sun shattered down on the rain soaked ground

Hi///
Ah Ha, another monday and it was a pretty good one. I worked with the same group all day at work today, so while we picked leaves and tore things off we had quite a few interesting conversations. My Irish friend, Carthage, whom I met in Wellington, is not living here in blenheim and also works with me. He's an incredible character and is captivating no matter what topics he seems to start discussing. Also, a funny thing, today my boss yelled from across the vineyard at an older women worker, "shut your mouth, do what your told you old bag!". I was laughing hysterically. What other job would a boss yell that at an employee, espescially with everyone listening? I am going to relax tomorrow evening and head to the cinemas for a much overdue dose of film. I am going to watch the latest anthony hopkins joint it's called, "the world's fastest indian", or something along those lines. Nearly everyone I am in contact with here has seen it, and they all rave, nonstop./

takin' 'em off here, boss.

I will forever respect the Grape!
I will forever cherish and savour each sip of wine I get!
These are two mantras that shall forever run through my head whenever I speak or think of wine. The last three days have been filled with hard slave-like labour and I am little too sore tonight for comfort. Eight hours, in the sun, on your knees, picking at leaves, does that sound like relaxing? No, no, it's really not that bad. I just love to brag of my misery. The crew I work with and my boss are pretty interesting/entertaining people, so my day drags by a little faster than it would seem possible. My boss is an absolutely gigantic individual. He's maori (kind of looks samoan) and bald and loves to yell about the most mundane bullshit known to man. He is totally ridiculous, and an absolute liar, but I laugh a lot at the spectacle he puts on. a lot of the people I work with are characters.....straight out of novels. Old men and women and young teenagers..the whole works...It's very diverse and very different from the usual work scene back in MT. While working I spend most of my time discussing important topics like ice cream. Just today I screamed, "Hokey pokey!, that's not an ice cream, chocolate, now that is an ice cream!"...very important stuff. The sun is absolutely blasting and before work I pretty much lather myself in sunscreen from head to toe. the boss has huge speakers in his van and every once in awhile he puts them on the roof and blasts music across the fields while we work. Today david bowie and the rolling stones occupied the airwaves...I'm pretty much exhausted after a day of work, so I usually rinse off my filth and lay around and read my book, that's the extent of it.Well, I must go, but make sure and look for a bottle of wine produced in the marlborough sounds in a couple years, perhaps my blood and sweat and tears will be present in the delicious nectar. I feel sore and bad, but otherwise my spirits are doing pretty intensely good. BYE BYE!

Hark! the angels sing, "OH! Blenheim OH!"

Hi-
Well, I made it to Blenheim and now I am currently staying in a nice hostel called, "the grapevine". It has sort of a college-house kind of feel to it and everyone knows one another so it makes for a relaxed atmosphere. The internet here is ridiculously expensive ($6 an hour), so I can't use it too often, so don't feel neglected when I don't write to ya. I start work in a vineyard tomorrow. I'll probably be doing mindless physical labor in the hot sun, but I don't think I'll care too much, at the very least I will have minimal responsibility, and that sounds good to me. I should be here until x-mas, saving money and chilling out. I believe I'll buy a very cheap car from another person living here, that way I'll be able to do some backpacking in the national parks (kiwis call backpacking "tramping", or going on a "walk"). Well, I should take advantage of this internet time and get some business done. Smell You Later.

Up 'n' down through the blues the skies give me my silent cues

Hello,
I'm still kicking it here in Nelson, but I plan on moving on tomorrow. I've been kicking back and forth ideas for work over the last couple of days and I have decided to head to a small town called, "blenheim". From Blenheim I should be able to work in the vineyards. Blenheim is apparently a big wine producing area, and cheap labor, such as myself, is in high demand. I plan on staying there about a month and hopefully saving somewhere near a grand. I'll quit around x-mas and then travel around for a month or so. Anyway, i figure if the job is too terrible I'll just quit and move on to the next, no worries.
It's been rainy and cruddy here in nelson my entire stay, so my spirit has been lower than usual. Well, I'll let you know how I feel after working a day in the fields.

On The Strength of The German Thumb

Kind Ladies and Kind Gentlemen-
What's cookin? It seems as though a lot has happened to me since my last posting, so I will attempt to edit out the mundane garbage and hit the high-lights. I took a ferry from wellington across cook strait to a small port town called, "Picton", two days ago. The ferry was incredibly scenic, and by chance I was adopted by a group of travelling germans as their honorary american. They practiced their english on me, and I got some interesting info out of them about their daily lives in the home land. The wind on the ferry was something fierce, but it was damn fun to lean against the wind without falling down. All of the germans and myself stayed in the same hostel upon arrival in Picton, so we got a chance to sip on some beers and get a little loose. One of the german girls, Stefanie, decided to hitch-hike with me today to a beach town called, "Nelson". She is a pretty interesting individual and laughs at damn near everything I say. I'm not sure if this is due to my hilarity, or to the fact that she probably doesn't understand what I am saying, either way it is a great boost to my self-esteem. Stefanie is an incredible hitch-hiker, I've never seen such aggresive tactics. She gets herself damn near in the road and jams her thumb out at every passing car, a huge smile on her face. I sat back, relaxed, twirled my mustache, and let the rides pour in. A scotsman and his wife picked us up. They were truely too kind. Half-way through the trip to nelson they stopped at a pub and bought us a couple pints of beer...Extraordinary! Front door service to our hostel! Now I am in Nelson with a belly-full of tomato soup. I'm not sure what my plans are from here on out, but I can safely bet that I will stay in Nelson tomorrow and attempt to hit the beach and wash my foul clothing. I hope you are doing well and I'll post another message when something exciting happens. Soyonara!

The Harbour is an Ironing Board

Well, I've got a plan now, and I'll be damned if I don't stick to it. In two days I am going to cross to the south island and then hitch-hike around from there. The s. island is apparently very easy to get around on (according to some guy). I'm hoping to work for accomodation in a lot of the hostels I hit along the way, stretching my pennies as far as they go. When my pennies run out It's to the fruit-picking fields to earn some extra cash..Mark and Lachie, two australians I met in the netherlands, plan on making a trip over here in late december, so I am planning on setting some time aside to travel with them, there's no way I could miss out on that. I'd kick myself for the rest of my days. Other than that, tonight I am going to see a movie called, "thumbsucker". Mr. Ari Teichman recommended it to me awhile back and luckily I get the chance to see it here in Wellington. I spend most of my day out of the hostel walking the streets. I can't really stand being around all those people for too long, but everyone else in the hostel seems to dig it. I took a great walk last night along the harbor, I made it pretty far actually. It was very windy out and the clouds were just flying by in the dark.

stuck up in Wellington, again

Still hanging around wellington attempting to catch my breath. I've fired off a few resumes to some prospective employers on the South Island, but unfortunately I have yet to get a reply. Damn them all, they don't know what they are missing! Anyway, last night this swedish dude drug me out to the bars along with an english girl. It was fun, but eventually the two of them slowly just chatted to eachother and I kind of just looked on and stroked my mustache. It was still fun though, and i got some free drinks. Well, tonight I am going to a free film entitled, "Discovering Electronic Music". It should be neato. I used the dryer in the hostel this morning and now all my clothes have a sort of odd weird reek to them. I can't really afford to wash them again, so I guess I have to go through the days stinking. Tis Life

WELLINGTON>>>>DREAMING

So, I travelled down the length of the north island from Auckland to Wellington and here I sit in the back of some chinese restauraunt using their cheap internet. Wellington is an incredibly beautiful city with a lot of character. It's sort of a like a clean San francisco. It's very easy to navigate and for right now it seems like a pretty damned good place to stick around for a few days, espescially since the hostel I am staying in is pristine. I'm on the lookout for work, so I've spending a few hours a day trying to find something suitable outside of wellington. I'd like to head down to the south island and work somewhere near the national parks that are down there. It'd be nice to be able to hike around on my off days, and perhaps I could work with a crew of travellers like myself. Who knows? Today I hiked to the top of Mt. Victoria here in wellington. The view was sensational and I took some time out there to chill out and listen to some tunes. right now I am going to the big museum here in Wellington with a swedish dude named, "christian" that I met yesterday. should be a good time.

ellemeno P

HI!
Well, today is kind of a down day after heading out to a bar last night with a bunch of drunk strangers (I sat quietly in the corner twirling my one foot long mustache). I need to pick up a phone and then figure out where I am going to go tomorrow. I'll tell you one thing- I need outta auckland. It's too busy, too many people, and doesn't fit my idea of new zealand at all. However, it's the one place you can get all of you business attended to, I'll give it that. All of my hostel buddies left this morning, so i guess it is time to find some new ones. "excuse me, I am a lonely american, will you be my friend?".

tanglewood numbers

Man,
I am ridiculously sore today..Way way too much walking yesterday. I sat in the lobby of the hostel for a bit and then met a german girl named Katrin. We hit the road and spend 6 or 7 hours walking the streets of auckland. It was nice to get a perspective on what this city is all about. I think I am leaving tomorrow and heading north by bus, not 100% sure though. Today I've got business to attend to,

everything hits at once

OH, hi.
I made it to auckland and now I sit here at this comp paying way too much money for a few seconds to type. My flight was pretty damn smooth. I slept nearly the whole time thanks to a couple glass of old red red wine. It's 8am now, and I am smelly, and I am waiting to get into my room at 10am, so I can drop off my big bag and then go hit the city for a cup of hot black joe. Not much else to report. I feel pretty darned good right now....

))<>(( FOREVER.

Well, I leave in 15 mins. Soyonara!