I have found paradise!

Welcome to a land full of mountains, where "expensive" fish and chips are 4.80. Welcome to a land where everyone is friendly, to place where the trout are as big as my leg, a place where there are no hunting seasons or regulations. A place where I can wear a t-shirt in the winter but still get to snowboard

A place where complete strangers will go the extra mile for you.

WELCOME TO NEW ZEALAND!

So yeah, you guessed it. I love this place. It is the first place that I can imgaine living that isn't Alberta. This place is the perfect spot for me, I don't want to ever leave, unless it's temporarily.

We arrived at Midnight on monday.

Annette was so good to come and pick us up so late!

We awoke the next morning to find the most amazing scene from the bedroom window, with white capped mountains and beautiful plains, side by side; one after the other.

Beautiful

It's quite here

The Air is clean and fresh

So far we have been supposed to be working on the ouse as room and board and I don't feel like we have accomplished much for our wonderful hosts. Monday should get some stuff done.

So we have already accomplished one of my "Very Important Things To Do" List and that is

WILD BOAR HUNTING! with KNIVES

Today we were taken out by a local guy that the Shakeys know, to the mountains where, by the aide of his dogs, chased wild boar!! I got my first boar, and it was with my knife. Here's the drill:

you let the dogs go

they find a boar and start making alot of noise

you find them and kill the boar with a knife

everyone celebrates

The only downside was that my boar was the biggest of the day but still only weighed about 10 pounds. Not too dangerous, but now I know the drill and hopefully will get another chance to pick on one my own size, literally!!

Next thing is I am meeting a local fly fishing guide to talk a fishing trip, maybe he'll take us out for free....

thanks for reading!

End of Australia

So our time in Austrlaia has ended. All good things must come to and end right? Worng, Heaven doesn't end, so it's just the rest of the good things that end!

So basically we worked two weeks pulling runners off strawberry plants, and I know what you're thinking.... "that doesn't sound very exciting..." and you're wrong.... It's much much much more boreing than that! But we had good people to work for, work with and stay with, so what more could a couple of beggars ask for?

As a whole the last time spent in Australia was quite uneventful. The most exciting thing that didn't happen was me, wrestling a kangaroo. Poker night kinda took that one from me....


Darn


So now it is time to leave yet some more friends. Merv and Marilyn Schiffke were our wonderful bosses! Donna our great supervisor and all our co-workers were cool too! Tracey and John Denman once again exceeded our expectations at hospitality and we really enjoyed spending time with them and their family, so THANK YOU all of you!

One or two or three tidbits of bad news. We couldn't seel our surf boards because it is winter right now and no one wants them, so the Denmans will hold on to them for a few months to sell them for us then. Our car was sold for 100 bucks. Ask Jordo for that story... hmmm... and last of all, on my flight to NZ my camping stove was taken off me because it smelled like kerosene. I was SOOO mad. It's one thing if at the beginning of the trip they say you can't take a stove and you have to leave it at home, but to take away from you halfway through the trip so that there is no way to get it home but to spend more than it is worth in shipping costs.... arrgghh!!! I am getting steamed up again, I might even "lose my rag" (a cool new term I learned today...) So now a stove that cost me 90 bucks back home would cost me 120 to ship home or 200 to buy here..... stupid

Now to NZ

Yeah ye horay he he haa ho! Yipeee!

So the last little bit of our time in Australia has been pretty wonderful!! Here's what went down...

We left the strawberry farm and drove inland to Twonsville and decided that although Cairns is a "have to see" we didn't rely need to drive all the extra way just to turn around again. So we found a nice parking lot to stay in while we were in Townsville. Across the street from us was an info place and it was there that we found diving courses advertised. So we signed up and went to magnetic Island. We were there for four nights (part of the course was accomodation at a youth Hostel), and that was good because we weren't sleeping in the car and we could hang out with some guys from the course, but it was annoying because of the loud dance-crap music all night. Also while I was there someone stole my fishing rod...... so angry..... Who steals a fishing rod?

scum...

Anyways we got to dive lots and saw a bunch stingrays and fish... cool stuff. I think I am addicted to diving now, because it is just a whole other world!!

From townsville we drove to Hervey Bay where we met up with a friend from Melbourne and then went camping at Rainbow Beach. We heard there was good surf at double island point just south of Fraser island. Sounds good we thought. Turns out that you need a four wheel drive to get back there. Mine is in Canada, so it is not much good and the Ford Falcon EA Station wagon just doesn't cut it.

So why not pack it in?

So we did.
It was an eight kilometre hike to the freshwater campground. That is with all of out backpacking stuff PLUS surfboards. It took about 2 hours... Not too bad. Tommorrow we will get to surf and that is awesome. The next morning we start the hike to Double island point. We though about 8 kms, no gear except for surf boards, so that's easy. We were bare foot and by the time we made it to the point my feet felt like someone has smashed the bottom of them with a sledge hammer!!! And it turns out that it was more like 10 kms up the beach.... another 2 hours. So we get to this spot and I am sore but the place is PERFECT! There were 3 other guys surfing and the wave broke nicely from one end to the other.... beautiful. So we got about 3 hours of surfing in and met some famous Wildlife Artists (the other guys that were surfing) and even got to borrow their Long Boards (9'1") and started the long hike back.....

Starving.....

sooo hungry.....I lost thirteen pounds....okay so not 13 but anyway, it took another 2 hours and was sooooo painful and LOOOng oh man... Anyway, while we were surfing that all felt worthwhile but then the next morning we had to hike out with ALL the gear again and I second guessed why we did it, but we did and the surf was awesome.so yeah, work for your surf.

After that little adventure we were glad to sit in the car again for a few hours. So we drove down to Lennox Head and found some surf at Boulders Beach (My favorite spot in all of Australia). And were ready to sleep in the car again when Tommy called and told us to come over. So we did and we spent a week with his family. We had such a good time. I love surfing and I got to surf everyday and sometimes three times a day. It was good aye!? Even better, one of the girls that goes to Tom's church is a Marine biologist and so we went diving with her at Byron Bay and we saw two 7 foot sharks a couple of sea turtles, a moray eel, barracuda, moorish idols, and so many cool fish. I love diving!!

They had a going away party/bonfire for us on thursday night and it was sad to say goodbye to so many good people! Now we are at the Denman house again, ready to work hard and earn some cash for NZ!! We are gong to try selling the car and surfboards (sniff..... soooooo sad.... the board I learned on I have to say good bye to...) this week so pray that God provides someone to buy a dodgey car from a couple of honest guys... We already had one kid that wanted to buy it until we were honest with him.... I don't know how that will go...

Anyway that all the news for now! Thanks for reading this if you did and my blessings to all of you out there!