Week 32- Back to Auckland

I left my German comrades on Monday afternoon (19th February) at St. Arnaud. I got a lift in the back of a campervan to the turn off for Nelson and a short while later was collected by Stan, a young musician. Stan was due to start university the following Monday and had hair that grew well below his shoulders. I tried hard for about half an hour to keep the conversation going but eventually I realised Stan was having none of it so I tuned up the radio and almost nothing more was said. Thankfully, I did like his taste in music and it gave me time to think. An hour later I was dropped in Nelson and began my quest to find somewhere to stay. I looked online and everything was either several hundred dollars or completely full. Thankfully I had been in Nelson before so I roughly knew where things were. I found a backpackers where I had previously stayed and, to my relief, he was able to fit me in. I dumped my stuff, bought food at the supermarket and came back to cook. I had some tuna pasta for dinner and while I was cooking I overheard a Canadian talking about freedom of speech. I thought that he could have been intelligent so I engaged him, asking about what he thought of speech as a form of violence. I thought it was going somewhere for the first 20min or so but then I realised he was a broken record and just kept saying the same thing over and over without noting what I was saying. I then tried to stop talking to him and it took a good 20min more with me almost not responding before the monologue ceased. I actually felt the need to apologise to everyone else around the table.

When I woke on Tuesday, I was not prepared to see the Canadian guy in the bed next to me so got quite a fright! I stayed in a backpackers as a cyclone was due to hit the South Island. The day was extremely wet but thankfully not too windy as the worst of the storm hit further south. I watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower and found it quite a challenging watch as it really captures the difficulties of suffering with a mental illness and past trauma. With the weather I stayed inside for most of the day, reading and writing and generally allowing my body a day’s rest. I was delighted to receive an email from Celine too. My plan was to walk to the airport the following morning as I had nothing to do, my flight was at 13:00 and it wasn’t too far. I was just hoping that the rain would subside.

I woke before everyone else, ate my cereal (I decided to have a break from oats but it really didn’t hit the mark), packed my bag and set off for the airport. SUN! It was a glorious day with not a breath of wind. It was a delightful hour and a half walk, mostly along the sea, to get to the airport for my flight back to Auckland. I got to the airport absurdly early but it allowed me to just sit and read. While I was there, there was an American family with about 30 suitcases trying to get home but their flight to Auckland had been cancelled meaning that they were going to miss the rest of their flights and it wasn’t all with one booking. I think they got it sorted in the end but I’m not sure. I enjoyed an overpriced pie for lunch and was soon in the air. Thankfully it was a short flight as, despite the emergency exit row once more, I was surrounded by howling babies. It was so loud I found it difficult to read. The flight was a little delayed so by the time I had caught the bus and the train and walked up Queen street it was 17:15. I knocked on Clare’s door and I was so happy to see her face and get a big hug. I sat and had a cup of tea with Jack and Clare and shared some of my stories. I had a brief catch up with Mark too when he got home from work but then it was time to get going. Clare brought my bags in her car to my building and I cycled over. Here I sat on the pavement with all my bags while I waited for my flatmates to return to let me in. Marlene and Harry came from climbing and we shared a warm embrace before heading up stairs.

The flat is quite small and was quite dirty (only slightly less dirty now). It consists of three bedrooms, a small living area, toilet, shower and hall/kitchen! I can see the sky tower from my window and I am very happy with all of my stuff put away. The building is only a 10min walk from Uni so it is very handy. We have since put up photos and decorated the walls a bit so it’s starting to look more like home. Ulysse came home from getting some photos printed and once I had had a shower, shaved and put on clean clothes we had a small meal together as our first flat event! Harry headed home (he’s living in a house with 20 other people) and we settled down for the night.

Thursday was my first proper day in Auckland and it was spent doing bits and pieces for the flat. Ulysse and I went in search of some cutlery and utensils for the kitchen and also to buy food. We wanted to maximise the space in the kitchen so we found a box in a charity shop that we could fit the bin in but also put the toaster and kettle on top. I then cycled for 20min with a 400mm wooden cube on my handlebars. It looked rather entertaining. We set up our new kitchen unit and taped up a few multi sockets to make life easier. Ulysse picked up another light for the living area and soon our home was taking shape. I nipped into Uni to make use of the wifi as we didn’t have ours sorted before going to frisbee training. Frustratingly, I still am unable to partake. It was great to see everyone again though. Ulysse had two friends from France staying with us so I spoke with them for a while before I went to bed, still enjoying the pleasures of my own bed.

On Friday morning I went to do some flat shopping in Newmarket, including a 40 pack of toilet roll. I then went to visit our potential internet provider to try get our modem to work (toilet paper in hand). They got the modem going but once I was home it wouldn’t work at our flat. They said they would send a technician. I made more use of wifi at Uni, read my book and generally had a relaxed afternoon other than going for a run. Ulysse’s friends cooked dinner and we joked about them peeling their tomatoes because of pesticides so I ate the peel on its own.

The tap in the kitchen was also broken and we were waiting on the plumber to come. He had already blown us off once but had told us he would be there on Saturday morning. We waited for him but when we rang at 10:00 he said he couldn’t come because his friend came round for breakfast! Thankfully, Harry, Ulysse and I were cycling to Waiheke that afternoon so it didn’t dampen our spirits too much. We caught the ferry over and cycled to Clare’s batch. I was so happy to be back on the island. We called in with Clare and then walked down to the beach. We played with the frisbee and had a swim. It was glorious. There was a wedding set up on the beach so Harry and I had our photo taken while we were there. We went back to the batch and relaxed for a few hours. Clare and Ulysse both have great interest in politics so they hit it off straight away. Once it hit 18:00 dogs are allowed on the beach so we went down once more for a walk and a swim. Can’t beat it. Before leaving we spoke to some kids about their sandcastle building. Back at the batch we all helped prepare food for a barbeque and once Jack came back from his disc golf we ate. There was so much food! It was fantastic! Jack is weighing up his options for university and as he wants to study physics it was very useful to him to be able to speak with Harry who has studied it in both Auckland and Edinburgh (both options for Jack).

We all slept well and woke just in time to catch the end of Scotland beating England in the Six Nations (also delighted to hear Ireland beat Wales). We nipped down to the beach for a swim before breakfast. During this time Marlene was sending me updates from home. Apparently the plumber had managed to come to fix the tap but when he first arrived he realised he had forgotten the tap! Jack left for his second day of disc golf and we went for a walk in the reserve (with a bit of bush wacking on the side). It was a really hot day so we had to go for another swim. The sea was idyllic. We didn’t want to leave. The remaining burgers were polished off for lunch and once we had been shown the plans for Clare’s house in Wanaka we left her in peace to cycle back to the ferry. We just missed a ferry and I managed to cut my knee on the way but it was great to have an extra 30min on the island. Soon we were in the city, and back out our new home. It was difficult to believe that my second semester was going to start the next day.

A big thanks to Ulysse Bellier for the use of his photos!