first off, i want to thank EVERYONE who wished me a happy birthday! you guys are way too sweet to remember. funny thing is that i had 2 birthdays since new zealand is a day ahead of the states and europe :) another funny thing is that i thought it would be a lonely birthday, but luckily harvest has yet to fully start (which does suck because of all the !@#% cleaning i've been doing) and, best of all, the cool cats at craggy range organized a surprise dinner party for me!! but that's not the best part...the best part is that i didn't even realize it was supposed to be a surprise because we had already talked about getting together to get drinks. when i arrived and saw everyone, i just thought that i was late. i also caught their lookouts off guard since i came in a different way. i guess since i totally didn't expect it, i was so surprised that i wasn't surprised. (sorry i stuck that last sentence in to see how many times i could use "surprise")
so, as you can see above, new zealand is unbelievably beautiful. i went to the top of Te Mata peak, which you can see from my cottage, in order to get the best view of Hawke's Bay. the great thing is that you can actually see the landmark winery for Craggy Range (they have another one where all the gritty stuff gets done 30 minutes away), which makes for a great view if you go paragliding. i would love to paraglide into work one day...i'll have to look into that. the other photo is a black pebble beach that i stumbled upon when i was sightseeing in Napier. i just took a moment to breathe in and daydream. but if that doesn't make you love new zealand, well they've got bikers too (see below) and these bikers shoot themselves like they do in america! they also like to make fun of the French (tres desoles, mesdames et messieurs).
well, work has been work. Craggy is awesome with an awesome staff. it is the biggest winery i've worked at so it's been interesting trying to get in the groove of large-scale as well as getting over slight vertigo as i learn to climb barrel stacks and walk on catwalks. they are also super into cleaning (note to you davis kids)...a helluva lot more than in france! the joy of all this barrel washing i've been doing is that i get to use the most phallic looking barrel washers, which is made all the more funny when they were telling me how to use it by going down the middle of the barrel to find the (bung)hole. i know, i know, very childish of me to giggle but it was quite funny.
i have yet to jump into a touch rugby game because i've got to learn their spiral throw first and they're a bit competitive (there have already been a rash of injuries and scrapes). but the last fun thing at work is that i had the chance to drive a stickshift pick-up to get diesel fuel...and without my stickshift mentor jenn by my side! jenn you would have been so proud of me. there was only 30 minutes 'til the end of shift so i was tempted to let this task go (also because i was afraid to spill diesel fuel everywhere and all over me) but i shook it off and did it. silly thing to be proud of, i know, but i was very proud of myself that day.
besides work, i've done very little sightseeing (maybe because i've had sightseeing overload). i did drive to lake taupo and to the volcanoes (where they filmed mordor scenes for lord of the rings...the photo with half of a volcano showing was the stand-in for mt. doom). but as you can see below, it's still gorgeous! i even went up the chairlift to get a view of a potential skiing area if i end up having time at the end of my stay. skiing on an active volcano that is predicted to go off in a month or so...priceless...
p.s. i'll let you know who wins the concentrated salty yeast extract battle
anyway, if you can ever climb it (not too bad at about 2 hours roundtrip), do it! the path is on private property so you have to go to the Duke of Edinburgh hotel in Porangahau and ask if they can call up Airlie Scott (i think that's how you spell his name) and get permission to go on his land. then you just buy him a couple of beers and drive on over. you'll have to also find his unmarked house (by the bridge). the trail is just on grazing land, so there are no markers per se except for some green arrows spraypainted onto the metal fences keeping the sheep in line. but once you get to the top, the view is spectacular! i guess it's a circuitous route so that you can keep walking and go down through someone else's private property. we tried and found the bench to be used in order to climb over the barbed wire fence (see photo below...that's my new roommate Marine from Toulouse), but there was definitely no trail markers so we just went down the same way since we had a party to make that night.
