American observations of the land of New Zeal

Things are different here. -collective gasp- I know. I was shocked too. Here are a few things that I have noticed in the last 8 hours. 

1. We hire things like cars and suits now. We do not rent them.

2. We're driving on the left side of the road. I know I did this in Thailand, but my brain freaks out every time I stand at an intersection and watch people turn into "wrong" lanes. I just try not to scream and cover my eyes in horror. 

3. iSites are awesome and are officially my new best friends. They will book anything for you just because you ask them to. I hope they never find out that I'm just using them for their sweet connections. 

4. There are roofs of every variety. Metal, tile, flat, sloped, terra cotta, falling in... It's not super different per se, just fun to see the smorgasbord. 

5. Fire trucks look like dump trucks. And they say something about biohazards on them. I don't know, but it seems like maybe these fire professional are a little cooler than ours. I mean if you're in that crazy anti-fire suit already why not clean up a little flesh-eating green ooze while you're at it eh?

6. Everybody seems to know each other. I caught at least 5 interactions on my walk this afternoon, from high fives to enthusiastic head bobbles to support this. It's pretty neat.

7. We've got tomato sauce. Not Catsup. It tastes...saucy. That is sweet and perhaps a little slimy. Not a big fan.

8. Everybody is super nice. I haven't met a single kiwi that I have not liked yet. May that always be so. 

Tomorrow morning I'm taking off at the booty crack of dawn and start my voyage to Napier and the farm. A day in the city was enough for me. It's time for the comfort of green hills and livestock...yep. I said it. Onward! 

Last post from the states

I am on the flipping plane! This is what I see! 

Classy, I know. 

For my two euro buddies meet "Air pacific!" He might be a necessary travel buddy. ;-) Seriously, traveling with me could be way better than ferrying around tourists to and from Fiji. 

And here I go. Last shot from LAX.

 I am settling down for a 10 hour and 20 minute flight and wishing maybe a little that I had the "hookups" I did when I made my trip in 2007. Hugs and love to all. I land 12:00 local time in NZ on "Monday." To the future! 

Aotearoa!!

I have arrived! Everything about this place is magical. :-) I could almost hear the sheep from the plane. It's colder than I expected. The high today predicted to be 16 C and the low 9 C Mayhap it's time to find me some long johns. 

I think it's trying to say, "Welcome traveler! This is what you look like right now." 

Made it to Fiji!

Screaming babies on the plane and narcolepsy? A great combo. :-) Onward to New Zealand!

Fences

Hey Craig,

Had a garden question. 

 What is the wildlife like around the garden area. Are there animals that would eat delicious new plants? I'm trying to decide if we need to put up a fence. 

Hi Summer,

Yes there are quite a bit of rabbits so we are going to train you on the 22 so you can shoot them and provide dinner. ;-)

This is going to be fun. 

What your baristas want to tell you but never will

Anybody who has ever worked in the service industry, whether they are jerks or the nicest people you've ever met,  has a list of things that annoy the living shit out of them. When I was working in the coffee industry several years ago in Hawaii I asked a few of my friends to write down a list of their pet peeves about customers. You should have seen their eyes light up. It was like giving a pyromaniac a gallon of gas and a box of matches and telling them to go have a good time. I ran across two of them today and still found it amusing so I thought I'd share.

Steve's list
1. Ya, ya, ya, I know...Nonfat, sugarfree, vanilla latte, extra hot, with 2 pumps and no foam. And are you looking for a publisher?
2. You know, you can tell a lot about a person by the coffee they order. High Maintenance? Probably...
3. I do not get paid enough to listen to you bitch.. Let me find someone who does get paid enough.
4. Seriously? You've been standing in line for 5 minutes and still don't know what the hell you want?
5. Yes...people like you are the reason you stood in line for so long. Know what you want and have your money ready.
6. Tall is bigger than small. Where did you go to school?
7. "Sugar-free caramel" is an oxymoron you ignorant ass.

Heather's list
1. A large, nonfat, caramel latte is NOT NONFAT.
2. I am a barista, not a tour guide.
3. I am a barista, not a restaurant connoisseur.
4. I don't set the prices just to piss you off. In fact, I don't set them at all.
5. Just because I work at a coffee shop doesn't mean that I'm not smart.
6. Just because I work for minimum wage doesn't give you the right to make inappropriate comments about me.
7. I know exactly what you're doing when you order your cafe macchiato iced in a medium cup.
8. You have no idea how much I want to spit in your drink when you talk to me like that.
9. If I were as mean as you are there WOULD be a loogie in your drink.
10. Don't use the fact that you haven't had YOUR coffee yet as an excuse to be an ass.
11. Listen when we repeat your order back to you. We do it because we know you are bound to change your mind.
12. We repeat your order back to you so you know how riddiculous you sound.

Yeah. That's happening.

So I leave a week from today and I am more than a little stoked. Perhaps the 14th is not quite so epic as the 11th but whatever. The number needed some pizzaz so henceforth it will be set aside as the start of epic journeys. So let it be written, so let it be done.

Let me introduce you to the place I will be going to. And please, let's reserve our jealousy until the end.    Ladies and gentlemen, New Zealand. 

It's a farm. With cows. Baby ones too. 

Look! A river runs through it!

That's 700 acres of untamed beauty.

This is Craig. Owner and CEO. Man with the best office view ever.
Please take note of his stockings. I'm more than a little excited to meet him .

So yeah. If you need me I will be planting a garden near Napier, going fishing in the afternoons and learning how to shoot. It's about time I got ready for the zombie apocalypse.