Aaaaand We're Back!

Sorry for the lapse in updates! We've been doing some figuring. The conclusion we've come to is that New Zealand is an awesome place to visit, but may not have much to offer in the long-term.

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I know, kind of a let-down.
In coming out here I think one of our real concerns was falling in love with the country and never wanting to leave. But while we've seen and done some really wonderful things, there doesn't seem to be much going on outside of tourist-type activities. The country is kind of lacking in any unique culture or character. I guess there's the Maori heritage, which is quite fascinating, but it seems to be pretty much confined to museums. Otherwise it's just like a watered down version of the UK; it's got the scenery but it's missing the charm and the quirkiness.

So, we're going to roll with the punches and get all we can out of this, but not make any long-term plans here. We're practicing resiliency. It's a hard outlook to maintain at all times, but it's either that or buy plane tickets home tomorrow and come back crying that it wasn't what we thought it would be.
Not only is that not really our style, but it wouldn't really be fair. We've had a great couple of months traveling down here. :)

We finished our circuit of the South Island with Kaikoura, on the east coast. There's some feature of the ocean floor right off the coast there that brings cold arctic waters rich with nutrients right up to the surface, creating a feeding frenzy for everything from krill and plankton on up to the sperm whales, orcas, blue whales, seals, dolphins, etc that feed on them. We were pretty psyched to go whale watching, but two days of consistent rain and high winds canceled all the trips. We'll have to get back there some day..

After that it was back across the Cook Strait to Wellington, and then on up north with only brief overnight stops in Napier and Mt. Manganui. We had to get up here by the 25th, because we made arrangements to work on a farm! Tomorrow we're heading to 4 Winds Olive Grove, which is owned by a young British couple. We'll stay with them for about a week, working on the harvest in exchange for room and board. Should be an interesting experience as neither of us really knows anything about growing or pressing olives. After that we'll either look into working for a bit on another farm (we're both interested in dairy farming and also beef/mutton farming) or we'll continue on our tour of the North Island.


Right now we're in Paihia, on the Bay of Islands. After the last couple of looong days on the bus we were looking forward to relaxing on a beautiful beach before getting into some hard work. This area is celebrated for it's coastline, and is a major holiday destination for Kiwis and tourists alike. Paihia itself is also a major center for scuba diving, as the many bays and islands offer beautiful and varied reefs. Unfortunately, shortly after we got down to the beach the clouds started rolling in. We walked around town for a bit, and then headed back to the hostel just in time for a serious downpour. This country gets a lot of rain.

After the dramatic and varied landscapes of the South Island, driving back through the North Island seems kind of tame. It's quite beautiful in a serene and pastoral kind of way, but can't really compete with, say, Fiordlands National Park. Or Lake Wanaka. Or the glaciers. Or a billion other things down south! Note to anyone about to undertake a similar tour of NZ: do the North Island first. Otherwise it'll just be anticlimactic.


Cross your fingers that olive harvesting is fun. Or at least not painful.