Trust Me

“I don’t know you, but I trust you.”

This is the Kiwi motto, though they never say it out loud. It’s basically the prefix to every sentence when you meet a native in New Zealand.

For example:

“I don’t know you, but I trust you to stay in my home alone, care for my eight horses, dogs, kittens, drive my car around, and ride any one of my three riding horses.”

“Oh, and I know I picked you up about 7 minutes ago, but you’re also welcome to stay at my home for the next two weeks after we get back.”

Mind you, she didn’t say that first part about only knowing us for 7 minutes.

This was the most recent occurrence, and for the past week Sara and I have been staying at the Fraser’s farm in Waipukurau, NZ. It was set up by the woman whose house we were staying in previously, who had these friends that needed help during the biggest horse show in New Zealand, and one of the biggest sporting events in the southern hemisphere – the Horse of the Year.

Sara and I felt like we had landed in heaven and we had no idea how we had gotten here or why we deserved it. It’s a beautiful farm that in addition to fourteen horses is a full-time dairy farm. The two girls are show jumpers and their horses are gorgeous.

With our car we were free to drive to Horse of the Year at any time during the week, which we were given free week passes to by the Fraser’s. 

Yeah, it’s been a rough week.

Horse of the Year was incredible and by and large the biggest horse event I’ve ever been to. My favorite was the Mounted Games. The teams were New Zealand, Australia, USA, France, England, Wales, and Switzerland. NZ came out with the championship, and it made me determined to learn how to run alongside Vera and mount mid-stride in an insane leap.

She might be a little bigger than the games ponies, but a girl can dream.

The show ended yesterday, bringing the family and show horses home. We cleaned out the trailer (or float as they say here) and spent the last couple hours wiping and conditioning the tack.

We’ll be here for the next two weeks working for our room and board. It’s been incredibly nice to settle down and chill with a Kiwi family.

The show also gave us a great opportunity to network. Being a foreigner, I’ve noticed how hard you have to advocate for yourself to get anywhere. I thought I was missing out on the resume and cover letter nightmare that my friends endured post-grad, but I just moved it onto a different playing field.

I’m forced to approach strangers and convince them that I’m worth hiring. While I was looking for one of the biggest names in dressage in NZ, I met a Canadian who has been here for ten years. I couldn’t find a way to reach this dressage rider, and the Canadian empowered me.

“Go find the Grand Prix Stables. Stand outside her stall until she shows up. You’re a stranger in a foreign country, you have to be pushy!”

So yes, stalking is now on the list of “willing to do to get a job.”

And I did find her. And she was a great resource. Hopefully I’ll hook up with her in a month or so, and we left each other promising to stay in touch.

Just like every other Kiwi, she looked at me with a welcoming smile.

The number of homes I have been invited to stay in since I arrived here is more than I’ve been offered in my lifetime. I can’t wait to take them all up on their offers.

Kiwis, I don’t know you either, but I trust you, too.

From Hobbiton to Mordor, to the depths of the Earth

Just a couple of things have happened in the last two weeks.

We went to Hobbiton and checked out the view from Bag End. The hobbits were a little shy about photographs, but they let us hang out in their hobbit hole.

The Party Tree, the Green Dragon (pub) and the Mill.

Sara, Antony and me as hobbitses.

Then we drove south to Rotorua, an area known for active geysers and hot springs.

Geyser Lady Knox, Wai-O-Tapu

After two glorious nights in a hostel in Rotorua, we continued our journey south along Lake Taupo and set up our tents in the Kaimanawa Forest, a very short drive from the Tongariro National Forest.

New Zealand has several Great Walks in the country, known to be some of the most beautiful walks in the world. One such walk is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a trek that takes you across the Nat'l Forest between several active volcanoes. The views are stunning, from fields of volcanic rock to misty mountain sides.

Also noteworthy is the presence of Mt Ngauruhoe, more commonly known as Mount Doom. It is where several of the scenes were filmed where Frodo and Sam were climbing Mt Doom in Return of the King. I don't think I heard one single person refer to it as Ngauruhoe - we all had our priorities.

When we departed on the trail at 7 am (we had to arrive by 6 am to guarantee a parking spot at the trail head) we said that we would hike until the turn off, then decide whether or not to attempt to summit the mountain.

As my companions will attest, I was always determined to climb to the top. Who walks by Mt Doom, says, "Oh, that's pretty" and doesn't hike up it? Where is the respect?

After 2.5 hours of walking on the beautiful, mostly uphill trail to the base of the mountain, we had a decision to make.

3 hours later, we were on top of Mt Doom.


It was a great climb - the hardest part for me was in the loose rocks. Given that it's a volcano, the steep sides of the mountain are covered in scree, which is loose volcanic rock. Volcanic rock is incredibly light and easy to move around, so once you're sliding on the sandy sides, it can be hard to get very far very fast.

Towards the top it got much easier because it was basically rock climbing. Sturdy hand and foot holds made the ascent much faster and soon enough we were looking out across Mordor. That is, if Mordor was a gorgeous New Zealand scenery of mountains and emerald lakes.

Mt Ngauruhoe - the night before at our campsite.

The ring is getting heavier! (No, Sara's not a huge geek. That's a ring she always wears on her neck).

The incline.

The top!

The selfie descent.

3 hours up, 30 minutes down. The best way down was to skate your way down the steeper sides and let the rock slides take you down.

And then? Then we slept on the ground, and started our next adventure that took us 100 meters underground when we went caving in Waitomo. The pictures can't even begin to explain it, but unless we have a conversation I can't express how amazing it was.

A 100 meter repel, leaping from boulder to boulder, feeding giant eels, free climbing up water falls, canon-balling into pools and laying on your back in the dark, looking at the thousands of glowing specks on the ceiling as the glow worms attract flies to their webs. After a 7 kilometer hike underground, all I wanted to do was start over again.

And all of that? That was 5 days ago. I'll update you on the last 5 days soon. But for now, all you need to know is that life is good. Sara and I are on our own now. We're about to enjoy some sushi in Wellington, then we're off to see The Hobbit in the theater where LOTR had its world premiere. Tomorrow we hop on the bus to Waipukurau to start our farm stay. I can't wait!