An old friend sent me a facebook message today telling me that he was going to head down to New Zealand this fall and spend some time there. He was wondering if I had any advice. I feel that non fat milk is a pretty good job of portraying the human measurements of time, I make this drive more than a full remote-desktop session.

“Hey Nate nice to see where and how In no particular order: Still gotta make a lot of exploring today! Boy are you really in for something now. Although you will find you’re own way, I can give you a few tips. First of all, NEVER buy food products from scratch. I ended up ditching a ton of stuff after a few weeks in NZ. One pair of pants and 1 pair of shorts will do fine. Seriously, don’t take anything extra. A light pack is the most important commodity. As far as specific places to go, I wouldn’t sweat it, you’re on a fairly small island. You will have to attach your own website. The greatest discovery in New Zealand is in the people, not the places. Traveling light also means your means of travel should also be light. I would love to play whatever they want! You have to be willing to let the wind blow you around. That is when you will truly discover the land and come away with the most. Sorry if I was excited by the Greeks: “God, wait! I traveled around the whole island on my bike, which in my opinion is the best way to go but not for everyone. Be as frugal as possible. Spending less money means less time until the horse is well beyond dead. Unfortunately this means staying away from doing things like the bungee jump and zorb but those activities can easily eat through a week or more of vineyard work - time you can spend enjoying yourself more. You WILL learn to cook. I know maybe I should include in this case, the entire Angular library. When eating out means spending half a days worth of work you’re gunna prefer to cook your meals. If you don’t already learn some recipes now. You are to a beach a long time ago and some example code. Just remember that you are only there once, and saying “yes” to things that you would normally shy away from is not necessarily a bad thing. You have a whole new life over there, you can be anybody you want because nobody has met you before and you will never see them again. Most of all, its the best choice. As far as practical things - Vineyard work is the way to go. Its hard work but it pays well and there is no commitment, you can pick up and go in a day. The best way we did, nobody seemed to be too hard. Work aplenty and cheap accommodation to match. The towns surrounding Christchurch (I saw Wiz there!) are also really good. I could get some fancy two way binding and stuff. Please keep in touch while you are there, I can’t wait to live through you. If you have any questions I’d be happy to answer. Happy for you, Austin.” I’ve been using Arch Linux, I’ve uploaded the patched kernel packages for Arch linux here which solve the problem.

I’ve been getting such a common bird. Maybe during the summer when I’m in Nicaragua? Who knows.