Christmas Hitchin

So Since i Left Ywam myself and a couple of young chappys have been of gallivanting around this wonderful land South island New Zealand. After 4 months here in this island I'm now going to Say its the most beautiful place Ive ever been to. So out of 40 countries in 22 yaers this island takes the biscuit. But I'm still up for challenging that and traveling a Little more in the next 40 years.

Myself, Jake, Jonny & Ian started off from base in Jake's 1977 Dodge. We were aiming for Golden bay which is the very north west of the south island. James has a country batch up there and 6 of the guys were up there already. We spent one night Camping next to a waterfall & cooking up a nice pasta dish for din dins. But Ian decided to pour the water out of the pot & also spill all the pasta on the gritty gravel so we had mixed herbs lets say in our pasta. Then after a quiet time up on the waterfall top the next morning Jonny & Ian jumped off the waterfall into nut crunching freezing water.

Then we went up & surprised the guys at the batch. We chilled out heading to a local pub with only local brews & chilly beer (horrible stuff). The lads went picked some mussels & we cooked them up. Then the guys left us & the four of us & Dave were left in the batch & the heavy rains came so we went neighbour hunting and they gave us the lord of the rings trilogy & titanic. So that's was an epic day of nothing. Then the Dave headed off for a 5 day trek with no money, food, tent, mosquito spray, rain jacket or brains.

Then We left the batch drove to Nelson and bought a three man tent called talula. Now this lovely piece of plastic will be our home for the next couple of weeks saving plenty of Penny's. We parted ways with Jake, he headed home for Christmas where we'll catch up with him. & we headed for the west coast.

We managed to get to a free campsite the first night with a kiwi couple cooking our 12 sausages for 3.5 dollars.(1.5 euro) Then there next day a roasting day but not so much luck on the hitching. We got stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing apart from our tent. So we bailed into the forest and into a open field made a fire & cooked up some rice pudding for dinner & heated up some caramelized condensed milk yummy stuff ill tell ya for free.

So the next day it was lashing rain all day but what an interesting day was on the cards. We split up fancying are chances in two groups. Ian made it down to Franz Joseph easily enough but myself & Johnny weren't so lucky. But we got picked up by some paddy from cork who was half Scottish & half Irish so we were in luck. He brought us to a town called Ross. Funny that Rossy i had to pay that town a visit just for you. He rocked us up to a pub & gave us a break from the hitching and treated us to a pint of the local southern brew Speights And going through all the old war stories that he grew up with from his Irish grandfather. Then he dropped us to the edge of town to keep catching up with Ian.

Now by this stage myself & jonny were drenched to the bone & had been hitching for 7 hours and we were out in the middle of nowhere with our little thumbs out. And a couple of cars passed by but then one turned around, Later we found out they really just wanted to now why were were laughing and so happy smiling at the side of the road in those conditions. And this is when it started to get interesting.

The family were called the Smithers. Donna, Phil & Laura, Billy & Katie the kids. They lived in a little town of whatarua. They took us in gave us a house to ourselves, fed us everyday, Gave us a washing machine & dryer anytime we needed, drove us everywhere to all the sights, everything. they were the most hospitable Family Ive ever met. Th

ey blessed us beyond belief and we've had the best time ever and god was up to many things with us & this family. Dona had been praying 3 days before meeting us that young 

Christians would come to her small town & meet with her family, and we've been asking Myself, jonny & Ian have been asking god to use us and bring us on a journey where we can bless people as well as seeing the sights and exploring this country. God has brought us both together & answering both of our prayers and letting us bless each other. Theres so much more but its not going to make it onto the Internet net. But god moved and will continue to move in that family. Also I got to work for Phil for 2 days doing some carpentry work. He owns his own company building houses & Cow sheds. The three of us have job offers down on the west coast now after our trip so who knows if we'll make it back soon.
Now were up in the north of the south island in a place called Blenheim spending Christmas with Jake's family & Jonny, Ian & David. But a warm Christmas is not looking promising with rain today. Christmas eve spent in the pub with my first pint of Guinness since Dublin airport. So all has been going great over in this hemisphere and I'm looking forward to Christmas a good 13 hours before you all. its only 49 Min's away hahahhaa.