Expectations are a fickle beast.

It is amazing how a small expectation, even something as small as expecting someone not to be late can throw of your balance of happiness and frustration.  Im not saying that people dont hurt us because that definitely happens for real. I am saying that alot of being upstet with something or unhappiness comes from the other person letting down the expectation that you had of them.  Not in fact the other person letting you down. For example if someone is late, its not the fact that they are late that causes the frustration it  is the expectation that you had for them to be on time, they have arrived exactly when they where supposed to but the frustration comes from an expectation of them 10 min earlier.  

I went into my trip to the south island with an expectation of bike touring around with someone, and when they where not there i felt hurt. I spent the majority of the night thinking about the whole situation, and i have come up with the fact that my unhappiness comes from the expectation that i had for them.  My unhappniess with the situation does not come from that person, but from within. This insight of the situation is just telling me that everthing as it should be, and that i should enjoy the experince no matter what. because its all about the journey, and mine is a good one. 

On a lighter note im going to start riding the Queen Charlotte Track on a mountain bike either today or tomorrow, and will be away from electronics, which is a much needed break i have been playing to much with electronics lately and its time for a break. 

Love you all

Colby

Videos and Kayaks

I got to Rotorua to hang out with a couple really cool kids, I thank you boys for the good times and there are many more to come.  I am spending some time around lake rotorua, and it really is a good place to exist.  I went right to the Wairoa river the day after we arived for some fantastic paddling. here are some photos and a video showing what we have been doing. 

https://vimeo.com/116483255  

The boys are learning the finer points of whitewater and learning the finer points of life through whitewater. there will be more videos to come soon! 

Stay tuned! 

Striking out again

I has been an awesome 3 weeks here in tairua with Paul and Ange, It is time to srike out again and see some diffrent things. I head off to auckland tomorrow and meet up with some friends from the states who are flying in.  I will not say goodbye to the friends and family that i have made here because we will all meet again when our paths cross in the future.

It is exciting what the future holds, the people that i meet along the way, and the places that i will see, makes the experince one to stick around for.  Traveling is really worth all the money and time that you can throw at it, there is no reason that anyone cant go travel.  many people say how do you travel around, the key is just to do it!  Sure there are many hurdles to jump over, but anyone can limit their belongings and jump on a train or plane somewhere.  This is all fine and dandy you might say, but what about money? That is the question that i hear most, and really you just have to let go.  the key is if your not happy to change something in your life, if work doesnt make you happy, Quit! something better will come along. Buy a ticket to somewhere you have always wanted to go and go! even if you dont have money, something will work itself out. If there are kids in the picture then, in my mind you have to take them somewhere, there are plenty of families i have met traveling that have very little, but those kids will have memories for the rest of their lives.  Somebody really smart once said "Go at least one place a year you have never been before." Dali lama 

So grab an instrument and a ticket to somewhere, and enjoy life! 

With love 

Colby 

Beach life

Hello everyone back home, haven't taken too many photos, and have just been relaxing at this beach house with the crew.  Have met some really special people so far in NZ, and reconnected with some great friends.  Thanks everyone! 

The experince is never quite the same. Every time I find myself back in a familiar place, the experince is not going to be what it was.  My experince this time in NZ is much different from last year even though I visit some of the same places. As though the tide and the waves changes a beach, that beach will change and it will never be the same as what it once was. The tide has changed the beach in front of the house here so it is not the same aesthetically, but nevertheless it is the same beach. Our beaches in life will always change and we cannot expect them to be the same, we must let go and indulge in the experince of the new beach rather than the old one. In this journey of life there are so many avenues to take, and so many places those avenues will lead, it is pretty mind boggling. In the last week and a have I have met some incredible people, and my new experince is not better or worse, it has just changed.  I must keep reminding myself to stay on this beach, and take a deep breath and enjoy the sun, because that all we can really do. 

With love, Colby 

Back at it again! Adventures that is!

as many people may know i have decided to go back to NZ and do some fun things! i will try to update the blog when i can with photos and adventures.  Since the passing of my good friend Lucius, I have dicided that the rest of my life really must be as packed with adventure as possible. love life and have fun doing it thats all we can ask for!  Hope to share my adventures soon!

Hello From NZ

We have been having a great time here in NZ here are some of the photos that conclude our WWOOFing on the north island.

Rotorua, we woofed at the cox family's house, It was a great adventure. I got to help the boys Sean and Joel with learning whitewater kayaking. It was a great adventure, Nico enjoyed the kitchen and creating art out of food. One day we went out on the boat with the family and enjoyed a day of swimming and soaking in the hotsprings by lake Rotowiti. Thank you guys so much,  It was a lot of great fun and it was hard to leave.  In Rotorua we wandered around town a couple of days and enjoyed the sights and smells.  we went to the musem and saw the baths which was pretty cool.

Our third woof was Interesting one, It was a great place and a great idea however it was not implemented very well. Lets just say we are not convinced about compost toilets as of now. It was however a good environment and many good people, There was also a great beauty around the place. It was pretty cool to interact with the farm and farm animals, also we got to do some pretty cool things. 

The last stop on the north Island was, meeting Nico's friends Adam and Olivia in Wellington this was a great stop. Thank you guys we really enjoyed ourselves, and we really enjoyed being shown around the city. The highlight I have to say was going into the national museum barefoot. that was awesome, everything else was pretty cool too. 

Beekeeping!

We have been staying at a wonderful place on the beach on the Coromandel peninsula, with two wonderful people, Paul and Angela. The experience is amazing and the people great, Nico gets to do more beekeeping because i'm allergic but I get to do other jobs and hang out for the time that im not working.  Yesterday we went to Hotwater beach, interesting phenomenon of hot water coming out of a beach and you dig in the sand to create a hot pool and sit in a couple inches of hot water.

New Zealand has been good, the start was a little rough and shocking how much the cost of living is, food and other items in the stores are not cheap and it doesn't help that our dollar is weak right now.  We have however settled into WWOOFing and its much better doing a little work for room and board. We are having fun, and everyone stay warm back home!

Ciao

Hey Everyone we are leaving the country!

Nico and I fly out for New Zealand today, going on a big adventure.  would like to say thanks to the families for putting up with us for the past week, it has been great to have everyone together. thanks to Grandma Sedlacek for the hospitality to provide a diving board for our trip, and all the great food.  Thanks to Mike and Rita for a wonderful dinner and gracious hospitality.  happy holidays and check back for updates on the blog, love everyone!

Ciao 

EEL RIVER 2013