View from the Top

I had been looking to the top of the mountain (Hilton insists it's just a hill) for a few weeks and had been wanting to hike up there but was understandably very lazy. Finally, one beautiful sunny Saturday, I went up there and could see the Pacific Ocean stretching before me in the distance, rolling "hills" dotted with sheep and cows grazing peacefully. There was a strong wind keeping me from being warm and the ever impressive greens and blues melding and merging in a steady dance... centuries old.

Enjoy...

Ohope Beach

On two of our weekly stints into Whakatane for groceries, Bev and Hilton (each one took me out once) took a little detour and showed me the view from the top of the mountain separating Whakatane from Ohope.

Ohope is known for it's great surfing beaches. In fact, they can teach you surfing there. The views from the top of the mountains are wonderful. Take a peek!

Several kilometers worth of surfable ocean (did I ever mention that I tried surfing once in Australia and managed to stay on the board for over a second?! Pretty great, huh?)

The natural ways of the world...driftwood and wild flowers

Ohope beach close-up

People were surfing in the distance. It was really cold that day and I was wearing a jacket, jeans, tennis shoes and a toque. Some of the girls were in bikinis! Crazy!

Fothergills on Mimiha

Fothergills on Mimiha (view from the top of the mountain;Pacific Ocean in the distance)

Night Sky

View from Main House (wisteria hanging)

I arrived in this little paradise of a place on September 5th. I had found it on the internet. Beverly Fothergill, one of the hosts, seemed like such a nice woman and something just told me to go for it. It would stretch my budget quite a bit, but I needed the rest, the peace and the quiet.

Cows Grazing in the paddock next to the cottage

Here are my first impressions...

I haven't been sleeping well; stress I imagine. After a month of rest, I'm starting to do better. I am free. I keep having to remind myself of this fact. For the first time, I am truly free and it's hard to believe it still. It's like a caged bird that won't fly away after the cage has been open. We learn to keep ourselves within the confines of what has been set up for us. I'm slowly stepping outside and though it can be scary at times, it's more excited than scary.

The first week at the cottage, I focused on sleeping, eating and looking outside, spending time in the biting spring wind, but enjoying every moment of it. The cottage sits in a valley, each day new leaves open, new colors appear and birds shout across the distance at each other. I love the sounds of new birds; I wish I could know what was singing what.

In the evenings, the sun would kiss the mountains with a yellow glow and everything would soften. I felt cocooned in the warmth of that scene.

After about a week, I decided to take Bev and Hilton up on their offer to help out in the garden. I wanted to do something physical, something outdoors; I wanted to feel useful. So I was put to work helping Hilton put mulch (or compost) on the gardens. And they have tons. My only regret is not having been there in the summer, when all of the roses are in bloom.

Me (in work overalls!) and Hilton

It wasn't hard work, but it could build up a sweat. What I loved most was seeing exactly what I had done. Standing back and seeing the progress I had made. This is why I came to New Zealand. I want to work my body. I want to see the fruits of my efforts. I really want to build a house, but that will be unlikely.

Hilton actually let me drive it!

After helping out a couple times a week, I felt good, like I had contributed to something bigger than me. I helped those plants; simple yet fulfilling.

Max and Moe

At night I would read, do Su Doku, crossword puzzles or watch some TV. It was a good month. A much-needed month. And for that, I thank Korea and the time I spent there. Without Korea, I would not be able to be doing what I'm doing now.

And thank you to Bev and Hilton Fothergill. They gave me just enough attention and left me alone just enough for me to accomplish the goals I had for the month.

Bev and Hilton Fothergill

Arrivals and Other Things

On September 3rd, I arrived in the largest city in New Zealand: Auckland, which still only has 1.2 million people living there (a far cry from the 12+ million I dealt with daily in Seoul). It is a quaint place, very reminiscent of Sydney, actually, in terms of architecture and the way the city has been planned.

After securing a room for myself at City Lodge (it's a subdivision of YMCA) which is very clean and offers good service ($65/night), I walked into town. City Lodge was a good choice because it was far away enough to not have to deal with any real noise, but only 5 minutes from the center, where there are tons of shops and restaurants.

Auckland Tower

After living in Seoul for two years, I've been pretty spoiled with the restaurant scene. Many places are open 24hours so you are never at a lack for food. I was expecting restaurants and little sandwich shops to be open around 8pm here, but most of them closed around 5 or 6, their day-over (very quaint- reminds me of France).

I found everything so incredibly expensive, but after having converted some prices, hotels and restaurants were pretty average when compared to Montreal prices.

Some astronomical prices that I must warn about are the cigarettes and the taxis. Cigarettes cost $10.80 a pack. Insane! I've never seen such a thing. I think Montreal is still way below that price.

I had to take a taxi from City Lodge to Star City Bus Station. It is literally less than 5 minutes from the hotel but because my bags were really heavy and it was uphill, I opted for a cab. It cost me about $8! Can you imagine! That would have cost me less than $3 dollars in Seoul. Ah, I will miss the cheap transportation, that's for sure.

Anyway, soon after arriving in Auckland, I headed out to accomplish my most pressing goal: shaving my head. I've been thinking about doing it for the past year, but didn't want to do it in Korea because it is still quite the conservative place. So I waited until I got here and Neil Seck, my hairdresser, in a state of shock and horror, hesitantly agreed to cut it for me.

Below, a video of the process. Thanks for the digital camera Seung Ah, Jong In and John. Because of you, I get to show you this.





The final look #2 cut. I love it! Now it was time to start afresh.

Me and Neil