Thursday, March 20, 2003
Kaikoura to Le Bons Bay
I headed south toward Christchurch with Harmoniah still in tow, the landscape getting progressively more dry and shrubby as we went. We stopped at some random bakery/diner in the middle of nowhere and got some pies for lunch (pies = meat pies in NZ). Harmoniah tried one last time to reach her friend in Christchurch who she thought she might be able to travel with from there, but to no avail. There was no payphone near by so they just took her into the kitchen to use their phone. It turned out to be just a normal residential kitchen like you'd find in anyone's home.
Pursuant to last night's conversation, I asked her what she would do differently if she thought the way I did, believed she were truly mortal, with no eternal soul. She said she has all these things she wants to do, to experience, and that she'd want to fit them all into one life. She listed many things, and added that she would be trying much harder to find "the one", a true companion, as opposed to just floating along as she is now.
I dropped her off in Hornby, a little past Christchurch, where she could catch a ride further south for her last few days in New Zealand. As I drove away, she stood on the side of the road in her hot pink pants waiting for another ride, and I thought "five, ten minutes tops". Yeah, she emailed me recently from Australia. She waited there ten minutes.
I never did drive into Christchurch itself. The airport was on the outskirts, and
already the traffic was feeling oppressive. I drove a bit toward the city center,
but after quite a bit of slow going, I had to turn around for time constraints,
and thus ended my brave foray into Christchurch.
I picked up Kalistrya* at the airport, and we headed on directly to Le Bons Bay...
... and made it just in time for dinner at the hostel, served up by the owner (for NZ$10). This was where I made the slip about rinsing dishes.
The tightly winding narrow roads to the hostel were quite fun to drive (finally, some roads meeting reputations), especially since we had no time to spare. We arrived on the tail of a Jeep that turned out to be our hostel proprietor. As we were all disembarking at the same time she said "You staying here??" Yeah... "Woh! Not too often I get a backpacker zooming up behind me here." Heh heh. (Note: she seemed amused, not annoyed. Pleasant surprise.)
Kalistrya*, by the way, is my evil twin.
Hmm -- wonder what she's writing? Let's find out!