Firsts

New Zealand, land of contrasts. Beautifully varied forests, horrendously invaded by pests. Possums are the sworn enemy here, not Aussies, as I'd suspected. New Zealand is 3rd on the Human Development Index, yet the country also has the highest per capita usage of meth (or "P" in local parlance). Auckland has been rated 2nd best city in the world, yet most of the country can't stand all the Jafa's (just another freakin Aucklander). Auckland is the city of sails, with some of the highest boat ownership ratios in the world, yet you don't need any license or certification to operate one. Sub tropical climate in the north, penguins in the south. The country supposedly produces 90% of its own food (unverified), yet the organic selection is weak at best. "Perceived" government corruption is tied for the lowest in the world, yet teen pregnancy rates are second only to the U.S. Ok, those last two facts probably aren't related, but I'd run out of juxtapositions.

Well here we in Northland, the northernmost region of the country. Famed for pristine beaches, it also has some really picturesque rolling pastures, the largest natural harbour south of the equator, and is the birthplace of the country, as well as a traditional stronghold for the Maori. Not particularly economically developed, but there are a few tourist hotspots. We've bummed around a few farms and hitched along the scenic routes, but we'll be heading south fairly soon, as we're eager to give the south island our full attention.

Weather. We'd worried about stumbling off the plane, jet-lagged and blasted by tropical heat, but the time change is only 3hrs (plus a day) and the temperatures have been quite agreeable, ranging from about 15-25 Celcius during the day, although often windy. Took me a few days of questioning my bearings before realizing why the sun always seemed to be at the wrong end of the sky. The UV index is off the charts here. Nobody here seems to pay attention to it, thought they'll always warn you about their hole in the ozone. The only day I checked, the UV was 11. Australia has the world record at 14. The highest I've seen in Canada is 8. New Zealand stretches the equivalent latitudes of Seattle to Los Angeles.

The hitchhiking has been excellent. Aside from a few waits of up to an hour, our times are usually no more than ten minutes to catch a ride. Lots of short rides, which is only worrisome because there are very few shoulders wide enough to hitch from in this country so far, so a good spot isn't something you wanna give up. Still, baggers can't be juicers, am I right? We were worried that with two of us, and two big packs, we'd be hard to fit, but whatever disadvantage that gives us is made up for by the sympathy we get for being backpackers, so the packs help in a sense. Locals just don't seem as exciting to pick up, apparently. I expected that all vehicles on the road would be smaller than back home, but there are plenty of small vans, small trucks, and small SUV's. And compact cars here aren't any smaller than back home, so the only thing missing is our oversize jacked up Dodge Rams and Ford Excursions.

Our only couchsurfing experience so far went well. Two self-described anarcho-syndicalists surrounded by amazing forest. They believe in unionism as a means to an end. Lots of interesting things I'd never known about unions, especially how unions in each country differ from each other. Unions in NZ used ot be mandatory. Everyone had to be a member of some union or another. That's long gone now, but apparently it still survives in Australia, which is why their wages are higher. Also, there's no such thing as a closed shop in NZ, meaning that not all the employers in a company have to be part of a union. It's voluntary. Seniority is nowhere near as powerful in NZ unions either. It was good to talk radical politics for a little while and especially with someone who's job it is to know this stuff and who actively lives it. We spoke of anarchy and activism and it's helped me realize that being surrounded by centrists and apathetics has polarized me a little and it's actually been my chats with dear friends that has reeled me in a bit.

One of our main reasons for farmstays is to eat well. Unfortunately that wasn't the case at our first farm. Three meals a day is not enough for us weakling vegetarians. Eight hours between meals isn't my cup of tea. We also want to be taught and hopefully work alongside our hosts and this wasn't the case either. We were attracted to the fact that it's a long-standing eco-village on 160 acres (each family has 2 acres for private cultivation), but if we hadn't known it was an "eco-village", there wouldn't have been anything there to give it away. It costs only $50,000 to buy your way into the place (similar real estate would go for $250,000+), but the kicker and the disincentive for would-be real-estate flippers, is that you can only sell for 1/7th of the $50,000 plus inflation and the improvements you've put in. So not really much of an investment, which is sort've the point, I guess. The family's main focus was an NGO they'd started, but Amy will talked more about that. In the end, despite the fact that they'd hosted over 350 WWOOFers over 10 years, they didn't seem to have much to offer. Still the forest and beach walks certainly weren't a waste. I spent a day setting up a fence and two days polishing a yacht they use for their NGO, which is actually one of the boats used in training by Jessica Watson, the youngest girl to sail unassisted around the world (earlier this year).

Some kiwi humor for you. Whether we're laughing with them or at them is up for grabs.
Beached As

 -Dan