Parikawa

From the moment Joanie picked me up from the stop, our conversations were interesting, intimate, and endless. Alice had told me that Joanie was the grown up version of me; I can only hope one day I will be as cool as Joanie. I enjoyed every second of the work I completed at Parikawa- even the bits that were rather disgusting (removing sheep feces from wool, and collecting maggot infested seaweed). The surrounding land and her home itself was absolutely stunning, and filled with a familiar but rare magical feeling. Every morning I woke up and traveled under the roadway to her paddocks next to the sea. There I would run next to the black sand beach listening to the crashing waves as the sun was rising. After I returned, Joanie and I would eat breakfast and discuss the plans for the day. After work (which was always too fun to be labeled 'work') I would walk through her backyard of beautiful hills and mountains filled with roaming cows, rabbits, and herds of sheep. I would walk until the sun went down and then return to have dinner and wine with Joanie.  

waterfall in Kaikoura on the way to Parikawa

seals! they are actually vicious creatures and unliked by all the locals

tiny silhouetted cow at dusk

more cows!

another great tree

all of this belongs to Joanie

shadow self portrait

you can see both the sea and the mountains from her property

more beautiful Merino sheep (I spent a lot of my work time at Parikawa herding these guys, and their dairy cow friends)

This is Joanie driving me around the yards on her quad looking for mushrooms so that I could teach her how to make a print. She wouldn't let me take a normal picture of her.

 I loved being there more than I could ever describe in this blog or in spoken words, and I had the most difficult time saying goodbye.

Timaru

My next stop after Dunedin was Timaru where I would be working on a farm (or so I thought). After I arrived, I was notified by my temporary employer that she did not like Americans. I stayed for three days. There is a long story associated with my stay in Timaru that I will explain later. It was mostly a pretty crappy experience, but hey, I guess I needed to have one of those while WWOOFing to make me really appreciate all the others. 

There were a few good things about those three days, like the awesome animals pictured below, and the introduction to two new friends Ariela and Ryan who carried us away from the evil Timaru witch in their beloved little broken Honda.

Ariela, Ryan, and I stayed in Christchurch for a few days with my Wellington friends' old flat mates. Then I was off on another bus to Parikawa, where I would work for a friend's-ex boyfriend's- mother on her beautiful farm. 

Dunedin

I stayed with Elliot's friend Scott in Dunedin. He is the best. The first day I spent walking downtown. Dunedin University was having some sort of strange social event which included day drinking and halloween costumes. I don't know if American frat parties could ever hold a candle to what I witnessed just walking down the main street.

The second day Scott and his friends took me to Tunnel beach.

the tunnel that leads to the beach

Scott

"don't you want your kids to see what you did?! get in front of the beautiful scenery and let me take your damn picture!" 

Matt, Bushy, and Scott

Dunedin students may have been an incredible debaucherous clan, but you would have never guessed it from the incredible architecture of the University

Though it really doesn't look like it, this is the steepest street in the world.

Ha! I guess they have more right to call themselves Southerners than we do.

Invercargill

This is Invercargill. I had to stop here before my departure to Stewart Island. The city was a pretty awful place, especially in comparison to everything I had seen before. The people were strange, almost Zombie- like, and the air made me feel sickly. I took myself to the movies that night. I sat in the theatre (I was the ONLY one sitting in the theatre) with my choc-top and popcorn and watched 'Midnight and Paris.' It was horribly depressing to exit Paris and walk back into Invercargill.

Rush hour in Invercargill. I suppose this doesn't make it look so bad. Maybe I am exxaggerating just a little bit.

One cool thing happened: I came across a gigantic patch of really brilliant Toadstools

The gardens were an exception to Invercargill's ugliness,

so I spent the whole next morning before my ferry walking through them

Off to Stewart Island!

Stewart Island

After the depressing pause in Invercargill, I landed on Stewart Island, which quickly became my favorite part of New Zealand. The initial plan was to stay for 2 days, but imediately upon arrival I received an email from my Dunedin farm job stating that they had a family emergency and would not be able to host me. I spent the first day sort of nervously walking around the island trying to figure out where I would go next. I knew I didn't have enough money to travel until the next farm job 2 weeks later. On a whim, I told my story to the lady who owned the hostel and asked if she knew of any work I could do on the island. She invited me to come work at the hostel for 2 hours in the morning and in exchange her mother would let me have a room at the neighboring hotel for free. My room was small, but reminded me of what a 1920s Parisian hotel room would look like, only I didn't need to pretend I was in Paris, because Stewart Island was the only place I wanted to be. I spent the next week in complete bliss.

Stewart Island only has 300 residents, and is far from being a tourist destination. The townspeople were friendly and generous, their beaches and forests were empty and gorgeous.     
                                        

On the second day, I arranged a ride with an old fisherman out to Ulva Island, the bird sanctuary. The entire island was glowing.

That whole week I spent walking, and walking, and walking. I wanted to see everything.

                             

a goat whose path I crossed

                                                     Windblown trees

The Maori name for Stewart Island is Rakiura which means 'glowing skies'

a Tui!

a great little cemetery I found hidden near one of the beaches

I forget what this bird is called (I am already failing at my amatuer ornithology) but I know it is a New Zealand Parrot

I made friends with the owner of the Stewart Island guided kayak tours. After about a week of me being there, she asked if I would give a guided kayak tour for her while she was busy with other work. I said yes. Then she asked me if I had ever kayaked. I said yes again. She handed me the map and a life jacket. This is Senne, a Holland man who I guided around Stewart Island to the best of my ability. He knew I was a farce, I think he had a good time anyway.

a Stewart Island Shag

Yard decorations

Everything about my time spent on Stewart Island was perfect. I want to go back and live there forever and ever. Unfortunately, the date printed on my little ferry ticket arrived and I had to say goodbye.