watched W. (the movie about George W.'s life) it made me a little homesick and made me feel sorry for the man the ran our nation into the ground. (Sorry for my political plug). I always find myself filling in both Leigh and Christoph at the ends of movies because they always fall asleep halfway through them. Fortunately this time it meant that they did not see the embaressing parts of America that are presented in that movie. (You know back in the States, we all joke about how the world views us. However its rather humbling to go to another country and realize that really is how we are percieved. Humbling and rather embarressing) Well Tuesday was a pretty typical day. I woke up and took care of Yanik. After he left I excercised and then read and worked on German. Yannik returned that afternoon swollen again from allegies. I worked with him on swallowing pills for work time. I suppose it has been a while since I have really talked about Yannik and I's relationship. So...
Well Yannik and I get along well. Its a hard relationship to describe I suppose. I mean it exists really. He knows that I care for him, and that I am someone he can trust and feel comfortable around which is really good. At the same time though its not like we have a huge social connection and enjoy each other's jokes and stuff. I now feel more comfortable at times to have a chuckle with Yannik. When he comes out of his room with his pants around his nipples and his shirt tucked in he rimends me too much of Steve Erkle not to laugh. Laughter is something I have had to becomce comfortable with here. In our culture laughter towards the mentally handicap is viewed as severelly taboo. However, on the contrary, I now believe it is crucial to find the laughter in situations such as this. I love this job, and its a great one. I have excellent hours and only one child. However it definitely is a more difficult job at times and without a doubt takes a person with the right type of mentality. I don't say this to toot my own horn, it really is just true. It is easy with somelike Yannik to feel like things are so pointless or why bother with some things. It at times seems so ridiculous to offer Yannik a choice between toast or cereal in the morning, when he will eat either one you give him. Or not be bothered by the fact that sometimes when you do give him a choice he still refuses it after you make it for him. Or why work with Yannik on things like learning the alphabet. There is very little chance that he will ever read in his life. Its easy to feel like some of the things you do with/for him are futile. And thus it definitely takes the right mentality to do it day in and day out. Thus finding the laughter in all the silly and ridiculous things that Yannik does enables us to keep going every day to see what else he will do. More than laughter of course though, are those times when you do do make a breakthrough. And that is trully neat to watch, especially with a special needs child like Yannik. When I first arrived Yannik was biting his hand alot. It was one of his self inflicted injuries that he did alot. I made it my goal to work with him on this, and be strict with him where I thought his parents were not. Leigh, Christoph and I talked about it and made a plan for what was to be done. Whenever he bit at someone I would send him to his room. In public or when we were out of the house and he bit I would make him stand where he was, while I pretended to be on my phone until he started to say "no biting". After putting him in his room, I would ask "What do we not do?" to this he always responded "No biting" So then I started to ask him this question before I asked him things I thought might make him bite. So I'd d get him essentially to say "no biting" before I then asked him to brush his teeth or something like that. I can now say that after a lifetime of biting and his parents trying hundreds of methods and years of work on it, after the three month I have been here, Yannik rarely bites anymore. He is now down to maybe 5-10 bites a week which is mind blowing considering every morning when I first arrived after greeting him with a good morning his response was a bite in my direction. Same thing for his father. So that to me was definitely an awesome reward and really cool process to both watch and be a part of. Now that I feel I have finished that task my goal is either to get him to chew with his mouth closed or to swallow a pill. However I should say it is easier to teach someone what not to do, then to teach them what to do.
Well, onwards and upwards. What happened on Wednesday. On Wednesday I went to Leigh's sister's house (they are moving homes due to their neighbors (not a good situation)). and I did manual labour for them all day; digging holes, leveling parts of the yard, and painting. Just getting the house ready for them to show. I did have the biggest compliment of my life while I was there. I showed up and right after I started working the sun came out so I changed into shorts and a wifebeater. She came outside to describe my next job and she was like "Oh and your muscular. Good." I simply timidly shrugged and asked what was next, but in my head was "YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! Well, I had a lovely day working in the yard, and was able to make some money which was nice. That night I went out to Couchsurfing, and had a great night. My success of the evening was securing the number of the casting director for "Shortland Street" which is the big NZ Soap Opera. So I am going to give "Andrea" a call and see if I can be an extra on the show. I think that would be Extraordinary! On Thursday I slept in after Yannik left for school. Then took Leigh in to work and went to the library. I downloaded an episode of "Rome" which is a series I have started to watch. I also returned the Oscar Wilde and checked out Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins. Which is like the DiVinci Code on LSD. The book is bizzarre, and the author was definitely on mushrooms or something when he wrote it. Talk about an extreme version of Alice in Wonderland. Anyways that afternoon Yannik and I played catch. (I had to teach him how, but it was pretty cool cause I don't think they have ever really been able to play catch with him) I am hoping I can play with him again today to solidify it in his mind. We also worked on "closing his mouth" which will eventually become eating with his mouth closed. Oh ya, and I took him for a haircut. The razor scared the Bejezus out of him, but he was pretty good for 15 minutes, and then he decided we were officially done.
And that pretty much catches us up with today. I took Yannik to the doctor again today, because yesterday he was pretty swollen, and now as I am writing this I am waiting for a batch of dough to rise with which I will make my first thing of German soft Pretzels ever. I will tell you all how it goes. Enjoy everyone.
Love,
Wes
Thursday, October 22, 2009
2 Weeks Running
Well I guess I we everyone a large update considering it has been two weeks since my last one. As I mentioned before I left, I went down to Mt. Ruepahu to snowboard on in Mordor for a week and a half. I will try to be somewhat brief so I don't write a 30 page post.
Leigh, Yannik and I left on thursday morning for the mountain. We drove down without incident and arrived at a comfortable time at the house down there. Leigh and I decided we had a goal for Friday. That would be to get Yannik riding the Palma by himself. As he was, we were putting him on the Palma and then someone would hold on to him and be dragged up directly behind him. So on Friday Leigh and I tackled the mountain with ambition, and low and behold after several hours of running up and down the mountain alongside a Palma, we got Yannik riding it without anyone around him. It was pretty cool to think he got to like "the next level" with my help. On Saturday the Mountain was closed due to strong winds and snow, so we went to a set of hot springs. I should say that there are hot springs everywhere in this country. We decided to get a private pool for ourselves, which meant we got a pool that was 40 degrees Celsius which is something like 104 F. Unfortunately we could not convince Yannik to get into the water. After much pushing and prodding we decided it would just be best to take him to the public hot pool which was slightly cooler but still probably high 90's so its hard to complain. That evening Christoph joined us. However the next day on Sunday, again the mountain was closed due to high winds and snow. On Monday and Tuesday however, the mountain was practically empty since everyone returned to school on that same Monday, and we had two days of fresh snow. So I went out early and was first in line for the lifts when they opened both mornings which meant I was laying fresh tracks on the glacier which is this huge beautiful bowl which you only have to hike about 5 minutes to get to. If you want a sweet video of the bowl I was snowboarding in getting dominated by a sweet avalanche check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdfRAqPzMQk&feature=fvw The guy in the helicopter is the mountain guide that is friends with my family from a previous post. I think I mentioned him. (I think he was let go as an avalanche tester after he set this one off) (Oops). At any rate, I boarded in the mornings till about 12:30 and then I would take Yannik in the afternoons. I should mention one story that happened the first day I went riding on Monday. Leigh and Christoph were going to meet me at the car at 12:30 do swap Yannik off and so they could ski. Well I had had a lovely day with fresh snow and great runs. Well when 12 came around I thought I would take a nice long little ride all the way down to the base. I figured I would do a quick hike out towards the Organ Pipes, (which is the opposite hike as the Glacier). Well I had done this hike once before with Leigh and Christoph and their mountain guide friend. I figured this is nice, and few people will have been out this way. So I pass the out of bounds sign and keep going passing 1 or 2 people. Finally I get to the drop in point and turn in to find a nice crusty top layer that is quite wavy greeting me. Not an ideal run. But I thought so be it, and I went a little farther out to get some nicer snow. I make my way down the mountain. Now I distinctly remember when I did this the first time that we went down and then popped over a valley or two (I had to keep my speed up and walk maybe like once), and then we were pretty much at the parking lot. This time I found that I was going down and the terrain just wasn't looking very familiar. I realized that with a whole month having passed a lot of the snow that had been there previously was no longer there. I suddenly found myself in a deadend valley with no more snow to travel on and cliffs in all directions around me. Not only that but I realized that I was pretty much riding on top of what was water running beneath me (more commonly called a stream). So it was now 12:20 and I decide I would have to take off my board and hike it. Now I should try to describe the type of terrain I'm dealing with here. Must I again remind you that this is where they filmed Mordor, and that really wasn't much CG. This is a desolate volcano boulders, rocks, and cliffs strewn everywhere. Not only this but it is built with deep valley's and then high ridges. So in order to hike out I have to climb up a steep rock face with a snowboard. Then upon arriving at the top I must descend down to a valley again and then climb up the other side. Repeat. Added to this is fresh snow that while not in some places, the places it is in is because the wind blew it there so it is piled up to like 4 feet depth. You know I hadn't thought much about it till then, and you hear of deaths happening at Mt. Raupehu every year (Sorry mom you might not want to read this), and you don't really see how it happens every single year. You would think people would learn. But had I broken my leg, and not been able to walk, I would have been in serious trouble. At any rate, never fear, I didn't do that. I did however have to hike roughly 6 to 7 of these ravines. Until what I pictured looking like a scene from the movies as a man stumbles out of the desert to a place of sanctuary, I stumbled over a rock hill, and with the sun blazing down on me and my board slung on my back, my jacket hanging from my waist, my gloves sticking awkwardly from my pockets, and my helmet dangling from my board I stumbled to my sanctuary of a parking lot nearly collapsing. I felt like people must have seen this figure emerging, the shape shimmering in the heat being reflected from the black stones and snow. With a look of what one can only describe as beyond exhaustion that is matched by a stumbling walk and the silent movement of lips as if he is talking to himself.
You know it was something like that.
Anyways, I returned and was too tired to say what had happened (Leigh and Christoph had now been waiting an hour and a half) So I took Yannik and that night told them what had happened. So that was my big adventure for the week. On Wednesday the upper mountain was closed, so I met Leigh and Christoph and we skied with Yannik in the beginners area. Leigh put my board on and I gave her a snowboard lesson which I always find fun to do. (Except I had to wear her ski boots which were a touch small for me) Thursday the mountain was completely closed due to 60k and up winds (described as strong to gale-like winds). So the Yannik and his folks went to Napier to check out a facility there that Leigh and Christoph have considered for Yannik when he gets older. (Its wierd to think they certainly cant care for him forever, but at the same time he will never really be able to care for himself so every family has to figure out what that means for them.) I however stayed in Ohakune and explored the town and such. On Friday I left in the evening to drive about a half hour north of Lake Taupo (which is the largest lake in NZ)
In Taupo I was meeting up with 11 other people. It was a similar crowd to the ones that went to Whananaki with me. Here we had a Bach (also known as a beach house) right on a massive lake or really a river I guess (but may as well have been a lake for its size). The bach could only really sleep 6 but we squeezed in 12. It was cozy to say the least. On Saturday a group went into Taupo and went Skydiving and Jetboating along with hitting hot pools. .... I was not in this group. .... The rest of us stayed at the bach and relaxed. The four guys went down to the water and went for a quick dip. By quick I mean we jumped in and then immediately removed out bodies from the water as quick as humanly possible. (The water was a tad chilly). We hung out and in general just enjoyed our day and the scenery around us. That evening was quite a time that started early and then continued late once a cord hooking up my laptop to the stereo was discovered (causing an instant dance party of course).
On Sunday we woke up and cleaned. Then Bird (one of the other guys) and I made a massive breakfast. I mean like 30 eggs 40 pieces of bacon and 25 pieces of toast. It was pretty awesome. After breakfast one car left early as they were doing Rotorua, and another (mine) stayed behind till the laundry was done. We then went into Taupo and hit up the hot springs. Again a different set then the other 3 I have been to so far in this country. These were really cool because they were much more like what I expected. They were located in City of Taupo Park essentially. Really just picture your average town park, only there was a major river that ran through it on its way to Lake Taupo. Along the river was just little springs the bubbled up and fed into the river. However these pools springs contained people and about 105 degree water. It was really awesome. Because there were waterfalls of this water that was a beautiful hot shower temperature. We wasted a lot of time there. Afterwards we headed home.
I had a lovely vacation, but I must admit it was really nice to be back in the city and on a normal schedule again. That night however that "normalcy" was thrown out the window, as I suppose should be expected with Yannik. On Sunday night we discovered Yannik was allergic to something in his room and his face kept swelling up like a watermelon. So he slept on the couch that night. For the following week his room was on quarantine, and 4 out of 5 nights we were up at 4 in the morning because he was as well. But so be it. Outside of that its been a lovely week. On Monday I had improv. I was a little off that night, but you know when it comes to improv sometimes you are just off. Its something you have to learn to accept. So be it. On tuesday Yannik pulled on the oven when walking by and there was a quick burst of flame and the oven no longer works. So that is having to get replaced. Oh and we had to buy a new bed for Yannik because we thought that might be what was causing the allergy. On Wed. Chris's family left for Fiji giving him a week off before he leaves for a week to join them in Fiji. So I went over there for the afternoon before we hit up Couchsurfers. On Friday, Chris, Bird, and I all went out KareKare for the day which was Mindbogglingly fun. Karekare is one of the beaches on the West Side about 45 minutes away. Its black sand and no one is ever there. It is also absolutely beautiful with crazy surf. The waves were probably 8 feet on the main side of the beach and have about 20 break points on the other side of a point though that we climbed out on and got completely drenched. (I mean drenched because the spray from waves was more impressive than a busch gardens water ride, and so drenched there was a camera casualty (not mine luckily)) We climbe out to this point and then got a little higher so we weren't getting soaked and suddenly Chris yelled "Holy crap, that's a seal!" Low and Behold, just around a rock was a huge seal sunbathing itself. When it saw us though it dove off the rock. Something I had trouble believing after running to the edge and seeing that it was a 20 drop that ended not in water, but in more rocks. However the Seal seemed to be fine and continued to scoot into the water. Needless to say I have never seen a seal in the wild and it was a major highlight for me. All in all it was a spectacular day at the beach.
On Saturday I spent the day with Leigh's family celebrating her sister's her mother's and her combined birthday's bbq. It was a lovely day with the whole family. And while there I got invited to go windsurfing on Monday. So I am definitely doing that tomorrow. SWEET!!! Anyways the prawns and salmon were delicious. Following the bbq I met up with Chris, Bird, and some other couchsurfers for a hippy drum circle at Mt. Eden. ONLY IT WAS SICK!! It was a 350 event which is a global environmental organization and they had 4500 events in over 178 countries around the world. For the one I was at though, they brought in about 400 (literally 400) African drums and we all grabbed one and had a massive drum session. It was guided by Rythm Interactive and really sweet. I unfortunately had to leave early though so I could go into town and go on a date with the 36 year old I had mentioned previously. The scottish woman and some of her friends were going to the Classic Comedy Club to see 10 Comedians for 10 bucks. So I joined them and had a lovely evening. Some standups were way better than others, but thats always the case. Afterwards though I had to immediately take off since its like I have a curfew considering the last bus to Onehunga from downtown leaves at 11:15
Well, now I have filled you in on 2 and a half weeks. Sorry it took so long. And sorry its such a long post that I am not even going to proofread it before posting it. Hope you can deal. There are a bunch of new photos of me on facebook, but I will post some more on this blog as soon as I get them off the internet. Love you all, thank you all for reading and I hope your having a great day.
Wes.
Leigh, Yannik and I left on thursday morning for the mountain. We drove down without incident and arrived at a comfortable time at the house down there. Leigh and I decided we had a goal for Friday. That would be to get Yannik riding the Palma by himself. As he was, we were putting him on the Palma and then someone would hold on to him and be dragged up directly behind him. So on Friday Leigh and I tackled the mountain with ambition, and low and behold after several hours of running up and down the mountain alongside a Palma, we got Yannik riding it without anyone around him. It was pretty cool to think he got to like "the next level" with my help. On Saturday the Mountain was closed due to strong winds and snow, so we went to a set of hot springs. I should say that there are hot springs everywhere in this country. We decided to get a private pool for ourselves, which meant we got a pool that was 40 degrees Celsius which is something like 104 F. Unfortunately we could not convince Yannik to get into the water. After much pushing and prodding we decided it would just be best to take him to the public hot pool which was slightly cooler but still probably high 90's so its hard to complain. That evening Christoph joined us. However the next day on Sunday, again the mountain was closed due to high winds and snow. On Monday and Tuesday however, the mountain was practically empty since everyone returned to school on that same Monday, and we had two days of fresh snow. So I went out early and was first in line for the lifts when they opened both mornings which meant I was laying fresh tracks on the glacier which is this huge beautiful bowl which you only have to hike about 5 minutes to get to. If you want a sweet video of the bowl I was snowboarding in getting dominated by a sweet avalanche check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdfRAqPzMQk&feature=fvw The guy in the helicopter is the mountain guide that is friends with my family from a previous post. I think I mentioned him. (I think he was let go as an avalanche tester after he set this one off) (Oops). At any rate, I boarded in the mornings till about 12:30 and then I would take Yannik in the afternoons. I should mention one story that happened the first day I went riding on Monday. Leigh and Christoph were going to meet me at the car at 12:30 do swap Yannik off and so they could ski. Well I had had a lovely day with fresh snow and great runs. Well when 12 came around I thought I would take a nice long little ride all the way down to the base. I figured I would do a quick hike out towards the Organ Pipes, (which is the opposite hike as the Glacier). Well I had done this hike once before with Leigh and Christoph and their mountain guide friend. I figured this is nice, and few people will have been out this way. So I pass the out of bounds sign and keep going passing 1 or 2 people. Finally I get to the drop in point and turn in to find a nice crusty top layer that is quite wavy greeting me. Not an ideal run. But I thought so be it, and I went a little farther out to get some nicer snow. I make my way down the mountain. Now I distinctly remember when I did this the first time that we went down and then popped over a valley or two (I had to keep my speed up and walk maybe like once), and then we were pretty much at the parking lot. This time I found that I was going down and the terrain just wasn't looking very familiar. I realized that with a whole month having passed a lot of the snow that had been there previously was no longer there. I suddenly found myself in a deadend valley with no more snow to travel on and cliffs in all directions around me. Not only that but I realized that I was pretty much riding on top of what was water running beneath me (more commonly called a stream). So it was now 12:20 and I decide I would have to take off my board and hike it. Now I should try to describe the type of terrain I'm dealing with here. Must I again remind you that this is where they filmed Mordor, and that really wasn't much CG. This is a desolate volcano boulders, rocks, and cliffs strewn everywhere. Not only this but it is built with deep valley's and then high ridges. So in order to hike out I have to climb up a steep rock face with a snowboard. Then upon arriving at the top I must descend down to a valley again and then climb up the other side. Repeat. Added to this is fresh snow that while not in some places, the places it is in is because the wind blew it there so it is piled up to like 4 feet depth. You know I hadn't thought much about it till then, and you hear of deaths happening at Mt. Raupehu every year (Sorry mom you might not want to read this), and you don't really see how it happens every single year. You would think people would learn. But had I broken my leg, and not been able to walk, I would have been in serious trouble. At any rate, never fear, I didn't do that. I did however have to hike roughly 6 to 7 of these ravines. Until what I pictured looking like a scene from the movies as a man stumbles out of the desert to a place of sanctuary, I stumbled over a rock hill, and with the sun blazing down on me and my board slung on my back, my jacket hanging from my waist, my gloves sticking awkwardly from my pockets, and my helmet dangling from my board I stumbled to my sanctuary of a parking lot nearly collapsing. I felt like people must have seen this figure emerging, the shape shimmering in the heat being reflected from the black stones and snow. With a look of what one can only describe as beyond exhaustion that is matched by a stumbling walk and the silent movement of lips as if he is talking to himself.
You know it was something like that.
Anyways, I returned and was too tired to say what had happened (Leigh and Christoph had now been waiting an hour and a half) So I took Yannik and that night told them what had happened. So that was my big adventure for the week. On Wednesday the upper mountain was closed, so I met Leigh and Christoph and we skied with Yannik in the beginners area. Leigh put my board on and I gave her a snowboard lesson which I always find fun to do. (Except I had to wear her ski boots which were a touch small for me) Thursday the mountain was completely closed due to 60k and up winds (described as strong to gale-like winds). So the Yannik and his folks went to Napier to check out a facility there that Leigh and Christoph have considered for Yannik when he gets older. (Its wierd to think they certainly cant care for him forever, but at the same time he will never really be able to care for himself so every family has to figure out what that means for them.) I however stayed in Ohakune and explored the town and such. On Friday I left in the evening to drive about a half hour north of Lake Taupo (which is the largest lake in NZ)
In Taupo I was meeting up with 11 other people. It was a similar crowd to the ones that went to Whananaki with me. Here we had a Bach (also known as a beach house) right on a massive lake or really a river I guess (but may as well have been a lake for its size). The bach could only really sleep 6 but we squeezed in 12. It was cozy to say the least. On Saturday a group went into Taupo and went Skydiving and Jetboating along with hitting hot pools. .... I was not in this group. .... The rest of us stayed at the bach and relaxed. The four guys went down to the water and went for a quick dip. By quick I mean we jumped in and then immediately removed out bodies from the water as quick as humanly possible. (The water was a tad chilly). We hung out and in general just enjoyed our day and the scenery around us. That evening was quite a time that started early and then continued late once a cord hooking up my laptop to the stereo was discovered (causing an instant dance party of course).
On Sunday we woke up and cleaned. Then Bird (one of the other guys) and I made a massive breakfast. I mean like 30 eggs 40 pieces of bacon and 25 pieces of toast. It was pretty awesome. After breakfast one car left early as they were doing Rotorua, and another (mine) stayed behind till the laundry was done. We then went into Taupo and hit up the hot springs. Again a different set then the other 3 I have been to so far in this country. These were really cool because they were much more like what I expected. They were located in City of Taupo Park essentially. Really just picture your average town park, only there was a major river that ran through it on its way to Lake Taupo. Along the river was just little springs the bubbled up and fed into the river. However these pools springs contained people and about 105 degree water. It was really awesome. Because there were waterfalls of this water that was a beautiful hot shower temperature. We wasted a lot of time there. Afterwards we headed home.
I had a lovely vacation, but I must admit it was really nice to be back in the city and on a normal schedule again. That night however that "normalcy" was thrown out the window, as I suppose should be expected with Yannik. On Sunday night we discovered Yannik was allergic to something in his room and his face kept swelling up like a watermelon. So he slept on the couch that night. For the following week his room was on quarantine, and 4 out of 5 nights we were up at 4 in the morning because he was as well. But so be it. Outside of that its been a lovely week. On Monday I had improv. I was a little off that night, but you know when it comes to improv sometimes you are just off. Its something you have to learn to accept. So be it. On tuesday Yannik pulled on the oven when walking by and there was a quick burst of flame and the oven no longer works. So that is having to get replaced. Oh and we had to buy a new bed for Yannik because we thought that might be what was causing the allergy. On Wed. Chris's family left for Fiji giving him a week off before he leaves for a week to join them in Fiji. So I went over there for the afternoon before we hit up Couchsurfers. On Friday, Chris, Bird, and I all went out KareKare for the day which was Mindbogglingly fun. Karekare is one of the beaches on the West Side about 45 minutes away. Its black sand and no one is ever there. It is also absolutely beautiful with crazy surf. The waves were probably 8 feet on the main side of the beach and have about 20 break points on the other side of a point though that we climbed out on and got completely drenched. (I mean drenched because the spray from waves was more impressive than a busch gardens water ride, and so drenched there was a camera casualty (not mine luckily)) We climbe out to this point and then got a little higher so we weren't getting soaked and suddenly Chris yelled "Holy crap, that's a seal!" Low and Behold, just around a rock was a huge seal sunbathing itself. When it saw us though it dove off the rock. Something I had trouble believing after running to the edge and seeing that it was a 20 drop that ended not in water, but in more rocks. However the Seal seemed to be fine and continued to scoot into the water. Needless to say I have never seen a seal in the wild and it was a major highlight for me. All in all it was a spectacular day at the beach.
On Saturday I spent the day with Leigh's family celebrating her sister's her mother's and her combined birthday's bbq. It was a lovely day with the whole family. And while there I got invited to go windsurfing on Monday. So I am definitely doing that tomorrow. SWEET!!! Anyways the prawns and salmon were delicious. Following the bbq I met up with Chris, Bird, and some other couchsurfers for a hippy drum circle at Mt. Eden. ONLY IT WAS SICK!! It was a 350 event which is a global environmental organization and they had 4500 events in over 178 countries around the world. For the one I was at though, they brought in about 400 (literally 400) African drums and we all grabbed one and had a massive drum session. It was guided by Rythm Interactive and really sweet. I unfortunately had to leave early though so I could go into town and go on a date with the 36 year old I had mentioned previously. The scottish woman and some of her friends were going to the Classic Comedy Club to see 10 Comedians for 10 bucks. So I joined them and had a lovely evening. Some standups were way better than others, but thats always the case. Afterwards though I had to immediately take off since its like I have a curfew considering the last bus to Onehunga from downtown leaves at 11:15
Well, now I have filled you in on 2 and a half weeks. Sorry it took so long. And sorry its such a long post that I am not even going to proofread it before posting it. Hope you can deal. There are a bunch of new photos of me on facebook, but I will post some more on this blog as soon as I get them off the internet. Love you all, thank you all for reading and I hope your having a great day.
Wes.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
An Invitation
So I thought that I should write this story down becuase it has tickled me (thats right "tickled me") for the past two weeks now. As many of you know every Monday night I have been taking a two hour long improv class. This is too keep up with the improv I did in college, and hopefully will continue to do once I return to the states. This class is just a level 1 improv class, and mostly full of business people and the such who have never performed before. They are taking it as a way to learn how to be more spontaneous or to think outside the box and such things which I think are all great reasons for learing improv. However it means very few of us know what we are doing. (the other thing that means is that those of us who have done improv before really stick out) (but that sounds arrogant so just ignore it)
At any rate, another woman there, a Scottish actress of about 30 I'd say who is really cool and I enjoy, came up to me last Monday after class. She asked how old I was with a hopeful look. I told her that I was 22 at which point she replied with an "Ah shoot". She said that she "had a friend that was 'really cool and funny just like you' and I think you two would get along great, and I wanted to hook you guys up with each other. But she is 36 so I think you're a little young". I played it off rather jokingly and everything, but inside I was rather speechless. For the first time in my life someone had tried to set me up on a blind date. And not like a blind date as in college date function where you go with a friend's friend for the evening. But like a "she is 36 and single, you are single, lets get you two together for a dinner and see if magic happens". I'm sure it wasn't quite meant like that. But I mean I had just had an actual adult, try and hook me up with one of her friends. I thought "Wow, thats a new level for me" Anyways, it made me chuckle all night, but it was also probably the largest comment I had recieved since I've gotten here. Actually it probably comes in second, right behind another woman (a Scottish woman again actually) saying, "America's best export, in my opinion, are their men." She was a very aristocratic Scottish woman that said that at dinner with Leigh, Christoph, and I. She was an old family friend apparently.
However I digress. I was greatly complimented and happy all week that someone had tried to set me up on blind date. Well a week went by, and last night I returned to improv class. It is nice, because we are finally getting into scene work which means I actually have a chance to really do stuff rather than constant warm up games and such. Well, after the workshop, Claire (the Scottish actress) came up to me and said "hey, I was thinking about it, and I think you and my friend would get along excellently and I'd really like you to meet her. Not like that of course, cause i don't think she's a cougar, but I just think you would hit it off." I told her that I'd love to meet her and that it would be my pleasure. At which point she said "Great! Well, we are going to this party on Saturday night, you should join us" Holy Crap Again!! Now I wasn't being set up for a blind date, but I had just been invited to party in order to meet her friend. Maybe that isn't anything to special, but it just seemed straight out of the movies. Some rather attractive woman was like 'I have a friend you should meet', 'oh ya sure i'd love too', (quick little smile) 'well we are going to a party saturday night you should come with'. Maybe I am just enjoying myself for no reason, but I felt pretty cool. Unfortunately I then felt uncool after I had to say no because I would be up at the mountain snowboarding. However we swapped numbers, and hopefully I will meet this friend, that apperantly I will definitely like, soon.
So that was my quick little anecdote I wanted to share. Its rainy again, but there sure are some of the most beautiful rainbows in the world here. Enjoy
PS here are some of the pictures from the past 3 weeks, sorry its taken so long.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Rainy Days
So I am trying to do better with my blog, I figure 4 days or so isn't to bad. Well, a cold spell has hit NZ, which means it has been cold and rainy in Auckland for the past couple of days. This is okay, because it means that the rain here is in fact snow up on the volcano, WHICH I just found out, the mountain I have been boarding on for the past 2 and a half months is also known to some of you maybe as Mordor from Lord of the Rings. Ya Awesome. Speaking of Mordor, I am going down there this thursday for a week and a half so I will be a little quite for a while if anyone is trying to reach me. I will be avoiding the great eye of Sauron while I cross the volcanic plains of Mordor. It is pretty funny though because I watched a clip or two of Mordor again once I learned that, and I was like I know that exact location. So this weekend I am going to go and re-enact the Lord of the Rings as a one man show only taking place in Mordor. It should amusing. Well now I suppose I should catch you up on what I've been doing.
I left on Thursday. A night where not muched happened. I cooked stir fry for dinner, and that was about it. Friday was also a pretty average day. Yannik and I went for a walk around Mt. Mangere, and I was able to get him to go all the way to the top with me this time. I did this by always staying 20 feet in front of him so he couldn't really turn around and leave. (maybe not ideal, but it worked) We had a delicious stuffed squid dinner, and afterwards the family and I all went down to Mission Bay for ice cream. I think I have decided that Mission Bay is definitely one of my favorite places in town. Its pretty both at day and night. Anyways, Saturday I took a trip downtown trying to find a barber. I am determined to find a barber that does face shaves with a cutthroat razor (although I am a little more hesitant now that I learned they are called "cutthroats") However the ones I have found are about $40 for a shave and then 15 for a hair cut. Also known that were downtown were open unfortunately. Yet I did swing by the book store, and it was there I discovered that Ohakune and Mt. Reuhapu was Mordor, so definitely not all a waste. During the afternoon, I have started to watch Entourage which is a HBO series. So I tucked myself under the covers and watched some of that. Roughly around 7 I headed over to a friends house for a BBQ and some drinks. You see on Saturday here in NZ there was "the Fight of the Century" apparently. Two heavyweight fighters, David Tua (Somoan, and 37 who used to be a major player internationally) and Shane Cameron (Kiwi, and 32 who was a young and upcoming fighter) had a fight. Here it was a huge deal. So I went to this get together and then we were all going to go to the local sportsbar to watch the fight. However when we arrived the line was around the block and they came out and announced they were at capacity. So we went to the other bar in town, but they too were packed. We had to drive into city central to be able to watch it. We had a great time, there were two fights before the main event. The main event however only lasted 6 seconds into the second round. Tua laid into this guy. It was pretty awesome to watch. The dude was over the hill people were saying, but he had lost like 50 kg to do the fight and just a day or two before the fight he had lost his Aunt back in the Earthquakes in Samoa. So they did the Samoa national anthem and things before the fight which was cool, and then he just destroyed Cameron. It quick, but great to watch. So that was my Saturday evening. On sunday I laid around and read a bunch of "A brief history of time" by Steven Hawkings, which is an awesome read. Although I don't know if everyone would say that, but it appeals to the mathematician in me. So anyways I really enjoyed it and read a third of it yesterday. That evening all of Leighs nephews and neices came over and we had a big dinner. And today, I have simply had to clean up from the aftershock of that dinner. Well back to cleaning. Talk to you guys soon.
Wes
I left on Thursday. A night where not muched happened. I cooked stir fry for dinner, and that was about it. Friday was also a pretty average day. Yannik and I went for a walk around Mt. Mangere, and I was able to get him to go all the way to the top with me this time. I did this by always staying 20 feet in front of him so he couldn't really turn around and leave. (maybe not ideal, but it worked) We had a delicious stuffed squid dinner, and afterwards the family and I all went down to Mission Bay for ice cream. I think I have decided that Mission Bay is definitely one of my favorite places in town. Its pretty both at day and night. Anyways, Saturday I took a trip downtown trying to find a barber. I am determined to find a barber that does face shaves with a cutthroat razor (although I am a little more hesitant now that I learned they are called "cutthroats") However the ones I have found are about $40 for a shave and then 15 for a hair cut. Also known that were downtown were open unfortunately. Yet I did swing by the book store, and it was there I discovered that Ohakune and Mt. Reuhapu was Mordor, so definitely not all a waste. During the afternoon, I have started to watch Entourage which is a HBO series. So I tucked myself under the covers and watched some of that. Roughly around 7 I headed over to a friends house for a BBQ and some drinks. You see on Saturday here in NZ there was "the Fight of the Century" apparently. Two heavyweight fighters, David Tua (Somoan, and 37 who used to be a major player internationally) and Shane Cameron (Kiwi, and 32 who was a young and upcoming fighter) had a fight. Here it was a huge deal. So I went to this get together and then we were all going to go to the local sportsbar to watch the fight. However when we arrived the line was around the block and they came out and announced they were at capacity. So we went to the other bar in town, but they too were packed. We had to drive into city central to be able to watch it. We had a great time, there were two fights before the main event. The main event however only lasted 6 seconds into the second round. Tua laid into this guy. It was pretty awesome to watch. The dude was over the hill people were saying, but he had lost like 50 kg to do the fight and just a day or two before the fight he had lost his Aunt back in the Earthquakes in Samoa. So they did the Samoa national anthem and things before the fight which was cool, and then he just destroyed Cameron. It quick, but great to watch. So that was my Saturday evening. On sunday I laid around and read a bunch of "A brief history of time" by Steven Hawkings, which is an awesome read. Although I don't know if everyone would say that, but it appeals to the mathematician in me. So anyways I really enjoyed it and read a third of it yesterday. That evening all of Leighs nephews and neices came over and we had a big dinner. And today, I have simply had to clean up from the aftershock of that dinner. Well back to cleaning. Talk to you guys soon.
Wes
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Whananaki Fun
Hey guys, so this time I really have let to much time go by between posts. I really need to pick up the pace here. Its nice to know someone reads it though, I got an email from someone telling me to update my blog. Thats when you know its been to long. Well, without further ado, I suppose I have a lot to tell you guys because I had a sweet as weekend.
I last posted on Tuesday morning of last week. That day I pretty much spent the whole day baking, ending with a dinner of Cheese Rolls and Coconut Curry Shrimp. It was pretty tasty and a success I think. On Wed. I went out to Couchsurfer's as usual, but I left early because Chris offered me a ride home. However he parked at the grocery store in town, so we had to leave before it closed. Which was a good thing though because it means I saved money for the weekend. Thursday, I can't really remember anything special happening. (see this is why I aught to write more often, because I forget what happens during the day) But lets just pretend nothing of grave importance happened on thursday or friday morning.
But at about 6:00 on Friday afternoon I got picked up by Chris, we had the car packed and were ready to go by 6:30. You see, (I don't think I've told you) we had planned a trip with essentially Nanny's, Manny's, and Mark's. There is a guy named Mark from Couchsurfing who is a native Kiwi, and he and Chris planned a trip to Whananaki (pronounced "fun-a-naki) for the weekend. We had 8 people going in total: Chris and I (the Manny's), four Nanny's including two of the german au pairs I mentioned (the Nanny's), and Mark Russell and Mark Cruz both kiwi's (the Mark's). So Chris and I then picked up Lauren and Nikki (two nanny's and both American actually) and then met up with Mark who had the rest of the people. And hit the road around 8:30. Whananaki is in the Northland (sorta) and about 2 hours north of Auckland just above Whangerei. Road trips in NZ are so nice because you just sit back, relax, and crack a brew and wait till you get there. People here look at me weird and don't understand when I tell them you can't do that in the states that not even empty open containers are technically allowed in a car. At any rate, this trip wasn't necessarily stress free. About half way through we pulled over and realized we had a flat tire. We quickly changed it in the dark (I'm glad I had brought a torch as they are called here aka flashlight). However without anymore incidents we arrived at the house or "batch" it was pitch black outside except for the stars, but you could still hear the ocean fairly close to you. That night we had a good time, and threw it down. The next morning though we woke up to find exactly what kind of place we were in. We were surrounded by just 2 other houses on a massive gorgeous beach. The ocean was about 20 feet from our door, with an island out in the bay a little ways. It was magnificent, or since someone was getting tired of my usual word of amazing this time I will go with "stupefying pretty". That day the girls and I took the rowboat out to this big island. We landed and decided to hike to the top. However it was pretty steep pitch, and with fresh rain it was a giant mudslide. So in order to climb it you had to grab a tree and pull yourself up the mud. However every once in a while the tree would break or pull out, at which point you would slide about 20 down again until someone grabbed you as you slid past. Needless to say it was pretty funny to do in sandals. But we made it to top, and then immediately returned again because of an incoming storm. As soon as we pushed off and were in the boat again, the clouds parted and the sun came out of course. Halfway back in the boat I decided I would swim the rest of the way in. I obviously was not having a very intelligent moment, which i realized as soon as I dove in. At that point I realized the water was about 50-60 degrees. I had a mental flash of my dad saying to me once in Maine when we were in a boat surrounded by about 40 degree water, "Wes if the boat flips right now swim straight for the shore, you have about 5 minutes before hypothermia sets in and your body shuts down". With that in mind I quickly made my way to land. Once the girls made it in we had lunch, and then headed into "town". I say "town" but really it couldn't even be called that. And this is coming from a kid that grew up in Staunton for crying out loud. The town was tiny enough that the general store there was just called "the store" as its name. We bought some Ice cream and played with some cows, and took some pictures of an awesome rainbow. Then we headed for the beach where some kids had built a flying fox aka a zip line. We rode on that which was sweet as, and then we headed back home. Back home we played some Pictionary and some Scattagories both of which were hilarious. We had a awesome dinner of chicken breasts and delicious things fresh from the grill. The next morning we woke up and packed we left by about noon although we all were very confused because it seemed that while we slept everyone had changed the time on our clocks but no one elses. Then we realized that actually daylights savings time had happened over the weekend. At any rate, on the way home we swung through Whanagerei and saw a awesome waterfall. It was "grand". It was about 25-30 metres so like 75-90 feet. And just there right off the road. It was gorgeous, and I was tempted to jump off of it. After we finished at the waterfall we took another little detour and pulled off the road again, at which point we hiked back a kilometre or two to a series of caves. There was just a little sign reading caves as the only information given, but you go down in the caves. And its pretty sweet spelunking with knee deep cave water, (two of us stepped on eels while we were down there). We had two torches, and went as far as we could into these "wondrous" caves. And then we turned all the torches out, and the ceiling of the caves are covered in glowworms, so it looks like the night sky. And with the water running past you it is like your outside by a stream looking up at the stars. It was sweet as. I wish I could put it in words, or describe it better so you got the full effect of just how "legendary" it was. Needless to say I had one of the coolest weekends ever. And then an hour and a half later, I was in downtown Auckland again. This is a great country.
Monday started school holiday's so Yannik is fortunately enrolled in a holiday program, but it still means my schedule is pretty different then normal. I took him to his program and then returned and had a fairly normal day until about 1 when I went to grab some ham for lunch. However, I then discovered that I had left the lights on that morning and the battery was dead (neither their truck nor their car makes any noise if you leave the lights on . Its really annoying) Anyways, so I looked around for some jumper cables and found them and finally worked the nerve up to knock on random doors since neither of their neighbors that I have met where home. So I found a woman with a 1 and 3 year old in her house and so she ran out started her car and ran in again. Unfortunately for me, the truck refused to start. It just made a clicking sound. I thought that wasn't good, so I let the woman return to her children, and called Christoph. I thought maybe there is something I don't know about diesel engines that would cause this. He suggested I try a rolling start down the hill. This also failed. Luckily another neighbor had returned who I knew. So I asked her to try a jump again. It again did not work. By this time it was 2:30, I hadn't eaten that Ham that I still wanted so badly, and Yannik had to be picked up at 3. I mentioned I was going to have to hire a cab for Yannik, and the kind neighbor offered to drive me. Which was really nice of her. Christoph called a friend who suggested heavier jumper cables for the diesel engine. (The advantage of being a craftsman is that you are friends with a bunch of other craftsman like mechanics and plumbers and electrians and the such) So we bought bigger cables and when Leigh returned we jumped the car again and it started no problem. (Thank Goodness!) I went to improv a little late that night.
Tuesday was a pretty simple day, with not much happening. I made vege burrito's with my first ever homeade salsa. It was decent, but next time I know what I will change.
Wed. I had to watch Yannik all day long because it was his day off from holiday program. So I decided to take him to the Miranda Hot Springs. They are about an hour southeast of Auckland, and they are the largest geothermal pools in the southern hemisphere (or so they brag). So I drove down the East Coast Highway all the while listening on the radio of a Tsunami warning from the earthquake in Samoa. I kept thinking if the water level recedes quickly I need to drive to higher ground FAST!!! Luckily a Tsunami never hit us. We arrived at the hot pools and only 3 people were there. It was "bang-up" fun. The pools are between 36-38 degrees Celsius which is like 95-100 for us. And it is a massive swimming pool essentially. I expected it to be like rocks and stuff but no its a large concrete swimming pool with vents in the ground where super hot water comes out. The trip pretty much ate up the whole day cause it was 2 when we returned. That night I went out as per usual. I had a good time. More people are starting to come now that its warming up which is nice.
Well, this is a wicked long post, so I will leave it at that. I am going to start posting more often hopefully, which hopefully encourages people to read it more often. Its hard to tell sometimes whether just my parents read this or not, but hopefully others are enjoying it. I hope everyone is doing well. We are now 17 hours apart. Much love.
Wes
I last posted on Tuesday morning of last week. That day I pretty much spent the whole day baking, ending with a dinner of Cheese Rolls and Coconut Curry Shrimp. It was pretty tasty and a success I think. On Wed. I went out to Couchsurfer's as usual, but I left early because Chris offered me a ride home. However he parked at the grocery store in town, so we had to leave before it closed. Which was a good thing though because it means I saved money for the weekend. Thursday, I can't really remember anything special happening. (see this is why I aught to write more often, because I forget what happens during the day) But lets just pretend nothing of grave importance happened on thursday or friday morning.
But at about 6:00 on Friday afternoon I got picked up by Chris, we had the car packed and were ready to go by 6:30. You see, (I don't think I've told you) we had planned a trip with essentially Nanny's, Manny's, and Mark's. There is a guy named Mark from Couchsurfing who is a native Kiwi, and he and Chris planned a trip to Whananaki (pronounced "fun-a-naki) for the weekend. We had 8 people going in total: Chris and I (the Manny's), four Nanny's including two of the german au pairs I mentioned (the Nanny's), and Mark Russell and Mark Cruz both kiwi's (the Mark's). So Chris and I then picked up Lauren and Nikki (two nanny's and both American actually) and then met up with Mark who had the rest of the people. And hit the road around 8:30. Whananaki is in the Northland (sorta) and about 2 hours north of Auckland just above Whangerei. Road trips in NZ are so nice because you just sit back, relax, and crack a brew and wait till you get there. People here look at me weird and don't understand when I tell them you can't do that in the states that not even empty open containers are technically allowed in a car. At any rate, this trip wasn't necessarily stress free. About half way through we pulled over and realized we had a flat tire. We quickly changed it in the dark (I'm glad I had brought a torch as they are called here aka flashlight). However without anymore incidents we arrived at the house or "batch" it was pitch black outside except for the stars, but you could still hear the ocean fairly close to you. That night we had a good time, and threw it down. The next morning though we woke up to find exactly what kind of place we were in. We were surrounded by just 2 other houses on a massive gorgeous beach. The ocean was about 20 feet from our door, with an island out in the bay a little ways. It was magnificent, or since someone was getting tired of my usual word of amazing this time I will go with "stupefying pretty". That day the girls and I took the rowboat out to this big island. We landed and decided to hike to the top. However it was pretty steep pitch, and with fresh rain it was a giant mudslide. So in order to climb it you had to grab a tree and pull yourself up the mud. However every once in a while the tree would break or pull out, at which point you would slide about 20 down again until someone grabbed you as you slid past. Needless to say it was pretty funny to do in sandals. But we made it to top, and then immediately returned again because of an incoming storm. As soon as we pushed off and were in the boat again, the clouds parted and the sun came out of course. Halfway back in the boat I decided I would swim the rest of the way in. I obviously was not having a very intelligent moment, which i realized as soon as I dove in. At that point I realized the water was about 50-60 degrees. I had a mental flash of my dad saying to me once in Maine when we were in a boat surrounded by about 40 degree water, "Wes if the boat flips right now swim straight for the shore, you have about 5 minutes before hypothermia sets in and your body shuts down". With that in mind I quickly made my way to land. Once the girls made it in we had lunch, and then headed into "town". I say "town" but really it couldn't even be called that. And this is coming from a kid that grew up in Staunton for crying out loud. The town was tiny enough that the general store there was just called "the store" as its name. We bought some Ice cream and played with some cows, and took some pictures of an awesome rainbow. Then we headed for the beach where some kids had built a flying fox aka a zip line. We rode on that which was sweet as, and then we headed back home. Back home we played some Pictionary and some Scattagories both of which were hilarious. We had a awesome dinner of chicken breasts and delicious things fresh from the grill. The next morning we woke up and packed we left by about noon although we all were very confused because it seemed that while we slept everyone had changed the time on our clocks but no one elses. Then we realized that actually daylights savings time had happened over the weekend. At any rate, on the way home we swung through Whanagerei and saw a awesome waterfall. It was "grand". It was about 25-30 metres so like 75-90 feet. And just there right off the road. It was gorgeous, and I was tempted to jump off of it. After we finished at the waterfall we took another little detour and pulled off the road again, at which point we hiked back a kilometre or two to a series of caves. There was just a little sign reading caves as the only information given, but you go down in the caves. And its pretty sweet spelunking with knee deep cave water, (two of us stepped on eels while we were down there). We had two torches, and went as far as we could into these "wondrous" caves. And then we turned all the torches out, and the ceiling of the caves are covered in glowworms, so it looks like the night sky. And with the water running past you it is like your outside by a stream looking up at the stars. It was sweet as. I wish I could put it in words, or describe it better so you got the full effect of just how "legendary" it was. Needless to say I had one of the coolest weekends ever. And then an hour and a half later, I was in downtown Auckland again. This is a great country.
Monday started school holiday's so Yannik is fortunately enrolled in a holiday program, but it still means my schedule is pretty different then normal. I took him to his program and then returned and had a fairly normal day until about 1 when I went to grab some ham for lunch. However, I then discovered that I had left the lights on that morning and the battery was dead (neither their truck nor their car makes any noise if you leave the lights on . Its really annoying) Anyways, so I looked around for some jumper cables and found them and finally worked the nerve up to knock on random doors since neither of their neighbors that I have met where home. So I found a woman with a 1 and 3 year old in her house and so she ran out started her car and ran in again. Unfortunately for me, the truck refused to start. It just made a clicking sound. I thought that wasn't good, so I let the woman return to her children, and called Christoph. I thought maybe there is something I don't know about diesel engines that would cause this. He suggested I try a rolling start down the hill. This also failed. Luckily another neighbor had returned who I knew. So I asked her to try a jump again. It again did not work. By this time it was 2:30, I hadn't eaten that Ham that I still wanted so badly, and Yannik had to be picked up at 3. I mentioned I was going to have to hire a cab for Yannik, and the kind neighbor offered to drive me. Which was really nice of her. Christoph called a friend who suggested heavier jumper cables for the diesel engine. (The advantage of being a craftsman is that you are friends with a bunch of other craftsman like mechanics and plumbers and electrians and the such) So we bought bigger cables and when Leigh returned we jumped the car again and it started no problem. (Thank Goodness!) I went to improv a little late that night.
Tuesday was a pretty simple day, with not much happening. I made vege burrito's with my first ever homeade salsa. It was decent, but next time I know what I will change.
Wed. I had to watch Yannik all day long because it was his day off from holiday program. So I decided to take him to the Miranda Hot Springs. They are about an hour southeast of Auckland, and they are the largest geothermal pools in the southern hemisphere (or so they brag). So I drove down the East Coast Highway all the while listening on the radio of a Tsunami warning from the earthquake in Samoa. I kept thinking if the water level recedes quickly I need to drive to higher ground FAST!!! Luckily a Tsunami never hit us. We arrived at the hot pools and only 3 people were there. It was "bang-up" fun. The pools are between 36-38 degrees Celsius which is like 95-100 for us. And it is a massive swimming pool essentially. I expected it to be like rocks and stuff but no its a large concrete swimming pool with vents in the ground where super hot water comes out. The trip pretty much ate up the whole day cause it was 2 when we returned. That night I went out as per usual. I had a good time. More people are starting to come now that its warming up which is nice.
Well, this is a wicked long post, so I will leave it at that. I am going to start posting more often hopefully, which hopefully encourages people to read it more often. Its hard to tell sometimes whether just my parents read this or not, but hopefully others are enjoying it. I hope everyone is doing well. We are now 17 hours apart. Much love.
Wes
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A Good Time
So I suppose that I have a hefty chuck to fill you all in on so I apologize, but this will probably be a rather longer one.
I believe I left you last on Wed. afternoon right before I left for drinks as I usually do on Wed. nights. Wed. evening was fun, and really good news.... All the hot german nanny's are back in town now which is pretty sweet as (as they say here). Apparently shortly before I arrived here a large group of german au pair's returned home, but now it would appear that Auckland has stocked up again on a fresh batch of nannys. There were about 4 or 5 of them on Wed. night, which was pretty cool. So that was my wed. evening.
Then on Thursday my schedule was slightly different. Because I had watched Yannik on Wed. afternoon, I only had to watch him on Thursday in the afternoon rather than all night. This was good for me as the American friend of mine which I mentioned earlier was in town and we were able to meet up. It was a lovely evening Melissa (my friend) and her husband were here in Auckland for a week while the moved from Sydney back to the US. They were staying at friends of theirs, who were nice enough to have me over for dinner. They were also kind enough to make me meatloaf which was awesome. Melissa and her husband are vegans, but she reads my blog and knows my love of meat and my current vegetarian situation, so they made meatloaf for me which was really nice of them. At any rate, they lived in Parnell which I had never been too. It is a really cool part of town with a great nightlife, and just restaurant after bar after restaurant. After dinner we ended up going out to a chocolate shop which was AWESOME! I got an Italian Denso, which apparently turned out to be literally a large cup of thick liquid chocolate. As stated above: AWESOME! Needless to say it was a great night. We spent the rest of it talking and watching the Ian McKellan video from Extras on youtube. I would recommend it to those who haven't seen it yet.
I came home later that night, and was rather tired on Friday morning. So after a nap in the morning, and some german lessons. I cleaned the house and packed for my weekend trip which was to be down the Mt. Reapehu to race in the Club Champs. Christoph came home early which was nice of him so I could make down to city central. The club was providing two vans for rides down to the mountain (which is about 5 hours away). There was about 14 of us in the two vans. 5 hours may seem like a long trip, but the good news is that in NZ there is no such thing as open container laws. (Which is really hard for me to wrap my mind around, but its true.) So we were able to have a couple brews on the way down to the mountain. It was really funny for me, at one point (as it was a friday night) we were stopped by a DUI check point. (Interesting fact: Over here it is known as drink driving rather than drunk driving) Anyways, I was in the front seat and had a beer in hand while the driver was given a breathalyzer. It was a pretty bizarre feeling, the police didn't even look twice at me. So we made it down to the mountain that night in good time, and in good spirits.
The next morning unfortunately I woke up to rain on the window. So I decided not to go boarding that day. It just wasn't worth the money, and there was plenty to do back at the lodge (aka some serious ping pong tournaments (of which might I say I won with a 3 to 2 game win in the finale)) So it was a great day even though we stayed indoors. I would say that there was a good 25 or so people at the lodge.
On Sunday I (amazingly) woke up at about 7:15 to a beautiful clear day. The mountain looked picturesque so I ate and got ready and was out by 8:05. I was able to lay a couple runs down on fresh corduroy which was sweet. Then I met up with a bunch of the club and we rode together on the far west territory (like anybody but me knows what that means but oh well). Around mid day they set up a race course for us and we competed. It was pretty cool to say I have now raced in NZ. It was also pretty amusing to see how they do things. It was a really informal race. They used a stopwatch, and instead of numbers they just had a walkie talkie, and would say Wes is in the gate now, UUUUuuuuuuuP! and when your foot crossed the plane of the starting gate is when they would say the P in "up" and the dude at the bottom would start a stopwatch and stop it when it looked like you crossed the finish line. Also there was no order it was just like everyone went wherever in line they happened to be standing. But it was pretty sweet none the less. I messed up my first run and ended up taking the last three gates switch, but I still managed to come in 2nd so I was happy. After the race I took off and hiked a massive bowl I had been staring at all day. It was a sweet run and maybe a half hour hike. After this I headed out West again and met up with some other people who were thinking about hiking the crater. "Hiking the crater" as its called means a hike to the very top of the Volcano where there is a large crater lake. The hike ranges from anywhere between 45min to 1hour and a half depending on how energetic and fit the people doing it are. Its a pretty nasty hike, and all of it is atleast a little uphill, and most is alot uphill. So I tagged along with them which my legs instantly screamed at me for after their previous hike. However we made it to the top in about 50 minutes, up a beautiful hike if you could catch your breath long enough to appreciate it. Once we reached the top we were all extremely glad we had done the hike. It was pretty amazing. (I keep using the words like spectacular and breathtaking or amazing perhaps, but really its like you need a different set of quantative words to describe things here they are so far above and beyond many of the sites I've ever seen.) Regardless it was a breathtaking/spectacular/(take your pick of words) view, and the crater lake was awesome to see. Although it smelled somethin' fierce. There are stories of people that used to hike up in the early like 30's and 40's and they would go swimming in the lake, and by the time they made it back down the mountain their bathing suits had practically disintegrated because they were pretty much swimming is sulfuric acid. Well after spending some time at the highest point on the northern island, I was able to snowboard the entire length of the volcano which was pretty sweet. Not to mention we had started hiking at around 3:30 so when I came down it was roughly 5 and so everything was shut down and no one was on the slopes. At one point I came over a ridge and quickly stopped as I realized I was about 3 feet from a 40 foot cliff, I slowly backed up and unstrapped and then walked around. The top part of the ride was pretty icy to be honest but then it was sweet bowl after sweet bowl so I can't complain. We left that evening at around 6:40 and I got home to Onehunga at about 1:30.
So on Monday I was pretty tired (not to mention my legs were screaming at me with every move I made) so Monday was a pretty lazy day. Christoph had made pizza on Sunday night and there was leftover dough and cheese so I invented my own cheese rolls (with onions and garlic of course). They were tasty, but I will perfect the recipe soon. That evening I had improv class which is nice cause we are starting to do some real scene work finally which is good. After that it was one the hot german au pair's birthday's so I met up with Chris and Mark(a native Kiwi that I know from Wed. nights) and two of the au pairs. We had a drink or two and then I headed home. Late last night I was able to catch part of the Emmy's and a bit of ABC World News Tonight (which plays at about 11:35 at night here). It was my first real taste of home since I've been here. I had a little pang of home. I couldn't really help it though since the first piece on the news was on Obama's overexposure, and so of course who do they interview: Larry Sabato (professor of politics at the University of Virgina). So I really had a reminder of home.
Well now its Tuesday, and I must go do laundry. Hope you guys are doing well back home. Till next time.
I believe I left you last on Wed. afternoon right before I left for drinks as I usually do on Wed. nights. Wed. evening was fun, and really good news.... All the hot german nanny's are back in town now which is pretty sweet as (as they say here). Apparently shortly before I arrived here a large group of german au pair's returned home, but now it would appear that Auckland has stocked up again on a fresh batch of nannys. There were about 4 or 5 of them on Wed. night, which was pretty cool. So that was my wed. evening.
Then on Thursday my schedule was slightly different. Because I had watched Yannik on Wed. afternoon, I only had to watch him on Thursday in the afternoon rather than all night. This was good for me as the American friend of mine which I mentioned earlier was in town and we were able to meet up. It was a lovely evening Melissa (my friend) and her husband were here in Auckland for a week while the moved from Sydney back to the US. They were staying at friends of theirs, who were nice enough to have me over for dinner. They were also kind enough to make me meatloaf which was awesome. Melissa and her husband are vegans, but she reads my blog and knows my love of meat and my current vegetarian situation, so they made meatloaf for me which was really nice of them. At any rate, they lived in Parnell which I had never been too. It is a really cool part of town with a great nightlife, and just restaurant after bar after restaurant. After dinner we ended up going out to a chocolate shop which was AWESOME! I got an Italian Denso, which apparently turned out to be literally a large cup of thick liquid chocolate. As stated above: AWESOME! Needless to say it was a great night. We spent the rest of it talking and watching the Ian McKellan video from Extras on youtube. I would recommend it to those who haven't seen it yet.
I came home later that night, and was rather tired on Friday morning. So after a nap in the morning, and some german lessons. I cleaned the house and packed for my weekend trip which was to be down the Mt. Reapehu to race in the Club Champs. Christoph came home early which was nice of him so I could make down to city central. The club was providing two vans for rides down to the mountain (which is about 5 hours away). There was about 14 of us in the two vans. 5 hours may seem like a long trip, but the good news is that in NZ there is no such thing as open container laws. (Which is really hard for me to wrap my mind around, but its true.) So we were able to have a couple brews on the way down to the mountain. It was really funny for me, at one point (as it was a friday night) we were stopped by a DUI check point. (Interesting fact: Over here it is known as drink driving rather than drunk driving) Anyways, I was in the front seat and had a beer in hand while the driver was given a breathalyzer. It was a pretty bizarre feeling, the police didn't even look twice at me. So we made it down to the mountain that night in good time, and in good spirits.
The next morning unfortunately I woke up to rain on the window. So I decided not to go boarding that day. It just wasn't worth the money, and there was plenty to do back at the lodge (aka some serious ping pong tournaments (of which might I say I won with a 3 to 2 game win in the finale)) So it was a great day even though we stayed indoors. I would say that there was a good 25 or so people at the lodge.
On Sunday I (amazingly) woke up at about 7:15 to a beautiful clear day. The mountain looked picturesque so I ate and got ready and was out by 8:05. I was able to lay a couple runs down on fresh corduroy which was sweet. Then I met up with a bunch of the club and we rode together on the far west territory (like anybody but me knows what that means but oh well). Around mid day they set up a race course for us and we competed. It was pretty cool to say I have now raced in NZ. It was also pretty amusing to see how they do things. It was a really informal race. They used a stopwatch, and instead of numbers they just had a walkie talkie, and would say Wes is in the gate now, UUUUuuuuuuuP! and when your foot crossed the plane of the starting gate is when they would say the P in "up" and the dude at the bottom would start a stopwatch and stop it when it looked like you crossed the finish line. Also there was no order it was just like everyone went wherever in line they happened to be standing. But it was pretty sweet none the less. I messed up my first run and ended up taking the last three gates switch, but I still managed to come in 2nd so I was happy. After the race I took off and hiked a massive bowl I had been staring at all day. It was a sweet run and maybe a half hour hike. After this I headed out West again and met up with some other people who were thinking about hiking the crater. "Hiking the crater" as its called means a hike to the very top of the Volcano where there is a large crater lake. The hike ranges from anywhere between 45min to 1hour and a half depending on how energetic and fit the people doing it are. Its a pretty nasty hike, and all of it is atleast a little uphill, and most is alot uphill. So I tagged along with them which my legs instantly screamed at me for after their previous hike. However we made it to the top in about 50 minutes, up a beautiful hike if you could catch your breath long enough to appreciate it. Once we reached the top we were all extremely glad we had done the hike. It was pretty amazing. (I keep using the words like spectacular and breathtaking or amazing perhaps, but really its like you need a different set of quantative words to describe things here they are so far above and beyond many of the sites I've ever seen.) Regardless it was a breathtaking/spectacular/(take your pick of words) view, and the crater lake was awesome to see. Although it smelled somethin' fierce. There are stories of people that used to hike up in the early like 30's and 40's and they would go swimming in the lake, and by the time they made it back down the mountain their bathing suits had practically disintegrated because they were pretty much swimming is sulfuric acid. Well after spending some time at the highest point on the northern island, I was able to snowboard the entire length of the volcano which was pretty sweet. Not to mention we had started hiking at around 3:30 so when I came down it was roughly 5 and so everything was shut down and no one was on the slopes. At one point I came over a ridge and quickly stopped as I realized I was about 3 feet from a 40 foot cliff, I slowly backed up and unstrapped and then walked around. The top part of the ride was pretty icy to be honest but then it was sweet bowl after sweet bowl so I can't complain. We left that evening at around 6:40 and I got home to Onehunga at about 1:30.
So on Monday I was pretty tired (not to mention my legs were screaming at me with every move I made) so Monday was a pretty lazy day. Christoph had made pizza on Sunday night and there was leftover dough and cheese so I invented my own cheese rolls (with onions and garlic of course). They were tasty, but I will perfect the recipe soon. That evening I had improv class which is nice cause we are starting to do some real scene work finally which is good. After that it was one the hot german au pair's birthday's so I met up with Chris and Mark(a native Kiwi that I know from Wed. nights) and two of the au pairs. We had a drink or two and then I headed home. Late last night I was able to catch part of the Emmy's and a bit of ABC World News Tonight (which plays at about 11:35 at night here). It was my first real taste of home since I've been here. I had a little pang of home. I couldn't really help it though since the first piece on the news was on Obama's overexposure, and so of course who do they interview: Larry Sabato (professor of politics at the University of Virgina). So I really had a reminder of home.
Well now its Tuesday, and I must go do laundry. Hope you guys are doing well back home. Till next time.
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