The Hammock!

So yeah, this is what I have been doing for the last week or so. I have found a new love: The Hammock! I can't seem to muster up the energy to get out once I am in. Today, in fact, I think I was in the hammock for a good 23 hours! I had to finally come in after this photo as it was getting too dark to read...

For those of you who have never stayed in a hostel, I will try to paint a picture of what it is like. There are only like 12 backpackers here at the moment. It is a lovely hostel, very homey. The couple that owns it are retired and this seems to be their hobby. (I think they got a little lonely after their kids moved out) The hostel is basically a building in their backyard. There are about 12 bunkbeds upstairs, and on the main floor there is a kitchen and tv room. This place is great. Kinda feels like a tree house! There are always people hanging out. There are 2 English guys that have been living/working/surfing here for the last year. The wall that faces the beach on the ground floor is actually removable (rolls up-kinda like the walls in the Cowabunga bar at Zorbaz) so we open it during the day. It's pretty cool. Obviously, every hostel has it's own personality, I like this one! Maybe that's why I am staying for nearly 2 weeks! I will be here until January 3rdish...I think anyway!

We had a great Christmas. Ray and Avon (the owners) had a bunch of their family and friends over. We all hung out in the sun and chilled on the hammocks. We had a HUGE bbq--ham, sausages, hamburgers, salad, pasta and heaps of other food. For desert Avon made Pavlova--a very traditional Kiwi desert. Yum-o! We spent the evening playing drinking games and chatting. It was a great Christmas. I was nervous that Christmas was going to be very lonely--but it turned out to be a great day! Plus, Avon got us all presents and wrapped them and put them under the tree. How nice!! I didn't think Santa was going to find me!

One Monday I am headed to a 3 day festival at a nearby vineyard. There will be roughly 30,000 people there. Franz Ferdinand and Public Enemy are in the line-up along with like 100 other bands--Rachel and I are volunteering at the festival (we get our tickets free!) I am looking forward to it. I am not sure what my job will be there, but it will be cool to be part of it! It will be nice to have some "work" to do--doing nothing all day is tiring! It really is a rough life!

Until the next post...