20060127

In The Darkness of My Night


Last night I slept in my car in a fairly remote residential area here in Wanaka. It was hot as blazes outside so I slept with my windows rolled all the way down. AT approximately 4 a.m. a head popped through the window directly next to me. Some noise awoke me and I groggely opened my eyes to see the slightly illuminated figure of a teenage girl peering at me from a few feet away, she was by herself. A coversation ensued:
Girl: Hey man, wake up, man, man, wake up!
Collin: Please go away.
Girl: No seriously, do you have a lighter I could borrow?
Collin: A lighter?
Girl: Yes, I need a lighter.
Collin: No, I don't have a lighter.
Girl: Oh, well would you mind if I pee behind your car then?
Collin: Yes, you may pee behind my car.
girl: Thank you.

And then my ears were delighted to hear the glorious sounds of a drunk teenage girl whizzing a few feet from my car door. She finished and left and I quickly rolled up the windows, locked the doors, and peered around before heading back off to la-la land a bit confused.
Today was my first day washing dishes at a cafe here in wanaka called, "ritual espresso". Usually I think of washing dishes as being an incredibly boring and crap job, but I actually enjoyed work today. The boss and owner was incredibly nice and didn't treat me like the dish-pig I am. They fed me a great lunch, slammed espresso down my mouth, gave me food to take home, and poured me a couple of glasses of beer to sip on while I did the dishes. Not bad at all...perhaps I will be able to handle working 7 days a week....Ok, well I'm going to off to enjoy the rest of this saturday before work tomorrow morn. Someone asked me today how long it had been since I'd slept in a shower and I thought about it and realized that it had been 10 days. Since it has been ten days since a hostel that logically means it has been 10 days since I have had a shower. I tried to justify not having a shower for so long by explaining that I swim in the lake everyday, but I was immediately met by shouts of "Dirty American Pig!".
If tonight someone asks me to pee behind my car I am going to tell them no, no you can't pee behind my car.

20060126

Crawling Back to the Grape


HoY Hoy-
I've settled down a bit in the last few days having secured myself a position on one of the vineyards near a small desert-like town called, "Cromwell". The vineyard I work for is called, "gibberston valley", and they produce pinot noir. In 2000 their pinot noir garnished worldwide acclaim by winning "Best Pinot Noir" (in the world, apparenlty). A bottle of their wine costs about 40 bucks here (haven't tasted it yet, although I can get them for 1/2 price). Anyway, the job is plush. The pace of work is much more slower than the work I was doing in vineyards up north. I don't hear any yelling and no one peeks over your back every two minutes. Nice and Relaxed. So, I got that job and I also have another job in another town about 30 miles away. Tomorrow I am washing dishes in a small cafe in a town called, "wanaka". So, I guess I am going to work 7 days a week for as long as I can withstand it. I might as well make as much money as possible. I am currently without a home, so I have been sleeping next to a lake which is in close proximity to the vineyard. It's odd to wake up in a tent, cook breakfast on a camping stove, and then head off for an eight hour day. It's cheap and easy to live next to the lake, but I'm not sure I would be able to stand it for too long, it might get pretty old. I think I am going to look for long-term accomodation in wanaka over the next few days here. The vineyard will pay for my petrol to drive back and forth so it doesn't sound too bad to me. My very tall (6'7) german friend, Martin, secured the job at the vineyard for me and he is also camping out next to the lake. We both plan on doing some back-packing trips together in about a month, so it makes it much easier for us to plan if we are living near eachother. Today was a ridiculously hot and dry day. Cromwell is only able to support vineyards due to massive amounts of irrigation. Everyday after work I drive to the lake and immediately take a dip, not a bad way to end a day.
SOyonara

20060121

Crime and Punishment


Hello-
This morning I awoke inside my car. The seats recline fairly far back and if I situate my little pillow "just so" the night usually passes quickly. I awoke and slid over to the driver seat and drove for two minutes down to the edge of Lake Wanaka. It's a beautiful warm blue lake with great mountains surrounding it. I cooked up my oatmeal and got some hot water going for my morning cup of joe. After breakfast I took a dip in the lake. The lake water here is incredibly warm in comparison to most lakes back in montana. The dip in the lake acts as both my wake-up/refreshing period and as a partial cleansing in order to stave off the stink which will slowly grip me if I continue to sleep and live in a car. Today I plan on walking around this small tourist type town in search of employment. I've seen some places that look pretty good. I'm in the market for some sort of job that will be incredibly intellectually stimulating so I am aiming for either dishwasher or ice-cream scooper. My fingers are crossed! I just started reading a book entitled, "crime and punishment" by the russian author Dostoyevsky. It was written in the mid-1800's, but the subject matter and wording of the literature seems very modern to me. I've been fairly engrossed in it since I found it at a shop around here for fifty cents. He's one of those authors I had always planned on reading but I had somehow always slipped by him. Well, hopefully I land a job here in wanaka so I can start saving up some cash to do some more tramping. There are some pretty intriguing national parks down around this area. I'm looking to tramp in Fiordland NP, Stewart island (the little island south of NZ...It is 90% national park and the chances of spotting a real live kiwi-bird down there are pretty high), and Mt. Aspiring NP. I'm heading back to Missoula mid may, so I am going to try to cram in as much hiking-action as possible in the next months.
Au Revoir!
Collin

20060118

Tomorrow will be the same but not as this is.

Hi.
Well, I am in a little town named Wanaka right now. I've been camping out in arthur's pass national park for the last 5 days and now I have decided to return to civilazation for a bit. My time in Arthur's pass was incredibly unique. I spent nearly 4 days in total solitude. I'd wake in the morning and brew up some coffee and then head off for a six hour hike up some peak nearby. Upon completion of the hike I'd return to my campsite and read until dinner. After I gorged myself on cous-cous I'd retire to my tent for a night of quiet contemplation. It was a pretty solid routine I had and I am kind of sorry to see it go, but alas I must find work soon to support my lifestyle (whatever that may be). I think I'll camp out around this town for a bit until I hear word from a friend of mine about potential job opportunities nearby. I just finished reading catch-22 the other day. I was living in that book! I loved it! Yossarrian Lives!

20060112

old photo


Stefanie (german-lady) Myself (collin) Carthage (Irish)

20060109

MT. Cook


Check it again!

Rees and Dart


Check it!

The Beard Diaries

Hogwash!
It's been far too long since I've updated this little journal and I am going to do my darndest to catch up. Mark arrived on the 25th of december and since then life has been a mellow/chaotic scramble to get from one beautiful national park to the next. Mark and I got up to some seriously good tramping in arthur's pass national park before the new year. We were joined by an american friend of mine named, byron (the dude that drove me from auckland to wellington in his superb van). Lachie arrived on the 29th and we all spent our new year's up in the woods outside of christchurch. I backpacked in 3 litres of cheap wine, so our new year's eve party had a little bit of a spark. We didn't make it to midnight. Man, I feel like old man and man I'm not even 25. Mark left on the 2nd, but lachie has been travelling with me since then and we have been having a seriously good time. seriously. We spent three days driving in the car getting chased from one national park to the next due to an immense amount of rain on the western portion of the south island. Lachie and I finally arrived in Mt. Aspiring national park and just yesterday completed a four day trip up the Rees River and down the Dart River. We trampled through incredible amounts of mud (sometimes up to my knee), and scrambled down some questionable loose gravel. The area we were in was incredible. we walked through valleys with Great high peaks covered in snow above us while sun shined down all around. We had a few rainey days, but that just added to the experience, making every hour passed that much more memorable.
Tomorrow lachie and I are going to be in Mt. Cook national park. We plan on doing a one nighter up to a hut at the base of MT. Cook. I'm really looking forward to it since every photo I've seen of the area has been outta this world.
It's been great having lachie and mark as travel-mates here in new zealand. Having good friends around has given me a new perspective on the overseas/wandering hobo experience I am currently engrossed in.
I've left out huge chunks of great stuff, but unfortunately I don't have too much time on the comp. I'm gonna get pictures up one day, I swear. I hope you are doing great.
Your Faithful Servant,
Popeye Pruitt
P.S. Lachie and I have been growing our beards for quite some time and a good portion of every evening is spent combing and manicuring each delicate hair.