If I found my happy in Fiji, I'm grateful to still have a tight grasp on it here in New Zealand. Three weeks into my trip, I've been steadily impressed with how I've handled myself so far. Sure, Golly and I got into a few sketchy situations in the North Island, and my ankles are raw with sand fly bites, and my last night in Mana Island a Fijian firedancer tried to kiss me... but all in all I've been healthy, even-kealed and high on life. I tend to be an optimistic and smiling person, but traveling has really brought out a different kind of pure inner joy in me-- I would even say I've been blissful. I even end every diary entry with a resounding, "Yay life!" :)
This was no different during the last three days and four nights WWOOFING (working on organic farms in exchange for room/board) for Geoffry and Briar in beautiful, sunny Nelson. I slept until 10am every day, worked on a compost heap or weeding the veggie garden, ate delicious vegetarian food, and-- uniquely different from my time WWOOFING in Motueka Valley-- I enjoyed complete freedom to do whatever I pleased during the evenings. Two nights in a row, Briar lent me and fellow WWOOFERS Pablo from Chile and Gustavo from Argentina her car so we could drive 15k/9 miles to gorgeous Cable Bay. It's a small expanse of rocky beach with high sheep-grazing cliffs on either side, and calm warm water perfect for swimming. We splashed around and joked in Spanish, before coming back home, where I slept in a little private caravan in the garden. So much fun!
Somehow while driving back from Cable Bay the second night, Gustavo and I were cloud-gazing and got into a lengthy conversation about UFOs (or in Spanish, OVNIS-- objetos volados no identificados). He claimed to have seen heaps of floating disks and strange lights while growing up in the Argentinian countryside, and at the beginning of 2009, he even took a picture of one which won him a featured article in his local newspaper and an official invitation to attend a UFO Congress for the National Government.
I was dumbfounded to actually be having this conversation AGAIN. I didn't think it worth mentioning in my last blog about WWOOFING at the Meditation Retreat in Motuaka Valley, but amidst our efforts toward spiritual enlightenment, there were some rather crazy conversations taking place-- at length, mind you-- about extra-terrestrials. I was a bit disappointed that the leader of the ET-believing posse happened to be the one other American that I've met so far in New Zealand. I had a weird feeling about him from the get-go, when he announced that he's adamently working to end the swine flu conspiracy for the past several months, and that he was a famous "Big Whig" in his previous life. One morning, the group somehow allowed Ray to lead a 2-hour workshop titled "Letting Go," in which he went on and on about all of his past lives, and the importance of meditation as a means toward communicating with extra-terrestrials when they come to make contact, notably after 2012. He even claimed that his "crazy colleague" (haha), Steven Greer, already communicates with extra-terrestrials, since he had a near-death experience as a child in which he formed relationships with them, but too bad that the government is stopping his efforts. Needless to say, I meditating on "letting go" of what he was saying, so at least I got something out of the workshop. :)
Granted, I spoke with other retreat participants afterwards and admitted that I don't think we're the ONLY life-forms in existance. However, I doubt there's any other intelligent beings in our solar system, let alone any who zip in and out of our atmosphere in discs who are communicating with my American friend, or his previous lives for that matter. My conversations about aliens at the retreat are probably the longest I've ever had on the subject, and when I was repeatedly asked whether I'd seen the movie Zeitgeist, as though it offered legitimate evidence to contradict my previously held beliefs, I chocked up the conversations as inner-chuckle-worthy entertainment.
So, you can imagine my surprise when I found myself having this conversation AGAIN with Gustavo. Not only did he seem like a regular guy with only one known life to speak of, but the topic came up naturally in our conversation, as though he assumed that most people have seen UFOs. I decided to ask Briar about it when we got home, and thank goodness she agreed with me that she doesn't disbelieve in extra-terrestrials, but also doesn't have much to say on the topic. She did freak me out however when she mentioned that large numbers of people are moving to a beautiful place near Nelson called Golden Bay, because they believe that that's where the extra-terrestrials will make the first contact with humans after 2012. Maybe it was because of the conversations combined with the full moon, the eery silence, or the fact that it was my third night sleeping in a tiny creepy caravan without a proper lock on the door, but I could hardly sleep that night... and when I did finally fall asleep, I had an epic dream about playing soccer against an unstoppable, evil team of aliens... hahahaha
Well, if New Zealand is the gorgeous green land where little green men choose to visit, I certainly won't blame them. Already I've met dozens of people from all over the world-- Canadians, Brits, Dutch, Scottish, Chilean, Argentinian, and myself included-- who say that New Zealand reminds them of home. It doesn't have a population or environment problem, with only 4 million people in an area the size of the U.K., and 98% of its energy comes from renewable sources. I think it's a beautiful representation of planet Earth, and if the rest of the world was more like New Zealand, we'd most likely all be much better off.
Yesterday was my last day WWOOFING in Nelson, and after a beautiful day with my Latino friends spent jogging to the beach, finishing weeding the garden, walking along Tahunanui Beach, and sleeping in a comfortable bed (inside the house!), I'm back on the Magic Bus, in Greymouth as we speak. I have 10 days left to see the South Island, which is definitely not enough. I'm already mentally planning my next trip to this part of the world, which I think would be adequately planned with an open-ended-return or a one-way ticket. Prior to my trip here, one of my friends told me that two weeks is enough to see all of New Zealand; another friend told me that I'll need twice as much time as I think I do. I don't think either of them have it right. I think traveling in New Zealand is like traveling in California, or Europe-- you could always return, live for small periods of time, and see something or meet someone new that's beautiful. So if there are any aliens out there reading this, I congratulate you if your decision is to make the first human contact in New Zealand. Please just wait two more weeks, so that I'll be long gone by then. :)
Yay life!
This was no different during the last three days and four nights WWOOFING (working on organic farms in exchange for room/board) for Geoffry and Briar in beautiful, sunny Nelson. I slept until 10am every day, worked on a compost heap or weeding the veggie garden, ate delicious vegetarian food, and-- uniquely different from my time WWOOFING in Motueka Valley-- I enjoyed complete freedom to do whatever I pleased during the evenings. Two nights in a row, Briar lent me and fellow WWOOFERS Pablo from Chile and Gustavo from Argentina her car so we could drive 15k/9 miles to gorgeous Cable Bay. It's a small expanse of rocky beach with high sheep-grazing cliffs on either side, and calm warm water perfect for swimming. We splashed around and joked in Spanish, before coming back home, where I slept in a little private caravan in the garden. So much fun!Somehow while driving back from Cable Bay the second night, Gustavo and I were cloud-gazing and got into a lengthy conversation about UFOs (or in Spanish, OVNIS-- objetos volados no identificados). He claimed to have seen heaps of floating disks and strange lights while growing up in the Argentinian countryside, and at the beginning of 2009, he even took a picture of one which won him a featured article in his local newspaper and an official invitation to attend a UFO Congress for the National Government.
I was dumbfounded to actually be having this conversation AGAIN. I didn't think it worth mentioning in my last blog about WWOOFING at the Meditation Retreat in Motuaka Valley, but amidst our efforts toward spiritual enlightenment, there were some rather crazy conversations taking place-- at length, mind you-- about extra-terrestrials. I was a bit disappointed that the leader of the ET-believing posse happened to be the one other American that I've met so far in New Zealand. I had a weird feeling about him from the get-go, when he announced that he's adamently working to end the swine flu conspiracy for the past several months, and that he was a famous "Big Whig" in his previous life. One morning, the group somehow allowed Ray to lead a 2-hour workshop titled "Letting Go," in which he went on and on about all of his past lives, and the importance of meditation as a means toward communicating with extra-terrestrials when they come to make contact, notably after 2012. He even claimed that his "crazy colleague" (haha), Steven Greer, already communicates with extra-terrestrials, since he had a near-death experience as a child in which he formed relationships with them, but too bad that the government is stopping his efforts. Needless to say, I meditating on "letting go" of what he was saying, so at least I got something out of the workshop. :)
Granted, I spoke with other retreat participants afterwards and admitted that I don't think we're the ONLY life-forms in existance. However, I doubt there's any other intelligent beings in our solar system, let alone any who zip in and out of our atmosphere in discs who are communicating with my American friend, or his previous lives for that matter. My conversations about aliens at the retreat are probably the longest I've ever had on the subject, and when I was repeatedly asked whether I'd seen the movie Zeitgeist, as though it offered legitimate evidence to contradict my previously held beliefs, I chocked up the conversations as inner-chuckle-worthy entertainment.
So, you can imagine my surprise when I found myself having this conversation AGAIN with Gustavo. Not only did he seem like a regular guy with only one known life to speak of, but the topic came up naturally in our conversation, as though he assumed that most people have seen UFOs. I decided to ask Briar about it when we got home, and thank goodness she agreed with me that she doesn't disbelieve in extra-terrestrials, but also doesn't have much to say on the topic. She did freak me out however when she mentioned that large numbers of people are moving to a beautiful place near Nelson called Golden Bay, because they believe that that's where the extra-terrestrials will make the first contact with humans after 2012. Maybe it was because of the conversations combined with the full moon, the eery silence, or the fact that it was my third night sleeping in a tiny creepy caravan without a proper lock on the door, but I could hardly sleep that night... and when I did finally fall asleep, I had an epic dream about playing soccer against an unstoppable, evil team of aliens... hahahaha
Well, if New Zealand is the gorgeous green land where little green men choose to visit, I certainly won't blame them. Already I've met dozens of people from all over the world-- Canadians, Brits, Dutch, Scottish, Chilean, Argentinian, and myself included-- who say that New Zealand reminds them of home. It doesn't have a population or environment problem, with only 4 million people in an area the size of the U.K., and 98% of its energy comes from renewable sources. I think it's a beautiful representation of planet Earth, and if the rest of the world was more like New Zealand, we'd most likely all be much better off.
Yesterday was my last day WWOOFING in Nelson, and after a beautiful day with my Latino friends spent jogging to the beach, finishing weeding the garden, walking along Tahunanui Beach, and sleeping in a comfortable bed (inside the house!), I'm back on the Magic Bus, in Greymouth as we speak. I have 10 days left to see the South Island, which is definitely not enough. I'm already mentally planning my next trip to this part of the world, which I think would be adequately planned with an open-ended-return or a one-way ticket. Prior to my trip here, one of my friends told me that two weeks is enough to see all of New Zealand; another friend told me that I'll need twice as much time as I think I do. I don't think either of them have it right. I think traveling in New Zealand is like traveling in California, or Europe-- you could always return, live for small periods of time, and see something or meet someone new that's beautiful. So if there are any aliens out there reading this, I congratulate you if your decision is to make the first human contact in New Zealand. Please just wait two more weeks, so that I'll be long gone by then. :)
Yay life!
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