One Week Down. Already?!

Week one...FINISHED. It's hard to believe that one-fourth of this trip is already over. Saturday when we pulled into the volunteer house driveway, late at night, I don't think any of us knew what was in store for us for the coming weeks. We knew we were planting trees. We knew we were working with a volunteer group. We knew that we were being given the chance to make a change. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Ghandi was a genius. But what we didn't know how big of an impact we could have, and how big of an impact this project could have on us.

The end of our week really made us all feel like a part of this site, like we were making it our own, taking it under our wing, if you will [kind of like a petrel...sorry, I couldn't resist]. Continuing the work we did on Thursday, Friday we finished out paint job on the fence, and scraped and painted the water tower. Ah yes, another fresh coat of white. The site looked brand new. For those who had been on the site since it started about seven months ago, the change they saw in the site that day was tremendous. Even for us, who had only been there for a mere seven days could see the difference, and with that came a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.

With our make-over done and a long smoko finished, we headed down to the beach to pick up gravel for a new path behind the water tower. Yet again, the beach was another one of those breathtaking views. We finished our gravel scoop and headed down the beach, with James at the lead, to search for some green stone, or jade, something we have all been dying to find since our arrival. "A green stone, I found one!" Nope. It was literally just a green stone, which due to its wetness, looked shiny and jade-like. Alright, so we finished scouring the beach for jade, not green rocks, with no luck, but it was still great to be strolling alongside the waves. And hey, the cartwheels and rocks angels were an added bonus.

Back to the site we went. Lay down the rocks. Sort some plants. 10 trays ought to do. Spraypaint some signs [!!!]. Smoko. After a spot of tea, Dave came in and talked to us about what we would expect for the next day, the soon to be highlight of my week [I know the anticipation is killing you]. After our chat, we headed outside and cleared away tons of poplar trees, another invasive plant on New Zealand lands. An hour earlier than the day before, we were on our way home.

"Thanks for the lift Dave! See you tonight!"