New Zealand A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. ~Lao Tzu

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update! The Heaphy Track was beautiful, and a good challenge for a first-time backpacker. The first day was along the beach, and my mouth just hung open in awe of the beauty. That night, I camped near the beach at a campsite, and my tent held up beautifully despite the fact that it rained pretty hard. Luckily, that was the only rain I got for the whole walk. The second day was tougher--at first it seemed like the line for a ride at Disneyland--great atmosphere, a slow river rolling by and trees with ferns and things all around, but then I found that I had longer to go than I had thought, and the second bit was all uphill! By the time I got to the top I was beat. The third day was better, although I was mostly out of the foresty terrain and going through brush and high grass. There was a bit of uphill at the end, but I was prepared this time--I listened to music which really helped. The last day was alright--all downhill. By the end my knees were killing me, and I was glad to be done, but it was certainly a "Great Walk," as it is called. I spent New Year's at a hostel near the end of the track, which was nice and small. One thing I have found about New Zealand is that it seems much more geared towards community. It's possible that the places I have chosen to go simply lend themselves to it, and this was no exception. New Year's Eve was not terribly exciting, but the company surrounding that time was very nice. I spent a day around the Abel Tasman National Park, and I had planned to go sea kayaking, and booked a day trip. Unfortunately, somehow that didn't get into the computer, so the trips were booked up and I didn't get to go. The company I had booked with still picked me up, and I went on a water taxi to this less populated beach and had a short walk along the Abel Tasman track, another "Great Walk." It was beautiful, and the weather that day was great, too. Then I made my way out to the Marlborough Sounds, and took the mailboat last Friday out to Port Ligar. I am WWOOFing here for a family with 10 children, ages 28 down to 5 years old. They have mussel lines, sheep, pigs, cows, chickens, and several cottages and a lodge. I am not doing much actual farm work, more household work, cooking, and child minding. It's quite a zoo around here on a regular basis. Despite that, there's a peace about being so far out of town and on the water. When I'm not busy in the kitchen, swimming in the ocean, or trying to keep up with (or shake off) children, I have been eating wonderful food, reading, and getting to bed early. One day, we went out on their boat and fished and went scalloping. We also got some mussels from their lines. The mussels and scallops were cooked on the boat, and the mussels in particular were delicious. I'm not a huge seafood person, but they were wonderful. I had never been fishing before, so that was a fun experience, too. Although I did get a little turned off to it when I caught a small fish but didn't realize it. When I pulled it up it was already about dead, and when I threw it back it floated. I didn't catch anything big enough to keep, but hardly anyone did. I'm not sure what's next on the schedule, right now I'm just enjoying being here and day to day life seems to keep me busy enough! I'm sure I'll make some plans before too long.