Monday: November 20

David had the day off so Aviva picked us up instead. We drove to a coastal area, Breaker Bay,  to remove some nonnative weeds/plants. We met Ranger James who shared some facts that may or may not be true. He confessed that he’s good at making things up as topics arise. A skill that I do not possess. Ranger James offered some interesting thoughts and for that, I am thankful. Anyways, the work was fairly easy for the day.

Marie yanking on a plant

After clearing some weeds, we hiked up a neighboring mountain which has an overlook of the coast we just cleaned up. There is also a memorial for Officer Ataturk who led Turkey in its independence during the Battle of Gallipoli.  The Gallipoli war was a brutal massacre that incurred over 130,000 deaths (all countries involved). After Turkey’s gain, Officer Ataturk, who then became Turkey’s President, read a speech that was directed towards mothers of fallen soldiers.  It read:

“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side.  Here in this country of ours, you, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears, your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”

This was written on the Ataturk stone memorial we were standing by on top of the mountain.  It’s a powerful message especially after hearing how brutal the war was.  There were so many dead bodies that on May 24, 1915, a truce was negotiated to cease fire for a day to bury the bodies of dead soldiers.  It was a moment during the eight month war that both sides came together to bury the bodies, then it was back to battling.

To say that I think it’s “cool” that New Zealand has a memorial for someone that symbolizes another country’s success in its independence seems odd.  New Zealand and Australian forces were destroyed during the Gallipoli battle, yet they commemorate the success Turkey had with memorials for Ataturk.  It’s not odd though.  When standing on New Zealand soil and living in New Zealand’s culture, there is sense of peace, appreciation, and understanding for things outside of your own.  Yes, the memorial for Ataturk may symbolize Turkey’s independence, but I also think it symbolizes the bonds that were created during the war: bonds between opposing countries, bonds between individuals, and the bond between a country and its people.

Wow.  I guess I’m writing a reflection paper too!  Moving on… After Ranger James shared some interesting stories about the war, we headed back down to the van.

But first… A group photo.

Some other photos from the day…

Those are whales in the water!

Just kidding… Just rocks.

Oh! I almost forgot. I lost my phone. Typ-i-cal. We were just finishing up when I realized my phone had fallen out of my pocket somewhere after this picture was taken:

Luckily, Marie was being stalker-like and saw that I took the photo above. It gave us a starting point which helped us locate my BROWN case (surrounded by all the other BROWN things nature offers such as leaves, grass, and earth) in record timing. Thank you for finding my phone Nicholas!

And I’m only kidding Marie. You’re not stalker-like. I am. I’m like the paparazzi taking “sneaky” photos. The only giveaway is my shutter sound that I can’t turn off (believe me, I wish I could). Sometimes it’s kind of awkward/creepy when I take a snap and my shutter sounds. The shot is usually directed at someone who is in the middle of some form of labor. After my photo has been taken (and noticed), my victims just stare at me for a moment and then I walk away. It’s fine.

Tuesday: November 21

David was back! We left the house and went to a nearby community area, Aro Valley, where we cleared a very short yet primitive trail. There were tons of plants that needed to be cleared such as ivy, agapanthus (my fav), blackberry, etc. My favorite plant to remove has a root that sits towards the top of the soil. Even though the root sits at the top, it’s not that easy to remove. The same reason that it’s not easy to remove is the same reason why I like it so. The root is a squirmy-wormy looking thing (photos below) that keeps the plant very secure and connected to earth.  I just like it.

Before the agapanthus is removed…

During removal. You have to dig it out a bit before you tug on it.

After the agapanthus has been pulled out.

I also enjoyed removing ivy. I only enjoyed it because I pretended to be like Indiana Jones who was clearing ivy off ancient ruins. My creative side really shines during these volunteer day trips. But really, ivy is so easy to clear that I found myself instantly satisfied knowing that I saved a tree from a stranglehold (good song).

I also loved that Julia, leader of the area, invited me over for Christmas in the event that I don’t find a family or group to stay with. I have her number just in case. Unfortunately, I’ll be near Fiordland so I won’t be close. She was a lovely lady to say the least.

Other photos from the day

Romain had his arm wrapped in ivy.  

Wednesday: November 22

David picked us up and we drove to a super nearby trail that leads up to Mount Victoria. We were to remove wandering willy. It’s not super invasive that it kills plants, but it prevents new growth from occurring which can also be just as bad. Either way, that’s what we did… Cleared some wandering willy. We also came across some climbing asparagus which fascinated me (same reason ivy fascinates me).

I’m a nerd, but we already know this. I think it’s fascinating how these strangle plants survive and what they do to do so. For example, I think ivy is a beast in nature… It first creeps up on a large tree (or several), then it starts to slither its way up the trunk as it wraps its stem and ivy leaves around it, the ivy continues onward towards the top of the tree to absorb all the sunlight it can get as its prey slowly begins to die due to strangulation. Ivy even has these mini tentacle-like roots that dig into the tree to keep it stable as it “slithers” up the tree. I should have gotten a pic. I’ll remember next time. While on the trail, another strangler intrigued me. Look at this photo:

If you take a quick glance, it looks like a normal branch or tree with leaves.  Orrrr does it?

Take a closer look:

This strangler, climbing asparagus, tricks nature-walkers (i.e. me) by making it look like it’s part of a tree, when in reality, it’s well on its way to killing it. I just think it’s interesting.

Next stop: Charles Plimmer Park. We were to do the same thing as we did last Monday which was to release some newly planted trees.  But that’s not all. I had an intimate interaction with a bumble bee! It was HUGE! I heard it coming as it crash landed into my leg.  I was so startled that I almost brushed it away.  Luckily I reached for my phone instead.  Even though they are called the “teddy bears of the sky”, I got a little nervous as it started to crawl up my pant leg. I was so excited that I shared the video with everyone. Politely, each person shared my enthusiasm.

After an hour of releasing, we left so we had time to visit the dog shelter. Ah! I wanted to squeeze, hug, and kiss each and every dog there.

Some photos of the pups:

The last photo is of ten year old Charlie. David is adopting him and gets him this Friday. It was a neat end of the volunteer day. I feel thankful CVNZ takes us on these impromptu trips after a days work of volunteering. It definitely adds flavor to the whole experience.

After we got back and relaxed a couple hours, we decided to walk to the beach to dip our feet in the sand, some even dipped their entire body. I would have gone in had I brought my swimsuit. The water would have been freezing, but as they say, yooooooolo!

Thursday: November 23

First and foremost, happy Thanksgiving and happy birthday to my dear sister, Tiffy.

It was Thanksgiving for me, but it was not for the rest so the show had to go on. Since it was Thursday, it was going to be another day of brutal (but not that brutal) work removing trees and bushes at Zealandia. This was also Marie’s last day of work before she goes on to her next adventure. Sad to see her leave but so excited for her journey and the time she will have to self-reflect. I’m not as sad as I will be when we hug farewell in Nelson. In a few weeks we will have completed our first Great Walk together, Abel Tasman. After that, we will head in opposite directions. Marie will head north and I will head south.

Anyways, back to volunteering. Ugh. Gorse (devil’s bedding). We just don’t get along. It gives me hives every time. Nasty little bugger. The bush has sharp pine needles that stick out of it, the needles stab and jab anything that comes near it. This is what it looks like:

Here is a photo of the baby hives I get whenever my arm brushes against it. I think I’m allergic to it since no one else gets hives. It’s fine though. After a half hour, they go away on their own.  I know… it doesn’t even look that bad, but I am a total baby.

We spent the afternoon at Zealandia and headed back. It was a really, REALLY hot day in the sun with abnormally little wind so we only stayed until about 2p.

We got back to the house and showered up. Marie was so sweet. I told her that I was going to miss Thanksgiving and she offered to celebrate it with me. She suggested a fabulous idea which was to go see a movie. She unknowingly suggested an idea that many people do back home as a tradition.

We decided to see The Justice League, which ended up being a good movie. Everyone in the house went as well. I wish my brother, Travis, could have been there to see it; especially after Romain and I got on the topic of World of Warcraft (WoW). He informed me that there is a movie about WoW. Instantly I envisioned me and Travy suited up as our favorite WoW class, I would be a warlock and he would be a druid of course. We would then watch the movie with a couple drinks in hand (probably make a drinking game out of it). We’ve never done that before, but it’s easy to picture.

I went off on a tangent there.  Sorry.  Per usual, my evening was spent in good company.  Even though I missed my family and the holiday back home, I was more than happy to celebrate Thanksgiving with new friends.

Friday: November 24

Same old,  David and Natalie (new team leader that is being trained in) arrived to pick us up.  But first we cleaned the house together (vacuumed, bathrooms, and kitchen) which was unusual, but I was okay with it. After some light cleaning, we got in the good ol’ CVNZ van and drove an hour to the city of Onepoto.

We met a group of 6-7th graders along Titahi Bay. Our job for the day was to clear rubbish* from the coast. I ended up walking with a group of girls who were heaps* of fun to chat with. They were sweetas*. While chatting, we picked up a jandal* , saw some large (dead) fish, and we talked about boots*, trips to the dairy*, futsal*, togs*, and how Americans pronounce words with the letter “a” in them (Example: the name Archie: I say Are-chi and Kiwis say Awe-chi). They got a kick out of my accent as I did theirs. We had fun walking along the coast discussing the differences in our English dialects.

*My new vocab words the girls taught me.  We didn’t get a change to work on my accent, but there is always next time. Rubbish= trash, heaps= tons, sweetas= cool, jandal=thong sandal, boot= trunk of a car, dairy=convenience store, futsal=still not exactly sure, but some sport, togs= swimsuit

Yesterday was Marie’s last day of work and today was Romain’s last day.  I am sad to see him go, but feel fortunate I got to meet such a fine fellow. He’s been a treat to get to know. Born in Belgium and now lives in South Africa with his family. His eagerness to learn new things has been very inspirational and I look forward to seeing what he does with his future as I know it’ll be interesting and rewarding.

After we got back from volunteering, it was time to say goodbye to Marie.  I walked with her to the bus stop to bid her farewell… until December 12th that is.  The two weeks that I spent getting to know Marie went by way too fast, but I am so excited to say that I got a German friend out of the deal.  I have no doubt that we will meet again outside of New Zealand and I think that is pretty neat to think about.

The evening was low key.  The roommates and I went back to the Wellington Night Market like we did last Friday to eat some delicious food and watch talented musicians sing the night away.  We stayed in the area for a couple of hours then went back to the house to listen to some music and play cards.  Then the night was over.