Funny photos...

Julie's wet dream
Jay slipped!

Hi there! We are in Wellington - saying with our friends Gretchen and Matt! It's fun here....lots of beer and cafes (although we have not gone yet, we will - don't worry). We just wanted to say that we have uploaded photos again to Picasa. Most of the photos are in Julie's album - but if you want to see all the pics from the asparagus farm - that's Jay's album. The Bluebridge ferry will be taking Tinkerbell (plus drivers) to the South Island on Dec. 1st and JOBS and some $$.

We spent the last few days in the Taranaki region so Jay could surf. I've been working on finishing the hat I'm knitting because I could use it. It is still FREEZING at night here. But, I dragged Jay out of the water to go hiking around Mt. Taranaki. We also hiked around a river bed along private land - had to watch out for cow poo. I must admit, I was a bit better at watching my step than darling Jay. =)

Julie and Jay's big catch

First of all - before we get to the "big catch," we did go on a hike....see the view? Pretty neat eh? This is Mt. Ngauruhoe in Tongariro National Park.

Jay's big catch! A rainbow trout from some stream in the park.
Julie's BIG catch. Enough cheap NZ wool to knit Jay a sweater. For how mucn$ you ask? Man, I'm gonna buy the place out...it was about $27 US for all this wool. In the states, you would be looking at $100. I'm in paradise.

Well - we are back on the road! We are slowly making our way to the South Island where we hope to work on a vineyard. But we decided to take our time getting there and explore a bit of the Taranaki coastline and Tongariro NP. We haven't gotten to Taranaki yet, that's happening in a few hours. But we did hike the Tongariro Crossing yesterday. We hope that will be the most crowded thing we do - because MAN it was THE most crowded trail we have ever been on. But, we can see why. This hike takes you up into volcanic craters, beautiful lakes, steaming rocks and vents, and through a gorgeous forest at the end. My favorite part was warming my hands up at the top of "Red Crater" on the steaming rocks. It seemed wrong that I was standing there with all this steam and stinky sulphur smell. But, so were lots of other people, so it must be safe right? =)
Anyway - I feel like I can't complain about all the hikers. I would rather people be out on a mountain than in a mall. So, it was OK in the end.
OK - tim'es running low on the internet.
Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day. Send pics and email us soon!

Asparagus part II: Julie and Jay bugger off!

We did the math and the buck vs. bang ratio will not keep us picking asparagus. But we wanted to give it a try. Some people warned us, some predicted failure. Apparently we did not fully realize the entertainment potential of our blog posts. This email that Julie got yesterday sums it up quite well:

"Sup Dawg? I hope you guys are having the time of your lives! I'm loving the blog. Great stories and pictures. I was very jealous of Tahiti and Moorea. Now that you are in New Zealand you are the subject of much comic relief. Hot, sweaty, stinky, migrant workers living in a van. Yucky! Sounds like the kind of folks you would try to get kicked out of your town. Just kiddin'. Of all the crops in this great green earth you could choose to pick, WHY asparagus?? Hhhmmmmm......a plant that is 6" tall, grows in full sun, and has to be harvested with a knife. Sounds perfect for pygmies with osteoporosis! I hope you two don't kill your back and knees. Think fruit trees, shade, head high fruits, and no need for tools."

The writer will go un-named, but the question now becomes, how could we be so naive? (Julie just decided to come in and edit the blog Jay wrote - the writer WILL be named because he's a laidback bloke - my dear ol' friend from DMF, Bob..., who also happens to be a kick ass gardener and understands this thing called asparagus)

Well, we arrived on the farm during a period of cold, damp weather and were told that the picking would only get better once the weather warmed up. We also got the impression that the job would be extremely casual and we could pick as much or as little as we liked. Plus, the whole place was beautiful (really though, what part of the country isn't?) and the fishing potential (see previous post), for me, was tantalizing. The Turneys, George, Diana, and their son Simon are really nice, good humored folks, even if they do pay a lousy rate. Our co-workers, inspite of the fact that some listen to Metallica (apologies to any fans out there) and are just beginning to explore the wonders of controlled and/or illegal substances, are actually wonderfully bright, friendly, and generous.

So, you are probably thinking, why couldn't these so-called marine biologists tough it out and become lean, mean, asparagus picking machines? Well, it warmed up all right, but the asparagus hasn't exactly become the lawn (though it is much like grass in many ways) we thought it might. We quickly realized that picking some extra rows was more of an expectation than an offer. Even quicker we understood that getting up any later than the crack of dawn was not an option. Mornings are cold! We also found that the heaps of asparagus picked by others were simply not attainable by us because better-growing asparagus rows are given to folks with seniority. Also, I may still look like a spring chicken but I haven't been 19 for nine years now, and Julie's got 2 years and the same number of inches on me. Our backs and thighs could take six hours or so of it, but we have been doing some 8-10 hours days that just haven't been worth the effort. Obviously this leaves one with little time and energy for fishing.
Much to our relief, the Turneys have been accepting and and even friendly about our decision to leave. Simon asked us what we would do if we found our van without wheels the next morning. But Simon's a good bloke and and we trust he is just pulling our leg. Easy-peasy lemon-squeesy is his favorite expression...one needs this sort of optimism in this business I think.

Asparagus smells like skunk when you cut it

That's right, not just bodily fluids take on odd odors when exposed to asparagus. We are not yet sick of eating it after four days, but are sure the day will come. Fellow pickers who have been here for several weeks lovingly call it "asparashit" and other names. There are about 12 to 15 others living here from all over the world, most younger than us. Friendly folks. Perhaps the best part about being here though is the scenery...the mtns are very nice, covered with snow when we first arrived. Weather changes frequently here (puts new england to shame), and when we wake up it is probably about 40F, warming to perhaps 80F during the day if and only if the sun is shining. The sun is scorching when it is out. Gretchen and Matt told us that this was due to the ozone hole. So we have to be extra careful and lather up with sun goo. I went fishing today for the first time. The river is just on the other side of the asparagus fields, down a steep gully. New Zealand boasts some of the finest trout fishing in the world even though not a single trout lived in the country before Europeans arrived. I did not catch a NZ trout today but three of the damn things chased my fly just long enough for me to stop from drooling. They were massive. A french guy here broke the rules and used live bait (good 'ol earth worm) the other day to catch one of the biggest rainbow trout i've seen. I'm really glad Julie persuaded me to bring my rod and tackle. To think I almost left it behind! There are miles of gorgeous river here and few people (sheep and cattle outnumber us by a lot!!) so I hope to land and consume a nice trout of my own one of these days, if our backs don't give out on us before our four week time commitment is through. I think we will acclimate to the constant bending over and we have high hopes to one day pick as much asparagus as our French, Japanese, English, Danish, Malaysian, Aussie, and Kiwi colleagues. They say, "So, how much did you pick today?", we answer proudly, "well, seventeen crates between the two of us!", and they say, "i picked 17 as well, by myself". No, they are much more polite than that. And we do better every day. We look forward to more hot dry days so the asparagus will keep poking out.

Northland travels

Oystercatcher at sunset
Camping near Cape Marie Van Dieman, west of Cape Reinga
Tree hugger
almost to Cape Reinga light
Mt. Ngauruhoe (filmed for the Lord of the Rings movies as Mt Doom)

Hello and greetings from Taihape (say Tie-Happy) in New Zealand. We are asparagus pickers now - nothing to get TOO excited about but it will help us break even on our costs! We will write more about asparagus picking later (although we may not have easy internet access in a few days b/c they are taking the computer away to give back to its owner).

Anyway- what is more exciting is what we were up to this past week. We have posted some photos (in both the julie and jay links) to show you a bit of our time in the northland (the bit of land north of auckland). We went on a great backpacking trip around the tip of the northland - called cape reinga. Man, did it rain on us. But I think we still had a lot of fun and it was GORGEOUS. When we got picked up from the cape, the guy who picked us up found out that we had backgrounds in biology and asked us if we wanted to see this bankrupt fish farm. He called up a kiwi guy and this nice fellow came over and gave us a tour of this UNREAL facility. Jay and I had never seen anything like it - what a mess. I can't believe the place even managed to prpduce a single fish because they were trying to raise kingfish (i am guessing something like salmon, i.e., a saltwater fish that is a predator and sucks down oxygen and food) in a facility that was built for tilapa (freshwater bottom feeder that has minimal life support requirements!). I could have told them they were going to go broke. They are out about 6 mil :(
We also spent a day in the giant kauri forest. The two of us have a thing for BIG trees and boy did we get that. They can't compare to redwoods, but hey - they are huge for little ol' NZ! They estimate that one of the trees we saw was 2000 years old. Can you even fathom that? I tried, but failed. Unfortunately they chopped down what must be close to 99% of these ancient forests.

Jay went surfing with his new board (he got a dirt cheap used board and wetsuit here). The waves were huge so he wasn't as successful as he hoped....but he looked great to me! We have so many more stories to tell, but it will have to wait until we are not rushing to get back out into the field to pick asparagus.

OK - write us emails! We miss everyone!

back down south

Hey!! only a few minutes left to write, but we are on our back down south of Auckland after some adventures in the far north....saw BIG kauri tress on the west coast, went for a soggy overnight hike around the northern tip called Cape Rienga, then surfed today (sort of!) on the east coast north of Wangarei. now it's time to make some $$ picking asparagus down south for a few weeks...
hasta luego,
jd/jb

hitting the road

This is our new van! '87 Toyota HiAce Super Custom. Julie insisted we name it Tinkerbell (or "Tink") after I mentioned the name. Should have kept my mouth shut, but it stuck. You see, when we exceed the 100km/h NZ speed limit, a little bell reminiscent of one on a little bike with a wicker basket makes a few feeble 'dings'. This is pre-digital folks, a twenty year old van. But for its age it is pretty nice (at least mechanically speaking). We bought it from a guy who owns a garage outside of Auckland. This was great as he was willing to tune it up a little before he sold it, and had already put in a new clutch, some new tires, and other odds and ends. His wife was very kind to us...bought us some indian treats in town while we got curtains and other things for the interior. Then we used his tools to clean and customize it a bit, and he helped us put in a folding bench seat...nice!!

So now we're ready to head out of Auckland, finally. Looking forward to seeing the country. We may have already found ourselves a job picking asparagus...so we will see what happens with that.

Don't forget!

Hey folks! Remember Jay's birthday is today in NZ and tomorrow your time! I think I'll buy him a campervan.... =)

Frustrated in Auckland

Trying to buy a car here sucks. We decided we wanted to buy a campervan and have been competing with the billion other backpackers who have the same freakin' idea. We found a 1994 Mazda Bongo campervan that we loved - but we wisely followed the advice in the lonely planet....to check the VIN # on the van and get it inspected before buying. the owner was completely annoying and kept trying to get us to buy the van from him flat out - no inspections. We refused, but lost a bunch of $$ checking out the van and its history. Now - he still won't help us get a new warrant of fitness, so we dropped him (and our money). We are onto a new van now - a 1987 Toyota Hiace. These are sexy vehicles here. Maybe this one will work out? This VIN report was great (compared to the dodgy Mazda report) and the owner is a mechanic and worked on the van before putting it up for sale. But, he didn't mind that we wanted to get it inspected by another mechanic for piece of mind. If all goes well, you will be looking at some backpackers who will be living in a van down by the river for 5 months. Stinky for sure.

Hitchin' in Tahiti and our arrival to Auckland

Greetings from the land of New Zealand! After saying "merci" a few times and getting weird looks - we realized we could speak English again. Whew. No more baguettes though - boo! And FYI - the rest of our Tahiti pics are now up on our web albums. Just click on those picture links.

Anyway - before we blab about NZ we wanted to leave you with one last entry about the wonderful people we caught rides with around the islands. This is really how you get to know people and the locals here and it proved to be some of our most wonderful interactions with the locals. I'll describe most of the people who picked us up below these pics...

Yes, we did get to see some Polynesian dancing - in case you were wondering.

The many faces of hitching.

Yummy Polynesian treats.

Julie kisses some Polynesian ass. =)

Anyway - stories.... long ones too.
Our first ride in Tahiti: A family picked us up.....Jay had a rental surfboard and we were trying to get to a beach where he could surf. This black truck went past flying past our thumbs and waved - we thought they just waved to move us up the road a bit further where they could pick us up. Nope - they did a u-turn, came back and scooped us up. Mom, Dad, and teenager...going to the beach. The mother spoke some English which helped. They were wonderful and drove us to the beach and gave us loads of free bottled water from their cooler.

Second ride: A mom and her little boy. She stopped at her nice house (with a pool) and then took us to our pension in Tahiti. Then she stopped to get gas and asked us if we wanted anything - of course we said "no" but she came out anyway with ice cream and soda (which I drank to be polite but YUCK). She told us all the great places to stay in Tahiti.... and was soo sooo sooo nice.

In Moorea a lot more French expats picked us up...although by the end of our stay more Polynesians were picking us up. The first French guy to pick us up told us about all the fields we could go into to pick mushrooms. Say this in a thick French accent - "not the mushrooms you eat but ummm...the kind that make you....FLY...." =) He was listening to jazz and wearing big sunglasses. He sailed to Tahiti and loved it and decided to stay after sailing for so long.

Other folks provided great rides/stories too....one guy drinking his beer, another guy with a little girl in a car seat, an American expat who kept us in the bed of her truck because we were stinky from hiking. But the best ride was our last ride - the ride to the ferry from Moorea back to Tahiti.
We wanted to catch a bus to the ferry with our bags, but typical of the tropics, the bus never showed. So, bags and all we decided to hitch to the ferry. At one point I stuck out my thumb to this truck (after about 10 minutes of bad luck) and the truck pulled over. Yipee....but then we realized that there were already 3 girls in the truck bed and a cooler (Polynesians always ride around in the truck bed...they don't have highways - so it's not a big deal - and they travel in packs!). They didn't have a lot of space. So - we sadly refused the ride. Well - they seemed confused by this even though they saw our bags. The truck slowly pulled away and we kept trying to get a ride. But a minute later - the truck was back. The mother driving (a beautiful Polynesian woman) had all her kids and their friends (all girls!) jump out of the truck - make room for our stuff - and they grabbed our bags and tossed us in the truck too! Amazing. So, I sat shotgun and tried to speak what I could with the mother. Jay discovered (he was quite popular as the only male in the truck bed with 3 teenaged girls) that they were on their school break visiting Moorea with their Mom. The smallest girl sat behind me holding onto this little fluffy puppy. The other smaller girl gave me this massive - huge - bean-shaped thing. She motioned for me to split it in half. I did that - but saw nothing. I figured I was supposed to eat it - but how? So she showed me and opened the pod lengthwise. Inside were these little white fuzzy things that had the texture of cotton candy. They motioned for me to eat it, so I popped one in my mouth and started chewing. They all shouted out in horror and laughed at the same time. There was a huge, hard seed (as I discovered) in the middle. So, after I spit all the seed bits out and we all had a good laugh...I chowed on the yummy white coating of the seeds. And it was sweet and yummy just like cotton candy! Eventually they dropped us off at the ferry with fresh pineapples and these seed things in hand, waved goodbye and were off to the beach.
What peace could be accomplished in this world if everyone was as kind, generous, and loving as this family. We were blown away by how nice everyone was that picked us up - but the Polynesians really got the gold medal for generosity and going out of their way to help us.

Now we are in NZ! Car shopping in Auckland for pieces of junk that hopefully won't break down on us for 5 months. We want a campervan but fear we cannot afford that junk... maybe only a station wagon piece of junk instead? And guess what!? We saw my old roommate from grad school today - Gretchen - and her man Matt. We had lunch and a beer in downtown Auckland. Watched people bungie jump off the skytower there. Good ol' NZ adventure!

This is long and it's time to go! Hope you enjoyed this little piece of French Polynesia tales though.