the holidays!

well, we finished most of the crazy animal farm work. now it's time for the relaxation on the farm (we're not doing much until after the holidays... so in our free time, we've been doing a lot of hunting (and fencing... i'm pretty cut up from rolling up barbed wire and netting and all kinds of rusty shit). but back to the hunting. i've been killing rabbits and goats. the boys even got a deer. my best shot was a goat from 200 meters away... i think piers was proud. but the hunting includes fishing... we've been adventure fishing by setting out nets off the coast of the farm... getting pummelled by waves (well the boys did, not me... i'm smarter than that... for now). our most glorious 48 hours was when we caught 3 sharks off coast of the farm (yeah we ate one for dinner tonight) and in the morning, we caught 45 crayfish (these are huge... lobster size) and some butterfish. mmm. anyway, it was awesome and i've never seen the boys more excited.

so besides hunting and fencing, i've also been eating lots of plums that are everywhere... holy crap they're so good. oh and christmas here was nice. it was a hot sunny day and i got to drink for all of it and the food was great and the presents were adorable and the company was really nice. all in all, a great christmas. hopefully new years eve will be sweet, also. i'm not worried.

anyway, i finally got around to putting up some photos from ages ago... so they are, but better late then never, right?

here's back to the trip to stewart island with sean:






sean managed to get a seal to attack him... which was a bit scary, but he was faster than it...



then we went to ulva island... which is like a mini stewart island where there are lots of crazy birds and no animals




even though it looks warm, it was cold on ulva island:








the ocean was too rough to take the ferry back to the south island of new zealand, so we had to fly out on this scary 10 person (including pilot) airplane... which almost crashed as we watched it land from the insane winds... but it was really cool:


then we hitched up to lake tekapo and saw this (day 1):

day 2 (here's that snow i was talking about):

day 3 (still freezing, but looks better):





here's some photos from when we watched joanie's triathalon...
here's joanie and piers:

toby (yeah he's 16):

me angry that my picture is being taken:

toby and ben showing off their guns (which is all they talk about):

me doing what i do best... eating:


now here's photos of bunny (i know you remember that story):






here's a random shot of toby in the yards when we were doing weening (they're probably about 1000 sheep in the yards at that minute... but obviously you can't see the whole area...)


here's the campus board i keep talking about:


toby after he shot and carried back his first deer:


piers and ben looking for deer and goats and pigs to shoot:


mike (this kid visiting from england), piers, and ben hunting on the king's farm looking at parikawa:



still more shooting:


nasty, but artsy shot of a bunny ben shot with a gun meant for bigger animals:


hunting night sunset:


and finally, a photo of me about 1.5 or 2 weeks ago... i'm a bit fat but oh well, but you can really see my sweet hair... and by sweet i mean fugly...


anyway, i'm exhausted. time for bed. probably some fencing work tomorrow... and i have our modified workout to look forward to... yesterday i did 40 pullups (not in a row obviously) and 70 pushups... sweet. too bad ben did 50 pull ups and 75 pushups... we'll see how i do tomorrow.

love you.

replies:
emily: i miss you oodles. i have my address on here somewhere in a past blog... but it's just parikawa private bag, blenheim new zealand... same as last time i was here ;) i wish i could do cozy winter things with you too. i can't wait to see you when i get home... and p.s. i saw this shirt with skulls on it in a shop and really missed you.

caitlin: i hope things are going well in peru... can't wait to hear stories and see pictures. i love you oodles. muah!

jessi: you are amazing. i miss you and it hurts. for some reason i want to make scrap books with you when i get home... are you in? (i'll make you cookies... eh, eh?)

nan-c: you are one crazy slut, but i can't wait to see you... i'm counting down the days. p.s. you made me laugh so hard on christmas, thanks for that...

phil: you are insanely awesome! great plan to hide in nancy cleavage... they'll never find you... but watch out for the adorable beagle dogs they have at the airport to sniff your stuff... i always forget and start to pet them... then i look up and notice that there is a security person attached to the other end of the leash...

"one heart, me and you"

so i sincerely apologize for not really responding to people's comments in ages, so this entry is dedicated to just that... because i love you guys so much and i really do look forward to hearing from everyone... (and this is in chronological order from people who wrote to me long ago to most current)

jessi: you should see my hair now... definitely needs a trim, but i think i'll let it go a bit longer because i'm not really going out in public anyway... the only people who know it's hilarious are the throssells and all these damn sheep they have. anyway. i haven't heard from you in a while, what's new? miss you.

stella: i just wrote you an email, so nothing new has happened in the last 3 seconds. but i love you.

steve: you are hilarious. i love your comments and i love what you wrote to me on facebook... that's a keeper. i heard you went kayaking. how was that? are the puppies still adorable? and how did finals end up? happy winter break... piers was using the chain saw today and it smelled of gas and reminded me of a snowblower and i thus thought of winter and christmas... mmm. oh and i know you look sexy with a beard. i hope you still have it to keep you warm. and who did you go climbing with? this comment to you has really turned into an interrogation... hehe. i love you bunches.

jay c: i'm watching the weed spray stuff... and the dip chemicals. don't you worry. anyway i hope the climbing is still going well and you are staying warm and driving safe (because i remember you had a bit of a ride to the gym)

caitlin: i'm so excited that you're working at the gym. how do you like it so far? i hope those kids are being good at the parties. holy crap i am so excited for your trip, too! ian said it was coming up on the 18? i might have remembered the date wrong, but either way, it's soon and you'll have so much fun. stay safe and tell me how it goes. i miss you a bunch. love love love.

nancy pants: i just talked to you on the phone... so here's some random stuff: dunedin is pronounces duh-nee-din, so it's probably not elvish. and you'll get to cut my hair/advise me on what to do with it when you get here. um that's all i can think about. we tried shooting a cat last night but missed. i thought of you. it was hilarious. and the art show thing is still bad ass.

britt-knee: i love the way you wrote out your name. it's amazing. better than nan-c. mabye. also i'm glad you have an overly jolly man friend. i need to find one of those... just for the holiday spirit. are you done with school yet? if not, good luck with exams and such. i've been thinking of you a lot with regards to missing you and thinking about planning my trip to australia... keep it real and keep your hair as sweet as ever (i haven't even seen your head lately, but i imagine it's really hot as per usual)

jordan: you're still the craziest person i know. but that's a good thing. i'll try to teach you some more things i know, but it might have to be in the form of a talk when i get home. i'm much better with speaking than writing. as you know. as for women and backpacking... i don't know... some girls really mean that and some are just trying to sound cool or they're hitting on you. and some, like myself, prefer rock climbing. kiwis are more laid back than any other group of people from any other place i've been... even more laid back than the alaskans. but it's a lot of hard back breaking work, too. i am impressed daily with the pure strength and intelligence of every member of the family i'm living with. farming is hard and i'm not weak... they make me look like a child.

jay: you know... everything has it's time. you can still adventure around the world when you've finished everything in chicago. but it is really nice here. i haven't been climbing much, though... which needs to change. have you been to the red lately? have fun at red rocks! be safe and send that 20 pitch climb. it sounds totally bad ass!!!!!!

ok i think that's it. happy holiday season everyone. i'll be in touch again soon.

i love you.
genevieve

my pet bunny

man, i really can't seem to keep a hold of this blog thing. i try to write often, but i always want to put pictures up, but with this dial up... it takes way to long, so i have to wait to go to town, which is becoming less and less.... mmm. so here's another entry with no pictures... unless i get bored later and decide to make a project out of it tonight... which i might.

so anyway, the rest of my trip with sean went great. we enjoyed our snow day and it did clear up a little the next day, but i still couldn't see mt. cook... so i'm going back in january when i'll have a better chance. the lupins were amazing, though. i've never been so mind blown by some flowers and aqua blue water...

we left the lake on friday and had a long day of hitch hiking. sean and i parted ways in christchurch, where i hitched the last leg to the farm... it took ages. i had about 6 rides for a 2.5 hour car drive... everyone seemed to be only going to the next town. it was really fun anyway. i met tons of sweet people... like the family with the two babies who had me over for tea and the guy who owned a winery and this woman who was lighting up a joint to celebrate dropping the kids off for the weekend at their dad's house and of course the crazy semi-truck driver(s) and the woman who owned a camp and told me not to hitch hike ;)

it was great. i got "home" just after dark and found ben and toby waiting for me (not really, they had just been out shooting rabbits)

anyway, i got back to the farm just in time for the insanity. i've woken up between 5am and 6am every day since i got back besides tuesday (where i slept in until 7:30am). we've been moving cows and sheep everywhere (mostly sheep though). joanie competed in this sweet triathalon on sunday and did really well. i went and hung out with her all day. we sorted out all the sheep on monday and wednesday and sold mostly all the lambs for meat or to get fattened up a bit more so they can be made into meat. it has been nuts, but i like the hard work and i love mustering for some reason. we did some dagging (cutting the shit of the back of the sheep when it gets stuck in their wool), which was a bit gross when they had maggots... which a bunch did, but the rest was fun.

we even found a nest of bunnies one day while were were mustering (collecting the sheep). we fed all to the dogs but one which i kept all day long then realized i couldn't feed it (its eyes weren't even open yet... it was the size of my hand) and even though we had a connection, i just couldn't stand to know i let it starve to death, so i fed it to the dogs. it was really hard to do because it was completely the cutest thing ever and as i was reading my new book, jonathan strange and mr norrell by susanna clarke (yes sean, i went and found it in blenheim on sunday because you made it sound so good), it totally crawled off its heating pad into my sweatshirt pocket and cuddled with me...

anyway, today i got to clean out the races for the dipping on saturday. it's going to be sweet. and by sweet i mean really intense and painful. but i like that. i shoveled shit and leaves and mud and chemicals and all kinds of who knows what out of this thing and got some of the water on my hands from the dip... and they smell... and i've washed my hands a few times now and showered and i still smell. ben and i couldn't get the whole dip to drain (we're trying again tomorrow). i bet when we get to the bottom, we'll find some dead animals... maybe even a sheep... eew.

i'm hoping to go grubbing for these tussock things tomorrow for some of the day. it's really fun, like playing where's waldo.. find the tussock on the hill side and dig it out... one point for a small one, three points for a big one, ten points for a seeding one...

anyway, we start the dip on saturday... dunking sheep in chemical bath to prevent them from getting maggots is really fun for 5 seconds. then the sheep realize what's going on and freak out and you basically have to stick your hand up their ass and push them all the way down the race into the box they go in before you dunk them... it's great fun. i am actually excited though. i love the work here, even the worst is still fun.

it builds character.

i'm not sure how long we're dipping for... depends on the weather... we can't do it if it rains... but when it's over i'll write. and hopefully pictures then...

love hugs kisses lambs
genevieve

p.s. my legs are getting strong from running up and down these steep ass hills after sheep... but i still am not that good at campusing ;)

new zealand summertime snow day?!

merry christmas! i didn't feel the season starting until today, when i woke up at lake tekapo and found myself in a snow storm. sean and i are calling it our snow day because we've really been travelling hard for a while now (we left stewart island and hitch hiked from the complete south of the south island to somewhere in the middle in the mountains), so we're just chilling out for the day at the lake. it's way to cold to try to hitch hike anyway. the hostel is warm and the showers are nice and hot. i think we'll head out tomorrow sometime... as long as the weather improves. ben said it was hailing on the farm a couple of days ago... so maybe it's just some summertime flurries. which is crazy to me. but i find it funny that i travel to the places in the world where it snows in the summer (alaska snow on july 16 and new zealand snow on november 30) funny.

anyway, i just wanted to say hello. i'm not dead. this trip has been great so far and i'll put up some pictures when i get to a proper computer that doesn't cost $1/10 min. and i know i need to write back to some of you. sorry i haven't got time to do that until next time.

all my love,
genevieve

p.s. mt. cook might be out if the clouds clear up for tomorrow. i think the lake will be absolutely amazing with the lupins, snow, and white huge mountains... and of course the lake water is an electric glowing blue... bluer than the bluest sky. it looks insane, like magic is real or something... ;)

hitch hiking!!!!!

so much has happened since i last updated. i am going to have to save some of this story for when i get home and you ask me and then i can have crazy things to talk about. here's a random amazing sky picture:


first off, happy turkey day (a bit late... sorry). here's my dinner with sean:


ok, so let's get to story telling.

i'm going to be kinda quick because i'm at an internet cafe in dunedin and i hate paying for this. so here it goes:

i did some really cool work on the farm fixing fences. we also cleared a lot of stuff for concreting... it was hard work.
here's a photo of the still very wet concrete... and that's not all of it, but it gives you an idea.


then i built a campus board with ben and we hung it up and it's really kick ass. anyway, i'll put a new photo of it up when i get back to the farm. i just keep forgetting to bring my camera to the wool shed in the yards (where it is hung).

so why am i not on the farm and what am i doing? well, on wednesday (11.22.06) i hitch hiked down to christchurch and met up with sean. this really cool surfer dude gave me a ride and he showed me the best surfing spots in kaikoura. he had two tapes: one was atmosphere and the other was some 80's mixed tape. it was great.

then on thursday, sean and i hitched it down to dunedin. we got a ride from this nice newly wed couple from melbourne, australia, for about a third of the way. then we got a ride from this guy from israel. he bought us lunch and took us sight seeing along the way. here's a photo of those cool moreki (i probably spelled that wrong) boulders with sean and david (israel guy).

here's some seals we saw at shag point:


the people in dunedin were so excited to have sean and i visit that they threw us a parade:


we've been staying at a really nice backpackers in dunedin and we went and saw albatross today. really cool. and we had to hitch hike both ways because the stupid city transportation doesn't go to the spot they are.... anyway. it was quite windy. here's a photo of an albatross... and yeah, that's the best i could to without paying $40 for a stupid tour... they chained it all off so we couldn't go to the observatory without paying. ick.


we also went to the cadbury factory and bought some chocolate. mmm. look at this picture of a really crazy girl... ;)


today, we're headed all the way south. we probably won't make it to stewart island until tomorrow... but we're taking the bus, so we won't get rained on too much.

love you. talk to you soon. everything is great. i am thankful that i'm here in new zealand on this trip in this town enjoying right now :)

p.s. i watched interview with a vampire last night and it gave me scary dreams.

p.p.s. here's my latest artsy fartsy photo... too bad it wasn't sunny when i took the picture...