Woke up this morning....

.... to the sound of rain. My morning walk was to the house is along a road that overlooks a small valley. It was raining hard- so I had my "red gum boots" and my gortex ski jacket on. The
"red gum boots" are typical to New Zealand and the farming community- as I put them on my feet and sloshed through some mud down the path from the "Woolshed" down to the house I felt excited to be here.

What a change from the last week! Work at the packhouse is finished. No more conveyer belts pumping out kiwis by the 100's. No more bosses yelling at you to check your kiwis more carefully- because they just found 10 bad kiwis in YOUR box. No more wearing hear nets and aprons while inspecting each kiwi in order to detect whether it was an "Ugly kiwi" or a "Beautiful kiwi." "Ugly kiwis" are placed in that category because they were either effected by hail damage, black sut mold, or if they have a slight hump on the top making their appearance more of an apple-shape. You also have to look at whether they are too flat to be considered for the "higher" grade/quality. If they are you send them down the next conveyer belt to be re-packaged as a lower quality. There's a real science to all this kiwi business! But it was very hard to take seriously as you can imagine.

Much of this excitement has to do with the end of the warehouse job and my weekend trip. I celebrated finishing the packhouse (kiwi warehouse) job by going to the Wharanaki forest with a friend I met at the packhouse. He spent 4.5 months doing research in the Wharanaki (80 km outside of Rotorua) last year. Felix is his name. He comes from Bremen, Germany, and loves birds, insects, and walking very slowly in the forest. I learned to slow my pace down and observe more as we took walks in the forest. I found it difficult at first, but as the forests are totally different than those found at home, I quickly realized the value in walking slowly. The Wharanaki forest is sub-tropical and five types of trees (only native to New Zealand) are all found in this forest: the Miro, the Rimu, the Kaikatea, the Totara, and the Toatoa. I learned to identify each of them- thanks Felix! I was able to also identify a couple of birds some more exotic than others: the pigeon (ha!), the northwestern robin, the tui, the kaka, and the fantail. In terms of animals, I am aware that there are pigs, stouts (marmot- like animal considered to be a pest), deer, and opposums. All of these animals were introduced to New Zealand so they are considered to be pests- especially the stouts and opposums who have helped aid in the extinction of several of New Zealand's birds species (which were unique to N.Z.). I believe that some of these birds are pre-historic and never developed the use of their wings (i.e. the Koa ) and were unable to defend themselves against their "imported" predators.

Anyway... I am off to go back to attempt to organize myself for a trip to a yoga ashram. I have about a week or two between jobs, depending on whether they decide to start me early or later. They want to start the inexperienced pruners after June 15th. But I've also heard that may not be true and that I will start on June 15thwith the rest of the crew. Nothing is ever certain here- and hard to find out exact information. So I just learn to go with the flow and try not to get frustrated while trying to maintain some kind of balance here. I will be pruning the kiwi vine- and I guess the work is not easy, so I am taking some time for myself before I begin. Plus, I am not good at waiting around for people to decide when they want me to start or not- the discussion has been on going for the past couple of weeks. I decided to take my future in my own hands and leave for a week, hope they figure it out, and then come back when the work is available.

The yoga ashram is a work-exchange option for people like me who need a place to stay in between things. I will report on this next experience upon my return....