On the Road Again

I've got one of those 4 digit combination locks for when I move around from hostel to hostel – it's been in my daypack since I came to Tauranga, and after being left open and getting tossed about for the last week, the combination totally reset. I spent about an hour today trying to force the bastard back open and watching enough YouTube videos on picking locks that I'm probably on the No Fly list by now. When I finally cracked it, I was like, “Sick, now I don't have to spend ten bucks on another lock!”

That was until I was like, “Well . . . that wasn't that hard.” I guess I have to hope I don't sleep in a bunk over some guy who's more in-tune with his inner thug than me. These are the kinds of problems I have to deal with these days.

Actually, there's a bunch of different things that I'm going to have to deal with soon. I got used to a regular routine pretty quickly – juice and cereal ready on the table, coffee around 10:00, a light lunch a few hours later, then a beer and Roadies BBQ crisps before supper, which is dinner over here, happens around 7:00 in the evening, and ends with New Zealand ice cream for dessert. All that is getting tossed to the wind tomorrow, when I'm hitting the road and going off the grid, on my own again. I daresay that means dry pasta mix in some squat little kitchen tomorrow night, using water instead of milk.

Once I go to law school, there's no way I can get away with doing anything this cool again.

The plan is to hitch a ride in Stewart and Jane's motor-home as far as Turangi, at the southern tip of Lake Taupo, the biggest lake in the country. The way I've been accepted into their family and shown every ounce of Kiwi kindness is something I never came looking for, and I hope our paths cross again in this mixed-up backpacking adventure.  Along the drive, we'll be going across the Central Plateau, a real geothermal hot spot in the North Island, before creeping up to the foot of the mountains of Tongariro National Park. If the weather holds (and it's supposed to) I'll be embarking on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a day-long hike around some spectacular lakes and sharp-tipped volcanoes, on Sunday. It's been ranked as one of the best day hikes in the world, and even though I can't do the whole thing (there was a bit of a blow-up not too long ago – as wild a story as it would be, I'd prefer to not get blown up in a volcano explosion on this trip), I'm expecting to see some cool stuff (and, let's be real, climb Mt. Doom).

Ideally not while this is happening

The next day, it's on to Welllington, the capital city, on the very southern end of the North Island. My stay there (at least this time) will only be short, catching the ferry across the Cook Strait on Tuesday afternoon, where I'll arrive in the tiny town of Havelock just as it's starting to get dark. I've landed a gig at the Blue Moon Lodge for a few weeks, doing God knows what – I do know though that the town sits nicely at the head of the Marlborough Sounds, had a recent population surge of 12 people to bring them to 486 (487 on Tuesday), and is the greenshell mussel capital of the world.

Expect an earful from the next stop on this winding road. See you in a few days.

Cheers,

rb