im not gonna lie, ive gotten really comfortable with the small town, idyllic, sometimes downright pastoral vibe of NZ.  it is comfortable and not altogether unforeign, but still exciting and different.  and this place is so small its fairly difficult to get extremely lost without some government signpost or a nearly unintelligible local to to guide you back the right way. 

auckland is a whole other story, but thats because it qualifies as the largest city in NZ with the largest population of pacific islander peoples in the world (learned that at the auckland wartime museum today- which is awesome btw).  its got millions of people and its fairly overwhelming to someone who has spent pretty much the last 6 weeks in towns with no more than 2000 people.

and having said that, im really nervous about going to bali.  of course i am a giant pansy when it comes to my throat phobias.  im worried that the food isnt going to sit well with me; that ill get sick.  im worried about having panic attacks more than usual even though ive had them here and it hasnt really been an issue.  im not going to dwell on this thing too much because ive got to find a place to stay tonight, a place to keep my car for the night, and a place to have a beer in the next 15 minutes. 

meh, ive done more with less.

the last few days have been just spectacular.  i went from camping in the tongariro national park (but didnt do any walking for days because of the multi-day heavy rains) at a ski resort-type town, to taupo where i promptly took the advice of some natives and located a natural (free!!) hot spring and played around for a bit. 

after feeling totally refreshed and ready for some sightseeing, i did what i usually do and drove around town a bit before finding a good spot to do some walking and get to know the layout of the town.  coincidentally, one of the bikers i met in tekapo was heading down my way and we decided to meet and catch up with beers. 

we had a fabulous evening filled with live bands and a wayward attempt to go back to the hot spring after the park had closed.  it was such a good time, we decided to hang out there for another day.  we toured around the lake on his motorcycle, and he definitely tried to scare me more than once.  i totally appreciated the gesture because as you probably know, im a bit self-destructive and love me some speed demons.  i think we topped out at 150-180kph?  i have no idea because the wind coming through my too-large helmet was making my eyes water. 

such a friggin blast.  i must get me one of those contraptions.

then it was naptime induced by large lunch and hangover, before doing it all over again.  we stayed up all night drinking wine, playing on the camp's trampoline, him trying to describe why cricket is awesome, and generally having the time of my life. 

i really hope that the universe lines up and i get to see that wonderful man again.  he has to be one of the most gentle and introspective people that i have ever met, and i greatly respect him for those qualities.  plus hes super hot!  omg those eyes...  haha.

i set off from taupo for the coromandel peninsula where i stopped at hot water beach and took the time to pick up a grip of 17 year old hitchikers.  they were distracted by the fact that i had forgotten to put on pants after the beach and things were slightly awkward until i began to understand their thick accents.  i pulled over in coromandel town and stayed at a hostel that looked like it had been plucked out of santa cruz in the 1970s.  it was plush, comfortable, and for universe saw fit to give me a room of my own.  i was grateful for the personal space even though the room was clearly haunted. 

dont look at me like that, i swear it was haunted!

this morning i stopped a few times on the way here to take photos, but generally stayed on track and went to the tallest mountain in the city and perused the wartime museum.  now its beer o'clock. 

well on that note ive been sitting here for way too long and its gonna cost a pantload for the internet and i still have to book a ticket home from bali.  wish me luck!

taryn.