When I left New Zealand

It was raining. But in fact, I feel like I left New Zealand when I left the bus from Otorohanga and the Kiwi driver asked if I was going to watch the game (the All Blacks vs Italy. We got badly beaten).

Now I'm in Aussie and the sun is shining but they play bad music everywhere and I feel continually ANGRY!

Sad, sad days

Someone Special

I wake up to the sound of rain upon my sill
Pick up the pieces of my yesterday old thrill
Can I deliver this used up shiver
To how I pronounce my life
And I leave it up to faith to go by it's own will

Back row to the left, a little to the side
Slightly out of the place
Look beyond the light, where you'd least expect
There's someone special

A foggy morning greets me quietly today
I smell a fragrance in the wind blowing my way
And ever further I run to find her
I yearn to define my life
Placing my faith in chance to meet me in half way

Back row to the left, a little to the side
Slightly out of the place
Look beyond the light, where you'd least expect
There's someone special

And she's here to write her name
On my skin with kisses
In the rain, hold my head and ease my pain
In a world that's gone insane,
Insane, insane, insane, insane, insane

Back row to the left, a little to the side
Slightly out of the place
Look beyond the light, where you'd least expect
There's someone special

- Poets of the Fall

BUNGEEEEE!!!

Bungy jumping into the Waikato river at Taupo was way cool! I didn't ask for a "water touch" but I got one anyway, a perfect one. Just my hands got wet, which suited me fine, because I didn't have a spare change of clothes. I got a t-shirt too, "Why live on the edge when you can jump off?" and photos and the DVD. My brother unfortunately couldn't bring himself to jump.

Tomorrow it's time for Rotorua and the ZORB :) That'll be for my brother.

And on Sunday we'll be off to Aussie! Scary...

The road goes ever on and on...

I'm off!

After a minor incident (my brother's first flight from Helsinki to London) being 1.5 hours late, it followed that he would be about 20 hours late in arriving to Auckland. We will see how the trip goes from now on, the already tight-packed schedule will be even tighter and I don't think my brother will see much of Auckland.

Tomorrow, at 6AM, I will be off again. Wish us luck!

Families and families

I've neglected again. I only lasted a week at the horse place. It was very stressful throughout the experience and the relief (and disappointment) was felt on both sides. I made mistakes, the boss got stressed out, I got scared. She nailed an analogy: It was like walking into an exam, nervous of making mistakes and therefore making them.

What I dwell on most is this: When I was thrown off a 170 cm (17 hand) horse onto a gravel road, she never once asked me if I was ok, whether I had hurt myself (I had a headache, rashes down my back, bruises on my side, and a sore knee). She probably thought about the horse, her own splitting headache, caused by stress, and how incompetent I was.

Sometimes it seemed to me that she couldn’t say things politely. I had to ask twice what I should do with a bored 3-year-old stallion, before she would stop accusing me and instruct me instead (and even then it was only after “No, don’t blame him!” when I never was blaming him).

She was a hard one to figure out. On the other hand, she offered me alternatives to make me feel more comfortable; but then she also insulted me by stopping just short of calling me a liar. She exaggerated and refused to be corrected, I don't think she could ever "forgive and forget". A quote from Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy would describe her: “My good opinion once lost is lost forever.”

It was a horrible week, and my only two consolations are these: it was a learning experience and I found a safe haven afterwards.

I was saved by the angel-neighbour with three kids, aged 2-6, who was driving past when the horse panicked. She stopped to help me with the horse, so I went to thank her in the evening. She was lovely, and offered to take me in. So I moved over as soon as convenient. She has another helper too, a Corean girl. It's nice to have company. Two of the children have chicken pox, the young one is grumpy and the old one is happy not to have to go to school. The middle one has been in a happy daze for most of the week, because she turned four on Monday and had a fantastic Mad hatters' birthday party on Sunday (I arrived on Saturday, in perfect time to help with decoration!). Their mum could be another woman to add to my idols list.

The party was - as I said - brilliant. Cousins and aunts and uncles arrived the night before, and they actually made me slightly home-sick! They were such good fun I began to miss my own family. I never thought I'd say this, but it will be good to be back. I love New Zealand, but there are no people like family. At least in my family!

Ride and rejoice

I must ask you to forgive me, for I have greatly neglected my duties to this site by not informing in writing what has so recently come to pass.

Firstly, I'm reading Pride and Prejudice. It's almost as bad as French; I have to read some sentences three times before I understand what they mean. Sometimes I can't. I've also recently finished Terry Pratchett's Men At Arms - so much easier to understand, languagewise. Concepts though... I can't imagine where he gets them!

I'm now near Auckland. I'm hosted by a family whom I found through HelpX. com. I work about four hours a day, grooming and "hacking" (that's riding leisurely) horses. That leaves plenty of time in the afternoon to read or sometimes watch TV. Watching TV is the favourite pastime of my "boss", who has broken her foot. A frightened horse of 600kgs stepped on it. I'm planning to spend two and a half weeks of my last three and a half weeks (!) here. Then I'll have a week left for travelling with my beloved brother, then flying out to Sydney for a short while and Hong Kong for a short while and then - it's back to Europe.

By the way, I hope there is lots of snow around here, because we're going to go skiing at Mt Ruapehu!