Insane

Cromwell. Pretty place, but the town centre is very confusing, Internet is expensive, and the shared kitchen is just... yuck.

I'm living at Jackson Orchards on state highway 6, and I was wrong in my last post, Freeway Orchards, where I work, are on highway 8b. I just moved out into a tent. I like a bit of adventure. It's a real adventure, because the sprinklers go on every Wednesday, from nine in the evening till six in the morning, and everywhere gets wet.

I've also vowed to swim or at least dip in lake Dunstan every day, unless it freezes over. So far I've done well. Yesterday I worked from 1PM till 9PM and went for a dip after work. I meant to go before work, or perhaps during a longer break, but then I was too busy fixing up the tent in the morning and too busy serving ice creams at work to do so. So I went after work. It was cold, but still enjoyable. And when I feel that the water's too cold, I tell myself that it can't be any colder than the alpine river we splashed in in Tongariro. Yes, I've already been classified as "insane", amongst other compliments, such as "crazy", at work and by various other people. But good things come out of being insane; I met another swimmer, who has a horse at another orchard, and she's promised I can ride him. I call that good luck.

Work is fine, very different from my first job. Here, I'm working with girls or young women (apart from the manager, who's older, and Private, and that's not his real name), whereas on the farm I was working with men. Here, I need to smile at all times, especially when I'm annoyed. Difficult customers need the brightest of smiles. And customers need a smile even when things are stressful and the other workmates won't help out. On the farm, if I was annoyed, I could shout at the cows. Or the dogs. Or the calves, that happened once or twice. I wasn't annoyed very often though.

Now that I've been here for four months or so, I've noticed how I've changed. Some would say grown. I'm a lot more confident now, and less nervous at meeting people, employers, other employees and travellers alike. Starting a conversation with the most random of people seems quite natural in New Zealand. I wouldn't do it in Finland though. They'd send me to a mental hospital.

There are so many things that we take for granted. Like washing powder. Like a clothes line with pegs. Like internet. Like a power outlet for charging your phone. Like a wardrobe full of clothes. Like being able to lock the door behind you. Backpacking is fun, but like Joe Bennett concluded in his book The Land of Two Halves, it doesn't bring a feeling of freedom. It brings endless complications.

I haven't even had time to write in my diary for ages, and I feel bad about it. I'll soon start forgetting things that have happened.

I'm off again, working an evening shift. I'll try to get some photos uploaded at some point. This place is gorgeous, but very different to North. The hills here are all golden tussock or brown earth, with the occasional tint of snow on the mountain tops. I could spend ages just staring at it.

Jobless, no more

I'm in Cromwell, and I have a job. I wasn't meant to have it. But I do.

I'd called around a couple of orchards, but they were all fully staffed. When I arrived in Cromwell, I went to the resource centre and asked whether they knew of any jobs. One orchard needed six pickers immediately. I called them, but they'd filled in all the positions an hour earlier. So I called another orchard near by, called Jackson's, and asked if they had anything. They didn't, but asked me to call in the next morning. So I went there today and talked to the managers and they took my name and number and said they'd call me if something came up (the situation changes daily). They called me an hour later.

So I will be working in the orchard shop Freeway on state highway 6 in Cromwell. Drop by if you're coming this way. I'll be doing a bit of everything: packing fruit, selling fruit, making fruit juices and - best of all - making real ice cream. :)

Where's Welly

I like Wellington. I like it more than Auckland. But I'd forgotten there's such a thing as nightlife and bad taste in music (techno).

Last night I went to see Becoming the Courtesan in BATS theatre. It was an hour long musicalish production, very dramatic. It was a rather sad end to an enjoyable day touring LotR filming sites to the north of and in Wellington. I got some very very funny pictures (the black rider at the top of the hill in the Shire is my favourite) but I don't have the time to upload them now. I recommend the Wellington Movie Tours (www.movietours.co.nz), run by Ted, to anyone who's into that sort of thing. It's good value, I think.

Welly is a city to wander about in. Sit in cafes or a library. Te Papa museum - reputedly the finest in NZ - did not appeal to me. I walked in - and walked out again. It's not that it didn't have anything to offer, just that what it had I'd already seen elsewhere. Oh well, free entry, so worth a try.

I'll be off to Christchurch tomorrow. Ferry across, then train. Still don't have a new job.

Off south

I will be off to Wellington tomorrow and I'm trying to get everything sorted before that... I'll spend a couple of days in Well, then continue south to somewhere in Otago, where I'm hoping to get a new job. I'm drifting from excited to nervous to sad and back to excited.

More Tongariro

James, my tramping companion, looking for the huts we stayed in or rested at. You could see them from the crater with binoculars.
Another view from the top.


A fellow Finn gave all brave souls a yoga class to relax our muscles.
More yoga.
I got a private lesson, conducted in Finnish, because I missed out on the first one. I was - obviously - too busy photographing. I was operating three cameras.

More from Tongariro

This is Mount Taranaki, also called Mount Egmont. Taranaki is a National Park on the west coast of the North Island. It's about 75kms from where I was. I took the picture from the top of Mt Ngauruhoe.

Slip-sliding down the slope of Ngauruhoe.

Ladybugs living on the warm rocks at the crater. I don't know what they live on. Tourists?

This is a view from the second hut, Ketetahi, in the setting sun.


The last leg of our tramp was from Mangatepopo Hut, where we had lunch, to Whakapapa Village. We'd been trudging through mud for 1.5 hours when we decided to have a break at the top of the next little ridge. It was the perfect spot: we could see Whakapapa (about 2-3kms away). The Grand Chateau looked like a Disney fairytale palace from the distance (from close by it looks less beautiful. It's ugly as. Doesn't blend into the landscape, obviously.)