To David Guenther

Dearest of my dearest,

I would say that I have missed talking to you via this poorly kept blog that would only be half true. I have missed the opportunity to have you share in my experiences but I have not missed writing this epic accounts of epicness. Ok. I have. And as I sit here writing this blog, listening to Mumford and Sons (in honor of David Guenther to whom I dedicate this blog), I am happy to be here. I'm reveling in the opportunity to regale you with stories of my shenanigans and am tickled pink to think that you care enough to read about them. Much love to all of you. XOXO.

So we left off with a rather hurried account of my Stray adventures which were quite adventurous. Climbing volcanoes at the Tongarario Crossing and surfing in Raglan were definitely the highlights of that Stray period. So, since I'm to lazy to read my own blogs and find out where I left off I'm going to start with the Tongarario and my trip to Blue Duck Lodge (possibly the best place in NZ thus far). Then I will run through the goings ons at the Helicopter Hut and that should be about it. Ready.... Set.... Go!

The Tongarario Crossing took us about 7 hours in totally. We walked about 30 minutes to get to the base of the volcano stopping briefly to drink from a waterfall which poured forth the most delicious and cold water I have ever tasted in my life. Now some may say that the occurance of this tastebud festival was due to the fact that it was a blistering hot day and I was definitely not well hydrated. However, I can assure that the consensus amoungst my group of about 25 people was unanimous for "delicious and cold". So you can sleep easy tonight knowing that you are missing out on the best tasting water in the world. Sweet dreams. Haha. We then continued up Devils Stair Case. This portion of the track is not aptly named. While there were about 300 stairs, there were never more than 20 in a row and there were a ton of flatish bits where you could just cruise and catch  you breath. Also, I didn't see The Devil, A Devil, or even a rouge New Jersey Devil. The rest of the trail was unnamed and of about equal difficulty. At one point I even went for a jog with a lovely little lady from the UK. Yes, I have too much energy. Yes, I'm ok with that. The only part I struggled was on a scrambly bit that was more up than forward when my guide who I was chatting with decided to go all mountain goat style and blitzed ahead. When we got to the top we stopped and chilled on the ridge looking into Red Canyon (aptly named, pics soon hopefully) and down onto the sulfer lakes and Blue Lake (also aptly named). After lunch, which for me consisted of a One Square Meal granola bar, we headed up to the summit. Now NZ doesn't have many bugs, but on the summit of that volcano I encounter the most freakiest bug I've even seen/heard in my entire life. This is no joking matter ladies and gents. This bug freaked me out. It landed ever so delicately on my arm. Truly I barely noticed it. When I did, I managed not to flip out and gave it a nice little wacked off my arm. Now this bug crashed into a rock about 3 feet away from me where I could clearly see that it was about a thumb length long and about two thumbs in width. It was an shiny green black. And it was screaming. Literally. It sounded like it was screaming to the devil to come a smite me. It was also puking up red paste. Not blood. Paste. And screaming. Screaming. I cannot truly tell you how freaky as this thing was. Just let your imagination run wild and times it by 3.57. Ok. Enough about icky bug. We then slid down the volcano on these whatever they are called slides. I think I knew what they were called when I wrote the last blog. You'll have to check there. Basically they there gravel slopes. The gravel is extremely loose and about half a foot deep so you sink and slide with every step. The best way to go down these things is at a light run/jog on the heels of your feet. Stopping, slowing down, and digging in your toes are not recommended. It took us about 2 hours to get down. Talk about a work out. I only fell a couple of times and was only bleeding from my hands by the time we got down. I considered it a win.

So I hung out back at National Park for a couple more days and then snagged a ride up to Blue Duck Lodge on the Whakahora reserve (Yes David, another classic Maori name). The lodge area was stunnng (pics to follow). It's situated on a hill above the Wanganui River and is surrounded by pasture, sheep, and trees. It's in the middle of no where and I never felt more at home. I wanted to do some woofing for them there, but there were full when I showed up so I just hung out for a week. I went horse back riding, jet boating, kayaking, hiking, tanning, mustering, running, quading, hunting, swimming, and relaxing. It may have been the best week of my trip so far. The people that work there are incredible. Superbly friendly, caring, and outgoing. If you are ever in NZ, you absolutely MUST go to this place. If you don't, you haven't seen NZ.

It was also there that I met the crew from Precision Helicopters who I am currently wwoofing for. Mat, Tammy, some of the kids, and Hayden all showed up one night in the chopper. They joined us at the fire. Hayden (the pilot) and I chatted, and by the end of the night I was promised a ride in the chopper the next day. The next day rolled around and after roughly 45 minutes of free flight time (estimated retail price +$1,000) I was offered a job with them. I stayed 4ish more days at Blue Duck while Hayden and Mat (the owner of the company) found a house for all of us (Me, Hayden and another pilot Rob) to live in and then I was off. But a bit of a rewind before I type about that. Flying in a helicopter is incredible. My first ride was about a minute long and consisted of take off, going straight, a 180 turn, and landing. I have never felt such a rush in my life. That turn literally took my breath away. The second flight which was considerably longer stunned me again through the agiility and power of the machine. It's manouverability was phenomenonal. And the scenery was something I had never experienced before. Flying that low, but still that high, gives you a completely different take on the world. I could see for miles and I could also see the goats running through the brush below me. It was truly striking. Right, enough gushing. It was sweet. I signed up for a job and 4ish days later met up with Hayden to come to the region of Taranaki and the town of Urenui. Delta peeps asked David for the translation of the town name.

I've been here about 3 weeks now and am loving it. I get to go for trips in the chopper at least 4 times a week. I've been camping, swimming in the ocean (the ocean is about a 30 minute jog from my house on the top of the hill), to a couple of parties, and renovating the house I'm surrnently living in. It's a beautiful house even though it's definitely seen better days. The view is spectacular. And the guys treat me like a working princess. Definitely a killer set up. So far I've cleaned the entire inside of the house, washed all the windows, and also washed the entire outside of the house. Cleaned all the eavestroughs and raked up about 2 bales work of lawn grass. I've set up a kitchen and am constantly maintaining the cleanliness of the bathroom. I have stripped wall paper out of a peptobismal pink room. I have sanded another wall and painted it. I have done the boys laundry. And currently I am sanding all the window sills and frames so that they can be revarnished (likely by me). I couldn't be happier.

So what's you plan for the future I hear you ask as you mentally pray that this blog will wrap up soon. Well Mr and Mrs Curious, I am not too sure. I'll be here for a while longer and then I'll be off to Wellington and the South. I'm flying by the seat of my pants. It's how I roll.

Much love!
Julia