Arrival

After planning for the better part of a month, the journey starts. After a short flight from Seattle to San Francisco, I meet up with my travel buddy. Having not really known each other before this trip, Juliette and I went out on a limb in planning to travel with each other, but it has worked out well so far. It is nice for an introvert like me to have a more outgoing travel partner. We balance well; she pulls me out of my shell and I rein her in. It is fun to have someone to share this experience with. It also doesn’t hurt that we have similar goals for this leg of our journey. 

The twelve-hour flight from San Francisco to Auckland is long and brutal, but I experience surprisingly little jet lag. Perhaps it is because the overnight portion of the flight isn’t too forced or rushed, sleeping time on the plane is sort of night time for both the West Coast of the US and NZ. Right now, due to the way Daylight Savings Time works out here, New Zealand is only three hours and a day apart from Pacific Standard Time. 

Monday morning in Auckland airport, Juliette and I hop onto an airport shuttle, heading for the downtown train station as the sun rises. I am still a bit too frazzled to remember that I have a camera at this point. We experience the legendary Kiwi* kindness for the first time as the train station guards cheerfully ask this pair of lost-looking Americans where we are going, interpret our stumbling mispronunciations of our destination and direct us to the correct train to Pukekohe.

(Three-dozen attempts later we’ve finally gotten the pronunciation right. Or so we think.) 

Once on the train, we finally have time to relax. We content ourselves with looking out the window for the next hour.




In addition to the genuine friendliness from everyone we encounter, it is easy to notice that Kiwi life moves at its own, easy pace. Schedules are not the most important rule to follow and everything is as casual as you want to make it. Our first host, Dean, does his grocery shopping (and pretty much everything else) in bare feet.


More stories to come later!

*Kiwi = New Zealander

Hello there!

Name: Chloe
Destination: Christchurch, New Zealand

What better way to record a journey through word and image? I am about to spend the next few weeks WWOOFing my way south from Auckland to Christchurch. For those who have never heard of it, WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or Willing Workers On Organic Farms) is a network of travelers and would-be organic farmers / do-it-yourself-ers. Similar to Couch-Surfing, WWOOFers find hosts in the areas they want to visit, repaying the hosts for their hospitality by working for a few hours each day on whatever project needs doing. It seemed like the best way to spend a few weeks traveling and getting to know the land and the people.

The saying, “Take only pictures, leave only footprints,” was originally intended to promote low impact to pieces of preserved land – don’t remove anything from its habitat, and don’t leave behind anything but the impressions of your feet in the ground. And do be careful about where you leave those footprints, you don’t want to damage anything. Here, I’ll be working with a different intent of the phrase. When I am feeling more philosophical, “leaving footprints” signifies that where I go, I leave behind an impact. A small piece of me that stays behind in the form of something created, whether those creations are stories made, kittens fed, buildings fixed or gardens tended. “We need to stop talking about low-impact lifestyles. Let us strive to make an impact, and let’s make that impact a positive one!”

Additionally, even when I am not feeling quite so philosophical and wordy, “leaving only footprints” is a reference to my goal of visual documentation. For years, I have enjoyed creating stories through a collection of images. In telling stories through the lens of a camera, I force myself to practice seeing the world with eyes wide open, appreciating what is there to see and discovering what it is that makes something beautiful worth looking at. Once I reach the city and settle into uni life, it is also a challenge to create opportunities to see things in everyday life.

I intend for this blog to serve as an outlet for the discoveries that come throughout my journey. It is also the most convenient way to ensure that all of you can hear and see the stories while I am out of reach. If you have questions about anything relating to my travels, I want to answer them! Leave a comment below, or shoot me an email, I’m always happy to hear from you.

Welcome to Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud.