Tuesday 6th December – 10:05am – On a ‘Manabus’ en route to Auckland…

Guess where I am again? Yet another bus. This time travelling from Hamilton to Auckland. After some relaxing days in Ham, I am going to meet Ryan and Joe in Auckland, and travel with them up north back to Paihia for 10 days in an air b’n’b with 6 others. I am excited for a week at the beach, and am looking forward to being able to chill out in our air b’n’b for a bit, after 2 months of hostels and other peoples houses.

Last Tuesday, Ash and I set off in his car and drove to Taranaki to spend a few days exploring New Plymouth and seeing Tiaan, another friend from ISTC Sumer camp. It was a 3 hour drive through the hills and farms of south Waikato and Taranaki. We were staying in a hostel near the centre of the small town, and managed to see T quite a lot over the 2 days. She took us up a small hike, and showed us round the town. We spent most of the time eating at nice restaurants and catching up. It was the southmost point I had been to, but was still 6 hours away from Wellington. The hostel was boring, and empty. The social room had a VCR player, which I found hilarious. New Zealand is essentially England 10/15 years ago I am sure of it. High streets with bakeries, dairies, post offices and chemists… all converted into one store in England; Asda/Tesco. There are super markets here but few and far between. They have just got a nannies in Hamilton and everyone is loving it… what is going on. We drove back on the Thursday, stopping off at a brewery and checking the prices at a white water rafting place an hour from Ash’s house.

The rest of the week I have been relaxing and doing very little at Ash’s house in Hamilton. For the first few days we played rugby in the garden, relaxed and went up a hike up the Hakaremadas. They were surprisingly tough, with over 1000 steps to the summit. We booked our plane tickets for Samoa, which made me conscious of my lack of money for the first time. I always knew I was going to have to shell out $500 for the flights, but seeing my bank balance after the transaction nearly made me cry. As soon as I can I need to start working.

On Friday evening we met Ryan and Joe at their hostel, and went for drinks in town. We pre-drank quite a lot to save as much money as possible, and ended up inviting two french girls we met at the hostel out. The night was pretty standard, until Ryan got kicked out of a club which swiftly brought an end to the night.

Despite this we had a good night, and surprisingly the next day I wasn’t that hungover, which was good considering I had an 8 hour shift in the kitchens at a local wedding venue. We woke early, and made our way to Gails for 12:00pm. To help with the hangover, I had to wear Ash’s jeans which were far too small for me as well as my converse which made my feet ache after an hour. It was a typical kitchen shift, with lots of washing pots and cleaning, but I was happy to be earning money. That night Ash went out again, I have no idea how, and I went and saw Kayla, who is a friend who also lives in Hamilton who I met online. We watched a film and chilled out, then I picked Ash up at 2:00am.

On Monday, Ash and I played rugby in the garden for a while and watched films / television all morning. That night I went for Mexican food with Kayla, and bought Ash’s parents a gift for letting me stay so much over the last 2 months. I was getting up at 08:00am to get my bus, but naturally I couldn’t sleep as my mind started a conflict in my head. I have been offered a contract for a rugby team in the Coromandel, but I cant accept it as I have committed to going back to camp in June. The rugby season will be 2/3’s of the way through by this point, so i wont be able to leave. I guess I have to make the sacrifice now of turning down a semi-professional contract, so I can guarantee I have a better future, earning money back at camp and then going to Canada for the winter ski season. Its a tough choice but I don’t back my ability at present either. Either way I am going to enjoy this year as much as possible, and actually cant wait to get a job and start that side of life over here, but first I have another hour on this bus, then a 4 hour drive…