Our Counter Is Back

This is a dumb post because you can see for yourselves that the counter is back. Nevertheless, we missed it and so w have put it back up. It is exciting to see that people love us.

Matt

Our Next Step

We've consutled and decided on our next move. We are going to piddle around for a few days in the region West of where we are and then on Sunday we are going to take a three day canoe trip down the Whanganui river. Obviously this mean we will be out of touch but as soon as we are back we will give you an update. We will put in at Whakahoro (39° 6'47.70"S, 175° 4'34.11"E) and take out at (39°28'39.01"S, 175° 2'31.01"E). The trip is all basically in the bush. There are no roads that access this area. For those of you inclined to worry about our wellbeing I've been assured that the trip is quite easy and could be completed without trouble by someone who had never canoed before. It should be a great trip and we are both really excited. After that trip our plans are as vauge as ever but we will probably find another Help Exchange host to stay with for a bit.
I hoep you are all doing well thanks for checking in.
As to the question if it is possible to recieve an email notification when we post I did a quick look and didn't see anything like that. It may very well be possible but I don't know how. I would reccomend using an RSS subscriber. (Go read my post from a while back regarding RSS).
Matt

Painting at the Settlement

Since last Friday we’ve been at an intentional Quaker community in Wanganui, a few hours from Wellington on the west coast of the North Island. The Quaker Settlement started about 30 years ago. Each family has their own house and are responsible for their household finances and possessions. In the middle of the houses are shared conference center facilities that can be rented to outside groups. Everyone in the Settlement pitches in to maintain the common facilities.

About every 10 years the houses and common buildings at the settlement need to be painted. This year they organized a work week offering food, fun, and accommodation in exchange for painting and other help. Matt has been masking windows and doors and I’ve been painting. There were heaps of people here over the weekend but there aren’t quite so many now. Mostly it’s just us and the settlers painting with a few other people.

The upcoming Earlham program to New Zealand is planning to spend a few weeks here at the beginning of the program. The facilities here are perfect for a group like that- small rooms with shared sleeping accommodation, big kitchen, dining facilities, teaching space, and gardens.

If you’d like to read more about the settlement, here is a link to their webpage:
http://www.quaker.org.nz/groups/the-quaker-settlement
and there are pictures here:
http://www.quaker.org.nz/groups/photographs-of-the-settlement

We're not sure where we're going or what we're doing next. Hopefully we'll figure that out today!

Carrie

Wellington

After the Quaker summer gathering we made a last minute change of plans and decided to make our next stop Wellington. This way we can explore the North Island in a clockwise manner and feel like we are proceeding forward through time.
At first we stayed with a friend we met at the summer gathering. Alex was nice enough to let us use his floor for a few days while we worked out another arrangement. We contacted a few Help Exchange places and got in touch with one very nice woman named Diana. Last week we moved into her home in a neighborhood called Brooklyn. Wellington is very much like Dunedin and they are both a bit like San Francisco in that they are built on natural harbors and are hilly as can be. One advantage to how Wellington is situated is that it the city center (and main harbor) are at the bottom and most of the homes are in the surrounding hills. As a result everyone is either located right in the heart of town or else has a great view. The place we have been staying is no exception. Here's a picture of a sunset over Wellington as seen from our back deck.

***Editor's note***
We had great internet at our home in Wellington but for some reason uploading of pictures to the blog was hard to do. As a result my momentum for posting this entry was squashed. This post was supposed to be up last week and now we have moved on (see my next post) but I'm trying to catch everyone up.
*******************
We spent our time in Wellington exploring the city. It is a good city for walking around and there are lots of neat nooks and crannies to explore. Wellington has the New Zealand National Museum (called Te Papa) which we visited at least 5 times. It is huge and there are lots and lots of great exhibits to check out. Here's a few pictures from inside Te Papa.

This is an example of a kiwi skeleton (the bird not the people). Check out how huge the egg is inside of the bird. Kiwis lay the largest eggs relative to their body size.

This is taken from the top level of the museum looking back down to the first floor. It is a very large museum.
During our stay in Wellington we also took two days and explored the area to the East of Wellington. If you look at Google Earth it is the area around 41°28'19.03"S, 175°16'58.35"E. We did some geocaches and went down to cape Palisar which is the southernmost point on the North Island. There was a geocache there near a great old lighthouse.

We said goodbye to Wellington on Thursday last and are now further North. I'll post again after lunch and describe our current happenings.
Sorry to our loyal fans that our blogging took a break there. I'm really going to try to be back on top of it better now. We love it that you guys are still checking in!

Matt

Summer Gathering of Aotearoa Friends

From December 28 to January 5 Matt and I were at the 50th annual Summer Gathering of Aotearoa New Zealand Friends (Quakers). Fifty years ago they started getting together over the summer holidays to bring together Quakers from all over the country. This year, about 170 people attended and there were at least 140 people there at any given time. The location of SG changes each year but this year it was just outside of Wellington. For the Quakers reading this, SG is not the same as Yearly Meeting. They have that in the winter I think. Summer Gathering is more fun and fellowship than business. Many of the meetings throughout the country are quite small and SG is an important time for making and strengthening the ties within the Quaker community. One thing that totally surpised me was the fluent use of Maori by some people, especially during the opening and closing meetings of the week. Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand. It means "land of the long white cloud."

A typical day started with breakfast, a half hour session reflecting on Quaker principles or practices, a half hour meeting for worship, morning tea, and a choice of sessions about Quaker history, other Quakerly topics, or crafts. Then we had lunch, free time, afternoon tea, and afternoon interest groups. Interest groups covered a range of topics that individual Friends had interest in, eg. what's going on in Palestine from a recently returned member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, how to fit your home with solar hot water heaters, salsa dancing, environmental activism, scrapbooking recent Summer Gatherings, or what Earlham plans to do in NZ with 18 students for 4 months. Next was dinner, evening session (eg. Quakers and Money- how do we earn it, spend it, share it? or Are Young Friends (16-3?) different from other Friends?), evening tea and then just hanging out until you decide to go to bed.

There were quite a few Young Friends (YFs) and we had a great time getting to know them through ping pong, card games, and jumping on the trampoline. Earlhamites might also be interested to hear that Kiwi YFs play their version of Wink called the Kissing Game. Before they play, they cover the floor with mattresses. This is a good idea. There were 20-30 people playing in our game so it took quite a few mattresses. Everyone sits in a circle with a partner except for one person. The odd person out calls people into the middle by name or attribute (everyone with brown hair, everyone born in NZ, etc). If you are called, your goal is to crawl to the caller and kiss them on the face. Meanwhile, your partner is trying to stop you. If you are the first person to kiss the caller, you become the caller's new partner and your old partner becomes the new caller.


The Kissing Game aka Wink (with mattresses instead of grass)

There were a few injuries. Alex dislocated and broke his finger and I got a huge lump on the back of my head after getting knocked with a knee. My injury just needed a bag of frozen peas but Alex went to the hospital and ended up with a finger splint and cast on his arm. After Summer Gathering Alex was kind enough to let us stay at his flat for a few days.

All in all it was a great week. I saw some people from the Dunedin meeting who I really liked and participated in some interesting discussions. We made lots of friends from all over the country and doubled the number of people in our phonebook. I think we're going to be spending more money texting now that we have some friends in NZ! It's awesome to be part of such a great community of caring people far from home.

Carrie

Earlhamites are Everywhere

As many of you know, Earlham College (our alma mater) has an excellent array of opportunities for students to study off-campus. I went to the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) and Kenya on Earlham programs led by Earlham professors. One of Earlham's first off-campus programs was in the southwestern U.S. About 15 students and two factulty members traveled around in vans for 3.5 months to learn about environmental issues. As with all Earlham programs, the specific courses offered on each program depend on the expertise of the leading faculty. Southwest field studies, as the program is known, also involved a lot of outdoor sports such as hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, etc. Recently, Earlham has had trouble enticing students to go on this program and faculty to lead the program. As a result, they have decided that the time has come to retire SWFS. Instead, Earlham will be offering a semester-long program in environmental studies in NEW ZEALAND beginning in Janauary 2008.

Jay Roberts had the idea to start a program in New Zealand. He is Director of Wilderness programs and teaches experiential education and environmental issues. He and his wife Marcie will be the first leader of the program during the [northern hemisphere] spring 2008. Bill Buskirk, professor of Biology, will hopefully lead the program in spring 2009. Bill was pivotal in the creation of both Southwest Field Studies and the East Africa program, in addition to leading countless other programs. So, Bill and Jay were the ideal team to scout New Zealand for program ideas.

This is where we come into the picture. Bill was one of my three letter writers for graduate school applications, so we've been in touch over the past few months, but I had to write to Jay to get a copy of their itinerary about a month ago. Jay planned a whirlwind 13 day tour of both islands. It just so happened that our schedule overlapped nicely with Bill and Jay's scout trip itinerary. They left Indiana on Christmas Eve and arrived in Auckland on December 26, missing Christmas Day entirely. I arrived in Auckland earlier on the 26th. I met Bill and Jay at the Auckland Friends Center where the three of us spent the night of the 26th. I had the pleasure of helping them get oriented on their very first day in New Zealand. We went to the Auckland musuem and spent a while in a bookstore looking at useful books. It was great- I got to recommend non-ficton for other people to buy! I felt so useful!


Inside the Auckland Friends Center (Quaker guest house)

Bill and Jay managed to stay up until at least 9 pm on their first day. I went to bed shortly thereafter so I could wake up early to meet Matt at the airport on my birthday. I already described most of what we did on that day with Jay and Bill in my previous post so I'm not going to repeat it. Earlham's NZ program might pass through Rotorua but they probably won't spend a lot of time there since they're planning to spent most of program on the South Island. Still, it is a popular destination within NZ and the future program leaders wanted to get as much of an idea about the country as possible in two weeks. We parted ways with them in Rotorua so they could get to their hostel before dinner. Matt and I went our separate ways for a few days. They went to the Quaker settlement in Whanganui (more about that later) while we went straight to the Quaker Summer Gathering on December 28 near Wellington.


Jay Roberts and Bill Buskirk

Summer Gathering was about 150 Quakers from all over New Zealand in one place for a week. What better networking opportunity could Earlham professors setting up a new international program ask for? Bill and Jay arrived on the afternoon of the 30th. I made some announcements about their visit so there was a great turnout of Quakers interested in hearing more about the program Earlham is planning. Jay did an excellent job articulating their goals and preliminary plans for the program. About 20 people stayed for an hour and offered a wealth of useful suggestions.


Quaker networking at its best

This meeting was fascinating for me because some day I'd like to be doing exactly what Bill and Jay do: plan and lead international programs for undergraduates. I loved hearing the perspectives of thoughtful, broadly educated Kiwis from all over the country (and quite a few expat-cum-kiwis).

There were two other Earlhamites at Summer Gathering which was exciting but hardly surprising. One was Seth Webb '96 and another went to ESR (Earlham School of Religion) in the 90s. I love meeting Earlhamites all over the place. It's a small but amazingly ubiquitous community.

On New Year's Eve we met up with Bill and Jay again in Wellington to go to Te Papa, New Zealand's AMAZING national museum. We spent about 3 hours there that day and hardly put a dent in it! Then we got great Indian food for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon at Karori Wildlife Sactuary, also in Wellington. Many birds that are highly endangered have been reintroduced to Karori Sanctuary, so we had an awesome time birding with Bill.


Birding with Bill

Sadly, we said goodbye to our Earlham professors after birding at Karori because Bill and Jay got on a ferry to the South Island first thing on New Year's Day. They had an awesome itinerary lined up for the rest of their short trip to New Zealand. Bill, Jay, how was the rest of your trip? We were thrilled to be able to spend time with some dear Earlhamites. I'm sure the new program is going to be a great success.

Carrie

My Birthday

The way I spent my birthday varied remarkably little for 24 years. My birthday is December 27, two days after Christmas. This is usually around the time my dad's side of the family gathers to celebrate Christmas. With few exceptions, my birthday went something like this:

Wake up in the basement at my Grandparent's house in Wheeling, WV to the sound of at least ten relatives moving around and eating breakfast upstairs. Usually, I would be the second to last person in the house to wake up (my sister Laura would probably be last). Then I'd walk up the basement stairs into the kitchen where lots of relatives would wish me happy birthday. While I eat breakfast, if my parents are there, my relatives might recollect how everyone gathered at my parents' house in Reynoldsburg, Ohio and ate fried chicken when I came home from the hospital.

Throughout the day, more relatives and their dogs would probably arrive. My dad is one of six and there are ten in my generation, so it's a pretty big gathering with 20 people at a minimum. Usually after our potluck lunch, Grammy would bring out my angelfood birthday cake. It was always angelfood so my diabetic cousin could eat it too. A quarter wrapped in foil (usually from 1981) was always hidden in the cake. It was good luck to get the quarter in your slice! After I opened my gifts the cousins would go off and pay in the basement for a while. Pillow fights or the like on the cushion of matresses on the floor.

Later in the afternoon, usually before dinner, we opened Christmas presents. One of my cousins or aunts would probably play carols on the baby grand piano while others sang along. After dark, we would drive to Oglebay Park in Wheeling to see the impressive display of Christmas lights throughout the park.

Variations:
We might spend a good part of my birthday in the car driving to Wheeling.
If my birthday fell on a Sunday (like when I was born), then everyone went to my grandparents' church (unless the above also applied).
Sometimes Christmas was celebrated on Dec 26 or 28. But since it is a long drive from Chicago to Wheeling, WV my immediate family always stuck around for a while.

In short, Chirstmas and my birthday have been celebrated together with my extended family for most of my 25 years, often on the same day.

Needless to say, my 25th birthday was completely different. Having spent the night at the Auckland Friends Center, I woke up at 3:45 am (even though my alarm was set for 4:30) to pick up Matt from the airport. Lu (our car) had some dead battery issues shortly before and I prayed she would start without fail at 4:35 am (she did). At the airport I counted over 500 people that went by while I waited for Matt to come through customs at 5 am. Matt arrived safely, but his checked bag containing our Christmas and my birthday gifts did not. His first flight from DC to SF was late, and he barely made it onto his SF to Auckland flight. His bag didn't make it at all.

We drove back to the Auckland Friends Center and had a great breakfast with Bill Buskirk and Jay Roberts (Earlham professors) and the Friends Center hosts. We decided to do a little sight seeing on our way south with Bill and Jay, so we followed them to Rotorua where I showed them the cool city park I explored on my own a few weeks before. Bill birded his way through the park while the rest of us tried to glean some ornithological knowledge from his greatness.


We had a horrible time finding a place in Rotorua that was still open for lunch at 2:30, but we eventually did. Afterwards we parted ways with Bill and Jay. On our way out of town Matt and I stopped to look at a map and I left the headlights on (it was raining). The car battery was dead in 10 minutes. So, Matt pushed while I popped the clutch in 2nd gear and she started right up! This was my first (but not last) time roll starting a car. It was much easier than I imagined!

We spent the night in Lu at a free campground I read about near Taupo. This picture shows our nice parking spot right along the clear blue Waikato River.

There was no birthday cake or candles, and just one gift to open from Matt (a night at the Auckland Observatory when we return), but it was great. It was definitely the first time I was able to wear a skirt and short sleeved shirt on my birthday!

At 25, I have more than a few white hairs that run the length of my hair. I found my first grey hair when I was 18 during my first month at Earlham. I blame high school and genetics. At this rate I think I might be totally grey (or hopefully white) by 45. I guess I should dye my hair. What do you think?

Carrie

Carrie's Christmas

This is the first time since Christmas Eve that I've had much internet access, so you'll just have to relive Christmas with me in January.

Since Matt was still stateside, I spent Christmas Eve and Day with Kerry and her family. Her parents have a dairy farm about an hour from Tokoroa. On Christmas Eve we had dinner with Kerry's family and some family friends. We also sang Christmas carols around the piano which really helped get me in the spirit and reminded me of my own extended family celebrations. I also baked two pumpkin pies to share with Kerry's family on Christmas Day.



On Christmas morning I opened presents with Kerry, her mom, dad, brother, and sister-in-law. Then we all drove to Waihi Beach. Kerry's maternal grandparents have a bach (bachelor pad= beach house) at Waihi Beach and the extended family gathered there to celebrate Christmas.


The Bach

I think there were 22 people at the bach including me. Kerry has 11 cousins and most of them and their parents were there. This year they had a Thieves' Christmas for the first time instead of having a secret santa-type gift exchange. I had a great time watching Kerry's family steal gifts from each other! I had an excellent time hanging out with Kerry's family. They were a friendly, interesting group of people. I'm so glad they invited me to share a traditional Kiwi Christmas at the beach! And I shared my pumpkin pie.

There was much meterological speculation leading up to Christmas. Just as the northern hemispherians wish for a white Christmas, the Kiwis are hoping for warm, sunny beach weather. Christmas at Waihi Beach wasn't very sunny, but it was warm enough and the rain held off. So of course, I couldn't pass up a Christmas swim. It was chilly, but I went swimming in Dunedin with Elizabeth in October, so I knew I could handle Waihi Beach in December.


Christmas at the beach!

We drove past a few houses that were all decked out in Christmas lights on our way back to Kerry's family farm at the end of the day. It's a newer and less common phenomenon in New Zealand but there are a few people who really get into it. Thankfully they seem to use fewer tacky illuminated plastic figures than in the U.S.

For me, Christmas in the summer just doesn't feel right. It hardly seemed like Christmas to me with the long days and (kind of) warm weather! Even so, they still decorate with snowflakes and evergreens. There are a few Santas with surfboards, but for the most part they just use the northern hemisphere Christmas icons. I wholeheartedly support the widespread use of southern hemisphere Christmas icons instead of the winter-themed imports.

With my family, Christmas always extends past Christmas Day until December 27 or 28 depending on when we celebrate with the extended family on my dad's side. This year, although the circumstances were quite different, was the same. I celebrated Christmas again with Matt on December 28 after he returned to New Zealand. But this is all I can write about for now. More later.

Carrie

Change of Plans

Well, we've changed our plans. Anyone that I talked with while I was home and, really, anyone we've talked with at all until two days ago would have been led to believe that we were going to go north of Auckland next and then work our way south. Since we have spent the past week and a half near Wellington with a Quaker gathering we have decided that it makes more sense to start our North Island adventures here. So our plan (as it has been revised) is to start here and do a big loop up the West coast and down the East coast ending up back in Wellington with plenty of time to still visit friends on the South island before we are threw. We are in Wellington right now staying with a friend that we met at the Quaker gathering. He has been generous enough to take us in while we are figuring out another place to stay. Quakers are great. Ok, so we have internet access again and we will post a more detailed update of our past week or so tomorrow. Thanks for checking in guys!

Matt

We are Quakering

Just a quick heads up. We are spending this week at a New Zealand Quaker gathering near Wellington. Unfortunately we are not near enough to Wellington that it is easy for us to get online so we are fairly well removed from internet access. As a result we will probably not be blogging for several more days at least. Check back again in a week or so and we should be back up and running. Happy New Year everyone!