Left Behind

Note: More photos have been added from my last few days in Auckland to the album, “New Zealand: Coromandel, Auckland, Northland.”

• Thursday, 17 Feb: Got started hitchhiking late in the morning from Taipa; got a ride pretty quickly from Stanley, an airport manager headed up to do some work at the Kaitaia airport; he dropped us off and offered to take us down to a branch off of the highway where we could get a ride to Kohukohu; very low-traffic intersection had us worried until Michael picked us up, a Kiwi communications contractor taking the summer off to kayak, fish and travel the country; rode with him to Kaiwi Lakes, where Alistair, our Couchsurfing host, picked us up; he drove us up a long beach (past a seal in the waves!) to his house on a dairy farm in the hills; smoked fish pie for dinner, pastry dessert.
• Friday, 18 Feb: Hung around until after noon; hitched from Dargaville to Wharkworth with a guy who slightly creeped out both Maria and me, for no identifiable reason; then picked up by a guy visiting his brother in Auckland, who dropped us right at the corner of our next host’s street; Andy met us a few minutes later and we walked to his parent’s house, where he was housesitting; excellent dinner of ravioli and eggplant parmesan; out to Aaron’s (CSer) birthday party, out until 3am!
• Saturday, 19 Feb: Slept in; met Andy’s friends from Spain; eventually went to Piha beach and spent the day there; tried surfing again, no success; back at Andy’s we made a huge feast; Maria and I walked to Mike’s (CSer) and hung out with him and his group of Couchsurfers; home at 2am.
• Sunday, 20 Feb: Andy drove me to the bus stop at 3:15am; caught the 3:30am  bus to the airport; flew out at 6am, arrived Melbourne no problem, checked in and flew out on second flight to Hobart; caught a shuttle into town, found lunch and an internet cafe; wandered until I found “The Pickled Frog” backpacker; out for Indian food with three girls traveling together; held out until 9pm and then crashed.

The Pickled Frog backpacker is a welcoming, friendly place just off-center of Hobart’s downtown. It has several large and cozy social lounges and a couple dorms and single rooms. For the first time in over a week, I’m paying for my lodging and I couldn’t bring myself to pay double the minimum price so I’m in a dorm. Sitting here in one of the lounge-y areas, I find myself missing New Zealand.

My last day in New Zealand was spent at Piha Beach, on the west coast. It was gorgeous and completely typical of New Zealand: black sand beach, beautifully blue waters lapping up the coast, surfers off in the distance and huge rock cliffs all around to explore. I took a try on Andy’s surfboard but didn’t manage to stand. Maria and I took a short tramp up the beach, clambering over tidal pools in the rocks, enjoying the sea life we encountered – starfish, tiny fish, crustaceans of all kinds – and walking in thigh-deep water to clamber through a beautiful arch in the rocks. The blue skies overhead just made the beaches wonders stand out even more. It was a good last day.

After seven weeks in New Zealand, it’s hard to pinpoint what affected me the most: the people, the adventures, the landscapes or the general feel of the country. All I know is that it’s been a wrenching day, with the feeling of leaving something important behind ever present.

Of course, I did actually leave some things behind. Several things, really: a camera case with some Ozzie cash, a credit card and camera memory cards, my travel towel, baby powder, and a new set of shampoo and conditioner and hair goo I bought just the night before leaving the country. It feels like a piece of me was left behind too, though, as cliché as that sounds. The people and culture are fascinating and open and friendly and I think I fell a bit in love with it all. New Zealand is a place I can see myself returning to, perhaps to find a job and live for awhile. Unfortunately, working holiday visas are only for the under-thirty crowd, so I’d need to be sponsored by an employer. In any case, I hope that today was not my last glimpse of the land of kiwis.

My plan from this day forward is to try not to plan too much, but already I’ve started deviating from that plan. I have four weeks in Australia, including Tasmania, before my flight for Bali departs from Darwin. And so, I am planning (ugh!) to spend a week-ish each in Tasmania, Sydney, Cairns and Darwin. This skips so much of a massive country, but I will just have to return another time. Depending on how I feel closer to 21 March and Bali, I will either spend a month in Bali before flying to Nepal or perhaps split that time between Bali and the Philippines. It depends too on airfares and weather and who I meet along the way.

Farewell to New Zealand. I’ll be back.

Hello to Australia. Show me whatcha got!

--Z