Hi - and welcome to the rushed but exciting first post of my time in New Zealand! I arrived on Oct. 8. It’s been such a full and busy week and a half, but I’m loving it here and already know the time will fly by too quickly. I’m here for the first ten weeks with Kate, who’s been a close friend since middle school. We’ve been busy getting situated in the country and doing a week of touristy sightseeing before beginning our work on organic farms on Monday the 19th.

I’m excited to include some real stories and excitement soon, but for now I wanted to let you in on the main activities and highlights since I’ve arrived. Still trying to figure out how to fix the yucky color problem in the photos, but you'll get the idea...

1. Buying a car. For the first time ever, in a new country, while the city was having a bus strike. Fun! It’s a silver 1995 Camry. My car at home is a white 1994 Camry... Only this one has the steering wheel on the wrong side.

When test driving car, we get lost and end up at beach... Yay!

2. Spending a weekend in Auckland. I was mostly looking for a car, but got a few cool pictures in the process!

Auckland tower reflected in building. Sweet picture, yeah?

Auckland harbor.

3. Driving on the left side of the road. It was a very, very stressful first few hours, but I’m surprisingly comfortable now. Luckily the nice man (and world-record holder fisherman) we bought the car from took pity on us and drove us to the motorway onramp so we didn’t have to navigate Auckland first thing! I learned some crazy odd road rules, including if you hit livestock, official protocol is to “inform the nearest farmer.”

4. Snowboarding on a volcano and learning all the procedures for getting out if it, umm, starts to erupt while you’re snowboarding on it? Haha Nathan - we got to ski earlier than you this year!!!

Preparing to ski... Why are there palms 15km from the ski field?

The ski field we were to conquer. Until we got hypothermic and windblown and called it a day.

5. Hiking to beautiful waterfalls in Tongariro National Park, and Te Urerea (translation: “burnt penis”) National Park. The hikes were actually prettier than the falls, or at least more photogenic.

6. Running away from cows while trying to climb Maungataurtari Nature Preserve and Mount Tauhara. (Both started with little hikes through private pastures)

Queen of the hill... very intimidating until she ran away.

More cows

Cool fern in Maungataurtari

7. Navigating roads when all the Maori words seem to be 18 syllables long and unlike any other words I know!

This isn't a Maori road, but it's a pretty river near Taupo

8. Listening to amazing bird calls. So many, and so complex! I saw crazy rare parakeets my fourth day, but only yesterday realized how rare they are.

9. Sipping tea on a private yacht cruise to Maori carvings on Lake Taupo! Ok, it was only private because nobody else dared go out in the weather. But it cleared for part of it and was awesome! We made fast friends with Captain David. Oh, and the yacht is from Alameda, CA and used to be Errol Flynn’s. Fun!

On the bowsprit!

Maori carvings!

10. Driving Kate crazy with “Oh my gosh it’s BEAUTIFUL! Just one more picture!” while enjoying sunset on the beach at Gisborne.

11. Enjoying spectacular views along the Pacific Coast Highway.

I love the beach!

cool Maori carvings in church on East Cape

me+kate+car+beach=HAPPY! (especially after freezing to death on the volcanic ski mountain)

12. Sampling every kind of “meusli bar” (kiwi for granola bar) in the country. They’re cheap and filling and quickly becoming one of the main food groups for me.

13. Finally making it to Ohiwa Macadamias, where I'll be wwoofing for the next week. Anna and Paul, who run the place, seem awesome, and so far picking macadamias is FUN!!