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.