nolife

Ran off, made some calls, showered.

Anyway, we ended up at the Kaori Kingdom again so Willie could wash the bus.  There was a restaurant beside it so I grabbed some water and watched the Brit have Cornish tea.

A biscuit covered in cream & jam plus tea with milk.  We chatted at a table.  [I] found out she was a midwife on a 6 month holiday.  She was close to 3 months in NZ and leaves Thursday for Vietnam, then Thailand.

We headed out from there and I figured I’d catch her before we all parted ways and exchange email addresses.  Maybe I’d even ask her if I could tag along.

That was all foiled when she and the Dutch lady got off before me, 5 minutes [drive] up the road [from my hostel].

I got off the bus at the hostel and nearly immediately headed up the road.  A number of times I gave up and ended up spinning around in circles.  I watched every car go by thinking she might pass me, but no luck.  Finally I committed to giving up, and headed toward the hostel.

Just before I got there, she pulled up beside me!  I told her that I had been going to look for her to see if she had wanted a companion for her travels.  Without a pause she said yes.

I went back to the office and checked to see if my pack had showed up, which it hadn’t.  Then I grabbed my little bag and my box, I told Kerry’s [(the hostel manager)] daugther that I was leaving town and to tell the airline to keep my bag at the airport.

Then I jumped in the car with the Brit girl.  A minute in, I introduced myself!  She was Rachel.

We turned right onto [State] Highway 1 and drove off.  Up a bit then right on 10.  We saw Cable Bay and then went to Coopers Beach.  She took a swim to get rid of sand she’d collected on the dunes.

There were tons of trees along the beach and she explained they were NZ Christmas trees because they bloomed a red flower at Christmas time.