Have a nice TRIP, see you next FALL

On Sunday, April 18, I had all my things packed and moved out of the little flat in Te Haumi. How I miss it so!! The hard part was saying "see you later" to the people I met in Paihia...

The garage where I volunteered with Friends of Williams House to raise funds for the local library

Karl and I spent 2 nights at his house in Kaeo... it was like camping. No electricity, no flushing toilet, no shower... it was pretty romantic because that is exactly the kind of lifestyle I love!

Quite cozy from the outside looking in!

Candlelight dinners

The bush at night

 And more bugs of course!

 A bumble bee!

Karl & I planned to leave on Tuesday for our road trip, but we found out his neighbors/landlords were moving cattle, so we decided to help! Little did I know it would turn out to be one of the TOP 7 EXPERIENCES of my life. There were about 50 calves, just weaned from their mothers. AND little did we know, we ended up moving them 5k's down the road!! What a way to reaffirm my new-found love for cows! Moo!

Woo-pah!

moo...Mooo! MOOO!! mooo! MOOO!! Moo!!! mooooo!!!

Luckily, we only walked one-way... and were driven back to the house 5k's away

So our plans changed! Hurrah! It was well worth it - to see pooping, peeing, drooling calves so up-close! We spent one final night in Paihia at a hostel, and then headed south! What spectacular views...

In the Waipoua Forest, I got to see the biggest tree I've ever seen before!! IT WAS HUGE!

Tane Mahuta = "Lord of the Forest," the largest Kauri tree in NZ. Look at how small I am in front of it!!

Branches so big they had to build supports for them... :)

Cool, weeping leaves...

Gnarly trunks and branches :)

More rainbows...

Veggies!

 Hard to see, but this man is washing the carwash! :)

One night, Karl and I stayed at Solscape, an eco-retreat in Raglan. We really wanted to stay in a Tee-Pee, but they take them down for the Winter (it's Fall here). So we splurged and stayed in the "Overlander," a self-contained, 17 meter converted NZ Railway carriage!

 

Karl mingling with the builders working on the project next door

Then we passed through Tirau, which seems to be quite fond of corrugated metal.

Sheep

Dog

Moses?

Well I apologize if I'm being sacrilegious, but I don't know who that is, and didn't bother to find out. But it all came together... Sheep + Dog + Heavenly Figure... to remind me of  Pepper... and the beautiful Sheltie that he was :) 

Finally, we made it to Lake Taupo! Karl practiced some golf swings... He actually hit the green grass stuff way out there in the lake! It wasn't enough to score NZ$10,000 but it's really about the pride and not the money anyway :) So I'm still proud of him!!

We passed on the "soup of the moment"

 Saw this on the street and was reminded of my sisters!

Alpaca at the market

So cute!!

Karl flew out of NZ shortly afterward, and I continued on toward the South Island. Driving along Interstate 4 was such a blissful experience. It was absolutely beautiful, and made me feel so lucky.

Ruakawa Falls Lookout

Another beautiful sunset. These are so hard to take for granted in NZ!

Wanganui & Whanganui River

Reminds me of Paris & La Seine. 

How could you not want to stop and spend the night here? 

So here I am in Wanganui, towards the southern tip of the North Island. Somehow I feel like I am back at square one, knowing nobody and nothing... and feeling that all that is familiar and loving/loved exists outside the country I'm in. Again. The last 6 months now feel like a blur... and I am in a still shock that everything has changed so swiftly. I have this blog to use for show and tell. It's easy to post pictures, but to tell the story behind them is ... well, another story. 

The journey you see in these pictures is not so unique. The terrain is phenomenal, and the views of the earth seem out-of-this-world. Many people have done this trip before me, and will do so after me. But what I see is both a joy and a sadness. I know our ecosystem is dying, and I can't just sit by and let it happen. I do what I can by recycling, using very little water, etc. I try to be big and small at the same time. I know I'm big enough to make a difference, but small enough to know how feeble that difference is. I came to NZ to find out if it was me or the world that had gone crazy... what do you think it was that I found...