FRIEND OR FOE FRIDAY!!!

FRIEND OR FOE FRIDAY:

             You know the deal by now.  Is this a friend that I've met along my trip or a foe??

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1) F
OE!  Usually Canadians aren’t tool bags but this one was.  He was really from Italy though so I’m not sure if Canada would actually claim responsibility for him.  He was getting his open water scuba diving certification also and was really obnoxious for the few days I interacted with him.  I watched him get turned down by every girl in the 8 block radius of Cairns, Australia.  That made it all worthwhile.

2) FRIEND!  This Latvian young lady, Linda, was in my hostel in Cairns and my party-mate for the evening. We had tons of fun dancing up a storm!

3) FRIEND!  Benny taught me everything I needed to know about scuba diving in 4 days at Deep Sear Divers Den.  He was wicked cool!  He was originally from England but pretty much follows the good weather and good diving around the world.  He’s also been known to follow any path that leads to a good pub.

4) FRIEND!  Lena is my new German traveling buddy!  She was in my hostel in Cairns and we decided to travel down the coast together.  She looks like my sister-in-law Eliza and is just as much fun too!  Lena is on holiday after getting her law degree in Germany so I know I’m in good hands.  She’ll keep me out of trouble. 

5) FRIEND!  Reuben Wakefield is the son of my Melbourne host, Lindsay.  He is the bass guitarist in the band Sarah and The King Bees and he even has a twin brother who is just as cute.  In this pic he is enjoying a cappuccino at an Italian restaurant on Lygon St that also had a tendency to pay practical jokes.  Instead of serving him an ordinary cappuccino, they took an empty coffee cup, turned it over, put whipped cream on top and waited 3 mins for him to realize that there was no coffee.  They also surprised me with a fake spider when I received the check and a trick pen that exploded when I tried to sign it.  Funny Aussies!

The road abroad is UNDER DA SEA!

CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA

After my last Italian dinner on Lygon Street in Melbourne, I hopped on a 10pm flight to warm, sunny, tropical Cairns!  Heat alas!  When I exited my flight at 1am, it didn’t take me long to realize that I had forgotten my Australia Lonely Planet on the plane.  I tried my best to get it back but the plane had already gone back to Melbourne.  It wouldn’t have been a big deal except I had borrowed it from the NYC public library.  I’m guessing they wanted it back at some point but now I can’t promise that.  There wasn’t much else to do at 2:30am so I laid out my sleeping bag on top of a row of chairs in the terminal and went to bed.  There were plenty of other backpackers doing the same so it didn’t feel so trashy. Haha.

It was raunchy hot when I woke up and got on the bus that went into town.  I skyped with my parents at McDonalds and learned more about the city of Cairns from surrounding backpackers.  I made the mistake of asking a hippy about the hostels and it turned out he was from the USA.  He didn’t even answer my question but instead went on a long rant about how these aren’t the same backpackers of his generation. These backpackers are spoiled brats.  They’re missing the concept of what it really means to be backpacking, which is anarchy and free love, in his opinion.  It sounded like the LSD of the 60s did wonders for him!  I listened to him bash the USA for another 2 minutes before I told him he shouldn’t disrespect my country or my generation. 

In the evening, I met Linda from my hostel.  She was from Latvia, completely stunning and ready to dance in one of the 6 pairs of heels she had packed for her trip!  We had a very fun night dancing at Gilligan’s hostel until the wee hours of the night!  The party scene gets pretty fun when there are a myriad of cultures expressing their version of the word ‘dancing’.   I was horribly unorganized when Deep Sea Divers Den came to pick me up the next morning.  Let the scuba classes begin!  I got through the first day of classroom and pool training pretty well.  I was more claustrophobic with scuba diving than I had anticipated!  I really didn’t like opening my eyes under water so I would panic when we did exercises of clearing or removing our masks.  I got a lot more comfortable by the end of the class when I realized I wasn’t going to die in the pool.  I passed my exam and was looking forward to our 2 day trip to the Great Barrier Reef!

That night I used the free meal voucher from my hostel  and ate the terribly bland food at a place called Woolshed.  This place was a marketer’s success!  They had paired themselves with several hostels and offered free pasta meals as well as upgradeable meals.  They also made announcements over the loud speaker in the hostel to tell backpackers that it was ladies night or thirsty Thursday or wet t-shirt night or some other cheesy-theme.  The party towns of Australia all seemed to go for a spring break theme and there were enough backpackers with low self-esteem to make it work. 

The following morning, I was so excited as we made the 2 hour trip out to the Great Barrier Reef.  It was magical to stumble upon this immense reef in the middle of the blue abyss.   My diving partner, Romano, and I double checked each other before taking our giant step entry off the boat.  We had a chance to snorkel beforehand so we could get our bearings before going all the way down.  The water was pretty warm and we were packed with adrenaline as we carefully made our way down to 16 meters (48 feet).  The sea was alive!  There was marine life all around us and we kneeled on the sandy bottom to watch in awe.  Their bright colors were distracting us from any directions our guide, Benny, was trying to give us.  

I soon realized that most of my knowledge on the sea comes from animated films!  Thank you, Walt Disney!  The Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo were full of so much marine life. I saw Nemo (who’s actually one of the most aggressive fish down there), Dori, Sharkbait, and a giant sea turtle (laterrrr dude)!  We also saw a cool sting ray on the ocean floor (rest in peace Steve Irwin).  The colorful coral was intoxicating and our underwater camera could not even begin to capture everything we saw.  The fish came in all sizes and everything was so peaceful.  I was focusing on my breathing and could almost bring myself to yawning since I was so relaxed.  We had two beautiful days for our five dives and I felt so lucky to be living my life. 

I had made friends with a very FUN German girl named Lena and decided to travel down the coast with her.  She looked a lot like my sister-in-law, Eliza, and was just as much fun too!  The two of us bought the hop on-hop off Greyhound bus ticket and decided to explore north of Cairns with a guy off gumtree.com named Daniel.

Daniel was originally from Melbourne but had lived in Byron Bay the last 3 years.  He was hosting a seminar in Cairns on sustainable energy and struck me as very independent and smart.  His genuine nature told us that he would be a trustworthy person so travel with.  He was funny when we would tell him what we hadn’t seen yet.  He would say, “You haven’t seen THAT yet??  Oh you HAVE TO see that!  Let’s do that!”  So we left the next morning for Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation!

We drove the beautiful coast road to Port Douglas and explored the famous Sunday markets before stopping off at 4 mile beach.  The weather was nice, the beaches were great but the water was crappy.  Due to global warming, the waters were loaded with jelly fish and swimmers weren’t allowed in.  They had one small area netted off from jelly fish and crocodiles.  How enticing!  The beaches were also equipped with emergency vinegar so that stinger wounds could be treated immediately.  Geez!

We drove through luscious Cape Tribulation and made it to the campsite just before dark.  Daniel had forgotten the poles for his tent but said we could just sleep on top of the tent.  I asked about snaked and he said there would just be pythons…nothing poisonous.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME??  I put him back to work until he improvised with rope. 

The next day was filled with Cape Trib coastline and waterfalls from the Tablelands region.  What a great adventure in the area around Cairns before making my way down the coast!  We got on a midnight bus and endured the 10 hour trip to Airlie Beach.  Australia is such a big country!  These long bus rides were going to be standard in the coming weeks!

sunset in Cairns

Port Douglas

Kerri and Swiss Romano- open water certified divers!

Port Douglas

Great Barrier reef!

Giant clam- sorry did my best to rotate it

Coral

Coral

Nemo!

Later duuuude!  Giant green sea turtle

Welcome to Australia: where kitchen pickers wear bigger knickers

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

I was greeted at the Melbourne airport by Lindsay Wakefield, a client/friend of my brother-in-law Brian.  He was the first person to ever meet me at the airport with a sign- how cool!  He brought me back to the apartment in Melbourne and it felt good to be in a home.  His wife and three kids were staying at their country home, which we would visit in a couple days so, poor guy, he was stuck with me.

I found myself quickly break away from the Kerri who had been living in the bush the past 4 weeks and more toward the Kerri who loves the big city livin'.  Lindsay took the next few days to tour my around the funky city of Melbourne.  Everything was so artistic!  It was amazing how much a city could be enhanced with the touch of art. Bland buildings were hard to come by- everything seemed to have something unique about it…and that was just the exterior.  Between the buildings lay hidden lanes filled with enticing smells of food and coffee.  You felt like you had been instantly transported into a charismatic European city.  Other lanes were designated for graffiti and local artists were allowed to go wild with their spray paint, producing some great urban art.  I went down AC/DC Lane where upcoming concerts were publicized- lots of hidden music running through this town as well.  And then there was the fashion!  I felt very underdressed while perusing the oodles of chic shops for women.   I spent the day shopping and bought a hot orange/red long sleeve mini-dress made of wool.  Hotcha!  I can’t wait to wear it with black boots.    

I think I’ll spend the rest of this post talking about the food.  Oh my god.  I couldn’t fill myself up.  I had four Italian meals in 5 days.   The tomato sauce stain would barely dry on my shirt before I asked what I could eat next.  There was not one baby veal safe while I was in this town.  The Wakefield family must have really wondered about me.  I was fulfilling every gluttonous stereotype they had about Americans.  And it didn’t just stop at the Chicken Parma pub food that Lindsey made me try.  My sweet tooth could have fallen out from sugar exposure.  I finally fell in love with Tim Tams and tried them in assorted flavors, as well as chocolate wafer sticks.  This was the city for exploring so I also ate the popular breakfast of Muesli (granola) with milk and snacked on more assorted nuts than any other time in my life.  There was also a dessert called “Sticky Date” that rocked my world.  Oh and then there were the vanilla pancakes with mixed berry capote!  And the chicken sangy with toppings galore!  Plus the garlic chips (fries)! Oh, oh, oh, and sooooo much sushi!  Oh my.  Go ahead and add the calories up.  I couldn’t count that high.

Lindsay was a well-informed bike tour guide and we took our time around the many sports complexes in Melbourne.  He told me all about the famous Melbourne Cricket Grounds, Australian Open courts, St. Kilda Road, Luna Park, Acland Street, boardwalk area and other city traditions. 

The farm house was so refreshing.  I honestly have run out of adjectives to describe all the amazing things I have come across.  I am almost always sporting a smile and thinking, “Wow, that’s awesome.”  Their ‘hobby’ farm consisted of 70 acres, 7 grazing cows, 6 chickens, 2 miniature horses, and 2 dogs.  They grew just about everything under the sun- basil, chives, eggplant, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, figs, lemons, grapes, apples, pears, plums, pumpkin, and possibly more.  I loved this life!  I really want to grow my own food when I return to the States.  It’s everywhere here. 

Lindsay was passionate about music and introduced me to some great artists- Paul Kelly, Sarah and King Bees (his twin sons’ band!) and Bruce Springsteen to name a few. Ok the last one I knew, but I really hadn’t been exposed to the right stuff.  Bruce’s Live in Dublin album was incredible!  We watched it on the projector screen and I felt like I was part of the band.  Lindsay was also a big fan of Australian football- Australia’s most loved sport!  Forget rugby, these guys are tough!  I told them that if they could arrange marriage with one of them, I would stay for good.  Still waiting…

FRIEND OR FOE FRIDAY!!!

            Time for another round of FRIEND OR FOE FRIDAY!  Brought to you two days late due to blog difficulties.

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FRIEND- This guy from Kaikoura came to our rescue when our car battery had died.  Apparently you can’t leave headlights on for 4 hours at a time.  Thank you jumper cable man!

2) FRIEND- Jacky worked at the fudge factory in Kerikeri and, after offering me many free samples, she offered me her couch for the night!  I had been running low on options so her kindness was much appreciated.  She was such a nice woman and a great inspiration.  Who wouldn’t buy fudge from this woman?!  She’s adorable.

3) FRIENDS!  I started the trip alone, met Jay online and traveled to the Coromandel Peninsula, met Eric from Germany at the Freedom Farm, we all met an Israeli girl from the freedom farm, she met Armand and Benjamin from France at hot water beach, those guys had met Erik and John from Sweden when visiting Wellington.  Did you follow that?  Together we were one happy family traveling down to see the marvelous Cathedral Cove.

4) FOE!  I met Terry on gumtree.co.nz and travelled to the Bay of Islands with him for a day. Although harmless in the end, I was really uncomfortable with him and won’t be going on any other trips with him.

5) FRIEND!  Carli was co-owner of the freedom farm.  She opened up her home to us and every ounce of her was comprised of peace, love and happiness.  There were 20 nomadic family members living in the house on the second night.  Most of them were long term but they didn’t mind sharing their food, living space, and personal stories with us short term visitors.  I loved Carli’s outlook on everyone on this world being her family.  She wanted to share her home with all of her brothers and sisters and just had so much love to give this world.

6) FRIEND!  Sabina Wakefield is the wife of my incredible Melbourne host, Lindsay Wakefield.  Somehow I didn’t get a picture of Lindsay in the 4 days he selflessly toured me around the city center as well as their farm house outside of Melbourne.  Their three kids, Elka, Max and Reuben also put up with me and were really fun (and very smart).  This family is responsible for my first impression of Australia being an awesome one!  Melbourne is one of the best cities in the entire world and the Wakefields could arguably be the best family in Melbourne.  Thank you to my brother-in-law, Brian for introducing us. 

7) FRIEND! There I was browsing for clothes in a shop outside of Melbourne when I ran into Max Von Polnitz from high school!  This fellow Exonian (center) was golfing in Tasmania with his friend (left).  What a pleasant surprise to see a friendly face on the other side of the world.  I hung out with them for the afternoon on Alnac St!

8)  FRIENDS!  I went to watch this local team of Australian football players push, pin and throw each other down.  There seemed to be only one requirement for the team- you must be a hunk.  

Hip Hip Hooray for HIPPIES!! One last adventure in New Zealand

COROMANDEL PENINSULA, NZ

Rainbow in Coromandel

 

Trying to find the freedom farm- dark and wet!



Freedom farm living room

Freedom Farm!

 

The tooth brush bin at the Freedom Farm



Hot Water Beach



Hot water beach- dig dig!


 

Cathedral Cove



Tramps!  Armand (France), Forget her name (Israel), Kerri, Eric (Germany), Alex (Sweden), Erik (Sweden).  Bottom Row: Benjamin (France) and Jay (England)

          My plans for the following day fell apart.  I had met a guy named Jay on gumtree.com that wanted to visit the Coromandel but didn’t tell me soon enough that he didn’t have a driver’s license.  I woke up, ate quickly, packed up my belongings, and ran to catch a bus into the city in order to rent a car.  Half way there the Jucy guy said the only cars to rent were by the airport.  I had to get on a different bus to get to the airport and sat next to a very old man that was in the mood to share.  He kept talking and I’d say I half enjoyed the conversation because he was a little crazy.  He eventually told me that I would love the Coromandel Peninsula and he had actually stayed with this couple named Steve and Carli.  They owned some kind of organic farm and always let visitors stay with them for free in their large house in the country.  He gave me their phone number and street name and I didn’t really think it would be useful.  I was dubious of its importance.

                I held my modest ‘Jay- Coromandel’ sign outside the international arrivals and, thanks to Jay’s plane being 20 minutes late, we found each other!  The odds of our plan actually working out were so small yet we made it work.  We rented a car from Jucy and really hit it off!  What a nice guy!  Jay was 25, from England, and had taken a 1 year sabbatical from Kraft food (and his girlfriend) in order to travel the world.  He was such a savy traveler and we exchanged tips on NZ and Australia (where had just arrived from and where I was headed next).  We had a fairly easy drive out to Coromandel Peninsula and conversation poured out of our mouths- easiest traveler to get along with so far.  The drive into the Coromandel was so cool- very windy with beautiful coastal scenery.   Soon enough all of the scenery was lost with lots of clouds and torrential rain.  This was really becoming all too familiar.

Still not knowing where we would stay that night, we received one text from a couch surfers that told us he couldn’t host and there was horrible weather expected in the region.  We stopped into a pub in the town of Waitangi to ask if they had ever heard of this freedom farm.  With two degrees of separation in this country, of course they had.  They called Steve and Carli and drew out directions for us.  We could tell that this was going to be difficult since they kept repeating the landmarks along the way.  Fifteen km out of town, we found Mill Creek Road but had no chance of finding the house.  We were in the middle of freaking nowhere!  We ended up following a dirt road up a steep hill until 8 cows blocked the road.  We literally scared the shit out of them because they all had poop dropping from their behinds as they ran from our headlights in the rain.  The dirt road was so concave that we could hear our exhaust scraping and we thought that we must have gone wrong.  Forty minutes later we found what had to be the house.  Again we climbed a dirt driveway to what looked like an abandoned shed/house.  This is where we had to park the car.  From there we needed head lamps to climb the steep muddy path that we were told would lead to a house.  There was no light ahead and we questioned ourselves more than once.  What an adventure!

We made it up two hills before we saw a house.  As we opened the sliding door, we knew we were in a very special place.  Everyone was so welcoming…but something was off.  I felt like I was in a halfway house…or an asylum.  Were they full of peace and love?  Or were they a cult?  They had just finished dinner and there was a large pot of something good that was immediately offered to us.  There were about 14 people between the kitchen and large living space and they were about to start a documentary about conspiracy in America.  It was all about how the government was manipulating our minds through money and greed.  The narrator was taking the vocabulary we use on a daily basis and showing how it is used to destroy us. Wow.

The place was pretty dirty.  Food, crumbs, flies, bugs, dirt, and grime were kind of everywhere.  The house was really big and there was a huge, gorgeous, wooden table for dining.  There were dirty couches and chairs all over and it was really a free for all.  No one minded and therefore neither did  I.  I was so grateful for a place to stay and for what would definitely be a rewarding couple days.  Sarah was the first to introduce herself.  She definitely had a little bit of crazy in her eye.  She lingered a little too long and was very curt in conversation.  She asked for some of our bread which we were happy to share…but we saw her pilfer more slices later.  I felt like I had illegally smuggled an inmate food she wasn’t allowed to eat.  David from France brought us to a room at the end of the hall that was undergoing renovation.  He took two mattresses from a large room full of sleeping bodies and shared pillows and blankets with us- our humble abode for the evening.

                There a strong sense of family in the house.  They had about 20 people living there  and they all pitched in with the cooking, cleaning and caring for one another.  I tried to learn more about each person but it wasn’t easy.  I’d ask how long they had been there and they would answer, “I don’t know.”  When I asked how long they would stay, they would reply the same.  They had lived between areas for a number of years.  They would live at the freedom farm until they felt it was time to be somewhere else.  The Lord would show them where they were supposed to be.     

                And then there was Tara from Ohio via California.  She really believed in The Message.  She was so nice, full of smiles and had been shown the light.  She truly believed she was on a mission from God.  He had led her here and she believed that the brothers and sisters of the world would come hold hands and save the world.  They would share the light from the Lord and once they had reached true enlightenment, he would return to Earth and all would be new again.  She also looked like she was looking to recruit more believers.  The entire group believed in what I call ‘coincidences’. Tara had awoken that morning with a yearning for eggs.  However, in this Vegan household, there were no eggs, meat, or dairy allowed.  They didn’t even own a refrigerator, which amazed me.  But there I was cracking eggs when she appeared in the kitchen.  She knew that she had channeled  some energy from me- this was no coincidence!  It was ok that I had eggs since I didn’t know the rules.  They thought my meeting Jay was a sign as well as the old man on the bus who told me about the farm.

                After Carli spread the word around the breakfast table, we headed to hot water beach with a German visitor, Eric, who was just passing through and an Israeli girl who had been living there a few months.  Eric and I became good friends once he told me he was on a 2 week holiday from his job as a derivatives trader at no other than UBS in Germany.  He was incredibly smart and was well traveled. 

                Hot water beach was amazing!  At low tide, you can dig just below the sand surface and find scaulding hot water springing up!  Using shovels, you can dig a hole for yourself and enjoy your own personal Jacuzzi.  The sun had finally graced me with its presence so we had a great time in the hot water while getting wrecked by the fierce, cold waves from an incoming storm.    What an amazing place!  At the car, Jay and Israeli had met two French guys and we decided to all cook pasta together in the back of their van before heading to Cathedral Cove. 

                At the cove, we made more friends!  Two Swedish guys had met the French guys a week earlier in Wellington and had run into them once again.  Now a group of 8, we all made our way down to the cove together.  It was really beautiful and the waves were pretty rough when they crashed onto the beach and surrounding rock.  We made a human pyramid and took pictures together.  And to think that I was afraid to go on this vacation alone!  I hadn’t been alone for more than a few hours the entire trip.  The Israeli girl invited the 4 guys back to the farm for the night.

                We made it back for dinner and Carli’s daughter was very busy cooking.  There was a lot of chanting before the meal and they read from the book of values.  It was really uncomfortable when I passed the book and didn’t participate.  I love the part about love and peace but why the chanting?  Is there any way to feel that happy and content without God showing up?

After dinner, we were all engaged in conversation.  I was listening to Carli talk about her revelation 10 years ago and then how her husband and kids followed.  One of their daughters was an early childhood professor at a uni in Auckland.  There was no way she was hearing this message but they never clearly said so.  They had bashed higher education saying it was the worst thing a person can possibly have since it was pure brainwashing.  They also said that Osama Bin Laden was a fictitious character created by the CIA.  I really had never cared to listen to these conspiracy theories in depth but today I was in their home and would hear them out.  It wasn’t until hours later that I would learn that the USA had found and killed Bin Laden.  What irony.

                There was another conversation going on between Eric and Tara.  Tara and David had recently given birth to a baby boy through a midwife and had refused to register their baby with the NZ government and therefore didn’t have a birth certificate.  They issued him a world passport so that he belonged to no nation and would never have to fight in any country’s war.  They didn’t believe in governments or armies and didn’t want their child to be associated with either.  Did this also mean he would never pay taxes?  Did this mean he could actually stay in NZ for more than a tourist visa would allow?

                While everyone is engaged in both of these conversations, Sarah is walking through the middle of the room with a wooden branch she had taken from outside.  It was about 4.5 feet long and she was exercising with it like a baton.  She also slept with the stick in her bed.  There was also a very old man named Kenny who lived in the house and everyone looked after.  Kenny had lost his mind but seemed pretty fit in body and soul.  He mostly stared out into space or started conversation with just himself.  It was really sad to see someone who was stuck in a body but had no way of using it.  I was warned to be careful of where I plug in my electronics because Kenny had a tendency to pee on things. 

                Eric was fighting back with everything Tara and Carli were trying to preach, which I commend him for.  I didn’t feel like it was a neutral playing field.  These people had opened up their home to us and had fed us.  I was not about to knock their beliefs on their turf.  I just wanted to ask where their money had come from for this house and the 700 acres of land they lived on.  There was a hot tub run by a wood stove- who had paid for that?  The man.  The man got them where they are today and they played the game in order to acquire that money.   And were they not paying taxes on this land?  They were ‘murderers’ since they paid the taxes that paid for armies to pull triggers on their brothers and sisters.  Carli had been a school teacher at one point but I’m not sure what Steve had done for a living before starting the freedom farm.  No one here worked.  It was very strange to wake up and no one was rushing out the door to go to a job.  It’s hard to imagine what someone does when they don’t work?  Life is just consumed by jobs….but not for this group.

                It was all such simple living.  No one complained, no one judged and no one was unhappy.  They all enjoyed being a part of this family and that was nice to see.  The next morning we said goodbye to our peaceful friends and headed for Auckland.  I dropped Jay off to hitchhike from Thames and raced to get to the airport on time. Jay was a GREAT travel buddy.  What an adventure we had!  It was zany but beautiful in its own right and we were so thankful to have met these people.  The last two days were so eye opening.  What a great way to visit the Coromandel and an incredible 4 weeks in New Zealand.  Next stop:  AUSTRALIA. 

Bay of Islands and Kerikeri

PAIHI and KERIKERI, NZ
              On my flight from Queenstown to Auckland the next morning, a nice Kiwi (traveling with his son) offered me the window seat.  Similar to my trip to Queenstown, I noticed the flight attendants were catering to my seatmate and I had to inquire.  We began talking and I discovered he was ALSO a big deal!  He was a pilot for Air NZ for the past 25 years and he had trained the pilot that was flying our plane.  He was a really nice man and he thought he may be piloting my flight to Melbourne on Wednesday and wanted to get me an upgrade…but I later found out I was flying on Emirate and not Air NZ.  Kiwis are so darn thoughtful!  During landing, his son threw up right next to me.  I think God was really testing my recent oath of showing kindness toward children.  I think I passed the test.  Throw up really is the worst smell out there.

                Brianne picked me up from the airport and I chilled at the house, awaiting my next move.  Another gutsy one.  I had agreed to travel with a stranger from gumtree.co.nz (think craigslist).  Terry Fernando from Sri Lanka wanted to go to the Bay of Islands the next day and so did I.  His post seemed like a personal ad at first but I had told him I wasn’t interested in anything romantic so there would be no miscommunication on the trip.  I was clear as crystal.  Everything was finally arranged but it was weird that he hadn’t answered my question on accommodation.  I had inquired several times and told him I was on a budget so would probably  couch surf or stay at a hostel.  His final email told me not to worry- accommodation was sorted.  ???

                The next morning, Terry picked me up around noon time in his very nice Mercedes Benz.  Here I go again, trusting nice cars.  I would have definitely been a victim of Ted Bundy's.  He was very dark, very quiet, and, yes, he sported a very, scary moustache.  Why are moustaches so creepy?  I was trying not to judge slash racially profile slash thin-slice him.  People had said if it didn’t feel right then I shouldn’t go with him.  What feels right though when you're dealing with different nationalities?  I can’t really spot a sketchy foreigner from a regular foreigner since so much can boil down to cultural differences.  I had my mace nearby and was firing questions that all seemed to check out in the first half hour.

                During the car ride, there was a lot of quiet time.  He didn’t understand me a lot and laughed at things that weren’t really funny (like when I asked if people could talk on their cell phones while they drove).  Clearly not funny but he went on and on laughing.   He had answered a call shortly into the trip and was speaking another language.  He was very brief and I was wondering if he was saying, “Yes, I got the girl.  I’m going to kill her at exit 6.”  And then he had gotten off the highway to follow the scenic route so I was questioning that too.  Also, I found it really strange that he had lived in Auckland for 12 years and had never gone to the famous Bay of Islands. 

We stopped for lunch at an Irish bar in Whangarie and Terry insisted on paying and that I would pay for the next one.  I was concerned that he may think this is romantic afterall.  After he told me he was a huge Michael Jackson fan, the thriller video came on in the pub.  And guess who had never seen it before?  Terry.  Some fan.  We checked into a motel and I was starting to be on high alert.  I insisted on staying at the YHA because I couldn’t afford a motel but he laughed it off and counter-insisted it was not a problem for him to pay.  He was really nice and I thought that maybe I was judging him too much.  He hadn't done anything outright that caused concern.  I just didn’t want him to expect anything later.  I had been sharing space with plenty of strangers on this trip so I was fine with that aspect.

                We watched some tv in the room and he offered me a beer and  I stupidly didn’t watch him pour it out of the can.  I had promised myself that I wouldn’t accept any drinks without watching where they came from.  I was fearful that I would quickly go numb from the neck down and kept my mace close by. Happy my legs still worked 30 minutes later, we headed into town to eat at a lively bar/restaurant.   They had some great live music that I would have loved to dance to if I were not there with this guy.  I gave him the impression that I had two left feet and despised dancing.  He was becoming a tiny bit touchy and my tolerance was extremely low.  He kept encouraging me to drink more and I was starting to get nervous.  When he excused himself for the bathroom, I made the bartender aware of my situation and that she was not to serve me any alcohol.

                I soon excused myself and went back to the motel to watch the royal wedding.  It was a lot of fluff and fantasy but so much better than hanging out with Terry.  He came home a little drunk and was walking around with a shirt on top and a towel on the bottom.  I was so uncomfortable.  He continued to drink in the room and lit a cigar at the doorway.  What is it with smokers that really think smoking by a door or window won’t make a room smell like smoke?  Obviously there will be wafting.  The room smelled like his nasty cigars and I had to ask him to go outside.  Check me out.  This guy has driven me all the way up to the Bay of Islands, paid for almost everything along the way, and I kick him out of the motel when he wants to smoke.  I slept with my mace that night just in case.  As expected, nothing happened.

The next morning, Terry was hung over so he slept late.  I had showered and visited the internet and researched my next move before he finally woke up.  He said that he got a call and would have to leave for Auckland today.  I decided it would be better to be stranded here than drive back with him.  We took the ferry to Russell for breakfast and then he dropped me in the wonderful town of Kerikeri!   All in all, Terry really was harmless and I feel bad picking on him.  He was very nice but just made me feel uncomfortable.            



Terry-less in Kerikeri, I tapped into CouchSurfing.com and threw out some desperate emails to see if any locals could house me for the night.  I set out to explore the town that shared my name as I awaited email replies.  I could have walked 45 minutes to the Kerikeri Chocolate Factory but I was carrying my bookbag, purse, and duffel bag of clothes.  So I stuck my thumb out again to hitch a ride 3km out of the town center.  A VW van with 3 Argentinian guys almost caused a traffic jam when they pulled over for me.  In our brief time together, I learned that they were traveling for a year or two and just picking up work along their travels.  It was pretty cool.  The driver questioned why I told them I was from ‘America’ since America actually encompasses North America, Central America and South America.  I didn’t have a great response ready but it’s really made me think.  We’re the only country that actually has America in our name so it’s not surprising that we would say that.  If they were from ‘The Argentinian Republic of America’ then I could see why they might call themselves America as well.  But we actually call it America within our own country and maybe they aren’t aware of that.  I wonder if we appear arrogant by other nations by referring to ourselves that way.  I don’t like saying, “USA” because I consider it less honorable when you abbreviate your own country.  I also don’t like saying,  “United States” because those are just English words and not the name of a country.  What are your thoughts on that?  Are we wrong in calling ourselves America?  I think not.  We’re Americans…people from America.

                I had some nice samples of the chocolate factory and then headed 500 yards up the road to the fudge factory.  Man, Kerikeri was my kind of place!!!  After sampling plenty of fudge from the wonderful woman working behind the counter, she asked where I was staying and I told her of my predicament.  Jacky had never heard of couch surfing and asked who I was waiting to hear from.  I told her the names and sure enough she knew them!  Seriously?!?!  There are only 2 degrees of separation in this country!  She was SO incredibly nice and friendly.  She sold fudge for goodness sakes!  You can’t be more trusting than that.  She said if I didn’t hear from the couchsurfers, I could stay on her couch that night!  What an angel!

                I hitchhiked back to town with a woman named Stella who had lived in Scotland for 20 years, Australia for 30 years and was now retired in Kerikeri.  The first woman to pick me up!  Solidarity, sister!  I killed time until Jacky picked me up around 6pm.  We settled into her quaint house about 10 minutes outside of the town center.  She was such a little scatterbrain full of giggles!  She had recently left her husband after 25 years of marriage and was doing marvelously!  They were on very good terms and the kids (23, 21, and 18) agreed that they just weren’t meant for each other.  She picked some vegetables from her garden and we threw together some dinner.  We had great conversation over dinner and I was amazed to hear about her independence.  She once grew and sold basil commercially to make money on the side, she lived on a commune for 4 months, she was a talented painter and had her own studio for a bit.  She had so many talents and dabbled in all of them throughout her life.  I really, genuinely, loved the way my night had shaped up!  What an amazing person to have opened up her home and her life to me.  This is exactly what I wanted this trip to be like.

The following morning, we shared some breakfast together before Jacky drove me around town.   Kerikeri means, ‘dig dig’ and the area is well known for its fertile soil and was one of the first areas discovered by English missionaries.  It had a strong Maori population and the famous Treaty of Waitangi was signed nearby.  I wasn’t able to visit The Rainbow Falls due to the weather but Jacky showed me the famous Stone store (first store in NZ) and dropped me off at a farmer’s market before enjoying her day off.  Kerikeri was also known for its great oranges so, being the orange juice connoisseur that I am, I gladly paid too much for a fresh squeezed OJ from a local farmer.  It was the best I’ve ever tasted in all of my life.  What a great town.  What a great name!



Welcome to Kerikeri!



Yummy fudge factory in Kerikeri



Russell



Town of Russell



Bay of Islands- town of Russell