Failure 2.0

So clearly I did what most people expected me to do, I stopped writing on here. Most likely the few who read this in the beginning have stopped checking it, so my apologies go out into the universe and hopefully I'll get a little credit for at least putting it out there.

Quick synopsis. After leaving Hanmer Springs, I drove up to Orewa which is located a little North of Auckland and crashed at Leigh and Seiger's house. It's a really amazing place with a sheep named Snowy. I've tried to make myself useful around their house: a bit of yard work, some painting, wallpapering and such, you get the general idea.

Gordon left and went back home. I stayed in Orewa and house sat while Leigh and Seiger went to the US and then to London for 3 weeks. After they got back I lived in Seiger's daughter's old room. Leigh and Seiger are the best and I've had an amazing time in Orewa. I spent a lot of my time reading, walking or running on the beach, relaxing and hanging out. I tried bikram yoga, spin class and resistance pilates. Surprisingly enough, none of them were my style.

I also made a bunch of random friends through couchsurfing and I swear I saw one of them on one of New Zealand's tv shows called Noise Control. It's a tv show similar to Cops, but obviously it only deals with noise violations. Yes, it's a great bunch I'm meeting here, but seriously, they're good people even if they are mostly Kiwis. Once again, just kidding, all the Kiwis I've met here been fantastic people.

A few weeks ago I put out a help beacon on Couchsurfing to see if anyone wanted to participate in the Russell Birdman Festival. I got a few responses and the week before the Festival I drove up to Whangarei and worked on my entry with 4 other people. I stayed with a couple, Karen and Colin and we worked to create the entries with another couple, Aaron and Morgan. We watched a lot of world cup and got up at ridiculous wee morning hours to see the games. We constructed our giant kites out of bamboo which the guys cut down from a nearby park and old curtains which Morgan sewed to the bamboo structures. Then we all took turns making little bows to attach as the tail and painted the backs of both kites.

Then the next week rolled around and I carpooled up with an Australian named Michael and an American named Cassie. We watched the All Blacks test match and tried to figure out the rules of rugby, no luck, but at least it's more interesting than cricket.

The next morning we left for the Festival. We were unable to partake in any of the other activities for one reason or another: the spaghetti eating contest, dinghy boat race, bbq cook off and the like. It was sad, but Aaron and I did get to jump in the water in our matching North Power jump suits, courtesy of Colin who actually works for North Power. I also made a red mask that looked kind of like the mask in the Princess Bride.

We ran down the wharf to the song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" by the Beatles. An appropriate choice considering Aaron and I both had giant people sized kites. Though I suppose our matching blue and orange jump suits and my red face mask didn't really match the kite idea.

One website I found said that in winter the ocean water temperature in Russell is a balmy 18 C. So the water was the type to knock the wind out of you on contact. So you run down the wharf, jump in the water, jettison your entry so you don't drown and then rescue swimmers make sure you make it to the pick up boats which swoop in quickly. Fun times in Russell.

For more Russell Birdman Festival info, you can see their website http://www.russellbirdman.co.nz/

I went to the Mustang Saloon with a new friend to celebrate the 4th of July with other expats. I don't know why but I really enjoyed meeting up with other Americans to celebrate our Independence. They had a US menu that day and I had nachos.

Leigh, Seiger, Megan (Sascha's girlfriend and Sascha is Seiger's son) and I went to the the theaters to see Inception. What an awesome movie. We saw it on opening night and there were only about 3 or 4 other people in the theater. Small towns rock!

Now I'm in the Northland right now on a road trip with Leigh. We stopped by Tane Mahuta which is the largest Kauri tree and it's supposedly about 2000 years old. So this seedling was hanging out with Jesus.

Then we went to the Wairere Boulders. A nifty place with sweet as volcanic boulders and lots of moss. There was a no entry area that Leigh wouldn't let me go into. Some of the formations (cuts) were have been caused by acidic soil from kauri trees that used to grow in the forest. Weird, but sweet geological formations.

Tomorrow we're going sandboarding i.e. hurling ourselves down sand dunes on top of boogie board. Then we're driving up to the tip of Cape Reinga to watch the Tasman Sea meet the Pacific Ocean, check out the light house and find the 800 year old Pohutukawa tree which is the leaping off point for spirits in Maori Legend.

I'll try to keep up with this a bit more as I'm approaching my exodus from the country. I'm leaving Aug 22, but on Aug 7 I'll be joined by my buddy, Emily and then Aug 12, Jon will arrive and we'll be driving off into the New Zealand sunset. No really, we're going on a whirlwind tour of the North Island complete with a rugby game and glow worms.

Also I went gambling at the Sky Tower in Auckland. I played for 20 minutes with $10 dollars and ended up winning $115. Then I went back the next day and lost $440. I've learned my lesson and I'm not going to gamble anymore. I've been berated many times by many different people.

Cheers until next time,

Molly

Also I'm on "M" in my iTunes list by artist. I'd like to thank my tenacity.