Author Archives: bethoffreshair

I’ve been made fun of for saying, “Oh that person reminds me of my friend from Mast (an outdoor store I worked at in Asheville).” Kasey finally said, “everyone here reminds you of someone from Mast.” But our new host, Kris, is truly like a Mast model. He wears the plaid shirts and the floppyContinue reading “grapevine.”

Jonathan Kenneth is a world champion cyclist and the head of NZ cycling trails. He has written many books about the best cycling in New Zealand. He rode up this morning to help on the trail. He is impressive in many ways. Over a cup of tea, he said, “It’s such an amazing thing toContinue reading “last of the ghost lake saga.”

The fog takes over quickly up here, and today that added to the fairytale feel of the forest. Kasey was made “Rock Design Director”, I was named “Transplant Director”, and Brittany was named “Director of Landscape and Aesthetics”. Our resumés will be impressive. Brittany and I were digging up beautiful flax that was on theContinue reading “ghost lake hut cont…”

I am currently sitting by a fire in a cabin made entirely of pine–the deck, dining room table, bunk beds, benches, and shelves. Because of this, everything not in pine sticks out. The 2012 bottle of Silverstone merlot, one red bowl, a yellow dust pan, and a green map on the wall of the veryContinue reading “spec-track-ular.”

While driving from one place to the next, I get this overwhelmingly euphoric feeling. Like my dreams are coming true and my whole life is ahead of me and I also wonder if the next host will have smooth peanut butter. While on the ferry to the South Island, I felt like the “about me” sectionContinue reading “headin’ down south.”

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is listed one of the top 10 day hikes in the world. While on our 1st of 19 kilometers, Kasey said, “We should do all ten.” I said, “Yeah! We’ll see what we think on kilometer 17 or 18…” One must get shuttled to the beginning of the trail and thenContinue reading “trek to mordor.”

The doctor’s hot tub never got as hot as the naturally hot waterfall we hiked to today. It’s now high on our “top experiences in NZ” list. The water coming out of the falls was scorching, like a gloriously hot shower after a day in the snow. Though it’s not snowing here; it’s summer time.Continue reading “wow.”

A 65-year-old swim teacher, Pam, was the official dog-sitter for Hans and Winnie while they were away. And we earned our keep by tending to the garden and washing the car. While cleaning out the car, Pam came back and when I asked the usual “how are you?” she responded with an unusual “not veryContinue reading “sam.”

Nana’s front left tire gets low from time to time. While on a roundabout (New Zealand seems to put roundabouts where stoplights would go in the states; they’re everywhere), a woman got our attention and pointed down and we tried to guess what she meant. My first thought, of course, was Ellen’s standup comedy bitContinue reading “nana the valiant.”