To Gisborne, And Back

Published on Oct. 22, 2005 in New Zealand

Gisborne = Roseburg.

For those of you reading from Oregon, and in particular Ashland, you know what I’m talking about. For those of you whom don’t know about Roseburg, let me explain.

My time in Auckland was wearing to an end “ I had managed to hi-jack an Internet connection from McDonald’s so was able to get online for free “ however who wants to work from McDonald’s? I was having an itching to go play in the ocean, so when Friday came I departed. Nigel and Tina went to Taupo and dropped me off at the bus station at 7:00am or some similar ungodly time. Problem was (and I didn’t make this apparent) “ I was up until 3am working. I also have a NZ dial-up account, so am able to sort of get online if there is a telephone around. Dial-up sucks though. There is a reason I haven’t used dial-up for like, ever.

Tina made me a wonderful breakfast/lunch/dinner care-bag. It was mainly yummy food “ reminding me of the œcare packages? one side of my family promised when I went to uni but in return I was taken off the answering machine 3 days after leaving (œthe tape crashed?) and my room was totally redone within two months.

Anyways, I ate a LOT of the most amazing smoked trout I have ever had. The flavor peaked my taste bud’s sensations. I ate almost the entire section of fish, which would turn out to be a very, very bad thing. Little did I know, the last 2 hours of this bus ride would be on the curviest roads I have ever been on. And I mean freaking curvey. The driver made sure everybody had their œtidy? bag for œanything unwanted? aka if you throw up. Which I almost did “ actually, I was teetering on the edge of yak heaven. Beautiful image I know, but I’ll make my point:

lotsafish + reallycurveyroad = (bad idea)^2

Whatever, I made the journey ok. I arrived and of course didn’t have a place to stay. Or knew of any places, hearing that œthere is a backpackers nearby.? I started talking to this girl from Germany and she jumped in a van to the hostel. My stubborn ass kept walking, but they pulled over and made me get in. Oh, and it was raining (note foreshadowing). We arrived at the Flying Nun and were hustled into a four bed room. I always try to be conscious of being œalone? with females since I know it can make many uncomfortable, so I made sure to leave the door open and try to get to know her (but more importantly for her to get to know me). I felt like crap but hunted down an internet cafe (couldn’t find any wireless) and got a little work done. Came back and went to sleep.

Said g’bye to Christine (she left a charming postcard on my bunk saying if I was ever in Europe I would have to visit) and wandered around a little. Gisborne will soon become synonymous with wandering.

I got a little work done, and then started playing cards with a group of people. Two girls from Wales, an Aussie, Frenchman and another American (from Humboldt). He looked stoned. Played a few card games, including BS, which I schooled them at. One of the Wales girls looked over and simply said œA future politician!? I sort of took it as a compliment, but never BS’d the entire game! (Winning is all about counting and cheating).

One funny part came when i was helping/teaching one of the girls how to win and showed her a trick. Most people actually try to BS in the came, but I can’t really lie, so I just cheat; that is, I put down say two sixes and one other card (a card that I won’t need for quite a few rounds) and say œtwo sixes.? If somebody BS’es, they take the cards. Well, she put down four sixes on the first round and sort of threw them down there, and had tried to sneak a 5th card in. You don’t do this trick if you are first, cause you can count the cards, duh. Anyhow, somebody BS’d, duh also, but it backfired in her face. I laughed so hard.)

Next day I ended up going surfing. Yay! Oh I had to much fun too!! It wasn’t a really good day, especially to learn, but I’ll go again I’m sure! The waves were pretty big and the ocean choppy “ not to mention I pseudo-got-caught in a rip out at Wainui and almost floated away. And I wouldn’t have made it to Taiwan (inside joke).

Oh yea, I went out one of these nights, don’t remember which one though. Another German girl, Carolina (who was dissing Message in a Bottle cause it wasn’t gory…) got turned away since she didn’t have an ID (from one of the bars). We knew the bartender at the other bar.

And that reminds me “ I met another American, Mike, who had been living there for quite some time. Mike was cool, but the guy I initially met, Nick, is freaking awesome. He is from Scotland, but I could understand him, at least until he said œhow’s your form? and I said œwhat?? and he said œhow’s your form? but I thought he said œhow’s your farm? so I said œmy farm is umm, doing just fine? and he started laughing. œNot farm, form.? He said farm. He told some great stories and has been one of the most genuine people I have met in the last few months “ plus he and his girlfriend are about as cute as it gets.

As a segue, somehow, just trust me, I ate a lot of Indian food while in Gisborne. I think they were surprised when I asked for a fork and spoon. Many good talks occurred with me and the Indian guys, including prostitution in Singapore, which as I mentioned in an earlier post, I had learned a few things about.

Another interesting instance occurred when I needed to have a conference call with the US, at 9pm PST. That is, 5am Gisborne time. And Kelvin doesn’t have an alarm clock. After trying to find one in two super markets and two petrol stations the girl at Pak N Save reminded me I could just use my cell phone. Great idea! It was out of batteries so I started charging it and fizzzle, it died. Having a temporary lapse in common sense I plugged a 120v charger into the 240v wall. Bad kelvin, no bone, err, no charged cell phone. It was functionally ok, but had so little power that I couldn’t trust at it. The only other options were a) iPod or b) laptop. I set the alarm in my iPod and all it would reproduce is a small vrrrrzzing for about 4 seconds. I turned on my laptop, learned a little perl I had meant to learn, and wrote a quick and dirty alarm-clock program.

Towards the end of the week in Gisborne I realized I was going to most likely leave. I loved the surfing atmosphere, but I also just love the city life. With family in Auckland, being close to an airport, and with more housing options (Gisborne had almost no housing available at all) “ it was a simple place. Not to mention Raglan, where most of the championships ar held, is just 1 ? or so south. The deal breaker was with the internet, which was scarce. Apparently one guy installed ALL the dsl on that section of the east coast. Job opportunity? Maybe. Frustrating? You bet. The guy at the internet cafe, Philip, and I become quite good friends. Another great person I met while out in Gisborne, I always looked forward to seeing him. While I didn’t know his name until the very end of my trip, we discussed perplexities ranging from technology to Asian woman. He is married to a girl from Japan, so gave me some interesting perspectives “ and he is Canadian (Chinese-Canadian, if that hyphenated phrase exists), so we related well. The last night I was in town he stayed 1 ? or so after the cafe closed to chat about life. Solid guy “ a shout out to Treb-Net.

The next morning I woke up and wandered to the bus “ in the rain. I got on the bus and went back to Auckland. While Gisbone has many good memories, Auckland will be a lot œeasier.?

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