Granite, Westcoast

Heya everybody!

Jesus I'm having such a great time. I don't even know where to start. Made my way over from Christchurch to the farm I'm working on last Monday. It's so beautiful here. In Christchurch I felt like I was at home, just in the summer. But here I really feel like I'm on the other side of the world. I'm staying with a gentleman who grows all his own food hydroponically, so it's not a farm per se, but Iv been getting in some good old fashioned manual labor doing chores; painting the roof, cleaning gutters, learning about the hydroponic process. The house is right against a mountain covered in thick jungle, and across the street is the sapphire blue Tasman sea.  He only has me working 5 hours a day, with lunch in between, so after three the day is mine. I climbed the mountain behind us, went off path so I could do some climbing... got pretty scraped up after I fell off a ledge, but I managed to make it to the top where I found an abandoned coal mine. Been enjoying a walk along the beach at night to watch the sunset, then usually head in to town to the pub where I've been meeting more great people. Crazy shit has been happening to me every day, you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you half of it, I'm  still trying to believe some of it myself.

I'm doing great. Apart from some sunburn and some new bruises, I have nothing to complain about. I'm set up in my own caravan which is fully equipped with TV, movies, electricity, wifi, and my favorite, a queen sized bed. Iv been here about a week, but I'm starting to get pretty comfortable, so I'm going to head out in a few day to change the scenery. Earlier I mentioned I would be doing the Abel Tessman, which I was wrong about. It's called the Heaphy trek, which follows the coast up to the top of the island, and that should only take me about 5 days. Hopefully il meet up with Seany after that at Golden Bay, then take a ferry over to Wellington for a week of vacation.

You can send me packages or letter, which would be greatly appreciated, to the adress I posted on Facebook. Also while your there check out one of the commercial I helped make which helped fund this trip. If you look real, real hard you might even see me at the end of it. Time is moving at a perfect pace, I'm having so much fun it's flying by, but I'm also excited to get home and start my garden and apply for college, so that slows it down a bit.

Il try and post more frequently so I can remember to include som details... Apart from the climate one thing that reminds me I'm away from home is the birds and the sky. I've been noting some really cool creatures, Tui, Kea, Fantails, all of which have very exotic calls. The sky here is upside down, there's no man in the moon, but there is a rabit. Iv been finding some pretty cool constellations you can't see from the northern hemisphere, and you can't see the North Star here.

Sending loving vibes back home, hope you all weather that snowstorm alright :D

Call me beep me if you want to reach me,

Peace and love, Jake.