Day 194 - Rotorua

After shaky beginnings, I've settled in and having such a great time...

On Wednesday the wwoofers arrived; Chris and Caresa from the USA. They both met at the Kapala (spelling?) yoga centre in the US when they were both volunteering there. They are great fun, chilled and down to earth, and we all get along really well. They both have been in the yoga world for much longer than me, and really know their stuff, so we've all been having some fascinating long discussions about life, the universe and everything. The yoga practice itself is actually getting a bit easier - I think my muscles are beginning to get used to the fact that a yoga lesson is no longer a time to relax and stretch but instead work bloody hard each one of them. The girls are more disciplined than me and have their own practice - so I've been joining in - nothing hard core, just a little pranayama and chilled out yoga in the morning (meanwhile Paul is perched calmly in handstand, or sitting with a foot behind his head).

Paul really is a bit of a character; childish old man mixed with yoga hippy. He's always hopping around with lots of energy and going bouncing off to chop wood or shoot possums. Every now and then he hikes off into the bush to his cave where he stays and goes all spiritual for a few days ("man, and one time I was lying there all blissed out when this rat crawled up me and bit my ear, a I was like okaaay"). He's been encouraging us to go stay in the cave for a few days to meditate "you have a stream and you make a fire - I left one danish woman there for 9 days and she started hearing things and thinking the trees were out to get her - I mean... far out maan". He's also got a huge library of amazing books that we are picking our way through, and an awesome 70's music collection we groove along to when we are slicing the fruit we picked for the dehydrator.

So, all is good, yoga is good, muscles hurt less, mind is expanding and I'm learning how to chop wood and drive a trailer around. It's awesome maan. Who knows - a week in a rat infested cave next? Hmm, maybe not.