Thigh Master

compost toilet. right out by the kitchen window..solar shower
one of the caravans and the place i was sleeping in to the left. and some little feijoa trees.
annie trying to get the fire started..


If a P.E. coach had told me to do squats/lunges for 3 hours solid, I would have used the words "sadistic", "crazy", "fired" and headed straight to the principal's office to complain. Yet there I was yesterday doing such things for harvesting feijoas.. My butt/legs may never be the same. And it was then I decided I needed to book it before peak season set it. When I first arrived we were doing 10 buckets. Yesterday it was 132. And it would be 200ish soon. Dont think so bud. So here I am in Gisborne once again staying at the Flying Nun hostel without much plans. I need to find a next wwoofing place soon. And today... I buy a ukelele!!!!!!!!! HUZZAH!!! As of right now I only know row row row your boat. but soon i shall be a master musician!

Ron

I may have picked both of these types of silver beet when I thought it was rhubarb. In my defense they look so different! So we put it in a vase for our centerpiece.

Hannah and Chris on a bike ride into town.


I swear Ron is unlike any other human being. He is so positive about everything. And wants to teach all about how to improve their life. Never have I seen a man so open to talk about anything and willingly admit that he cries about things. He is completely down to talk about periods, and when Bethany told him she had a waste free period his response: Congratulations. Share this knowledge with the other girls. hahahaha I die over this. We often wonder how in the world this man can exist, and i want to be just like him in his directness. There is zero skirting around issues but face them straight on with such grace. He is truly inspiring.

My last days are here at Harmony Farm and its so strange to be thinking of leaving. But I am too excited about my meditation! I cant wait for a bit of quiet and centering my life. Sometimes you need to get back to basics.

Today, Be Proud

Thought I would go to the Op Shop "Opportunity Shop", which is a good will, for some cheap loose meditation clothing. Went to the counter to purchase my two items and realized I left all my money back at the farm. No money? No problem. They said they trusted I would bring it back. I swear the people here are the nicest int the world.

I made feijoa jam yesterday! It is so delicious!

There is a French guy at the farm and I just want to live his life in France. He just appreciates every little thing in life. And his one liners. Ahhh. "This is the way", "Be proud", and about Ron "he is everything". hahaha all are so true. And he just wants to sit and watch the sunset. I love it. To him you just need to enjoy.

At the library there are always these school kids who seem to have nothing better to do than sit around playing games. And have really bad language. I'm not sure where their parents are. so weird. and count down for the amount of time each person has left. so annoying.

Easter Sunday

Today Bethany, Annie, and I woke up at 5am for a Maori Catholic service on a hill wher we would sing to a guitar and watch the sunrise. A nice lady named Heather was gracious enough to come pick us up when Bethany went into town to find out service times. Girlfriend even offered us a place to stay if we ever need one. Kiwi's are the friendliest by far! They were self proclaimed rebels of the presbeterian religion. The best kind. Porriage and toast was eaten after. That crowd was a hoot, we have an interview set up to be in the town newspaper. People just love me wherever I go. For morning tea I made everyone pancakes along with homemade syrup. I am becoming a chef master! Tonight I made feijoa upside cake mmhmmm. Called my gma and parents which was ever so exciting :) my dad is going back to HP world!! so jelly! the best part of the day was eating the mini Cadbury creme eggs i bought especially the occasion. i got accepted for a free 10 day meditation course!! its very intensive where u wake up at 4:30am and you honestly meditate all day with a bit of time for group meditation. its going to be brilliant! annie will be doing the same course, but you arent allowed to speak or show body language so we are devising a secret movement. updates on that later. i just finished The Book Thief. amazing!! even though they tell you how it would end you were still surprised. such a great book.
things i have learned today: when someone asks you if you want to talk about ot/something, say yes. also, tea is always the athe way to go.

Priority

Just saw all the pictures from my Aunt's wedding and oh it looked like quite an event! While I'm sad to have missed it everyone looked to have a great time. I'm so excited for them!

We biked into town today and boy oh boy does that take much time off the travel. It went so fast! Why don't I bike everywhere? Ideas.

Thoughts..

I read Dan Brown's new book and it was really good until the ending. Let down baby. Next on my list is Omnivore's Dilemma. I have heard most of it in documentaries and what not but need all the info.

I love hearing everyone's story and what they are passionate about. Its inspiring that people can be so driven to do good.

I am learning to use the word priority. To say "this is a priority" this is not a priority. how it feels when you say them and if it doesn't sound right then you know what matters and what doesn't. Rather brilliant.

I'm learning so much from people and especially the host Ron that its almost overwhelming. How am I going to remember it all? Another thing I'm learning to do: remembering.

Because I'm a Lady

In which we discuss all the reasons I'm not a lady as of recent, including all forms of bodily functions. Spoiler: you probably do not want to read this. But I feel for honesty sake I'll be telling the real deal.

I'm in Otaki at Harmony Farm that grows fejoas, so yum! German Hannah has sadly left but she left me a 10 cent piece and a hankey an old man gave her when she was in hospital due to her eye swelling that she couldn't see. Both I will obviously cherish. In her place is now Bethany from Scotland- the first mellow Scot I have met. She is a total lady. Kris the guy with an annoying answer for everything even though no one asked is here as well but I secretly hope he leaves. Life on the farm is always a treat. And could most possibly be called a hippie residence. You pee outside. Because duh the plants need it. There is a compost toilet. A solar shower outdoors for your convenience. aboth have a bamboo type wall that isn't completely obscurring. And you can always decide for a hot bucket shower under the stars when you don't want the sometimes cold water. Ron is so into it it's awesome. We just decided to do morning yoga all together. We need it desperately with the gazillion squats/lunges you do picking up the fejoas. They are only ripe when they fall from the tree..

well I'm late for oragami and drying my tea leaves I picked earlier. Who knew being a hippie was so relaxing :)

Timing Is Everything

My bus was set to arrive at 4:15pm, and that's exactly what I told Ron from Harmony Farm. I waited there for 40 minutes and realized nope he is not coming. Found a lad at the coffee shop across from the stop who offered to give me a ride. On the way he said he had a crazy long day at work. I asked what he did. His reply: crime. uhhh ok. and he was in a gang, which was why he had left for so many years. but its ok because they are all dead now after taking bad drugs. so he's back! But he needs to do crime so he can have money the govnt wont take from him. bc he has so many kids he needs to pay for. yea alright.

The place I'm staying at is a fejoa farm and they are so yummy! my new specialty is fejoa and rhubarb crumble. sort of a nightly thing. the kids im staying with are so outrageous. ones from germany and the other from the states. there is no wifi/internet there and we just walked/shared bikes an hour to get to the library but now its about to close. and the usb doesnt work so no pictures for the next 2 weeks. though i just checkout out dan brown's new book! i didnt even know he had one!

have to go and see if we can hitch back because people, its a jungle out there.