I Need Your Vote

As mentioned a few posts back, I've decided to leave the Blueberry Farm.

- Wanderlust has gotten me. Wellington is much like Seattle weather-wise, and I am so done with this cloudy, rainy BS. The Hutt Valley, where this farm is, is its own microclimate that likes to trap in doom and gloom as well. Great for growing blueberries, not so good in the vitamin D department.

- The farmers' market I thought I'd be womaning turns out to be an DIY arts market (yknow, where every overdressed hipster in town comes to sell you a hand-stiched oven mitt shaped like an octopus) with not much food, in a covered carpark, not the sunny vegetable festival I'd pictured in my mind. And we're understaffed at the farm/cafe/PYO, so I'm needed here on weekends anyway. I'm a bit bummed to lose the vision of flying down country roads in an ole pickup with little boxes of blueberries bopping around in the back.

- There is a lot to do here, all of it lovely work, but just a lot, and it reminds me of my last job (4 years of street paper stress). If I stayed, I know I would throw myself into it too much. I think I need more time on vaca mode.

I just told Mandi that I'm leaving and it was hard, for she has been a thoroughly generous, kind hostess, and she is so bright, with a great passion for combining art and love of nature. This year her divorce means she must find a new business plan for saving the farm, so the stakes are rather high. I of course in my heart want to help her, but I have to keep remembering that I am here to recharge, and to dissolve old patterns.

So! Adventure Time. I would love some votes on what to do next.

Options:
- Go to the Northland, which is subtropical, and known for having lots of great, hippie WWOOF placements (esp. permaculture, which I'd love to learn more about). Plus side = guaranteed sunshine, banana trees and the like. Minus side = I hear Auckland, the closest city, kinda sucks, and I may be sick of work that entails lots of animal poop.

- Jet to Queenstown, adventure capital. Perhaps get a cafe job, and party with all those freaks who love to jump out of airplanes and dive off cliffs. Perhaps get an apartment and live with some kiwis my age, settle in a bit and try out that "real life" thing. Minus side = Is real life too scary?

- As for other cities, I hear Dunedin is too studenty, Christchurch I'm told is kind of industrial/blase (but perhaps I should peep it first? it is the 2nd biggest city), and Nelson is just too small for me. That's it on the places-with-nightlife list, and yes, I miss the sh!t out of nightlife. (San Francisco, I cannot wait to be held in your glittery embrace! With Rosa Luna by my side! Who else wants to move there in May? Seriously, let's DO THIS!)

The great thing is I can do all of these things, in any order, for any length of time. But I'd love some thoughts on where should be Point A.