Hitching is not as scary as i thought!

Well today i arrived safely in Paihia - a journey that took me from 11am to 5pm, one that takes 2 hours max in a car. I hitched! The reason it took so long? Well i got three rides one after another and all of them were lovely people, the last man was off visiting freinds in the area and asked if i wanted to join him to see the sites. I visited two Kawakawa and Kerikeri and went on the little tourist steam train and everything between having coffee with his friends who assumed i was grandaughter no.4! Nice man, i think he was pleased to have company while he delivered his fishing catalogues. So i enjoyed my hitching experience despite being a bit scared at the start - who would stop? Would Anyone stop? Would i be left at the side of the road with my little sign to Paihia forever? Im here now, safe and well - looking forward to finding a little car to take me around at my own speed though.

Its strange being in a new place after feeling so settled and happy at Pukahu in the eco village. But i think i'll be used to here in a couple of days, its really too touristy and crowded beachy for my liking but if you cant beat them join them eh!! So ill be lobstering it up on the beach tommorrow with the rest of them and then planning some tourist type dolphin watching stuff.....

Yum. xx

Leaving Otamatea

Well im off tommorrow morning so I thought it might be a good time to try and record a bit about what makes this place special and what i learnt here. Things are so easily forgotton when you are off on the next adventure and yet i think the little things I learn along the way should be really very important, the fabric of my journey. How quickly i would forget that I know I want to start Yoga to take care of my body better, I realised this when i was joining in with friends of Wolf and Sabine and could really feel that my body wasn't as naturally stretchy and strong as it used to be. Oh dear, I thought, maybe as i get older i actually have to start working at these things, if they are indeed important to me. And what could be more important that looking after your body, the vessel that carries you around? Anyhow, no matter how clearly i see that now, i know that once im in a hostel in Paihia chatting to other backpackers it would have slipped my mind or the importance that i saw in it at the time would have dissolved - like those dreams you wake up from thinking 'wow i must remember that' but in a split second you've drifted off again or you allow a tiny teeny thought to enter your head that rudely pushes out the dream. No matter how hard you try and convince Mr dream to come back the message is long gone. Lost.

So i learnt many things here. I learnt that i am not in New Zealand for a big long holiday. I had my suspicions that that was what i was truly after but alas, it is not to be. I think that I'm here to learn and to research. To learn and research about myself and what i want out of life, and to get some solid ideas of how exactly I would go about the next stage of life for Hana. It's all a bit of an experiment really, people get their life choices wrong all the time and it's so short that who can blame them. You sit there for a while with that person who seems quite nice and before you know it bam. You're 65 and yes you still have a good 20 years ahead of you in this medical age but that went fast. And I'm not saying that i will get it right, but I'm taking a good look at what 'right' might be for me so that i know where to aim for.

I've had my strong ideas about how i want to live for a while now but it's all a bit wishy washy up there in the brainbox - hmmm wouldn't it be nice to have my own cow called Daisy and milk her and make cheese and be all happy and self sufficient and homely? Yes as it turns out it would be very nice, I've learnt that here, but I've also learnt that it's hard hard work doing that EVERY day in the morning, do you want a lie in? Sorry but cows don't have lie ins and that one will be in a great deal of pain if you don't milk her everyday. Bringing that reality home is a really good thing to do, there's nothing wrong with having all my fine romantic ideals but they need to be realistic. I could never do it on my own, and it would be a hard push to do it as a couple. What works well here is that Molly the cow is joint-owned so that the responsibility and that work is shared between three households who also share the lovely raw milk. I don't know how i feel about going back to normal shop brought pasterised homogenised milk that has been taken apart nutritionally deformed and put back together to resemble a shadow of its former milky self.

Thats another thing that i have greatly enjoyed learning about here - the joy of eating local seasonal food and nutrition - this has mostly been cementing what i already know and believed but its great to have your reasoning for your beliefs clarified. I've just finished reading this amazingly excellent book that really sums it all up for me -

'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' by Barbara Kingsolver

It really is a brilliant and easy read. Its all about her family's decision to eat locally produced food for one year to see if they could survive away from the oil dependant food industry that we all rely so much on. They managed it of course with dedication and commitment to growing their own meat and veges and supplimenting that with local produce from the farmers market. They weren't fantical about everything, they had to buy some grain and luxeries from elsewhere but these were minimal. Food is such an intrinsic part of how we choose to live our life on this planet, how we treat the planet and other people in the growing and manufacture of our food are really important questions. And of course its also about how you treat yourself and your family. Do i really want to risk eating olive oil that is not cold-pressed with the knowledge that it most likely has been chemically separated or at best heat treated so all the nutrients as gone?No of course not, but sometimes money is a really big factor. Barbara Kingsolver saved loads of money by growing her own food, but it took massive amounts of time that you would have to enjoy, or better share the workload, and also she had land to do it. Land is so precious and expensive that i doubt i will come across some easily.

I'm now interested in doing an in-depth permaculture course here if i can find a good one which is not too expensive, we shall see. I've learnt a lot about permaculture in action here from Wolf and Sabine and I feel very lucky to randomly (or not so randomly) pick their place as my first stop out of the 1000 Wwoofing hosts. Its been a great start to my journey where I've felt like Tess of the D'Urbyvilles (before all the nasty men of course) and some townee trying to reconnect with nature. A strange mix but lots of food for thought.

Christmas and Summer Solstice

HAPPY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND SUMMER SOLSTICE!

How very strange for me that they come at the same time, instead of celebrating the shortest day of the year knowing that theres more daylight greeting us each day, we celebrated the longest day on the 21st. It's christmas and yet it's summer! How strange but it's definately relaxing holiday time, if i keep going like i have been i won't fit into my jeans soon. Its all feast feast feast here.

Today, christmas day, we are cooking the geese we harvested last week. Yum.

Yesterday we went for Christmas eve dinner at Rainbow Valley Farm - a wonderful wonderful place - and we ate delicious local venison.

The day before that was the community party where all the neighbours were invited, we ate one of the community pigs on a spit!

The day before....it was solstice and I cant remember what i ate but it was a delicious day all the same with a midnight swim in the lilly pond. We went to the neighbouring eco-community for the solstice party and it was what any good solstice party should be - good company, live music, a full moon, a pond, good homebrew. Excellent time had by all. Its been a great few days, real holiday time.

Rainbow Valley Farm is simply magical. The owners Joe and Trish have transformed the 50 acres from gorse and cocuya grass into a permaculture paradise. They are probably the leading permaculture people in the country in terms of actually doing it. The farm is beautiful, everything is a piece of art, even the compost toilets pay so much attention to detail that you don't want to leave. Very very beautiful, very inspired and it works fantastically. It was an honour to meet Joe and Trish, Joe last week had an operation to remove a serious brain tumour which came about very suddenly. But he seemed to me a fantastically strong man who has been living his values for many years with passion enough to create the paradise of Rainbow Valley Farm. Amazing. It was amazing too to be included in the party of 11 of us celebrating christmas with fine food, wine company and silly games involving dice and unidentified gifts! Another wonderful evening.

This morning Wolf, Sabine and myself went walking and swimming at the beach! What a Christmas experience eh! And i took a picture to make you all jealous but cant upload it yet - darn.

So 5 more days here and then up to the Bay of Islands for New Year - i wonder if everywhere is as wonderful as this area...?

Loads of love to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sustaining an island mentality

A word about eco communities, and islands

Life in this eco community feels like i'm on an island, a similar feeling to what i had on Waiheke island expect there i actually was on an island. Let me explain. Eco communities in my limited experience are designed in many ways to be stand-alone, separated from the mainstream by the lifestyle choices (energy use,sourcing lof food, house building techniques etc) and sometimes by a desire of community members to separate themselves from all the crap thats going on 'out there' in the wider world. They are also often designed to be self-sufficient self-sustaining villages where you don't actually need all the crap thats out there in the wider world. The islands small, but does it provide? Waiheke island obviously isn't an eco community, it's an island right? right. So on that island we have houses well equipted for sustaining human life, we have shops with food, drink, icecream, movies, sanitary equipment etc, we have bountiful nature all around both wild and cultivated- beautiful beaches, fields, vineyards, bird santuaries, forest-and we have human company/community. Most people who live there however need an income and commute off the island to get it. And for what I could see most people love it there, they are happy, they are relaxed, they have the normal share of ups and downs, arguments and problems, but it's a wonderful island and a special place to live.
My ideal eco community would have similar properties to Waiheke island but also massive differences. For a start the whole point for me is living a life that is sustaining life and the planet, not selfishly using up resources with a throw-away attitude (take what we can while the going is good, throw it over our shoulder for our children and grandchildren to deal with, walk away smiling towards our next hit). This for me simply means living a life within the boundaries that nature can provide, while I can nourishing and maintaining the space around me so that this can continue forever in a neverending circle of life sustaining life, permanent culture, permeculture in other words. This is such a strong starting point for living, how can you argue with that. There is strength vitality and life in this basic principle that so many people are using in their lives and learning about because they realise that we cannot continue living with such a blasae throw-away attitude. The oil will peter out and then what...everything will fall apart.
So permeculture is what i've been learning about here, simply by being part of Wolfgang and Sabine's life. Otematea eco community is built around the principles of permeculture but each household is differently run. This brings both strengths and weaknesses. As a community as a whole I cannot see that it works well, there are many many things that i would have done differently in the set up of the place, but i won't go into that. What works well to the extreme is Wolf and Sabine's household. I don't think I have ever been in the presence of such a well run and sustainable life. The solid base to this life is their relationship which is visibly very very strong, very caring, very open, a beautiful relationship between two people who compliment eachother - they are an island in themselves. What brings greater strength is that they appreciate and let other people into there lives who in turn add different spices to the mix, Wwoofers help them with the endless tasks here and are welcomed to be a part of life here, sharing in the day to day ups downs and happy grind of work. Onwards and outwards from an balanced loving relationship is dedication to hard work on their property and land. Most of the food i have been eating here is produced here on the property or locally. There is constant work involved and a strong dedication and belief in why we are doing this is necessary. So in provision for human life Wolf and Sabines place is almost an island in itself, however they too need other people, they need outside income, they too commute just like Waiheke islanders. So the more like-minded people in one place the better in terms of supporting oneanother, and working at a viable income together is necessary as its virtually impossible for an island to provide for all our needs.
I like islands, one day I might live on one.

Oteamatea Eco village fun

Making my way off Waiheke island and up 90km north i find myself in eco heavon or there-abouts. I am living with a truly inspirational couple called Wolfgang and Sabine. They are a German couple who emigrated here 20 years ago to find a better life for themselves, and find it they have. With a lot of work and dedication they have created a sustainable life for themselves growing a large proprtion of the food they consume, cutting out the petroluim that most of us guzzle by the consent we give by buying over processed over packaged food which has travelled many miles to reach us. Here in this eco village there are 15 separate households who each do things there own way whilst sharing permaculture as a method and ideal for living. Wolf and Sabine have chickens for eggs and meat and fertiliser, geese, a cow called Molly who we milk everyday, a community herd of Hereford cows for meat and a wonderful vege patch and orchard. I'm working hard here but enjoying learning about permaculture in action.
This kind of life really is the good life but it takes so much time and energy to do it, you have to enjoy and share the benefits of it I think. And they do that with Wwoofers like me providing much needed help and friends. Of course you need income as well so it defineatly the hard choice. I see much here that I want in later life. The clarity and strength needed to live such a life so well and happily with the support of community and friends around, and a partner to work with. Getting up to milk Molly at 6.30am is wonderful, and making yogurt and cheeseis wonderful. Milling your own grain at home fresh to bake bread or cake is wonderful. They sausage make and preserve til the cows come home. Today we slaughtered the gooslings (who were fully grown) for christmas - I saw the whole process through, catching, killing, plucking, gutting and later i will help cook and eat. That is a good way to eat. I know exactly where my food has come from and that it has been treated well, chemical free and happy. Whether the food is vegetable or meat the same applies.
So this experience is a wonderful one!
on another note I have brought a car to aid my travels - its nearly as old as me and GOLD....and only $500NZ so chips. Fingers crossed it will get me to the places i am going. Im here til the 29th then off to Paihia to bring in the New Year on the beach. Love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PS - sorry for lack of photos but eco computers are too slow to bother with it.

look at this beach!

The most loverrrly beaches here, most lovely loverrrrrrrly beaches! I went swimming at Palm beach at what turned out to be the local nudist beach - an amusing and revealing experience, there i was swimming away in my bikini then this nice old couple turn up and say hello, before i know it they were butt naked and in the sea too! surprise it was too! In fact ive met a variety of wierd and wonderful characters all day, the islands full of them. Apparantly its one of those alternative places, people live in all sorts of things, boats, buses, benches, beachhuts, you name it. Theres lots and lots of art studios and artists everywhere, all the lovely wooden houses they make here are decorated splendidly... and an excellent hippy-style flea market also selling the most delicious food, art, jewelry, organic veg and herbs...
so a good day all round exploring, and painting didn't hurt so much today. It's amazing the body,it has such capacity to adjust itself according to the activity surprisingly quickly. This island is great and now im off to the hostel by the biggest beach here for a night, yippee!

new zealand fish and chips

yumyummy yummy!
Do you know that New Zealand's fish and chips, from my limited experience so far, are 'probably' better than Britain's? I had lovelrrrrly crisp on the outside squidje on the inside chips and tasty battered fish (Hoki), not too oily.Nice! I'd have taken a picture but that would've been going too far, way to far, it's bad enough even telling you this as if it were the best part of my day. It wasn't. The fish and chips were definately a high point but they didn't top my afternoon stroll in the drizzle. Doesn't appeal eh!? Well i tell you it was wonderful, just what i needed to get me into a good head space and to feel refreshed. Today was really hard work, just painting the top of the hallway walls, but being up high on a massive ladder holding paint and roller for 4 hours did me in. I hope that i become stronger and do more phyiscal work, in the gardens at CAT I had muscle (there are lots of mussels here too but tis not the season to be mussely or musseling it would seem). So by the end of that i felt exhasted and like i just wanted to lie on a beach for a while but the great beach (there are 120 of them on this island but most are a good walk from where i am) is a 40 minute walk away. I decided to explore the immediate area instead and came across a lovely park thing with birds singing and no talking and no people. Bliss. And lovely refreshing light rain waking up my senses, then i walked around for another hour not feeling tired at all. Phew.

Waiheke island

Yesterday revealed to me that me and cities, even really nice cities like Auckland, dont mix well. I think cities just leave me feeling tired and beaten down a bit, they don't give me any energy, just steal it it would seem. So i briefly enjoyed Auckland but at the end of the day it's not my kind of place it's not quant and small and breathable despite being the smallest city with a tiny amount of people (as New Zealand's largest city it has 1 million inhabitants spread out over an area twice the size of london, and yet the Downtown area is the size of Plymouth's city centre.) I thought Auckland Museum was good, loads and loads of stuff there - fascinating learning about Polynasian cultures and Maori life, art, history and culture. I decided that i can't possibly Not go to some of the Polynasian islands, maybe Tonga and Samoa before i return to the UK,it would surely be a Hanacrime not to go and have a little peek...?
And then the second floor was full of stuffed Moa birds (MASSIVE extinct birds, Massive) and other stuffed animals, I felt a bit sick, especially after looking at live cockroaches in a fish tank...why? It was a strange mix of natural history, polynasian history and war history (i didn't even make it up to the 3rd floor). But enjoyable none the less, I had to have a lie down after all that brain-overloading information.

I left the hostel this morning to catch the ferry over to Waiheke island where I am spending 5 days. I'm staying with a lady called Irene and will be painting her kitchen ceiling for 4 hours a day for my food and bed. She seems very nice, she's very open and pretty intense lady but I think we will get along well. It feels strange being a guest in someones house, very different from staying in a hostel. I think i must remember that i am helping them as much as they are helping me so it's a two way exchange. I need to be Wwoofing in order to see the places i want to see whilst not spending too much money. I met a nerdy but nice Scottish IT guy who made me do my budget at the hostel! I have $90 a week, so 30 quid...so out of my year away I can spend a maximum of 10 weeks in hostels. The rest will have to be Wwoofing or working. That should be really quite interesting though, better than simply bumming around, but I have a feeling it won't always be a comfortable experience, at least I will learn and experience more I reacon. We shall see eh!
So no work today, Irene is taking me to the islands cinema to see a French film! great.
I tried to put a lovely piccie of a Maori man sticking out his tongue at you but unfortunately the computer objects. Next time, just you wait...

Auckland

Hello Chickens! Im feeling much better today. Yesterday was a bit shaky, i think i had concentrated so hard on getting to New Zealand that when i actually arrived at the hostel i felt at a loss for what to do, everyone there seemed sorted and had their buddies and there was me a bit confused and shakey. But of course after taking a step back and chatting to a couple of people I worked out that most people were like me, some lone travellers, some couples but all really friendly and nice and really to give you helpful tips. Once you work out how a place works it's much more fun and relaxing. I managed to stay awake until 6pm yesterday with the jetlag and stayed in bed til 6am so that was pretty good. Im feeling alright today, I've done a brief sightseeing tour on foot and although Auckland seems like a nice city I will be glad to get out into the countryside and the beaches. Im planning on going to Waikehe island on wednesday until monday - im going to ring round to find a Wwoofing place in a minute! Lots of birds, beaches and walking there so should be lovely. Ive booked my bus up to Waiwaka next monday so im gradually getting myself fixed for the next month. Ive realised its best to book everything a bit in advance as im getting thrown out the hostel on wednesday as its all booked up! ops. Anyway, i think tomorrow i will get myself some culture and visit Auckland museam and Art gallery. Nice.
Hugs to all xxx

Where are all the people?

Im in Auckland, totally exhausted and jetlagged after another sleepless 12hours on a plane, and I'm trying to work out what i'm going to do now i'm actually here! No more concentrating on getting here, i'm here, what do i do now..... I'm wondering whether i should have saved more money...It was even raining when i got here (dont worry its stopped now and bright suinshine will be here tomorrow im sure) and there was no-one about. Sure its sunday and its new zealand, not alot of people, but after Hong Kong its a bit of a shock! It all feels like a bit of a shock and i feel a bit shakey with excited nervous tense exhastion. So I've emailed a couple of nice sounding ladies on Waiheke island in the hope i can Wwoof with them from wednesday to next monday before i go to meet Wolf and Sabine in the eco community up north.... awaiting reply. Fingers crossed. Must stay awake until normal sleeping time to avoid Hong Kong First Nite Jetlag Horror.
Love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx