DRIVE (Day 26)

The noise last night was probably the worst it had been. Around 10:30 pm, there was some kind of huge street fight with yelling, screaming, running, endless obscenities and threats, etc. There was a guy on his cell phone in the hall having a loud conversation... thoughtful of him for not wanting to keep his roommates awake with it. Of course, the usual doors slamming, racing cars and my German roommate seemed to have picked up a bad cough.

I got up at 4 am because I simply wasn't sleeping. I packed up, stripped the bed, tossed the sheets in the hamper in the hall, and sat in the downstairs room until 5:30 am. I gave my key into one of the desk clerks (who happened to be up making a call to India) and headed out. It was still dark out, with the waning full moon partially wrapped in clouds.

The sidewalks were completely covered with all sorts of trash... wrappers, bottles, condoms. It's a bit ironic in that there are "no liquor" signs on all of the doors, banning alcohol from being in anyone's possession either inside the buildings or on the streets. I can see how well it is working.

There were people sleeping in doorways, on benches, covered with blankets or cardboard. As I got closer to downtown, there were small street cleaners running up and down the sidewalk. There were also people hosing down the sidewalks in front of their stores, removing all traces of the wild night. This trick makes Auckland looks VERY different during the day!

I stopped into a convenience store that was just opening up and got some cookies and crackers (the least sugary items I could find). I never was able to find a real grocery store.

The bus was on time and Stewart, our driver, had us on the road promptly at 6:15 am. I sat in front with the hopes of capturing a lovely sunrise. No such luck as the cloud cover was too thick.

It was rather cold on the bus as we made our way across the countryside. At 8 am, we stopped in Hamilton, and by 10:30 we reached Taupo where I had to change busses. This next bus was VERY full, but somehow I managed to have a seat to myself for most of the trip.


Lake Taupo

We passed by the same volcanos again as we did coming up. The other side of the road was miles and miles of flat fields. This area was not very hospitable. It has lots of snow in winter, harsh sand storms and is not very fertile. It was therefore being used as army training grounds.


Mount Ruapehu


Military training grounds


The last in a long convoy of tanks

We passed through Taihape at 11:15 am and had a lunch break in Hunterville (or something like that) around 2 pm. I was quite starving from only my cookies and crackers so I bought a small serving of french fries. Unfortunately they came out too late and too hot to be able to eat them all, but I scarfed down as many as I could.

In the States we have "french fries" and "potato chips." In the UK they have "chips" and "crisps." Here in New Zealand, where they use a combination of British and American terms, the simply call them both "chips." Even they acknowledge this is a bit silly because you can't really know what someone means. They also call ketchup "tomato sauce" which is what we would think to use to make spaghetti sauce. Oh well, it just makes for some creating eating!

We changed drivers and got John, the same guy who drove me up to Auckland a couple days ago. In spite of potential traffic he got us there on time. Actually, he got us there early so I waited outside the train stations for a couple minutes until Regan drove up and got me. He had been at the grocery store and bought all the fixings for an amazing meal... homemade pizza (with caramelized onions, feta, pumpkin, cheese, walnuts), crinkly fries and a delicious sweet dessert wine. He cooked while I relaxed with a shower and then let me just sit and eat while he took care of my laundry.

FERRY (Day 27)

I got up early, packed up my stuff, and we drove out to breakfast at Astoria, a small cafe. I had french toast made using ciabatta bread, with lemon custard, strawberries and whipped cream. Yummy!

Regan then brought me to the Interislander ferry. It was only running 10 minutes late. I checked in my big bag and we sat watching as the ferry came in and unloaded an assortment of trucks, cars and pedestrians. A train engine backed up to the ship and loaded up a bunch of large shipping containers. It then left with the extremely loud screeching sound of metal wheels on an old track... of course that sound was still better than the entire BeeGee's album that was being played over the loud speaker of the waiting area.

We were so busy laughing and talking that we didn't realize they had started boarding. Suddenly it was last call and I had to race to the boarding gate. I was the last person on.


The train pulls up to the ferry.


No one behind me!

I got a place inside with great window view, reclining seat and power outlet. I was all set! The ferry, the Arahuro, did actually only leave about 15 minutes late.

It was a cloudy day with choppy water. In spite of that, the water still had a lovely undeniably turquoise hue to it. We did the usual... scoot out of the Wellington harbor, hop across the Cook Straight, and weave our way through the sound.


My seat on the ferry


A dismal day to sail


Clouds wrap the peaks of the North Island.


Even the sound was not looking its best.

This was my first time sitting indoors for the trip. While it was warm and I could comfortably work on the laptop, I was subjected to a screaming baby and some highly immature teenagers.

Upon arrival in Picton at 1:30, I checked into my "usual" place for the night. The only room available was the 6-bed girl dorm. I ended up having to get a top bunk. But, we did each get a key for the room. I went into town to buy my bus ticket to Havelock tomorrow, got some money from the ATM, and did some grocery shopping. I then sat in the back patio of the backpackers and had some Regan's pizza left overs (mmmmm!) and a chilled apple (how they store them at the supermarket). It was still overcast out, but warm.


Atlantis Backpackers... always friendly


Another ferry heads out of the sound for the North Island.


The most delicious leftovers!!


Seems such a shame to use such a beautiful shell for something like this

I took a shower next two two young Swedish guys wearing only towels while they shaved. Welcome to coed bathrooms! Then I turned in for the night. All of my four bunkmates were in bed by 8 pm, so I figured it wasn't a bad thing to try either.

BOAT RIDE (Day 28)

It turns out that the room was one of the worst spots in the house... it was between the kitchen and the outside patio.. aka between the smell of fish and cigarette smoke... and both very loud. Things finally quieted down around 11 pm and remained that way until around 7 am. The roommates were all still sleeping when I got up. I packed up and checked out. They are always kind enough to let me leave my big luggage in the hall.

I sat outside for a while at the waterfront park, but then the wind picked up, it got quite cool and started to sprinkle. So I moved sat in backpackers until I had to catch the 12:15 pm bus. A thin, black cat with white paws invited itself onto my lap, pushing aside my laptop, and curled up to take a nap. The internet was very frustrating and kept cutting out. I eventually gave up.


Demure at first...


... then it really settled in!

Eventually it was time to go so I tossed the cat, much to its only brief dismay for it promptly curled up on the adjacent couch and fell asleep again. I grabbed my bag and headed out to the tourist office to catch the bus. It was surprisingly on time. The bus was rather full so I asked a woman in front if I could sit next to her. Janet was Fiji/Australian. We swapped all sorts of travel stories. It was an hour ride but went very quickly. Actually, the distance between Picton and Havelock is rather small, but we had to go the long way over Blenheim, so I got to relive all the old vineyards and places I had seen with Regan.

Havelock was quite a small place. I stopped briefly in the tourist office to inquire about returning busses (not a lot of options), then I walked down to the marina. I walked up to the jetty and stood to the side of the long wooden dock as a large group of men were disembarking. It turns out they had spent the week with Marty (my workaway host I was here to meet) in the sound and had just arrived back. So I chatted with them all a bit while they gathered their things off the boat. They eventually left and I went with Marty to Blenheim to do some grocery shopping and fill up some fuel jug. We then headed back to the boat.

We got to the marina, loaded the groceries into one of the little pull carts and headed out to the boat. The trip through the sound to Nydia Bay took about two hours. For the first 20 minutes, I sat on a pillow on the roof of the boat, having one of the beers. It was really lovely, having the wind in my face. It switched between pockets of warm and cool air. It was overcast but the water was relatively still... and an amazing color of green!


A layout of the land


Our destination... Nydia Bay


Leaving the Havelock marina


Cheers to a new adventure!

Eventually I went back down inside. Marty showed me all the gauges and let me steer for a while. The wheel vibrated in my hands as we made our way through the waters of the sound. Steering a boat felt kind of like living life... when you make a decision, the change is kind of sluggish to follow and you often feel the need to overcorrect since you aren't quite sure of your new heading, unlike the immediate reaction of steering a car.


The captain's (me) point of view


The GPS showed us our location in the sound as well as other interesting facts such as our speed... we averaged between 8 - 9 knots.


The sonar depth gauge showing the sound's floor

The boat was entirely self-sufficient, with bunks, a bathroom and a small kitchen. Some water was heated up in a kettle on the tiny stove and we had some tea.


Marty uses binoculors to check out the course of another boat.


Approaching the house


Preparing to dock

We reached Nydia Bay, a very protected cove with no one else living on it. It was low tide when we pulled up to the dock. The tide can make a difference of 6 feet. We unloaded the boat and carried everything up the steep path to the main house. I got a room upstairs in the back of the main house. It had an amazing view... as did most of the place! Since electricity was somewhat sparse (dependent primarily on solar and water power), outlets were few and far between and the power to the outlets had to manually be switched on. Also, cell phones don't work out here, and the only internet was dial-up. It was sooooo slow that even though my mail page could come up, it wouldn't load enough for me to actually see the emails.


Looking back down the dock to the boat...


... and up to the house.


The view from the main room


The view from my bedroom

Marty and I talked and cooked dinner over a nice glass of wine. We made a large stew with potatoes, beans and canned tomato sauce and garlic. He cooked everything on the same stove that is used to heat the house. We enjoyed it with some bread, crackers, brie and blue cheese.


How about these for some interesting flavors!

Marty then played some guitar for a while, then we chatted until around 10 pm. I was VERY tired. Before going to bed, Marty put out some mouse traps with peanut butter. There was a huge infestation of the little things and they were making a mess of everything, especially the pantry. And so the war began.

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