Chapter 2!

So we have decided to go our separate ways, Jeff and I, and Beth, Adam, and Nick.  We moved out of our house on Atawhai Crescent this morning, and it was sad to leave a warm bed, and hot shower behind, but this is chapter 2 of our trip, and it was off to a great start with a Pizza Hut pizza and Jeff's and my first viewing of "Ghost".  Super cheesy, but hard not to love.

Jeff and I both had work today,  he in the orchards from 7-5, and I at the airport from 7-2.  I don't like working at the airport during the day, with all of the very bossy bosses, but I reckon it was my last shift there.    I was called to work 2 more days at the Nelson City Council Cafe! I am so excited!  Ironically enough though I was asked to Christmas lunch at 623 with my lunch buddies from the Council on Thursday, but cannot make it because I will be working at their cafe!  Most of them will be there Friday to have lunch with me before we head south, but I think Lorraine (my former boss) and Jillian (her super sweet sister) will both be absent.  I am just so happy to have been asked to work.  It's an extra $150 before we leave Nelson, and it gives me something to do while Jeff is in the orchards, because the alternative is quite boring. (Side note:  All people working in New Zealand receive holiday pay either annually or at the end of any contract.  Holiday pay is 8% of your earnings in that position, so I will receive another almost $200 from that!  Yahoo!)  Because we are out of the house as of today, Jeff and I opted to camp at a nearby site for the next 4 nights while we finish up work here.  That means tomorrow, Wednesday, will be spent puttering around town until Jeff is done work.  I might go to yoga or for a nice long hike, but we are not sure what the shower situation is at the camp site, and working out 3 days before you'll see your next shower is never wise.  Needless to say the library offers free wireless, so I will use the extra time to send out some e-mails before the holidays, blog before our Christmas hike, and skype with the family.

So we finally have our itinerary for the next few weeks (this is mostly for my parents who can refer back to this if they begin to wonder why they cannot get a hold of me for a few days at at time! Love you!)

• Wednesday - Friday of this week:  we are finishing up work in Nelson and camping by the Maitai river.  
• Saturday the 24th:  We will drive up to Golden Bay that evening and stay in a hostel Christmas Eve so we can finally shower and cook up a nice, big meal before our 4 day hike!
• Sunday 25th - Wednesday 28th:  Hiking the Heaphy track.  It is 4 days and 3 nights camping in the forest so I will not have any form of contact with the United States these 4 days, but the night of the 28th we should be staying in a hostel, so I should have internet then.
• Thursday 29th - Friday 30th:  We are hitchhiking (don't worry is is super safe here, and a lot of backpackers see the entire 2 islands by hitchhiking) back up to Golden Bay, so this may take up to 2 days, hopefully not.  Jeff's motorcycle may be in Nelson so we may drive back there to pick it up.
• Friday 30th - Sunday 1st:  Headed to Greymouth to meet up with our friend Markus and celebrate New Years at his hostel, and do some exploring of the area, and for Jeff's sake hope we come across some giant waves for him to jump in.
• Monday 2nd - roughly Thursday 5th:  Heading down the West Coast for some beach camping and frolicking and other tourist stops along the way.  We hope to also stop to see the Fox Glaciers (I believe there are other glaciers on the coast as well), and maybe so some sort of hike around them.  They are supposed to be amazing, but very touristy as well.  We plan to be in Queenstown by the 5th, and settle into a place (and find an awesome job) by the end of the week! :)

I am so looking forward to a new adventure despite the fact that the sunshine has returned to Nelson.  Knowing that we can come back to Nelson is a great feeling.  Telling the temp agency I was leaving made us both very sad, but it is time to move forward, and we can always holiday in Nelson just like the real Kiwis.

Final, random note:  New Zealand has something called Ginger Beer.  It is my new obsession.  It is sort of like ginger ale, but way better.  It is more opaque, but still has carbonation, and has a really strong ginger taste.  It is amazing and addictive.  It is unique in that it is the only non-alcoholic beverage here that is brewed by many beer companies, but the best of them isn't from a beer company, it is called Bundaberg Ginger Beer.  I am not sure if you could get anything comparable in the states, but I may have to bring some home.  Please tell me if you've seen anything like this at home!!!... (update: after looking online it looks like you might be able to find ginger beer in places like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods!)

Cheers!

Weak-end

The title does not indicate and weekend that was in fact "weak", rather it is in reference to how weak I apparently am, which translates into a tough hike for me come Christmas time.  Jeff saw this as an opportunity to encourage me to "train" for our hike.  Seeing that our first day (and first 15 miles) is mostly uphill I had to seriously consider busting my butt for the next 2 weeks to make this hike a little easier.  So it began Friday with a 75 minute vinyasa flow class that was really tough.  That was enough for one day, and it was only day 1 anyway.  That night Jeff was exhausted from 5 long days of picking baby apples so we watched "Mulholland Drive" that we rented a few days earlier from the library.  Jeff fell asleep and I would have liked to know it was supposed to be somewhat surreal before going into it, but it wasn't horrible.  It kept you interested, but left you with many questions.  I would give it a 4 out of 10... Jeff would give it 2 eyes closed hahahaha... not funny but I had to...

Jeff had another early day ahead of him at the orchards on Saturday, so I went to the Saturday market by myself.  We are saving for or future plans so I got the essentials:  broccoli, asparagus, and this amazing hallah loaf we discovered a few weeks ago.  It was about 1 pm and I had put off "training" long enough, and decided to do the 1.5 hour hike to the "Center of New Zealand" by myself.  Jeff and I have done it before so I knew it was safe, but it is also pretty challenging if you start from Founders Park.  I did it in the allotted amount of time, and jogged a bit on the flat parts, but it was really hard, and I had to take a couple breaks, but I did feel stronger (and very sore) afterwards.  I could tell 6 days in the orchards weren't exactly energizing and exciting Jeff so I suggested we try the Founders Organic Brewery and split a bite to eat, just to get out for a little while.  Upon arrival we saw an American boy on Jeff's basketball team (he and his girlfriend are doing the same thing we are) and his girlfriend having a beer in the courtyard.  They invited us to join them so we grabbed a couple beers and talked to them for a bit.  The beer was really good, but Founders was closing so we couldn't grab a bite or continue to sit in the courtyard, so the other couple suggested we grab a beer somewhere else.  We went to the beautiful restaurant Harry's in town.  It was a bit pricey, but the beers were apparently really good (I had cider), and splitting an entree is pretty cost effective.  It was wonderful having a night out with this couple.  The girl and I sat and talked about shopping, careers, and the States, while the boys jabbered on about business and sports, and whatever else boys talk about.  It was a lovely night, until the ride home, where we turned right into a D.U.I checkpoint. (I think the legal limit here is about .04%)  They make you count to 5 near a wand-thing and it tells you whether you have alcohol on your breath.  Of course mine said yes, but this guy was so confident I'd be fine, as was I.  I pulled over and instantly had to be breathalyzed (something I have never done before), and I don't know what it read but it was low enough to pass, as it should have been considering I had a small beer and a cider within 4 hours, but still it was scary as hell.

Sunday was a bit less eventful, with Jeff being able to sleep in and slow morning of cooking breakfast and reading.  We went into town to take some pictures to give friends and family an idea of what Nelson is like (coming on a post soon!) and it happened to be the Santa parade!  It was exciting to see what seemed like the entire town gathered on the streets for a parade of singing, dancing, and SANTA!! It was a beautiful day so Jeff suggested something outside, preferably to help aid in my "training".  the choices were the bird sanctuary hike (which is harder than Center of New Zealand, I think, but so pretty) with my filled pack on or jogging the sanctuary hike.  I opted for the jog because my back was a bit tight.  It was indeed beautiful, but really hard, and super frustrating when I hear Jeff (too far to see him) 100 meters up the hill encouraging me.  grrr.  Thank god Monday was rainy because I wasn't doing too much moving around.

To continue my training I did a 3 mile run along the Maitai river in Nelson.  It was breathtaking and the grass had just been cut, loads of flowers were blossoming, and I saw my first Starling and Bellbird in New Zealand!  It wasn't too tough of a run, but has a few challenging hills.  I do feel stronger though, and feeling results really does motivate me to work even harder.  Hopefully by the 25th, getting up that first 15 miles of hills will be a piece of cake! :)

I have work today at the airport cafe or I would write more, but expect a post about books, Nelson, and Queenstown on Thursday!

Cheers!