Living In New Zealand

I write in a journal to record things when Im not around a computer. Like when Im camping out or roughing it. This is an entry from my journal from 4 days ago. While I was staying @ chesters Camper Van:

I write this post using the light from a compact german military cooker. I'd like to note that Im having the time of my life. My friends and I oftend reminisce about good old times when we were 15 or so. A couple of times I remember saying "yea those were the days well never have such good times ever again". I was dead wrong. America and its citizens are machines that follow programs or orders and most dont get an outside perspective. I am meeting many people. Germany Austria Ireland Scotland The UK The Netherlands are just a few of the countries where friends I've made are from. A backpacker I am not but I am backpacking now. Im also skateboarding but IM not a skateboarder. I'm an explorer being practical. I have knowledge to share as do others and im spnging it all up. This camper im now living in is the most comfy digs I have attained so far. Its got a great bed an oven and even a fridge. Today I spent by the Blue Lake in Rotorua. Its as pristine as it gets. There I used the humungous leaves from trees to build a comfy little shelter to build a fire and cozy up next to. My Remington hunters knife and the widerness survial book I have read b4 coming here are proving very handy. The army store I was @ was amazing. They sell things that armies all around the world use. I even picked up something from the Isreali military. Little German elite forces compact cooker with little stones you put under it that burn for hours to cook with. Its 4 inces by 3 inches and folds up into itself to fit into the ipod pocket of my Camelbak. Kiwi climber rescue jacket, A aluminum foil blanket that is warmer than down and many other little gadgets from around the world that fit easily into my backpack. My flame is now dying out and so cheers for now.

Dream Dream Dream

Half of our lives we spend dreaming. Whether we remember it the next day or not is irrelevant. I had a crappy day a few days ago. The night prior I dreamt about my ex cheating on me as I do every now and then. I wake so happy that part of my life is over. Last night I dreamt I had my head resting in the lap of a girl that loves me. We were talking about us and our future. I think my subconscious is telling me its time to find a good girl. I have to admit although im strong minded and can do without it, I miss having a second half to care for and to have care for me. For those of you that take it for granted, dont. I dont believe in the word alone and dont believe in loneliness. I would however love to share my silly jokes rambling rants and knowledge with someone. This dream last night was more dreamy than the dreams I have regularly. It was blissful.

Whakaari Or White Island (Most Active Volcano In New Zealand)

Mount Maunganoui Conqured

Mt Maunganoui

View From The Top

A Whales Bone Washed Ashore

Work

So funds are running low and now I have to put the biz into high gear. This means waking @ 5 in the mng to deal with the ungrateful shmucks that buy tvs from me. There are so many different things to do here. For example alot of people do fruit picking. They pay $13 an hour. Altho I would never do this its an example of many things that are possible to do here and get paid well. I am looking for a way to get into the stock market here as the wealthiest people in the world live here and in Australia. The new BioFuel biz is going to explode and I think selling capitol shares of starting firms to investors is a very good idea. That however will have to be researched and pursued in Auckland. In the mean time Im here in Toaranga and im prob gonna work from my site for a week to get some cash. I like it here cuz its warm. Friendly and comfy style hostel with a cool owner whos wife is pregnant with their first. He likes to talk and I dont mind to listen. Im kinda proud of myself being a true pioneer in my biz. Im the first to take the Internet electronics mail order biz international.

Boarding Down Devenport The Main Street In The City Centre Of Toaranga

Instead of going south right away, I have decided to visit this town of Touranga cuz its the export capitol of NZ and this is where they ship all their fine fruits and vegetables from. Im hoping to make a connection while here in this town to send frsh produce to the US. My friend Alon told me to do this while Im here and so I am. The other reason im here is because while reading my New Zeland book I found that close to here there is an old majestic island that homes New Zelands most active volcano. Its known as White Island. I've shacked up @ this cozy hostel in the center of town. The owner is cool and is originally from Wales, England. Its nice to have a cozy place to type this post from and a warm bed. Im just nnow doing my laundry fort he 1st time since landing in NZ. Its much warmer here in Toaranga than it was in Rotorua. I might spend another night here tomo.

Some crystals I found while in Rotorua

Cheers Mate!

Since Ive been roughing it, the frosty mornings here are bitter cold. I got the sniffles and I feel a cough coming about. I haven't got my glyconutrients and i think im becomming dumber by the day. Gonna head south today. Its colder down there. Australia will be refreshing, nice and warm.

Current Events

This post was meant to be written yesterday night but I was caught up with the delivery of kharma. I have for the past two nights stayed at the home of a local friend I made. His name is Timtim. A 20 kilometer crater on the top of one of the largest mountain here in new zealand make up the town of Rotorua. The top of this mountain blew off around 300 years ago. When seen from a high peak you can actually see a town in the center of a huge crater in the middle of a mountain. This formed a habitable yet volatile area that is Rotorua. The true Rotoruans are the Maori people. Timtim is Maori as is Chess who you see below acting as my tour guide. He's been giving me tours of sights that would not normally be seen. His ancestors were buried right there next to his house going back to great great grandfathers. Its now 2 Maoris that have purely welcomed me into their homes. They are truly kind and great people. Their rituals and traditions interest me much. It is said and I firmly believe that the Maoris are the 12th missing tribe of Israel, of the Jewish people. Their beliefs revolve around appreciating and loving the smoky fertile land they discovered 700 years ago. Very similar to buddhism. This land is New Zealand. The Brits came and took over some 200 years ago. The Maoris say they gifted it to them but I dont much believe that. The Maori were less developed but indigenous people and their mineral rich land was too much to resist for the queen of England. The Maoris learned to use this volcanic ground for heat, to bathe daily, even to cook. Timtim is a sort of Bob Marley singing activist for the cause of his people. He is a religous Maori and very much loves his land. I spent a day with Timtim in the village where he works and where he is originally from. It is the oldest Maori city. It's a huge tourist attraction and flocks of asians brits and whoever can afford it (cause its costs dearly to enter this village) come to be amazed. The actual Maoris do not pay to enter as it is there land and so I did not pay either. By way of ritual and initiation I have become Maori.
Generally tourists aren't much respected around here and are simply looked at as prospective customers. The Maoris have several tribes. The one that governs this village also governs the one that Chess lives in. I was taken to the medicine man. He asked me my name and we chatted for a bit. He played his flute like instrument and did a ritualistic blessing on me. I love these people. Keeping a promise I made to myself, I have attained a stamp from the Maori People. It is of a young phoenix taking off in flight. I have seen alot of New Zealand so far but it has been here that I chose to rest my head for a little while. In the coming days I will shoot south to the south island where they shot Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings. I will not spend much time there as its expensive and cold. I will shoot document and write as much as I can in a few days down there. So, the tourists come to visit this village where I am now a regular. They come and take photos of us bathing in our natural jacuzzis. And of the smoky and unfamiliar land. In here Waka village its a communal bathing type of thing and of coarse since it is a small place with ancestory going back 100s of years everyone knows one another.There are these tracks molded into the ground that bring the very hot near boiling water from the volcanic spring just meters away. It is funneled into 6 primitive jacuzzis. All different temperatures. All too hot for me to just plunge into. Its amazing that when I go in I do very slowly, inch by inch as the water is simply too hot. The locals including Timtim and Jaypee (The Village wiseone and medicine man) just jump full in. Yesterday night while bathing in our communal bath Timtim and I were hungry and so we were going to get food nearby. There was someone there that was not a Mauri. He seemed like a Hawain of some sort. Very fat and sumo like. Uncivil and tribal looking. As im talking to my new friends about how much I love their land and their ways this guy said he would run up and get the grub for us. OK I figured. The smallest bill I had was a $100 which is around $70 US. I gave it with unswayed confidence from the kindness these people have instilled in me. This bloke did not come back. Having faith in human kind we waited patiently. 2 hours actually. My patience wore thin and I realized I was just taken for a ride by this savage. He might not have achieved the awareness of knowing that this world is not round it is oval and the deeds we do good or bad can return to us 10 fold. This is the teachings of Dharma. Jaypee who is the elder in the village and probably the wisest said he rested his eyes on this man earlier in the day and conveyed to me that he drives a station wagon that has a surfers sticker on the back. I thought nothing more of it until I ran into this fat fucks car on the way home. It was parked in a shady area (or dodgey as they say here)near the village. With a firm grip of the two wheels on one end of my skateboard and with a round about swing I introduced the other end to this dumbshits windshield. I doubt he'll ever be coming back to Waka again and if he does he wont be met with smiles. They are not much liked by the true Maoris. Its sad that such a thing had to shatter the bliss I was feeling with everything and everyone around me. Every now and then I guess a good slap into reality is a positive thing. A good thing for both me and the dickhead that robbed me  Perhaps I did not choose the correct path with the given circumstances but I feel damn good about it. I cant stand being a victim and wherever I go myself comes with me and wherever I roam it doesnt allow for my lose of sleep because someone got over on me. I guess in the future Ill just let the natural harmonic balance of Dharma and Kharma take its coarse but this night he wasted my time and this is very valuable to me. All that aside, I am so very blessed to have made friends in this town. Genuine ones. This town is one that I surmise I shall visit many many times. It is the finest and richest land I have seen so far.

The Most Amazing Place I have Ever Seen On The Planet Earth

The Volcano Capital Of The World

I spent something between 30 min to 2 hours sitting on this spot meditating. It is atop a volcano that is over 20 kilometers long.





The Pristine Blue Lake NZ


My Personal Mauri Natural Volcanic hot Bath

New Zelands Volcanic Region, Rotorua

I would say Rotorua is the most exotic and amazing place I have ever seen so far in my life. It is a town sitting atop an active volcano. Steam rising up from every crevice in the ground. People here do not shower. The polynesians bathe everyday in their personnal natural jacuzzis. I had the fortune of meeting a local named Chester, He, his chinese wife and son live in the center of the historic landing point of the first polynesians. All you see is billowing smoky, foglike steam rising out of every sewer drain or lake, everywhere. I steamed a fish I caught using a little boiling area and an army type pan I picked up along with many other outdoor necessities @ an army surplus shop. This little boiling area is the same Chesters ancestors used to boil the fish they caught 400 years ago. In the baths There are two components, the lever to turn to get the boling hot water to rush up from thousnads of miles below where there are oceans of lava. It cools off durings its journey up but its still very hot still and so the other componet is the hose with freezing cold water. Easily you can adjust the temp from very hot to cooler. The biggest danger for people not from NZ Australia or South Africa is the steering wheel on the other side of the car. This brings with it many other problems. You must drive on the opposite side of the street. Often I forget and am reminded by an approaching car. The worst and most dangerous thing is we are all used to looking left first when crossing a street. When clear we step onto the street and then look right. This has been etched into our subconscious. Too many times I step onto the road because the left is clear and am almost mowed down by a passing car from the right. Everything considered it is here where I would choose to live if I can. Its the most relaxed, friendly and sharing people I've met.

Rotorua

Road to Rotorua