and I thought MY armpit hair was long at times........

Oh....My.....God!

hahahaha!

So I am currently at a backpackers called Barefoot right now with my friend Rebecca that I have been travelling with for almost a week. We are supposed to be at a wwoofing place right now, but we left early this morning... Ok, so here is what went down...

So we left Nelson on Friday morning. My buddy Dave picked us up from the hostel we had been staying at all week called the Palace. Jess (a girl from the hostel) and Jackie (one of Daves friends that used to live in Nelson) came along too,. as they were going to hit up a beach around Abel Tassman.

We all piled in the car and it was a beautifulllll day! Dave was going to drive us as far as Moteaka, and then we were going to try and get one of the people Rebecca knew from the wwoofing place to Riverside, the hippie colony we were going to wwoof at for the week. The drive was pretty and there were lots of chats and laughs going on.

We got to Monteaka and Dave dropped us at the Supermarket. We apparently had to bring our own food, which I thought was odd- as wwoofing is usually you work for your food and stay. But whatevs..we picked up some food and then carried (or tried to carry it) over to the park to wait for our ride to come ande get us. We litterally had 7 bags and looked ridiculous. I am used to that now though,,haha. Crazy bag lady...check!

We sat in the park and ate some of the food that we bought. It was soo nice out and we chatted and listened to the music. Rebecca is pretty amazing, We have a lot in common, and both never shut up, so there is always stuff to talk about, haha

Our ride finally came and we realized that we needed to perform a sloppy game of Tetris in order to get all of our bags, and us in the car. We finally got in and one of the guys slammed my ass in the door trying to shut it. (insert fat joke here..haha)

The drive was about 15 minutes to where we were wwoofing and when we got there we were told that there werent enough rooms so we had to sleep in a tent for the week.  hmmm...so no food, and now we have to sleep in a tent? Rebecca and I both just decided to go wih it and asked for a tent.  Well 4 tents later we FINALLY found a tent that wasnt missing all of the fucking peices, or had a broken zipper, etc. The tent was made for small people though so we had to store our bags inside the kitchen, as they wouldnt fit in out midget tent. That was a but annoying but whatever.

We walked around a bit and got to know the area. There were abouyt 15 other people there and everyone was quite...um.....earthy. Yes..earthy. There was a lingering smell of B.O, but in my mind I just kept telling myself it was the compost (even though it wasnt)

We were pretty tired so after dinner we went to bed pretty early. That night was kinda neat because you could see the stars looking up inside the tent.

Here are a few pics of where we stayed:

In the park with our 675 bags

bags, bags, bags!

one of the paths leading to the garden

Common building (bathrooms and kitchen)

The hangout area

Anyways, so Saturday morning we got up, had coffee and then went to the garden to start work. We were weeding and then putting soil piles down for them to plant a row of cucumbers. The day was very hot, but it was nice to work in the sun. I dug up a few bones that were creepy, so I threw them away as soon as they came up on my shovel. haha. Then I dug up a few baby potatoes...so I ate one...when in rome? I tried to tell myself it tasted good, because I was so hungry, but truthfully it tasted like shit..well dirt..ok dirty shit. hehe.

Once we were done our four hours we went back and had a shower. We just lounged around that day and had a picnic a few hours later. My main food these days is tuna, veggies, tuna, soup, tuna,coffee, haha. and yes..a bit of tuna in there. It's cheap and fills me up, so it has been my go to food.

Long story short Rebecca and I didn't really enjoy sleeping in the midget tent so we decided to find another place to wwoof in Takaka (about an hour and a bit from where we were) that would have less people and we would get food and accommodation. This is where shit goes downhill...haha

So we packed pour bags and headed to the road around 10:00 am on Monday to start hitching to Takaka. We had found a "really great wwoofing place" to go to and talked to the guy the day before. We got picked up by a nice man named Dave that drove us into town. From town we had this little ghetto sign that we held until we got lazy and then we sat like lazy hitchers. haha. Some brittish traveller came up to us about an hour and a bit in and said that he would be able to take us. He was really cool and we chatted him up a bit to make sure that he didnt smell of creepy vibes. We got into his van (it was a travelling van, don't worry! not a "I have candy and chainsaws in the backseat" kinda van...I checked first) I was probably creepier than he was, let's be serious.

So the drive was really nice, He was from the UK and was a banker. He was 32 and just broke up with his g.f He decided that he wasn't as happy as he should be so he sold his house, quit his job and went travelling. He had been in NZ for 3 months now. We had some pretty cool life chats. 

He dropped us in Takaka and we went into a cafe. We were EXHAUSTED! We sat and used the wifi and had a coffee. About an hour later we headed to the road for our last hitch to the place we were going. Luckily we only had to stand for about 10 minutes and a really nice older woman picked us up. She was very sweet and was telling us all of the great places to see in the Golden Bay Area.

Once she dropped us at the house we walked up. This is where my Spidey sense went off. Oh.....sweet...jesus.

Ths house was a mess. It was gross. It was full of stuff and just looked ick. "Ok Emily...don't be judgy...just go with this". so he shows us around, and then shows us the Caravan that we will be staying in. I am not too sure what I thought a Caravan was in my mind, but it was NOT what we walked into. Ok, these pics do NOT even come close to explaining how gross it was. I swear no one had been in it in ages. It stunk. It stunk like old, moldy, yucky pee. It was SOOO dirty. (oh ya..as we were walking up he told us that he had just cleaned it for us) The beds had stained sheets and the windows were covered in grass and had no screens. Bugs......bugs bugs bugs (Shelly you would have fucking DIED!!)

So we put our stuff on the bed...look at each other..and just start laughing, What the fuck are we doing here?? hahaha. 

Sweet mother of god...

Ummm......you want us to sleep in that?

The living room of the house

aw, they decorated the dirty trailor for us...cute

Such girls...still managed to trash the trashy trailor..

Rebecca going..WTF??

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Ok, so long story short. We went to bed early. It was raining..hard. The ceiling leaked all over Rebecca all night. I had to pee on the front step of the trailor, as the toillet was 8 miles away. I slept terrified of eaing a spider all night. I swear I woke up to the sound of drumming 3 times. Water leaked in all over my purse. I woke up freezing my ass of 6 times.

Sweet mother of god.

So in the morning we went inside to get coffee. On our way through the bushes (I felt like the man tracker trying to get to the house each time) they told us that the toilet wasn't working..and there was no water. ummm...excuse me?

Yep...no water. No toilet. ummmmmm

ok, back to the trailor. We decided that we cannot stay here. We felt so awkward having to tell him, but we had to. The conversation was very awkward, and I am so bad at those types of conversations. Luckily Rebecca is good at them so she started it off. He was very defensive and we could tell he was mad. We offered him 20$ for the supper that he had made us the night before (which was rice..and Dal) he totally took it from us. haha. We we paid for our night of wwoofing..LOL. That's a first.

So we packed up, laughing the whole time. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone! LOL. We got to the rod and decided that we would go to a backpackers in Takaka. It's a cute town, and we needed a hot shower, laundry, and to NOT be at that house. haha!

The third car by picked us up (thank god as it was raining hard..yick). He drove us to the backpackers and we checked in. First thing we did was shower, and then started some laundry. It felt soooooo nice!!! Now we are just relaxing and I am totally appreciating all of the little things. I guess you need a few shitty experiences in order to appreciate the good ones :) 

So yes, there are more spelling errors than usual...and yes I am overtired from the last few days of not much sleep. 

Here are a few random pics for you :)

 

Oh ya, and the woman's armpit hair was soooooooooooooooooo long!! Like so long. Like so so long!!!! 

ya so I fell at the beach....and OW! This was added to the festivities of these past few days..haha

go big or go home?

Hmmm..

Ya Ya..I lied. I didnt blog the next day when I was supposed to. It's been an interesting week and a bit..that's for sure. Lots of self realizations....lots of looking hard in the mirror at myself. It's interesting what can happen when you strip away the bullshit and take a really hard look at yourself. I Have met some pretty amazing people so far, and a lot of them are helping me answer lots of questions that i didnt even know I had. I know that nmakes no sense, but it does to me. Right now I am with my friend Rebecca that I met in Nelson. We have spent the day hitchhiking out to Takaka...Golden Bay. We will start wwoofing on an organic farm tonight, and sleeping in a caravan..haha. We just left Motuaka where we were wwoofing for the past 3 days, We slept in a tent there and realized after the second day that it wasn't for us. The work was fine, but for out 4 hours a day that we worked we didnt get any food supplied and hd to sleep in a tent. We decided that we will find another place to go that will feed us and give us a bed :) 

I cut my leg at the beach the other night. Yes alcohal was involved, and yes it hurts like a betch! I have been trying to keep in clean but it REALLY hurts! This is when I am saying "I want my mommy"..haha

Yes, it's nasty and yicky!

Anyways, we are heading out now to hitch up to the farm. I believe he has wifi there so I will get you all up tp speed soon. Basically...all is good. Self growth is happening. and I feel grateful for each and every one of you :) Thank you for being in my life :)

Big Love from Takaka!!

xoxoxox

EM

Yep <3

On the Road again!

Yes...it's been a while....and I am now in Nelson....boom!

As Hiiiiiiiii everyone!

Yes, it's been quite a while since I have blogged...and I am sarrrrry!

Mel got here last Saturday night (basically Sunday) and it's just been go go go since.

Wow...what a friggin blast we had. A-ma-zing!

I think the last time I blogged we were in Franz Joseph ?

Franz was unreal. We did a hike and saw the glacier....it was very fucking cool.

Then we hit the road en route for Punakaiki (Mel could not pronounce this properly for the entire trip...it was hilarious). The sun was out...weather was unreal....same 3 CDs were playing..haha. (The radio did not work petty much the whole time when we were in the mountains...so we litterally listened to the same 3 CDs on rotate for hours..haha. Thank GOD Mel even brought CDs...or we would have been screwed!

So punakaiki was really cool. We walked around, saw the pancake rocks (yes, what you are thinking...rocks that look like stacked oancakes). The whole walk took about 20 min, and then we were on the road again..headed towards hanmer Springs. hanmer Springs was facking collllllld when we got there. punakaiki had been amazing, hot...sunny. hanmer springs was cold....windy...brrrr. ( I realize that you guys have snow now...so not near as cold as you have it:) just wear a sweater cold..hehe)

We found a cute hostel in Hanmer Springs and it was awesome because Mel and I were the only two in the room. Score!!! No snoring, farting, or sleep talking!( unless it was us...which is totally acceptable...obviously..hehe)

Ok...sidebar....here comes the a.d.d.

Ok. So when I was in the shitty hostel in Christchurch that had "free wifi"...aka "even if you are so close to the router that it's pretty much up your anus it won't work"...ARG. So...first night I am sleeping and I wake up...yes....am woken up to a fart. Like a loud, juicy, meaty dad fart. Ok...gross. But..let's be honest.....farts are funny and everybody toots..haha (Charlie I am laughing with you right now). So whatever....someone farted. Well...let me tell you.....this went on...THe ENTIRE NIGHT!!! I totally wish I was kidding. Farts...loud...every 10 minutes....all night long. I wish I was lying when I said that I actually put in my ear plugs to block the sound of the loud farts...and it didn't work!! It sounded like someone was clapping ping pong paddles together.....Jesus! Like honestly that guy needs to see a doctor. I covered my head with my sweater because I was convinced I was eating his farts and going to wake up with pink eye or some strange disease....definately the worst hostel experience ever..haha. On a good note he made people that snore look good in my books...LOL. 

Ok, so back to Hamner Springs. So Mel And I went out that night just to have beer. We ended up meeting a bunch of local farmers....well one mouthy farmer, 

A helicopter pilot, and a few possom hunters. Haha. Well...they didn't know what hit them. At one point the mouthy Farmer said to me "Jesus..you are hard (not boner hard....like  he couldn't break me hard). I said "yep....I'm a redhead....and I'm Canadian. Don't fuck around" . Haha. They bought us a beer and then Mel and I decided we had enough of making fun of them so we headed back to the hostel. On our way back we ran into a possom...haha. Mel chased it around trying to take a pic but then it ran up a tree..lol. We went to bed and it was sooooo gat having the room with just us. We didn't have to be quiet in the morning when we were packing.

So we got up in the morning and made a delicious breaky of fruit, nuts, and granola. When you are poor and on a budget you have to buy your own groceries. ( I had peanuts butter And rice crackers for supper tonight...my dessert was Ana Apple and a cherry halls....hahha)

We went to the only thing Hamner Springs is known for ..the hot pools! Sounds so pretty and awesome when you read it in the travel book....but really it's just a bunch of  pools that you can't put your head under (I think you can catch the clap. Or something) and yeahhhhh. It was pretty fun..the weather was amazing and we got a good face tan ( yes mom..I was wearing my sunscreen:)

We stayed there about 2.5 hours and then we left, en route to Kaikoura. 

Driving with Mel was awesome. We had our life chats, and then our silent times for self reflection. The scenery was absolutely stunning. Here are some shots from the trip of when we just decided to pull over and take pics....you will see why...

Who ever said that blue and green should never be seen apparently has never been to New Zealand....

...

Stunning sunset...

Like...wtf?unreal

Every time I think I've seen the prettiest scene ever....

Near Nelson..the day we went kayaking

Stopped at a beach on the way to punakaiki...yay for jumping!

Rather scenery is just mind blowing...the colors....the smells...everything. It is just out of this world.

So we got to Nelson on Wednesday and wow. I now see why Dave told me to come here.

Nelson is a small-ish town..reminds me of smiths falls....but more shops and less skid and pregnant 16 year olds..

We stayed at a hostel called Paradisso....and it wasn't the best. Too many people, gross kitten, bad wifi. So the next day we decided to try a hostel called the Palace. I really love this place..actually...that is where I type this from right now. 

Mel and I went and met upwith Dave...a friend of a friend (he's friends with Britt and RE) it's awesome having someone I know here. We met Dave at the school he is going to and he showed us a cool walk we could do. It's called the centre of. New Zealand....as that's what it is.lol

The weather was amazing...and Mel and I had an amazing day In Nelson. We ate our lunch in the park, and the ducks loved us..haha. They litterally must have made some duck call that meant " these botches have food"" cuz all the sudden ducks were coming out of very corner..haha. They really wanted to sandwich that Mel had..LOL.

So we met up with Dave again at the end of the day and he brought us to his families house for a bit. He made us some fresh squeezed lemon juice and we just sat around and chatted life. Then Mel and I headed to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner and for the next night, as we were heading to Abel Tassman for some hiking and kayaking. Wooooooo!

Ok, I am going to chill with some of the amazing ladies I have met at my hostel...I promise I will finish this tomorrow....:)

Heart you all!

Xoxoxoxox

Yep...

Hahaha...farts are funny...unless they happen ALL NIGHT!!

I want to live by this.....

Mel's here Mel's here Mel's here!!!

K....I haven't has wifi...I'm sorry!

The backpackers I stayed at had shittttt wifi when I was in Christchurch. Mel got here Saturday night...yay!! I made a bunch of friends at the hostel and she had a wicked greeting when she got there! I was soooooo happy!!

Ok...well here is what we have done so far;

Saturday- Mel got to the hostel at 1:30a.m. We had a drink with everyone and went to bed.

Sunday- got up, showered and hit the road. Went to Mount Cook. Stunning!! Then we drove to Wanaka and got a hostel there. 

Now we are in Franz Josef, this blog post sucks... I know.... You're welcome. Well at least you know I am alive... Hehe.

Here are some pics of Mel and I....

Xoxoxoxoxox

I will blog better soon! I'm busy having activities,.....yeah!a,

Xoxoxox

Mel and I in Franz Josef

Rocks shaped like hearts are neat!

Yeahhhh!

We are sexy bitches

Global warming has beat the shit out of this glacier..

NATURE IS NEAT!!!

Xoxo

Fun night:) fun girls:) lots of memories made <3

I made friends! And they are awesome!

So....im kinda drunkie right now...hehe.

I had the best day ever!

Met some some amazing ladies!

Kara (from Texas) edith( from NY-Brooklyn) Patricia (from Brazil) and Ellie (from London)

These girls are SO much fun!!

We just ate food, and are having life chats in the room..yeahhhhh! We just watched Ellie's skydiving video...totally makes me want to skydive now, gotta save up for that one!

I lovvvvveeeee them!! Girls at home...you would love these bitches!

Girl talk in the hostel ....yeahhhhh

Xoxoxo

Plastic bags are facking noisy....but the beds are comfy! Ok fine...I'll stay one more night.....

Morning!

So...I slept pretty good. Well...I should have, I was on heavy pain killers. Haha. I DID wake up though when a girl came in around 4:00a.m. Mostly because she was very noisy. But thinking about it..I have stayed in hostels where i had to leave super early In the morning...and it really is hard to be extra quiet. I always try my best though!

This morning though..around 6:00a.m two girls were leaving. To be honest...it sounded like they just banged stuff around while one of them rubbed a plastic bag together for about 30 minutes.....I'm serious....I had to channel some serious Zen. Hehe. John...would they be a "but-of-course?" lol like a few minutes ok...but half an hour? . And they kept slamming the door. I was on the top bunk..so if I had wanted to hulk something at them I would have had a good shot!! (Kidding!....kinda....hehe)

So the beds are actually pretty comfy, and I didn't want to go through the hassle of packing my bags up again and trying to finda hostel thats 3 bucks cheaper so I just paid for another night. I have to get Mel at the airport tomorrow at 11:30 pm, so I am putting it out to the universe that I meet someone that will drive me..hehe. I will bring out my Wal- mart greeting skills in full effect. Or take off all my clothes and stand near a bus stop?( nudity is the theme for. Christchurch apparently)

So now I'm just sitting in the coffee shop downstairs....sipping my coffee as slow as I can because I can't afford to buy another one..haha! Trying to be frugal is hard in a city where EVERYTHING is sooo expensive (shut it Britt...hehe) I am going to try and find a grocery store (or a dumpster....hey I've seen the show...and I have long arms.. Coincidence.? I think not...hehe) it's kinda chilly but I am hoping that it will warm up in a bit. I have learned that layers are necessary. ("Is it necessary to drink your own urine?nope, but it's sterile...and I like the taste!") hahaha..only a few will get that one...everyone else will think that I have gone nutty...LOL

I liked this:) in the coffee shop

So I will venture back upstairs, scrub my muffin and head out on the town.hahaha. (My mom is saying "how do you scrub a muffin" at this point)

It's weird, but kind of cool being all alone. I have to make all my own decisions, but it's very strengthening. I am becoming much more comfortable in my own skin.:) 

Love you all! Really missing my bitches back home! I am grateful for you all:) 

Muahhhhhh! Xo EM

Miss these fabulous ladies...<3

My loves!

Best girls someone could know!