The Last of New Zealand

I wanted to recap my last few months in New Zealand.  I have a tendency to get caught up in work and not tell y'all what I have been up to.

 The Vineyard

If you remember the last Waiheke post, we had just finished pruning.  Next was the dirty work: tearing out one of our blocks.  The plants in this block had leafroll and were 16 years old, so the bosses decided it was time for them to go.  So Mario and Corey removed all the vines and left just the heads.  They did this while I was on my North Island adventure.  I’m sure the boys enjoyed it.  When I came back we had naked plants and a giant pile of vines all bundled up and stacked.

              

Our job now was to dig up the root system a little bit, attach a chain to the plants and tear them out with a tractor.  It was hard work, but good work.  Corey or Nicky was always doing the tractor work.  Mike, Donnah and I got to dig up the plants and attach the chains.  We had over 20,000 vines to pull out and it took over a month.  It didn’t help we had to work around the rain, but when we finished it was satisfying.  The empty wires and tore up ground was so different from the rest of the blocks.  I guess Goldie is going to let it lay fallow for year before they replant.  It’s supposed to be good for the soil.  Also who wants to rip out a block and replant it in the same year?  We don’t got time for that.

We were waiting for the vines to start growing.  So in-between the leaves growing we got to weed, by hand, and bud rub.  Bud rubbing might be the worst job ever.  Raking was boring, pulling out the old vines was strenuous, but this job was boring and spent all bent over.  In the beginning we devised a system so that we could do squats and lunges while working.  It only worked for about half the row before I just bent over and hurt my back all over again.

When the plants started to grow we had to go through and tuck the longer vines under the wires by hand.  When they got even longer we would work in teams and have to lift the wires up and out (out of the clips) over the long tendrils and clip them back in.  This whole time you do this you try not to decapitate vines, or just rip them off the base.  This happens to me all the time.  One my very last day when we were tucking the long vines in the syrah the wire broke.  Donnah and I both fell on our asses.  I was just stunned.  I didn’t even know that could happen.  The perfect ending to my last day.

               

 Also when there was extra time in the vineyard I got to plant Alyssum under two of the rows.  This plant is supposed to be beneficial, much like roses.  It attracts wasps (why is this good), creates a ground cover under the plants to prevent harmful weeds from growing and….  I wont be there to see the mature plants.  I just got to plant the seedlings and hope that they don’t all get eaten by pukekos.

    

planting alyssum

beautiful spring

           

The New House

 Between all this work I got to move into the most splendid house.  Sarah returned to England and asked me to house/cat sit for her while I was gone.  I jumped on the opportunity.  She just lives in the nicest place.  It’s at the bottom end of the island were not many people live.  She even lives on a dirt road.  There aren’t even buses.  So you have to have your own transportation.  I’m so happy I got to watch this place for 3 months.  Let me give you a tour. 

My lunches

My outhouse

The compost

 The laundry water and the line.

 In and around the neighborhood.  Most of my neighbors are sheep.

This is Paw Paw, the cat I was watching.

I'd show you more pictures, but I was in too much of a rush before I left to get decent ones.  You'll just have to use your imagination of a little country house, next to an open field with a nice porch.  It was magical.

Wedding Season

Wedding season was also starting up again.  That means after 5 days of work in the Vineyard I would work a long day on Friday (a double shift essentially) then work a 12-16 hour shift on Saturday.  It was tiring but fun. 

I did my usual; helping move furniture and cleaning, but only a little bit.   Lesley, the boss and chef of the Goldie Room, stole me for the kitchen.  I think this was mainly because I love baking, but she was also a little short on help.  I liked the kitchen side of it.  No more forced smiles, or almost dropping glasses.  Plus I got to nibble all day.  Taste testing is essential to good food.  Lesley was a lovely boss to work for.  I’m sad and happy I will be missing the wedding season.  I love the people and work, but I’m pretty sure I would have burnt myself out working the two jobs.

The newest addition to the family

The biggest lemon ever!!!

Gorgeous and delicious wedding cake.

ART

I also started my art project right before I left for Queenstown.  We had all the discarded vines from the block that we ripped out.  I knew I wanted to do something with it and I kind a just let it grow organically.  I hardly ever plan my artwork anymore.  I weaved the vine together and slowly created a structure.  I made little windows, arches and doorways.  In the end it turned into a maze for children, because I’m short all the walls were about four feet high.

Goodbyes

The last week in New Zealand was full.  This is the way it always works; isn’t it?  goodbyes

But the goodbye yumminess started before the last week.  Nicky cooked more than a few things.

afgan cookies I had been begging for.

scotched eggs wrapped in bacon with slaw, salad and garlic bread.

I had a Halloween party at Charlotte's and it was fabulous.  I got to be Rosie the Riveter.  I've wanted to be her for years.  Ever since Miranda was Rosie a few years back.  i think we both rocked it.  Maybe a little too much rocking because I went to work with a hangover.

Me!

My sister a few years ago.

The rest of the week was spent trying to sell my scooter, which I finally did on my last day of work.

goodbye scoot scoot!

  Then the work crew had afternoon coffee one day, afternoon beers the next day.

And the last day of work Leslie and Henierich arranged a work party disguising a going away.   It was very touching.  Usually going away parties are not organized.  I loved seeing everyone for the last time, chatting and drinking Heinrich’s beer.  We had the classic fish and chips on newspaper.

The next day (I know that there are a lot of next days) Nicky arranged eggs beni with just the vineyard crew.  It was delicious and another good time.  I feel like we were all just extending the goodbye a bit longer.  I’m going to miss working with all my lovely people.  I’ve made such good friends, it was so hard to leave.

I said my last goodbyes and Jim and Jane (my landlords and neighbors) took me to ferry terminal.  Goodbye Waiheke.

the bags after 14 months of travel

bye

bye bye

Mike picked me up from the ferry terminal and I got to see his beautiful house.  We drink wine talked most of the night and then had to wake up bright and early to catch my flight.  

I really am blessed with the friends I have made.  They take such good care of me. 

It still hasn’t sunk in I’m gone.

Queenstown: LOTR and home

I woke up early and managed to have a tea before I hurriedly walked to the bus stop.  I guess I didn't tell you, but on this morning in Queenstown I was off to do some Lord of the Rings horseback riding with Dart Stables.

The day started out with a funny Irish driver. He told us about the extendables became the nickname for The Remarkables.  Apparently Peter Jackson used them in so many different angles and lenses to make them look different he started calling them the extendables.  They were just so versatile. 



We also got a chance to stop at amazing early morning viewpoint just outside of Queenstown on the way to Glenorchry.

On the ride over I met a nice Ozzy and two Canadians.  I love meeting new people.  Especially when traveling alone.  We arrived at the stables and the first thing was to get our boots and helmets.  After everyone was outfitted we drove back to the beginning of the track.

It has been 10 years since I'd ridden.  The last time I had ridden was in Argentina and girls scouts. To say the least I was nervous. I'm pretty sure that riding the pony clandestinely with Evey never counted. 

Vinnie was the name of my horse. Not sure if it was me or him, but he moved around a lot and was a bit of a chewer.  I am almost certain it was me.  I lost all of the little riding skills I had acquired so long ago.  During the trekking I also noticed through the ride he backed up and scared easy.  

The views were wonderful!  I loved it.  But we had to trot a few times and I decided I hate trotting. It hurt my knee and one time I fell onto Vinnie's mane.

A beautiful 2 hour ride at the head of Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand’s longest lake.
Riding alongside braided, glacial fed rivers this adventure offers river crossings and spectacular scenery, including views of The Misty Mountains, The Wizard’s Vale and The Mighty Methedras. - See more at: http://www.dartstables.com/riding-options#sthash.ds9aqSxq.dpuf

We went on "a beautiful 2 hour ride at the head of Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand’s longest lake.

Riding alongside braided, glacial fed rivers this adventure offers river crossings and spectacular scenery, including views of The Misty Mountains, The Wizard’s Vale and The Mighty Methedras."  And it was.  I love LOTR. I might not be as much of a nerd as some of the others, but I really couldn't pass up the opportunity to see some of the beautiful scenery I saw in the movies.

A beautiful 2 hour ride at the head of Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand’s longest lake.
Riding alongside braided, glacial fed rivers this adventure offers river crossings and spectacular scenery, including views of The Misty Mountains, The Wizard’s Vale and The Mighty Methedras. - See more at: http://www.dartstables.com/riding-options#sthash.ds9aqSxq.dpuf

A beautiful 2 hour ride at the head of Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand’s longest lake.
Riding alongside braided, glacial fed rivers this adventure offers river crossings and spectacular scenery, including views of The Misty Mountains, The Wizard’s Vale and The Mighty Methedras. - See more at: http://www.dartstables.com/riding-options#sthash.ds9aqSxq.dpuf

On the last half hour of the ride we had to ford a few rivers.  Fun stuff.  The guides had it figured out.  One would test the rivers to see how difficult the ford was before we went.  In one of the spots we were going to pass the guide testing it fell in the water. The mud was like quick sand, it sucked her and her horse down.  They got up quickly, but she had to give her mount a rest before continuing.  How scary is that!

This didn't happen, but is still fun!

One of the highlights of the trip was that there was a Korean family riding with us. It was nice to listen to them banter, even though I've lost most of my Korean language skills.  I'll never get tired of it.

Some random facts I gleaned from the tour guides

Dart Stables had 8 horses in LOTR filming.  Now there are only 2 left, out to pasture and living the high life in Glenorchy.

In the filming they would use over 200 horses in a battle scene.  They had to be the same or similar coloration to make it easier to replicate on the computer.

During some of the filming some of the riders fell.  This would be used later then they would be cvged with weapons and armor for later scenes.

If the horse and the rider fall this is stunt horse and rider.  If just a rider falls, that's a real accident.

Peter Jackson had to change the word "action" every couple of days to prevent horses from galloping.  They got used to it as a command, so when he was directing other scenes sometimes horses would randomly start a full gallop, away from their handlers.





The Misty mountains is a collage of lots of different mountain ranges.

Alfred mountain view is a common back drop in the movies; Especially for the tower.

The river we rode on was the river was used for Rohan battle.

 back to my day...

Glenorchy is supposed to have some great hiking spots.  But on the way in I noticed how small and secluded the town was and worried a bit on how get to the trail heads.  After the ride I was going to hike around Glenorchy, but I was tired and really I was worried about how I would hitch hike home. So I took the transport provided back with the quirky Irish driver.

I was so tired.  I expected to be sore, but thankfully I only hurt a little.  Horseback riding can be brutal if you're not used to it.  After I got into town I decided to have my first coffee of the day. That kick started me and decided to get a burger and talked to the fam. 

 I love Fergburger! This time I got Sweet Bambi, a venison burger. This is a fiordland deer patty with Thai plum chutney, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and aioli (garlic mayo).  And he was delicious.




The next thing on my list before I left was the trail around lake.  The Wakatipu lake hike seemed nice. It was really more like a mountain biking path.

Their were quite a few bikers on the trail and outside of town their were bikers everywhere.  Some even took the gondola up with their bikes to do the trails on the side of the mountain. 

After I had hiked for a bit I found sunshine bay and decided to comb the beach for greenstone. I found lots of greenish rocks and some sea glass. I think maybe I found one super impure piece, so I pocketed it. I Probably shouldn't have, there is usually a policy with nature reserves that you look but don't touch.  The rest of the stones and glass I left in a pile for some adventurous child to find and be amazed.

After that I stopped and watched the windsurfers, reminded of one of my favorite people.

The rain put a damper on my plans for the night.  I was going to try and socialize again at the bars. But in the end I actually enjoyed the rest. I was tired from all the walking from the day.

The next day was my last day in Queenstown so I said good by to couch surfing host.  I gave him a cookie and later bought coffee for him. 

same day: rain and sun

I headed out to do my last hike in Queenstown, the One Mile trail.  It was beautiful and short, exactly what I needed.  The highlight on the hike was the first power house.  It was pretty sweet looking.

After collecting my bags I went to hike the rest of Wakatipu lake hike, towards the airport.  This one was called the frankfert arm hike.  I only made it through half the hike before I got panicky and decided to get the bus to airport.  I get travel anxious.  Korea will just book you on the next flight with no charge if you miss your flight, but the rest of the world doesn't work that way. 

I was amazed yet again at the airport when I was allowed bottles of beer in my carry on.  Sometimes I crack myself up.  Just because nothing is allowed on international flights or in the states doesn't mean other countries do the same.

the only room in the airport... It's small

In Auckland I managed to miss the ferry by seconds.   I even saw them bring up the gate.  the guy said he could tell them to stop.  But thats just my fault for not rushing a bit more.  Whatever. But with my luck the next ferry late.  But at least I met a nice man on ferry, a cyclist who was visiting friends. 

sailing in Auckland

By the time I got home it was dark and Paw Paw is happy to see me.  I am covered in cat hair as we speak.