A poem

As reality descends upon me in the form of course registration, student loans, and car insurance, I would like to hang on to some of the most unreal and happy memories from my travels. I stumbled across this poem a few weeks ago and found peace reflecting on these words as I thought about my time spent in the southern hemisphere.

I will close this chapter of vagabond wandering and settle into my routine, but never boring, life as a Nursing student; and will happily reminisce with anyone interested (maybe along with some NZ wine:) when your travels lead you my way. Hasta la proxima aventura…

New Zealand

"These unshaped islands, on the sawyer's bench,

Wait for the chisel of the mind,

Green canyons to the south, immense and passive,

Penetrated rarely, seeded only

By the deer-culler's shot, or else in the north

Tribes of the shark and the octopus,

Mangroves, black hair on a boxer's hand.

The founding fathers with their guns and bibles,

Botanist, whaler, added bones and names

To the land, to us a bridle

As if the id were a horse: the swampy towns

Like dreamers that struggle to wake,

Longing for the poet's truth

And the lover's pride. Something new and old

Explores its own pain, hearing

The rain's choir on curtains of gray moss

Or fingers of the Tasman pressing

On breasts of hardening sand, as actors

Find their own solitude in mirrors,

As one who has buried his dead,

Able to at last to give with an open hand."

-James K. Baxter (1969)

Back Home Again

Somewhere around eight months ago, I was sent off with love from my family, after a Thanksgiving dinner, on a journey to New Zealand. Sana y salva, I am back again and so lucky to be welcomed by that same, loving family. I met a constant stream of kind, interesting, and fun people during my travels and I hope that some of those people will remain lifelong friends. At this moment, I give thanks for my amazing family and the constancy of their support along the way these past months. I am especially grateful for being welcomed back by my 89-year-old grandpa. He survived the Great Depression, World War II, and lost the love of his life a few years ago; somehow, he still maintains his happy soul. He is my inspiration and it’s good to be back and be able to talk with him about blueberries.

“Friendship is precious not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life.” – Thomas Jefferson via Ruby Risso Carpio.
My friend Ruby gave me a card that said this before I had to leave to catch my flight out of Auckland. Reading that line was the final emotional drop needed to release the tears that had been building up from the prospect of leaving a dear friend and beloved place. The sunshine of life. What a sweet phrase and how happy my soul feels as I reflect on the period of sunshine I have experienced these past few months in New Zealand. I embarked on this journey in part to heal and in part to reconnect with living life as a young, 26 year old. At the end of my time traveling (well, in this country) I believe that I have been able to do both of those things. The unexpected friendships and adventures I have encountered along the way have warmed and enlivened my soul beyond measure.
I’ve watched glow worms light a forest path, dived to 20 meters to greet the most intricate anemones, and explored an ancient Kauri forest (all within the past week!). Rather than compile a list of my top ten experiences while traveling or something along those lines, I would just like to express the serene contentment I feel right now.
My felicity is a direct result of the welcoming and kind sea of people I have met along the way of my journey. I send my sincerest thanks to you all!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter familia and amigos!

Hope your day is filled with yummy chocolates and springtime joy. It's strange to be celebrating Easter in autumn here in New Zealand. I'm staying at my friend Ruby's place and we enjoyed a nice Easter breakfast this morning. Ruby, Henning, Christa, and I just returned from our adventure in Samoa a few days ago. It truly was the trip of a lifetime. Here are some pictures.

Missing you all on this holiday. I am looking forward to the next chance I have to see YOU!

Samoa

Pictures!

Queenstown, Dunedin, Palmerston

Leaving Wanaka

Two days ago I said goodbye to Wanaka. I am really sorry to leave and am now having a really hard time coping with the idea of leaving the south island. It really such an amazing place. Right now I'm in Christchurch getting ready to head north through Kaikoura and Blenheim. Teddy drove me to Christchurch and yesterday we visited a town called Akaroa, where we went swimming with the dolphins. They were Hector's dolphins, the world's rarest dolphins and it was amazing. You may be able to check out our picture at this link:
myestory Black Cat Cruises album - www.myestory.com

Updating web albums =)

Fiordland

Making beds and sipping wine

Today was just another day at work with many, many beds to make, bathrooms and kitchens to clean. When I finished, however, Teddy and I trekked out to Rippon Vineyard and enjoyed a free wine tasting. Rippon is located next to beautiful Lake Wanaka and is famous around these parts for the yearly summer music festival that takes place there. They had a nice Riesling and Pinot Noir. Teddy and I opted to bring back a bottle of their Osteiner, a white, hybrid wine... new to me, and enjoyed that with a pasta dinner. All in all, a good day.

Surfing in the Catlins

Had an epic adventure with Teddy a few days a go. We took a few days off from work and drove south, way south. We made it to the southern most point in New Zealand and explored the Catlins, a region full of beautiful coast, yellow-eyed penguins, sea lions, and waves. We decided to try to catch a few waves and took a really fun surf lesson at Curio Bay (alongside dolphins and sea lions). I swallowed about a gallon of salt water, but had an awesome time attempting to surf and even managed to stand up a few times. I am really beginning to love this endless summer routine. My routine working at the hostel is going well. We had a staff party tonight at our house. I have some great co-workers and will be sad to depart from Wanaka in a few weeks to carry on with my travels. Abrazos from Nueva Zelanda!

Wanaka, New Zealand

Hi all! My life in Wanaka is fully up and running, so it's about time I update my blog! Wanaka is a small town, surrounded by stunning mountains, on a lake, and is simply a wonderful place to spend the month of February. In the winter Wanaka turns into a ski town and is a nice, quieter alternative to nearby Queenstown. I live in a little "batch" next to the YHA Purple Cow hostel, where I work cleaning rooms. (don't worry Middlebury amigos, I'm still a Panthers fan through and through, despite working at the Purple Cow! ) It is not the most flash job in New Zealand, but it is definitely helping my pay the bills and slow down my travels for a bit to just enjoy life here. I have a great roommate, Teddy, originally from New Hampshire. Recently we took a trip to Mount Cook, the highest peak in Australasia (although I'm still not exactly sure of what countries that consists of)and had fun hiking around in the area. The color of the glacial lake was out of this world and the mountains were awe-inspiring. That's Teddy in the picture, enjoying some smoked salmon we had picked up on our way home from our Mount Cook adventure, outside our wee house.
More pictures and stories to come soon. Miss you all!

Fording the River

Oregon Trail fans should make their way to the west coast of the South Island if they would like to experience “fording the river,” New Zealand style. Last night it rained more than 250mm in one night at the glacial village of Franz Josef, more than a quarter of the rainfall the notoriously damp city of London receives in an entire year. Rain on the west coast is no joke and can impede some sightseeing opportunities, as well as flood roads on a regular basis. Our intrepid bus driver made it through this crossing and our busload of international travelers cheered as we could venture on to the prime west coast destinations of Wanaka and Queenstown.

In other news, I hiked a glacier yesterday. No big deal, just another day here in NZ. =) The mammoth Franz Josef glacier was awe-inspiring. Being surrounded by that icy wonderland and cool air reminded me of home and wintertime.

*Note: I wrote this post about a week ago and have just now found some wireless internet so I can post. Sorry for the delay and few and far between updates. In other news, I just accepted a job in Wanaka (a town on the South Island, not far from Queenstown). I'll be working at a hostel for just a month and am looking forward to a bit of a rest from traveling. I'll be working with some great people and it's a very nice area, so I'm excited. This week I'm in Palmerston, near Dunedin WWOOFing at a very nice farm owned by a young Kiwi couple. I'm working here with two fun girls from Canada and have been enjoying some delicious food and good times, learning more about gardening and just started to knit an ear warmer with some NZ wool.

Traveling can sometimes be a drag...

Like last night, when an ATM machine in Nelson decided to eat my debit card for no apparent reason. I was supposed to leave for Greymouth and begin the west coast leg of my South Island adventure early this morning. Now I need to wait around until Tuesday, when the bank reopens, to hopefully get my card back. Frustrating. On the upside, this downtime has given me a chance to organize some of my pictures and remember why traveling is definitely worth enduring the occasional headache. So, here's a glimpse of what I've been up to for the past month. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for all the comments, e-mails, love, and support. Wishing you all a very happy 2010 and hoping your year is filled with much happiness and many adventures!

New Zealand!

http://picasaweb.google.com/natalieguarin

Fire it up on the Barbie!

Had my very first official "barbie" (insert Kiwi accent here) yesterday. Went out with the family I am WWOOFing for to a beautiful and very non-touristy beach. It was called Kina Beach; kina is the Maori word for sea urchin (we actually found a few on the beach!). We had delicious smoked fish (freshly caught yesterday), sausages, chicken, and some Speight's beer (one of New Zealand's major labels). It really was a wonderful evening and incredible to be sitting on a beach, enjoying a barbecue at the end of December! Best of all was the company-I really lucked out WWOOFing with this family. Since they are on holiday mode, I really haven't been doing to much working and have really been feasting. I'm getting ready to return to the backpacker trail tomorrow and I will be sad to leave here. Today I'm on to the Golden Bay, to a town called Takaka. Should be great!

These are a few of my favorite things

Glow worms, puppy dog, Mount Doom... The list of my favorite things in New Zealand is constantly expanding. I saw beautiful blue glow worms in the Waitomo caves on the North Island. While still up north I did the Tongariro Crossing, an eight hour hike around the infamous "Mt. Doom" from Lord of the Rings. It was a really spectacular volcanic area. I have "heaps" (Kiwis saw that word a lot:) of pictures to post, but I'm currently at a place with dial-up, so I'll have to wait until I'm somewhere with a faster connection. I'll tell you about the puppy dog in a minute...

I'm sorry that these blog posts have been few and far between. The good news is that the reason that I haven't been posting is because, generally, I've been out exploring. I have been on the South Island for the past two weeks and have been doing quite a bit a hiking and sitting in the sun. This is the sunniest region of New Zealand and the color of the ocean here is amazing (I will post pictures soon!). I am now WWOOFing at a family's farm in the Motueka valley, near Nelson. It's been really nice to spend time with a family, especially over the holidays (as well as save some cash!). They are a really great family, complete with a lively two year old and adorable 10 week old puppy. I've been helping them out with general yard work and house chores in exchange for a place to sleep and some really delicious meal. I have moved way beyond my usual hostel fare of instant noodles! We had an amazing lamb roast for Christmas. Nice treat for us, though a sad day for Thunder, the sheep that is no longer.

I have many, many stories to tell at this point, but do think that pictures will be worth more than thousands of words. I will post them soon so you can see some of the views from my hikes in the Abel Tasman park and the Kahurangi National Park.

I miss you all and am thinking of my wonderful friends and family as this new year approaches.

My New Zealand Adventure Begins!

My trip is now officially off and running. I arrived in Auckland last Sunday. It is a beautiful city with very friendly people. As I made my way into the city on the shuttle from the airport a Christmas parade was being set up downtown, right where my hostel was located, so my street was closed off. Since the bus driver wasn't going to be able to drop me off near my hostel, a friendly "Kiwi" sitting next to me offered to drive me to the nearest road possible (with my bags) as her husband was picking her up at the next stop. So, I've been introduced to Kiwi hospitality since my first moments on the ground in this country. Right now I'm in a town called Rotorua visiting a friend who is a white water rafting guide here. He was able to get me on two rafting trips here (for free!) down two amazing rivers. Really fun and thrilling rafting trips. On the first trip, on the Kaituna river, we rafted down the largest commercially rafted waterfall (7 meters) in the world! I was in a raft with 6 people from India on vacation, they definitely made the experience more fun and memorable. Yesterday I was on the Wairoa river, which is flooded every Sunday in the summer here by a dam. The river was long and windy, with many fun rapids and beautiful vegetation. At one point I was able to hop out of the raft and swim through some rapids- very fun! My friend and his girlfriend have also been showing my some great local spots here, including a geothermal creek that you can bathe in (locals love it and few tourists know about it).
So, overall my trip has been off to a great start and I feel very lucky to be here and be shown such amazing Kiwi hospitality from the get go. It's light out until 8pm here and temps are in the 80s, so it's hard to believe that it's December! The hostels are fun; just in a few days I've met people from England, Australia Ireland, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Austria... very international and interesting crowd.
I'll post more as internet access allows. Sending much love for now. p.s. Above is the route I'll take as I tour around the two islands via bus.

LA Airport

Just about 10 minutes until I will board the plane, non-stop to Auckland (12 hour flight, as it turns out). Thanks Dolezal family for a great Thanksgiving! It was so great to see you all! I'll write more once I've arrived in Auckland. It's Friday night here... I'll arrive Sunday morning... Saturday just disappears- so weird!

Getting Ready!

To do:

Finish Packing

Drive 13 hours to Indiana

Eat tons of turkey and enjoy time with family

Make it to O'Hare by noon on Friday

New Zealand, here I come!