New Zealand post 14: THIS PLACE IS BONKERS!
When we arrived at the accommodation yesterday, there was nobody about, just a sign on the door:
” Come in, choose a room, make yourself at home. I live upstairs and I’ll be back later”. So we did! When our host finally appeared he laughed his head off when I suggested Steve take the bike lock along to the grocery store,
” What? In Methven? Naaa! My keys have been in my ignition for the last 3 months…” (It’s a fancy Subaru).
He’s heading out “fer a boik raad”. In this wind? “Aah, we’re used to it, hey”. But I notice he’s back in the time it takes me to have a shower and wash my clothes…
“Gotta get off. I’m invited to dinner – special treat, roast lamb” I would’ve thought that was commonplace? ” Naa, all gets exporded. It’s ridikyulisly expensive heea”
We’ve had a bunch of 18-wheeler, 3-tiered sheep trucks come far too close to us in the last few days. Poor buggers are squashed in like sardines and the smell as they hurtle by, emitting a great, hot whiff, is awful! Guess they’re all headed for the slaughter house.
“Enjoy your lamb!”
As for me, I’m taking advantage of the communal spices in the kitchen to whip up a vege curry with basmati rice. It’s delicious! When I awake in the middle of the night with intense stomach cramps, my first thought is maybe I’ve been poisoned. Then I remember the lentils and realize I just need a good fart to set things right…
When I stumble through to the kitchen to make coffee in the morning, I slowly become aware of a dwah, dwah, dwah sound coming from above.A bit early for someone to be working on the roof? The sound continues, dwah, dwah, dwah. As the caffeine seeps into my brain I begin to comprehend that the rhythmic banging is not a workman, no indeed, it’s our host and his lady Faye, bonking away – a good way to start the day…
I make a pot of oats, dwah,dwah,dwah. I make eggs and toast, dwah,dwah dwah. Steve comes through and I point upwards. He gives a knowing nod – good way to start the day, dwah,dwah,dwah…
Man, this is no morning quicky , no wham, bam, thank you Ma’am. This is a marathon! I start to giggle, but Steve shushes me up ” they’ll hear…!” Dwah, dwah, dwah. I start to feel sorry for the poor woman. Dwah, dwah, dwah. I’m onto my second cup of coffee when it sounds like things are finally getting ready to wrap up. Damn, I’m relieved for her!
The sound of showering follows, after which our happy host bonds downstairs and greets us with vigour. Faye follows shortly after, looking somewhat dazed. Steve and I slide a knowing look across to each other and I hide my smile behinde my toast.
This communal living is interesting, to say the least…
The predicted tail winds do not materialize and we are engaged in our own marathon, bashing away against the incessant onslaught of the howling West Wind. We can see the rain ahead of us & are heading directly into it, like lambs to the slaughter, but what to do? As we draw closer, we decide to stop next to a large hedgerow and don our rain kit.
No sooner do we pull our brakes, than the cloud above us bursts and dumps it’s freezing load directly on us. We are frantically trying to retrieve our kit, but the deluge has us soaked in seconds. Then we discover another great use for hedgerows. We gather up our kit and climb inside the giant hedge and hey presto, instant shelter! We have found another Hotel California, but this time we’re NOT getting stuck! We pull on our rainwear, eat a sandwich and head back into the elements as soon as the deluge calms to a drizzle.
When we reach Geraldine at 67km, it’s only 14h30Â but the next town is still 30km hence and we have no desire to keep bashing away, so we call it quits and check into a private room in the local backpacker, where we spend the remainder of the day eating, drinking wine/ coffee and swapping tales with other travellers, young and old…
