We got up around 8ish, to be ready for our shuttle with Bill, and needless to say, I was hung over. We packed up our stuff, and were on our way by 9:30, although perhaps due to my poor state of mind, I had forgotten to grab our loaf of delicious bread and tea that we had bought. Mer :(. Oh well. We were on the bus to Hamilton, only about an hour, around 10:20, then hung out in the bus depot until about 3:30 or 4 to catch transit out to Raglan, a super laid back surfing town about an hour away.
We got off the bus, and I was disoriented as all get out; I wasn't able to orient myself on the map or anything, but luckily it's so small, and we're so smart, we asked for directions et voila! We checked into the hostel, and for only a dollar more than an 8 bed dorm, we got into a 3 bed! Our next mission was food, so I cooked pasta while Ann went to the store and bought bread and wine (did I mention you can buy beer and wine in the supermarkets?!). Pasta a la Watties is what it is, we chuckled with an Englishman who was eating something similar, but it fills the hole. Then we just hung out. It's a cosy, quaint hostle, everything is centered around a courtyard with a hot tub (in kiwi: spa) and sauna- free to use!- a small lawn with flower beds and a big table. Hammocks are strung up between posts too. Chill night :).
The next day, Ann and I paid $25 each and we rented surf boards and wet suits for four hours. The front desk guy gave us a five minute low-down on surfing, which I mostly remembered when we were out on the water, then we drove (well the English fellow from the night before drove) down to the beach. Thankfully the wet suits were dry this time around, though its always a struggle to get them on it seems. We headed down a hill to the beach, which I correctly predicted I would hate walking up on the way back, figured out a meeting place, then strapped on our leashes and headed out into the surf.
The first wave Ann and I caught, well body boarded, was so much fun! After that it was the huge and lasting challenge of trying to stand up. I was able to get onto my knees okay, but trying to get my feet in the right positions was hard! I'll admit I thought it would be easier because of all the snowboarding I've done, but I suppose you have to be standing up on the board in order for that to be true. I think I was able to get about a second of standing time in the whole 2 1/2 hours we were in the water for- it's a very defeating excercise (also addicting), to try and try and try again so you have to know when to just call it quits.
Back at the hostel, we sat in the spa for twenty minutes: so glorious! Then we played some touch rugby on a field about a five minute walk away. I didn't play the greatest, but I can sure tell I am not as tenacious as I used to be due to my knee. I'm constantly worried about buggering it again (the grass was slippery), but I still really want to play... I know it would be stupidity to play again, but still... I suspect the saying "Those who can't play coach" might come into play at some point.
Anywho, after that, while all of you back home were enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner, I barbequed steak for the first time. One thing that you have to make due with as a backpacking hobo, I'm finding, is that you just don't have the same spice collection you do as at home. I minced garlic and luckily the hostel had salt for use, but no pepper. Ah well. There just so happened to be a chef cooking at the same time as us, so he gave me a few pointers, and to the 'que I went, fearless, returning triumphant! Steak and salad, and beer (I drank half of my 12 pack that night), for dinner, then just more hanging out with people. I started talking to this nice Irish fellow, Terrence, then we moved outside to the courtyard and table, and we met a German guy, and the three of us had a nice chat. Apparently I am accentless, I don't sound Canadian (Terrence thought I was Scottish when he first heard me talk :S) or American or European or Kiwi/Aussie. We had to move inside after 10pm though because that's quiet time, which turned into a hilarious event of trying to play UNO, but we've all different rules, and we were all a bit smashed. Ann and I called 'er around midnight because the next day we were going to take a bone carving workshop!
This was a very neat, hands on activity I am so happy we did, and lucky us, it was just us two! The guy leading the workshop is a master carver, and probably considered one of NZ's best; his work is displayed in both Wellington's and Auckland's museums. There were 8 designs, already cut out of the [bovine] bone, we could choose from, and both Ann and I chose the symbol representing new beginnings and continuity of life. It's a spiral with the tail connecting to it. We had to file the edges round, which is actually pretty tricky in the inner parts (I broke the tip off my file), then we sanded it with a few different grains of sand paper, and Rangi put some Maori designs of waves, again with the continuity theme, in it with his micro sander. We polished them once more with sand paper, and then attached them to black plaited cords. The neat thing about them is that to give them a shine, you rub it on your face for the oils. We finished up just before one, and then we returned to the hostel to wait for Jim and Marcia Bowater, Uncle Chris's friends, to pick us up to take us to stay with them for the night, which is about an hour south-east of Auckland.
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