a long expected party...

So while I have not exactly been the most faithful blogger at least I have followed through with my promise to be inconsistent. Or perhaps I have been consistent about my lack of posts… whatever.
So we left Wellington 9 days ago. Wellington is either the second or third largest city in New Zealand and its smaller than Grand Rapids. In fact, the city of Los Angeles is said to have more people than all of New Zealand combined. Wild. I’ve actually begun to notice the small ways that the small population affects this country, distinguishes it from all the other places I’ve been. The main thing, is the amount of undeveloped territory. We traveled from Wellington to Christchurch via ferry and train. The ferry ride between the two islands was incredible. Once we hit the south island we hopped on a train that took us to Christchurch. Apparently it wasn’t the fastest way to travel but in those 4 ½ hours but was, again, absolutely beautiful and I was amazed at how much of the country we rode through was undeveloped.
We’ve had our first little slip up, the first travel glitch, to prevent us from doing our “thang”. Since arriving we have basically been cashing in left and right on the hospitality and generosity of others. Needless to say, this has made us both thankful and spoiled. Things have continually swung the right way. Since arriving in Christchurch we have been enjoying spending time with Megan and Richard, learning about organic gardening, meeting their friends and families, a trip to Taka Matua to Richards Bach (cottage) and a night on the town. Two other travelers, Devon and Ross, have joined us here in Christchurch as well and the four of us will be continuing on to explore more of the south island. We will be again, banking in on some generosity with Laurens friend Juliette, who is letting us use her car the entire time that we are here. The process of getting the A-Ok to start driving the car has been a bit more frustrating than we thought. It has been over a week of trying to get insurance or get ownership transferred or find any other loophole that would get us on the road sooner. Well, jumping through loopholes is a pain in the whoopdy, and its hard to be patient when you’re on the brink of an adventures, waiting for CAR INSURANCE to go through. After a few days with no word, we decided to move forward and start pursuing other options which lead us into the sketchy dirty garage of the backpackers car market. This was a garage where backpackers trying to sell their cars could keep them in this garage for other backpackers looking to buy car. It was a sad and desperate place. People needing to get out of dodge and not wanted to lose money on their car investment. You got hounded by tons of people trying to sell you their car, lowering their prices on cars for already pretty cheap and throwing in tents and gear for free… leaving was depressing – the cars all looked dejected and sad, and the owners looked even more downtrodden – as Lauren put it “it was like leaving a dog rescue without a dog”. I am picturing us at the end of our journey, in that same situation, trying to get rid of a shit car and I feel ridiculously thankful for those more patient than I.
Literally, 20 minutes after we left, we got a call about the car… and now, 2 days later, we are car owners, with insurance… and in an hour we are hittin the road… we celebrated with cheap beer and a loaf of bread… oh the joys of being poor vagabonds.