Dear Stewart island,

between us was just love, love at the first view.

Your shape so irregular, but optimal for the braking of the waves, your biodiversity of plants and animals to make jealous all the other lands. Was diffcult don’t fall in love with your beautiful landscapes, with the friendly people and the quantity of endemic animals that you use to have.

The peace and the quiet that you transmitted me, the silence of your evening, broked just from the sing of some huge birds and the sound of the wind through the trees.

I always loved you, also when, during long walks i was obligated to step for houres on muddy tracks, rain, hail and snow. I loved you also when a cute sea lion try to chase me.

You always showed me your love, also when i started to be little stressed about your way to be...so crazy and unpredictable, your frequent humour changes make me laughing and stressing at the same time.

But..if I had never met you, I would never know so many special peoples.

Thanks for the semplicity that you put on my stay in your land.

I’ll never forget you!

With love.

My desire to be immersed on kiwi's culture took me to meet a nice new zealander family, that is running a big farm. I'm happy to be involved in a wwofing experience (world wide opportunity on organic farms), i worked few hours everyday (above all gardening) in exchange of food and an accommodation. I lived in a little village close to Whakatane, little town in the bay of plenty, north island, in the middle of a beautiful landscapes.

My little friends were some cute sheeps and cows which provide us everyday a very tasty and healthy milk! I spent almost two weeks with this "crazy big family", thanks to them i was able to live like a really new zealander...eating so much and different kind of meat, watching so many matches of rugby and becoming a super fan of the magic All Blacks!

Yeap, is almost impossible don't be overcome by this big event!!

I also spent one day at the primary school of the village, speaking in italian with the childrens.

Was so funny...the kids were so surprised and excited to meet an overseas people!

I had a really good time with Mason's family, i'll remember them, above all Douglas the granddad that changed my name in Valencia...it makes me laughing all the time!!

After a quickly stop to the winery at elephant hill, i continued my trip driving south, stopping in Martinborough region for a wine tasting and finally in Wellington, before crossing to south island. Here i spent some time with a friend of mine, i've been at the university, learning something more about the history of new zealand (the treaty between english crown and maori people). Wellington is just amazing, little crazy, cause the million of people that are there for the rugby world cup, but awesome. Full of museums, nice lookouts and plenty of things to do.

I enjoyed my quickly stay, thanks to rugby the air in Welly is magic...the people are so excited and happy!!

Few days ago i jumped on a ferry, crossing the Tasman sea, to arrive in south island!!

Such amazing landscapes...i drove south until christchurch, where i met Matthias, my new travel mate, of course from Germany!!

We are spending some time here and the city is almost dead. The damages of the earthquake are so big...is very sad, also if the peoples are working hardly to rebuild the town.

Good luck ChCh!

Our next plan is going south to Stewart island, hopefully if we'll be lucky, we'll be able to see the southern lights!!

After the glitch with the van, i was sure don't be able to arrive in Auckland in time and above all scarred about "my" car, "my" big Nevis. Instead...everything was good and ready to go again!

A long stony road took me to Kaukapakapa, a magical and mystical place north of Auckland, where silence, wind and little animals were the owners of the day!! Yeap, i arrived to Vipassana center and a lovely young chilean girl showed me my room and remembered me the rules.

10 days without speaking to anyone, meditate for 10 hours a day, not dinner and wake up at 4 in the morning! I thought was difficult to follow scrupulously the timetable, but was my choice to do it, so i put all my energies and constance to be successful!

I crossed my legs, closed my eyes...and let's start it!!

The first few days i was so excited and honestly when Buddha started talking and chanting a little smile appeared on my face, loosing the concentration, but after that i realized how important it was and everything seemed normal to me.

You start to meditate, going deep and deep on your mind with the objective to purify it, purify it at the deepest level from all the impurities.

So many thoughts and childhood memories came out at the surface, so many emotions and you have to stay quiet, equanimous, balanced, listening your breathe.

The days ran fast until the 6th day, after that I started to be very isolated to everyone, missing all my family and my best friends. I started to know how important they are, how much i love them, the role that they had and have on my life. I wanted to be embraced by someone, but I couldn't..not physical contact for 10 days...argh!!!

But the emotional difficulty wasn't the only one...after 7 days seated all day long with your crossed legs, could be hard... obvious result, pain everywhere, above all on my back!

After 10 days we started talk again...i can't describe my emotions at that time, few tears wetted my face, i was so happy, but a different happiness than the normal one, so peaceful, quiet, full of love. For this reason, i decided to stay longer working for the center for 12 more days.

Wonderful experience, i met so many special peoples and during that time i could breathe a special air...air full of energy, respect and love.

Thanks to the wonderful person that introduced me to Vipassana...

Traveling New Zealand is a truly magical thing!!

White, pink, orange and black are the main colours of the milion beaches that are accompanied our trip on the subtropical region.

We really enjoied Whangarei and his lovely peoples. After a15 Km walk discovering the beautiful Whangarei falls, we decided to take another little walk on the beach, looking for a famous cristallin pool (Matapouri pool). We walked for one hour, trought a difficult and long path without good results!! Max was tired, honestly me either, we start to “insulte” the lonely planet...asking God to help us to find a spot that could look like a pool...nada de nada!! Nothing happens for chance said to myself! After a havy walk the nature decided to give us a little gift...we founded a wonderful lonely white beach (whale beach) where in it waves was breathing a big yellow sea star...just amazing!

The days and nights are going very fast. Falling sleep on the van with the sounds of the ocean is awesome, but see a doulphin jumping in front of you when you just opened the eyes is one of the best things that the nature can offer you!!!

I’m surprised don’t became sick every 2 minutes!! Driving around New Zealand is crazy...hills, corners and holes everywhere. After a long way from Whangarei we arrived on the Bay of island, a little subregion of Northland counting more around 150 islands.

Russel, a little sea village and the first capital of New Zealand was our first stop! I enjoyed it buying a new book on a second hand and taking a quickly look to the oldest buildings in all the country. We then decided to take a ferry to croos the ocean arriving on the next lovely little village: Pahia, but just on the ferry, we realised that we had not cash enuogh!!! =( The friendly women doesn’t complain at all, just jump on!!

After a nice evening in a good hostel we decided to take a day tour on a sailing boat!

Glen, the skipper, was a very kind person, he tell us many histories about the bay and we had the possibility to drive and set the sail. Cristallin water, white and black beaches, snorkelling, the wind in our face, feeling of freedom, i really enjoied that day.

And then go...driving north, far north, passing from Kerikeri, Matauri and Doubtless bay, to catch the Aupouri Penisula. Wonderful landscape beside us, little villages and so many sheeps accompanied our trip. After a long way we arrived at “the end of the world”, one of the beautiful place i’ve seen in New Zealand: Cape Reinga, the extreme north point. Not so many words to describe my emotions!

Mistical place! I had a strange sensation when i came up..the crossing of the tasman sea and pacific ocean make me think a lot about nature and his mystery. This place is very important for maori people, they consider it the place where the souls take flight to arrive on the spiritual motherland.

After a very windy night passed on the van, we took a long walk, about 16 km to the western point: Cape Maria Van Diemen. Very long and exhausted way, we walked across mountains, beaches and desert...in our way back we didn’t take in consideration the high tide...we had climb the rocks to cross the ocean. Very scarred! The rocks were very slipery, every little hole was like a piece of gold! We arrived at the end just with some scratches but without energy, really exhausted!!

After a failed board surfing on the sandy mountians in Ninety miles beach, we relaxed our muscules on the hot pools in Ngawha springs and we started drive south on the Kauri coast, admiring the biggest kauri in the world...a mammoth man!!

But just few km after the forest, a big explosion came out from the van, our gazes crossed, no words, from our eyes just disperation and terror!

The fan was complitely broked, water and some refrigerator liquid came out from the radiator..a big noise...just in the middle of nowhere! We fortunately found two womens that take us to the closer gas station, a mechanic took the van to the garage, we slept there and this morning the worst news...the radiator is gone, the water pump is gone, the fan too...wonderful, what's else?

Max will stay over there, in the middle of nowhere! He will work some days to pay the cost of the damage...what about me?! An ice cream delivery man took me at the closer town (Dargaville), i’m waiting for a bus that will take me to Auckland.

Hopefully i’ll be able to catch my car and be ready for the meditation course!!

Cheers!

AOTEAROA...New Zealand

AOTEAROA... New Zeland

After 5 months spent working at Helephant Hill it's time to start tramp, discovering new peoples, wonderful landscapes and different cultures!!

Also if i had some troubles at the beginning, the work experience in Te Awanga (heart of Hawke's bay) was really good! I learned a lot, discovered a new philosophy of winemaking and made a little bit more muscles!! =) The people over there were friendly and open-mind, so i could improve my knowledge about wine, typical food and maori culture. I need to thanks someone in particular to helped me with my car's troubles!! Yes..unfortunately i bought a very cheap car (Nissan Prairie '92) with a big engineer problem! Is the top and now it makes me laughing...a mechanic's daughter that doesn't recognize a big mechanical problem...anyway i was all the time very lucky because after that i just met two wonderful germans guys that helped me and left me another car (mythic Nevis), much better and the same that i'm traveling with! By the way i learned the lesson...

Since two days i'm in Whangarei a little town with a very big maori culture, located in the far north on the east coast of north island.

I'm sharing this experience with Max, my new travelmate. A very efficient german guy!! We are having a very good time, we just spent the last few days on the nature, enjoying some outdoor activites. Thanks to Sandra & George we discovered Abbey Caves, a groups of ancient wonderful caves where inside live some particular glow rows. We walked for hours inside it just watching on the glowing phosphoric roof and trying don't fall down on big water holes!!

The nature is really amazing...

We also are discovering a reality life, living with Rob and his funny sons, cooking for them, sharing some cultural differences.

Next top...we don't know!!

Kia ora!