#ranchstay

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So, if anyone is interested, on this map you should be able to see where my ranch stay will take place :)

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So today I received the address of the ranch I’ll work on for one month. I’m super excited, as it is a horse stud only half an hour away from Auckland. Above you can have a glimpse on how it looks around there. I think it’s just beautiful.

[i-eatdragons]

I'm now on my way via Greyhound bus to Vancouver. My organisation messed up big time, again, but I will have this all figured out somehow. My last day was wonderful. I had great talks with Deb and she said that I'll always be welcome to visit them anytime, always. And one of the volunteers told me later that she told them how upset she was about me leaving already and that she probably had to cry. We stayed up to play cards until after midnight (mind I had to get up at 4 am today) and this morning, my lovely roommate Laura got up with me and helped me get my suitcase closed and I hate goodbyes so much but they will come and visit me im Vancouver as their ranchstay ends in one week and I'm such a lucky person to have met them.

[i-eatdragons]

It's my first day off after one week of working 5+ hours on the farm a day. My whole body's sore, especially my legs (after all the weight training/running/biking in addition to that) and my neck, which is probably the cause of some headaching. This week has gone by SO fast, but it still feels weird being so far away from everything I love for that long... I miss my friends, but not as much as I'd feared to and I'm a bit hurt some of them never reached out to ask how I was (but then again it's only been a week...) but whatI miss most is just being myself and doing things to my liking. Cooking my own meals, eating when I'm hungry, going out, having honest, deep talks, making music, just laying in bed and watch a movie once in a while... On the other hand, I'm making awesome experiences, I made friends, I learned a lot about farm animals and how much work it is to keep this all going, I get to be in this beautiful nature, I get to ride, to bike alongside the river, I saw the ocean... And although it's not easy to get along with the hosts at all times and some things I have to do really are against my ethics, I do not regret my decision to come here a bit, but it's hard to always be positive about everything.

[i-eatdragons]

So - the first day on the ranch was already so so adventurous! Spent 3 hours woeking wirh the animals, then wento vancpuver worh my host mom to get a gew things, have lunch in chinatown and then cross the US border to get some farm supplies (and ice cream!) and we even went to an auction as I've never been to one. I barely slept as rhe dog was barking all night (probably a bear around) but at least the sun is shining today!

[i-eatdragons]

I finally arrived at 'my' ranch after waiting one whole day in Vancouver (a rainy day spent reading, walking up and down Victoria Drive and sitting on a swing listening to Muse and Basement). I'm sharing my room with a really sweet girl from Taiwan, but her English's not that food and she's very quiet, like me, so there hasn't been much talking so far. The ranch is beautiful and I can't wait to get out there and work with the animals and ride the horses and ugh this is a little girl's dream finally coming true.

[i-eatdragons]

I’m leaving for Canada in 40 minutes and I finally got my placement! I’ll be staying at a small horse breeding farm with lots of other animals (cats, dogs, chicken, sheep, goats...) near Vancouver and the owners seem very nice and I’m just so so relieved. After almost crying saying goodbye to all those people last night, I’m feeling far better and more excited now. Bit scared though. Two of my best friends will come to the airport with me, which is a big relief. So, fingers crossed.

[i-eatdragons]

So... Flight to Vancouver is booked. eTa for Canada ordered. All I need to do now is send all information to the organization and thrn pay them eep.