beautiful tongariro...

hi all!

i'm currently holed up at the Tongariro National Park hostel, which is by far the nicest place i have stayed so far... gorgeous views all around, a big common area with a fireplace, great food, and 6-person ensuite dorms with kitchens and bathrooms. oh and a hot tub. so i'm in heaven right now, and might just have to stay three nights...

so yesterday i completed the 18km tongariro crossing, one of new zealand's "great walks" that takes you over rough volcanic terrain before dipping back into subtropical forests. it was absolutely stunning-- the pictures are going up on facebook and should be all ready by the end of this post. i tried doing a flickr account, but it takes ages to upload, so i dont know what i'm going to do about that... anyways...

the walk was really really exhausting-- not so much challenging as tiring, by the end of it i just wanted to chop my feet off. but it was also by far the coolest thing i've done yet. worth every sore muscle. i was hiking with 6 girls-- Nicole from Germany, Lindsay from Colorado, Julia from Switzerland, Anne and Annika from Sweden, and Perrin from France. We all got along really well and had a great time chatting away and hiking.

the days leading up to the crossing i was staying in lake taupo, nz's biggest lake which is easily the size of singapore. it was absolutely beautiful, and i pondered staying a bit longer and trying to find work on a farm somewhere in Acacia Bay... i decided to move on though. I took a sail around the lake in the Barnaby sailboat with Anne and Annika and it was absolutely lovely, it was so nice to be out on water again, and the size of the lake makes it feel almost like being on the ocean.

So, speaking of moving on-- I've found work on a farm near Picton, right where the ferry from Wellington (the capital of NZ, on the north island) lands on the south island. Its within the Marlborough region, also known as NZ's wine country. So naturally I'll be working on a vineyard, although given that it is not wine season, i'll be doing more general gardening and such. So here is the blurb on the farm from the WWOOF guidebook:

Glenmara:

"Vineyard, olive grove, vege garden, farm/homestay.

Our two generation family (Rob, Frances and Barbara - Frances' Mum) live 15 mins north east of Blenheim only 1km from the seaside. Our property and surrounds were originally sheep farming but the country side now supports mainly grape growing. We enjoy providing food from the garden for the table although we are not vegetarian and welcome non smokers. Help is required on the farm as well as general maintenance around the property. You will have to be happy with a large dog in the house and on the property. We have a cottage for home stay but generally Wwoofers will be hosted in the main house.

Sustainable vineyard and olive grove practices, organic vegetable garden."

So sounds pretty good, I'll be there from the 8th to the 18th of December before hopping back on to my stray bus tour in Picton and travelling to Abel Tasman and south along the west coast. My goal is to be in Franz Josef for xmas (to treat myself to a glacier walk for christmas...) and I've already booked my hostel in Queenstown for New Years-- maybe a bunjee to start off 2008? We'll see.

Anyways, i'm off to go cook some lunch. Sorry again about any errors or typos...

much love to everyone back home!!

love,
Alli