It was all a Dream

They say that time flies when your having fun. Well if that math is correct, then in NZ, time is in freefall. So I decided to join the club. Oh but that was only the third day...

Once upon a time ago, I departed from the cozy confines of WWOOFing, and fully embraced life on the road, or quite literally sometimes, life in a tent right next to it. This entailed subtracting certain luxuries from my lifestyle. Goodbye: such amenities like three full, and often delicious, meals a day, a cozy place to rest my noggin at night, and the knowledge of what the day ahead of me had in store. Hello: freezing balls while camping out on the southern side of the South Island, PB & J three times a day (as a result of my splendid mechanical skills, I've reduced my stove to a smouldering heap - which isn't as bad as it sounds, considering that I walked around with peanut butter and a spoon glued to each hand in the states anyways), and the 'knowledge' that I had no idea what was going to happen from one moment to the next. Despite this, let me assure you, the latter is something that I don't ever want to stray from again. When the plan is quite simply, 'there is no plan,' then all expectations go up in flames the same way my cooking device did. Which leaves each experience completely naked from any type of pre-conceived clothing that my mind could design. I'm quite the daydreamer, so this had the affect of peeling off a contact lens-like layer of stars, and left my clear eyes scanning the ground frantically for a flat place to pitch my tent for the night. So, I've been on a whirwind tour, constantly stimulated by new sights, sounds, people, ideas, thoughts, and the ridiculous lack of temperature that my already naturally cold blood isn't waving a '#1 fan' finger around for. To sit here and go through everything that I've stumbled upon would take a long time. I'm not saying I'm lazy, I think it's more along the lines of really really lazy. If you want to argue, then I point toward the fabled (and hopefully in this case correct) phrase: "a picture is worth a thousand words." So I've thrown together a couple of clicks that I think might give you an idea of what I've been through (plus a couple more to waste your time). Theres no real rhyme of reason to their order, because as I've already pointed out, structure has become something somewhat obsolete in my life. However, I WILL attempt to bullet point some of the highlights of this voyage. Key word: "attempt." Here goes.

-yes, did skydive. 15,000 ft. 60 sec. vertical freefall. 2 miles into clouds. still can't breathe. still have that stain on my boxers. or is that from not washing them in three weeks?
-hitchiked with an aussie woman. ended up having such a good time together that she sponsored a night in a hostel for the two of us. nobody get your panties in a bunch, shes in her late thirties with two kids. i got my panties in a bunch over the fact that she also payed for meals though.
-saw two glaciers. i am small.
-camped on a lake
-ate an avacado out of a trashcan. dont worry mom, i washed it off.
-camped next to a lake
-hitched a ride for a couple of days with a Taiwanese couple, who's noodles left an embarrassed Ramen running away with its tail between its legs
-camped near a lake
-been surrounded by freaking Moredoor from lord of the rings. everywhere i go. the mountains are constantly giving the finger toward the oblivion of upwards, they just explode out of the ground in some places
-took a boat cruise of MILFord Sound (i had to, sorry), and had to have set the record for most free hot chocolates/teas/coffees consumed on the tour. anyone think they can top twelve? needless to say, i got my moneys worth.
-fact: MILFord gets 200 days of rain a year, with an average of more than 275 inches a year (god you people in America make life tough with your stupid measurement system). record for 24 hours? two feet. apparently its keen on re-defining the term "pissing down" rain.
-hiked some mountains, ending up in a forest where every single tree had a six inch beard of moss covering all surfaces. made me jealous. because this miracle grow just wont get my beard to six inches.
-listened to birds. sounds like each broker in the NYSE got replaced by one of these jokers, and right in the middle of a stock market crash. one of these sounds like C3PO, or like a mockingbird that just dropped acid.
-camped out overlooking a lake
-thoroughly enjoyed camping on not so legal-spots near lakes
-resolved to get a deaf friend, a blind friend, and a cripple friend, as the first thing i do when i get back to america. parrots orders.
-CS'ed (couchsurfed) in invercargill, the self proclaimed 'anal wart of NZ,' with a truly amazing 6 ft 6 south african, who never wore shoes and was a hare krishna monk for 5 years, and a 5 ft kiwi girl that went on photo missions with me. i guess that the constant rain felt like it was its duty to try and be some type of savior solvent for the anal wart part. epic fail buddy. adverse affect.
-hitched with the first two obese people ive seen so far in NZ. you want irony? they run a doughnut stand.
-CS'ed with daniel boone re-incarnate (whose in this months national geographic), his girlfriend, and her little brother, all from the georgia/tennessee, and all true vagabonds, having globe-trotted like its their job. my heroes. kicked soccer balls at sheep, talked in russian accents, drank tea (shocker eh?), battled with strands of seaweed from the beach, baked the best bread ever, and listened to them jam out on their gittars. beautiful people. beautiful times.
-went up the steepest street in the world. while it was raining. with the gasoline light on. in a car that has difficulty waking up in the mornings. laughing like madmen. g-nius.
-hitched with a guy who kept telling me about his drunk driving charges...uhhh
-spent halloween with a german woman and a swiss fellow, tripping through sentences in german, and eating swiss chocolate. and yes, i camped out on a lake.

It's all a blur. There are far too many shades within, some illuminated, some left out. All I know is that I'm still living the dream.